Chapter 13

Were Off!

With the information given thus far, you are ready for an actual trip. We have discussed the various types of rigs and hulls, the more important sailing vernacular, and the necessity of planning before you cast off on any trip. The basic theory of why a boat moves ahead has also been explained. What follows is putting into practice the points that have been brought out. As the knockabout rig is the most popular, and as most sailboats are kept at moorings, we will assume that you are to take a moored knockabout out under our guidance and that we have been put aboard by the club tender or have rowed out in our tiny tender. We will dispense with the obvious matters such as uncovering the sails and inspecting the boat to see that she is free from any appreciable amount of bilge water.

There is a nice summer breeze blowing more or less parallel with the shore line. The current is negligible, so the boat is lying with her head to windward, rising easily at her mooring. Your first step is to take a short, light head line and make one end fast to the forward cleat. Pass the other end through the mooring ring and bring the end back aboard so that it can be cast off instantly. Cast off the regular heavy line. This is not necessary if the regular mooring line has a big eye splice so that it can be quickly cast off from the cleat or bitt. In other words, we must be prepared to get clear of any restraint hurriedly once the wind takes over its job.

Check to see that the tiller is firmly in place, the centerboard is lowered to its normal sailing position, and all sheets are coiled so they will run freely through the blocks. Overhaul the mainsheet until you are sure the boom will swing freely. If there is a topping lift, take up on it until the boom has lifted from the crotch. Remove the crotch and stow it where we will not fall over it in the activity that is to come. Also be sure to stow it where none of the running rigging can get tangled about it.

Up with the mainsail! If the sail is new, don't haul away to see how tight you can stretch the canvas without ripping it. In fact, hoist it just enough to get a nice snug feeling. Watch out for the boom! As the wind shifts slightly, the breeze will blow first on one side of the sail, then on the other, sending the boom swinging from side to side. Let out the topping lift until it is slack enough so that it cannot interfere with the sail when it fills.

So far, nothing has happened beyond your amazement that the masthead now looks so far above your head. This is no time to go chicken or to start wondering if the designer put too much sail on her. You'll soon find out—the hard way—if someone along the line made a mistake, but you can lay a grand to a buck that a watery grave is not in the offing for you. From now until we get back, you will have lots to think about besides wondering how long it will take for the Coast Guard boat to come out and get us.

As we are lying clear of nearby boats, the problem is simple. We are head to the wind and our procedure is simply to turn so the breeze will come over the side rather than over the bow. We probably could do that with mainsail alone, but the boat would not steer well, so the jib should be hoisted. Clear the jib sheets—there will probably be one for each side—but be certain that the ends are made fast. Losing an entire sheet overboard is not conducive to peace of mind. Hoist the jib and belay the halyards in a hurry. This is not the time for posing for the edification of the gals in a nearby boat.

Immediately, both jib and mainsail shake as they swing from side to side. The boat might be said to be shivering in its desire to be off (Fig. 1). She may even forge ahead slightly so that you-will have difficulty in casting off the mooring line. If so, you'll be thankful you rigged a running line through the mooring rings. You must now cast off and scramble aft to the tiller.

We are going to start the trip with a reach on the starboard tack. That is, the wind is to be brought over the starboard side. As you reach the tiller, push it smartly to starboard which will swing the stern slightly in that direction. With almost the same movement, haul in the jib sheet on the starboard side (Fig. 2); not too much, just enough for the sail to fill fairly well. The bow will swing to port. There is no time to think about it, for you must hastily come in with the mainsheet, let go the starboard jib sheet, and come in on the port sheet (Fig. 3). Take it easy, but with a lot of haste, if you get what we mean. Do not haul either main or jib in too flat unless you want to experience the horrid sight of water pouring over the leeward side of the coaming. From now on, your sheets are the nearest things to a throttle or accelerator pedal: loosen them to slacken your speed; haul them in to increase it. To increase wind pressure, turn the bow away from the wind; to decrease it, swing the bow to windward.
By now, we are well clear of the anchorage and can take stock. Experiment with your tiller—but gently. Sailing a boat is like driving a car: you must know what you are doing, sometimes you must do it quickly, but just the same you must avoid over-steering. Under all normal conditions, you should be able to keep the boat on its course with hardly more than an inch or two movement of the end of the tiller. Which brings up a point—what is our course? Even if we have no specific objective, we must follow a course in relationship to the wind. If we are to change that course, the wind will be striking the sails at a different angle and the set of the sails must be corrected to suit that direction of wind. As we are now reaching, with the wind coming at almost right angles to our course, we must find some means of holding that course.

The expert will steer to keep the wind abeam by second nature. The way the sails fill and the feel of the wind on his face will dictate small changes in steering. If the boat was properly designed, she will have a slight weather helm. This means that the tiller must be held toward the windward side. If the tiller is unattended, the boat will turn into the wind and luff. This is an important safety factor that should be designed into every sailing boat intended for use by any but racing experts. Such a balance means that if you get into any trouble, you can let go of the tiller and slack off both main and jib sheets. The boat will swing around and lie more or less quietly, looking up at the wind. This is a good time to prove at least a part of this. Let your tiller ease off to leeward. Immediately, your speed should be lowered, the angle of heel should be decreased, and the bow should swing up for a luff. Catch her before that happens. Experiment several times with this important situation.

 So far, we have not made any attempt to sheet the main and jib for better speed or better steering balance. Haul in on the windward jib sheet; the bow should fall off to leeward. Slacken off the sheet to spill some of the wind from the jib; the bow should swing back on her course. Unless you harden the sheet again or correct with the tiller, the boat will actually luff. Now make the same experiments with the main. Let out the mainsheet; the speed will drop and the bow will swing down to leeward. Haul in; the speed, the angle of heel, and the steering will all be effected. You have learned that the speed of the boat, the angle at which she heels, and the amount of steering needed can all be varied by different settings of the sheets.

Obviously, we cannot spend all afternoon trying to steer with sails alone. If sailing is to be fun, we must belay the jib sheets—on a small boat, always hold the mainsheet in your hand—and sail along on a course that will allow us to sit back and start to enjoy the sport. As previously mentioned, the expert will keep his course by the feel of the breeze on his face, the pressure on the tiller, and the way the sails fill. Since you are not an expert, you will do better if you head for some conspicuous mark such as the pier off Fishermen's Rest, an anchored vessel, or a buoy. Try to keep the mark directly over the bow without having to fight the tiller to hold the course. Never forget that the tiller should be slightly toward the windward side—in this particular example, we are on the starboard tack, so the tiller should point slightly to the right of the center line of the boat. If you cannot maintain that tiller position, it indicates that your sail balance should be adjusted. Your boat is falling off; that is, the jib is blowing your bow to leeward. Come in more on your mainsheet to see if you can correct it.

Hold it! She is heeling too much. We must relieve some of the pressure on the sails. Slacken the mainsheet to allow the bow to fall off. Common sense should dictate the next attempt to keep her on. the course: slack off a bit on the port jib sheet. You relieve the pressure there so the bow comes up where it should be. Our mark is once again over the bow and we can keep it there with but little movement of the tiller. We have now adjusted the sails so they are drawing with enough power to keep us moving at reasonable speed in the desired direction.

To go faster—and heel over farther—we haul in slightly on both sheets. To go more slowly, we slacken both. When properly done, the boat still heads toward Fishermen's Rest. Sheet adjustment takes time and some experimentation. We have no time if a squall sweeps down and hits us. Now the tiller is our fastest method of getting out of trouble. Shove it down to leeward and don't spare the horses. The boat should come around into the wind at least to a point where the pressure has been relieved and she straightens up to a more decorous angle. If she doesn't react fast enough, let go the jib sheet. You will remove the pressure forward and the mainsail will act as a weathervane to cause her to luff. Forgive the corn, but "it's time to luff when the wind gets tough."

While all of this has been going on, we have covered quite a bit of -wet territory and Fishermen's Rest is getting mighty close; a change of course must be made, and soon. The wind has been coming broad over our starboard side, so we have three alternatives. One is to turn to port, which will bring the wind astern so we will be running before it. The second is to turn far enough to starboard so the wind will be from the opposite side—we will then be on the port tack and will be sailing a course diagonally opposite to the one we steered when outboard bound. The third chance is but a variation of the second and would mean retracing our course back to the mooring.

Let's decide upon the first suggestion and direct the bow to port so the wind will be from aft. This takes a bit more doing than it might seem. Many pages back, we considered the hat flying down the alley before a gust. Such propulsion by the wind is ridiculously easy to understand, but running before the wind in a boat is the slowest variety of sailing and requires the most rapt attention on the part of the crew.

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