I had my 2003 Mac 26M out in the Chesapeake last week for the first time. I had fun motoring around and using the Jib for sailing. The winds were a little gusty. I expect 10-14 Knots. The Jib was easy to use since it simply unfurls. The main was another story.
Question 1: What is a good method for easily hoisting up the main sail? I stuggled with hoisting it up as the winds were battering the sail, and I couldn't keep the boat pointed into the wind. Would some of you experienced sailors discuss your method for doing this? I don't have the lines aft option, and maybe this should seriously be considered.
Question 2: How to retreive the anchor easily? I had a heck of a time trying to get the boat up wind from the anchor to retreive it. Do you guys use a winch or just pull the anchor in by hand?
Anyway- I had a great first time out and look forward to the second sail this weekend! Lot's of things to learn!
I have always had a partner in my 15 or so times out thus far and that partner will motor slowly into the wind with the rudders and DB down. I have the lines led aft which allows me to stay in the cockpit.
I also found I have to keep the main sheet loose thus it is important for my partner to keep it straight into the wind.
I would imagine it would be the same for you except you need to stand on deck to raise.
What part of the Chesapeake were you on? I will be there in less than two weeks and looking forward to checking it out.
Can't help you on the anchor. Only used it once, just to try it, but there was literally no wind and it was slack current/tide so I had no problems pulling it up by hand.
Can't speak directly to the mast problem since I am still awaiting delivery of my M, however on our 28 ft Morgan keel boat, when the main seems to be sticking, it is usually because 1) someone (me) forgot to lub the track and luft with MACLUBE (I think this is the trade name) sailcoat dry spray or 2) someone (me) let the halyard get twisted and on our boat there is no way to drop the mast and clear a tangle, so you stand there whipping the lines around till it clears. If your not lubing the track and luft, I definately would start there, pick up a spray can and give everything a liberal initial coating.
As for the anchor, you can usually take all the slack out of the rode, that is pull it up until you are almost directly over the anchor, take a wrap around a bow cleat, and then swing around and free it by backing away at 180 degrees to the initial set. JUST BE CAREFUL WHEN UNDER POWER NOT TO TANGLE THE LINE IN THE PROP.
I've found raising the anchor a fairly straightforward affair. Getting her to properly set can be another story. I use 20 feet of chain and 200 feet of nylon. Pulling the rode in by hand draws the boat to a position close to directly above the anchor. A good steady pull is sufficient to break the anchor loose. I've anchored out a lot and never had to use motor or winch to break loose, but expect the day will come. I do have a trip line and float rigged up for use in areas where I suspect a foul bottom. Practise is a great teacher, and good anchoring skills open up a great number of secluded mooring options. Good luck, and enjoy.
My first reaction to this type of question is always, please, please take a basic sailing course. It will add so much more fun to your sailing when you know more and are more confident.
Aside from that:
Retrieving the anchor in a fresh breeze and/or a lumpy sea state
Motoring up to the anchor is no bad thing as long as you have two people in good communication with each other so that the line can be kept taut whilst being retrieved. It is not a bad idea to keep the centrboard up as well, since the line can get caught around it. Warnings about not letting slack line get to the prop are important as well. Alternatively, the anchor line can be brought back to the nearest available winch and winched up. This is probably the safest way to do it when things are rough as the work is done from the security of the cockpit. The motor can be left in gear and idling if preferred during this operation so that it is ready to take over once the anchor is up.
When raising the main, it is best when the breeze is up at all to do this with two people (or one with a good autopilot), so that one can keep the boat motoring slowly directly into the wind. Make sure that the mainsheet is completely free and uncleated during the raising; vang also free. The topping lift (if fitted) should also be slack enough so that when the main is fully up, it is not holding the boom. If the boat is directly into the wind, and the lines are free, there should be very little shaking from the sail (unless it is really blowing hard). If the sail is fitted with slugs, try to feed then all into the slot before raising the sail itself. If it has a bolt rope, make sure that you use one hand to hold the next part of the sail to be fed (say, 12 inches) firmly and as directly below the slot as possible. This will mean that you have to haul the halyard, then hook it around the t-cleat whilst you reposition the feeding hand for each section that is fed. This is time-consuming and fiddly, but with a bolt rope and no lines led aft, you don't have a lot of options. Always make sure that the sail goes all the way to the top of the mast unless you have reef in, before cleating it off.
Always remember that if you intend to sail with main and jib, it's main up, then jib out. Never the other way around.
I find that a truckers knot is essential for me to get the main sail pulled up tight. If you don't use a truckers knot, you should. It will allow you to get a great deal more force into your pulling the halyard.
The simplest way to do this is pull the sail up the mast. when you have it up, look at the halyard and focus on a spot twelve inches above the cleat. Then with whichever hand you wish, at the spot you have focused on, pull a bit of the halyard to make a loop and then tie a knot with that loop. The knot with the loop dangling out of it should be about twelve inches about the cleat. Now take the halyard once around the cleat and with the free end pass that end through the loop and pull hard. The sail should now move up even further. Tie it off on the cleat.
I am in the lower Chesapaeake. I launched at Glouchester Point where the York river meets the Chesapeake. There is a bridge between these 2 towns and right below the bridge is a public boat dock with 4 ramps, a small sandy beach, and some portable toilets. $0 to launch. Let me know when you may be up.
When the anchor is set too well for me to easily retrieve it, I use a device that is simply an inflatable ball attached to a ring.
You place the ring around the anchor rode and slowly move the boat toward the anchor. As you pass the anchor, the ball is pulled below. The ball will lift the anchor from the bottom. it's that simple.
Getting the main up smoothly requires you keep the boat head-to-wind by whatever means. With slugs holding the luft in the mast grove, you can install a sail-stop, A special slug with thumb-screw that holds it in place under all the moving slugs. The main can then be flaked on the boom (held with a few sail ties) until you are ready to raise it. If you don't have a topping lift (a halyard that holds the end of the boom up when the main is furled on it) then rig one. When you raise the main, leave the mainsheet free so the boom can swing and the sail can't fill. Run the sail up, pull it tight and cleat it off. Your topping lift should now be slack, the leach (back edge) of the sail supporting the boom. Pull the outhaul tight, the line that puts tension on the foot of the sail. If you are planning on sailing upwind, pull both the halyard and the outhaul real tight. Decide on a course to steer, take that heading and sheet in the main until it fills and you are on your way! Shut off the engine and raise it out of the water. Lowering the main is just the opposite..
On boats this size, anchors are set and retrieved by hand. You will discover that anchoring in muck can make for a messy recovery..In a stiff breeze, a crew member can take some of the pressure off the anchor line by using the engine to overcome the wind load. Communicate with simple hand signals, not by yelling...
There are many excellent books about the fine art of sailing. Take the time to read one or two. And as someone else suggested, a few sailing lessons is money well spent and will greatly increase your safety and enjoyment..
Raising sail.
I (likewise) have the main on the boom ready to go up the mast, slugs in track, with only a few sailties strapping main to boom. Board down, rudders down she should point to the wind easily. I like to heave to to raise the main, the jib kind of blocks the wind and keeps the main from flapping like crazy. Unfurl jib, perform heave-to procedure (rudder hard over). Boat's now nose to the wind, sort of "parked". Engine neutral. Untie main, move forward, raise main, cleat, return to cockpit. Steer off the wind in desired direction. Motor off. Ahhhh.... bliss. If you have two people your mate stays at helm to keep you nose to wind,
Anchor up.
In quiet coves motor running in neutral I simply pull the boat to the anchor by hand. Sail gloves help here, but little effort is needed, I just take it easy till I start retrieving chain. Then quickly stow the anchor & rode & return to cockpit. With two your mate can nose you forward slowly directly upwind toward the anchor but this takes good communication. That's hard if the wind is up, so we also have hand signals for forward, neutral, and reverse. Having a pulpit anchor bracket keeps the mud off of the bow and gets you underway quicker than trying to fit everything back in the locker. Even in 12-15 kt wind & chop I hand retrieve the anchor.
We're all focusing on your questions, but taking a sailing class is an excellent idea. Not just for the mechanical operations of the boat, and the technical knowledge of sailing, but also because of the rules of the road (so to speak).
Too many of us have seen boaters (power & sail) doing things that placed people in potential danger. A sailing class WOULD enlighten you.
As I was reading the above remarks, it hit me that there is just so much to explain. Take a class. Learn the right way. Oh yes, stay in touch with this site so we may learn from you things that we may have forgotten.
Ray
P.S. I had been sailing a 14' 6" Phantom sail boat (similar to a Sunfish) for twenty five years when I bought my M. Since I was going from 14' to 26' I thought it best to take a class. I took the Coast Guard Auxialry Sailing and Seamanship class.
Congratulations JJ. I frequently have to raise the main single-handed. I had never been able to do it until I added a sheet stopper, "clutch" or similar. and led the halyard back to the cockpit. Getting the last foot is difficult, and I have to run my halyard through the stopper, and then around the winch. I head into the wind, then run up to the mast, pull down and out with one hand and snug it up with the other. Then I run back to the wheel and correct my heading, back up to the mast and repeat. the clutch keeps it from backsliding.
I never use the sail lube stuff and my sail slugs go up and down real easy. That is the first question, do you have sail slugs? If not, then feeding the bolt rope in the track will be much more difficult. If you do have a twist in your halyard, that will make it very difficult too. Make sure to sight up your halyard all the way to the block to be sure there is not even 1 twist in there.
Pulling up an anchor with a ballasted boat in a strong current can be very difficult, but most of the time it is not that hard to pull up by hand. The key is momentum. The first couple pulls are hard, do it slowly and use your weight more than your arms. Once you get the boat moving forward, don't lose the momentum! You shouldn't have to pull as hard because the momentum of the boat is helping you.
And once you are a little more advanced, don't forget that you can use the anchor to help you raise the mainsail. Probably best to try this only with an offshore wind unless you are anchored way out or very skilled. Basically, after I have retrieved my stern anchor, the boat swings perfectly into the wind with only the bow anchor. This is a good time to raise your main since the boat will stay pointed into the wind. Make sure to leave the sheet uncleated and fully loose after you raise the main. Then pull your anchor in and up. Lower the CB and rudders, backwind the main a bit to turn the boat, and then whoosh, off you go sailing. This always gives a great sense of accomplishment when you never had to run your motor at all to get out of your anchorage.
On getting the main up, my first season I had the main halyard block rigged backwards - you want the working end of the halyard to be closest to the mast so that it drops vertically to the sail headboard. THis makes no difference starting the main up the track, but when you reach the top, if the halyard is reversed, it now makes a sharp angle with the main and you lose force.
I never understood the anchor ring gizmo - what exactly pulls it underneath the water when you motor over your anchor? Not disputing that it works, but Im a "like to understand principle" kinda guy....
I took the Coast Guard Auxialry Sailing and Seamanship class.
