Took a Beating

[Frank C]

Frank,
All my notes have the big "M" picture in the left margin. - Do I need to do something else?
Jim

Hmmm - guess I sometimes miss the forest amidst the trees!

[Chip Hindes]

All my notes have the big "M" picture in the left margin. - Do I need to do something else?

Nah. I knew you had an M, I just didn't realize it was so different than the X.

The X has very tight clearance on the holes in the rudders and the bullseye fairleads which you have to thread the bungee through. I was able to do it with the fat bungee by taping the ends very tightly with electrical tape before cutting them off. The tape compresses the bungee just enough to allow you to thread it through the holes, better than trying to burn the ends or any other kind of tape. If you had the right diameter, I bet a big piece of heat shrink tubing would work as well.

I replaced the entire hold down line with bungee, about three feet per side. I put a loop on the end of the bungee secured with a stainless hog ring which I loop around the cleat to hold it down. I also thread the pull up line through the open base of the cleat and tie it to the bungee loop so the whole mess is captive on the cleat and can't be lost overboard.

After three years one of my bungees is starting to fray where it goes through the rudder, so this Spring replacement is in order.

I'm still not sure what I did to my X is not applicable to the M as well; I'd have to see the M setup to say for sure.

Another possiblility is to use the existing rudder lines but replacing the standard horn cleats with a rudder auto release cleat which is designed specifically for this purpose. I'm sure they work fine but at $25 x 2 they're a lot more $$ than bungees, even if the bungees have to be replaced every few years.

[ken smith]

Bungees are the way to go, I"ll be getting them soon. The reason I didn"t use the motor was because if it was shallow I didn't want to do damage to the prop or lower unit and the more compelling reason was because of the sea conditions with the back end of the boat raising out of the water the motor would be also out of the water and loss of control would happen. The pass had to be taken at a certain approch because of the shores on each side of the pass and the shallows. I actually felt more confortable under sail than I would have under power. I am the one who use to live in Buffalo and sailed on the Niagara River, and I did do knockdowns on purpose to find out the limits of the boat. Those knockdowns have given me complete control of the boat and is one of the reasons I feel so confortable with sailing in adverse conditions.

Ken




the

[delevi]

Ken, that stroy tops my two sailing, near death experiences. I agree with the rest that it was motor time, earlier on. Also, I don't think it's such a good idea to hoist a spinnaker while single-handing, though I've done it, but the winds were quite calm. When on deck, always stay down low, otherwise, as you experienced, the boom can slam your head. That was the first thing I was taught when I took delivery of my boat over a year ago. You're lucky that a headache and a cut was the worst of it. Last but not least, never uncleat your rudder lines unless you're planning to pull them up for motoring. Not so sure about Chip's bungee idea. I ran my rudders aground in Lake Tahoe, going over a shallow rock. Fortunately, I was sailing downwind and had my daggerboard up, otherwise that would have been history. When hitting the rocks, the entire stern went up several feet in the air as we rode over the rock. The dammage... a couple fo wedges in each rudder, not too bad. I was actually amazed they held togeter. Fixed them both with gelcoat; good as new. If you're approaching shallow stuff, I would put a higher priority on your board than the rudders. I don't mean for this to sound like a lecture, just sharing some personal experienes. I certainly had my share of close calls, but I think I learned from each of them.

Exciting, hair-raising story but please keep it safe.
Cheers

[deacm]

you mention engaging the autopilot when you go to the foredeck. I find that that is a dicey proposition in the nasty sea/wind state he was in...........the autopilot just can't hold it in those conditions and so then it just starts to wildly gyrate to try to 'adjust' and now you have an even bigger problem when a lunatic autopilot tries to self-medicate itself

[norbert]

deacm, it is the most normal thing to engage the autopilot when moving on deck. even in heavy seas my autohelm 4000 normally does not have any problems to steer the boat correctly (there are exceptions, I encountered problems in 5 ft. waves from abeam, but following as well as opposite seas have been handled ok). in any case the boat is much more stable and secure when sailing and steered by the autopilot than simply bouncing in the waves. sure that i will wear my pfd and harness!