Hi again everyone,
Was considering posting in the General Sailor talk forum but still think of myself as a newbie and still sorting things out so I'm back here. Also wanted to thank everyone for their help. It has been invaluable so far.
Went for my first sail yesterday (Mission Bay, San Diego - flat water). Air was light, never cleared a hull from the water (it tried several times) but had a great first day. The boat performed excellently. I didn't set up the traps because I wanted to get to know the boat first. My daughter spent a lot of time sailing with me and we just got the feel of the layout and behavior of the boat. It feels fast to me but what do I know? A few reflections and a few questions:
- Considering adjusting the rudder pull-down line by adding a block somewhere. I can grab the line and and haul on it to get the rudder down while underway but my daughter (25, in shape, but no gorilla arms) had trouble.
- Reading here all the suggestions about adding a preventer, and doing so, really helped keep the jibsheets under control.
- Got a taste of the cat community when I realized that after all my prep I forgot to bring my rudder pins. Luckily there was a guy there with another 5.2 who very generously loaned me one of his and helped me jury rig the other side. Thanks again Mark (and Allen), and if you're reading this I want you to know I will be looking for you so I can return your property as well as buy you that burrito I offered.
As far as questions:
- I realized when out that my rig was too loose. I don't think I should have had any play in my mast as it sat on the beach in irons but there was definitely some there. Does anyone have rules of thumb appropriate for this boat as to how tight shrouds and forestay should be?
- My daggerboard sideloaders were loose, I need to adjust them. I currently have them attached to strap eyes on the hull but have noticed some 5.2s run the bungees through grommets in the tramp. Where do these tie off, or do they run over to the other side? Is there a reason I should prefer this method to mine?
- I uploaded some pictures to my gallery that I hoped to post here but haven't been able to figure that out yet. Could be my software (Safari) but if anyone's got a suggestion I'd love to hear it.
Last (sorry for the length) I want to apologize to Damon. I agreed to take and post pictures of my dolphin striker repair process but, as I thought might happen, forgot completely about it until after finishing. My bad, if there's a next time I'll try hard to do better.
Thanks again to everyone for past and future advice.
Review of maiden voyage
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- Rank: Lubber
- Registered: Jun 08, 2009
- Last visit: Nov 29, 2009
- Posts: 35
Posted: Jul 20, 2009 - 02:24 PM
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- Rank: Mate
- Registered: May 30, 2007
- Last visit: Jun 28, 2011
- Posts: 101
Posted: Jul 20, 2009 - 10:27 PM
good to hear Bob! It's always great to hear about maiden voyages that went pretty smoothly. Try the block on the rudders that i posted in your other thread, it makes it alot easier to pull down. As for the side loaders i always use the stock location and have never tried the bungee through the tramp. As for rig tension set your rake then tighten your shrouds. I can tell you that i normally run my mast back pretty far though (creates slight weather helm-tiller tug). The rake will be a personal preference kind of thing. I would start out in the middle of the chain plate and go from there.
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- Rank: Lubber
- Registered: Jun 08, 2009
- Last visit: Nov 29, 2009
- Posts: 35
Posted: Jul 21, 2009 - 03:34 PM
TurboCat, thanks for the reply. Your rudder block setup is what I had in mind in my previous post. Thanks for the tuning info. Can't wait to get back out.
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