After our week of trials, we had the opportunity to hank on the jib and take Mahdee out for some sailing. We anchored just outside of our marina where we could take our time and figure out how we wanted to rig the jib and all the associated lines–uphaul, downhaul, tack, sheets… By the time we had the jib fully rigged and the main and stay sail ready to raise, the wind was starting to blow. Moments earlier, we had the idealistic notion that we would sail off of anchor, but then the wind shifted around 180 degrees and was now blowing in a direction that would take us right into the marina mooring field if anything went wrong. So, we fired up the Cummins and I started up the windlass. To keep mud out of the chain locker, we have a weighted brush which scrubs the chain as it comes up and I spray the chain clean with the salt water wash-down–normally cleaning the chain just as fast as the windlass can pull it up. By now, however, the wind was blowing so hard that the salt water sprayer would only get five feet before the spray was turned around and blasted right back into my face. Because the chain was coming up as a mud snake, despite the underwater scrubber, I could only bring up about five feet at a time. I would blast the mud off the five feet of chain nearest the bow where it went through a hawse pipe. Once that was clean, I would bring up five more feet and repeat. My glasses were covered in salt spray so that I could hardly see and the fore deck was slick with mud and salt water. Brenda patiently waited at the helm until the anchor broke out, which we knew to have happened when we started blowing towards the marina. She powered up to keep us in position until at last, I had the the chain clean and stowed.
It was now time to start hoisting sails. With Mahdee pointed into the wind, we could have first raised the main, but we decided to start with the jib since this was the first time for that sail. That way, if anything went wrong, we could just deal with that one sail. It went up great, but the luff was not straight. As expected, the bowsprit bobstay needed some more tension. We eased the jib halyard and sheets and I ran the running bobstay line around the windlass and cranked it tighter than we have ever had it. We re-tightened the halyards and the luff was now straight. With the jib working great, we put up the main sail and then the staysail and shut off the engine. We were sailing for the first time with three sails!
Below, hoisting the jib for the first time!
One of the great reasons to start our work ups in San Diego is that the winds are generally very consistent and the harbor protects from large ocean swells. This day was perfect for getting to know Mahdee’s sailing qualities. After each of our previous sails, we learned what works and what needed improvement. This was also our first sail with the full six-to-one mainsheet purchase. In addition to testing the configuration of the mainsheet, we were also looking for the best route for the jib sheets. We tried a couple of places for snatch blocks to lead the jib sheets back to the jib winches. Just inside the fore-most main shroud worked well. The lead was a little too far aft in general, but we could fix that with a lizard line attached to the mooring cleat just aft of the break-deck.
A big part of our excitement about this day’s sail was that we expected that the jib and staysail should balance the main sail and provide a balanced sail plan. Previously, without the jib, the main grossly overpowered the staysail moving the center of sail effort too far aft, and sailing with only the staysail put the center of sail effort too far forward. As it turns out, we could use a bigger jib. I am sure we have one, but this jib did a fine job. We could trim up the sails and go in a straight line with the rudder centered. Fantastic!
Jib and staysail both up!
Tacking was a little tricky. Before coming through the wind, the main boom needed to be raised to clear the boom gallows. I don’t remember if we mentioned this before, but Mahdee has a “drooper.” We have been told that in the 1960’s the racing rules allowed a sail to be over large in such a way that the boom dropped lower without any penalty to the boat’s handicap. The family that owned Mahdee in the 1960’s were into racing, and to make Mahdee a competitive racer, she needed every crutch available–and then some. For some reason, Mahdee’s subsequent owners kept that “racing” sail geometry. Raising the boom can be done by either hauling on the topping lift, or on the reefing line. The former scandalizes the entire sail, destroying its aerodynamic shape and thereby moves the sail center of effort forward. This causes the boat to want to fall off, just when you want to come up through the wind to tack. Hauling on the first reef line keeps the sail shape good above the reef point, but puts more stress on the sail.
We were taking advantage of the large south bay to experiment with sail trim and maneuvering. Early on in our experiments, we were on a reach heading towards the bay bridge. A 25 foot Catalina coming the other way down the channel turns to a collision course with us. We see this and note that he is on a starboard tack which means that we are obliged to avoid him. Our first thought is to fall off and go behind him, but the helm doesn’t let us turn–the main sail won’t allow it. We could let out the main and probably fall off successfully, but we decide that we need to tack. About that time, the skipper of the little boat starts yelling that HE is on the starboard tack and by implication will not turn. I run forward to the main mast with the winch handle and start cranking on the topping lift. Brenda starts turning us. The other skipper keeps yelling that he has right of way. I run back to the cockpit to start handling lines there. Fortunately, the running backs are both pulled forward, so we don’t need to handle them during the tack. Mahdee came through the wind just fine.
A friend of ours has a nice little gaff rigged Atkins cutter. He won’t sail in the San Diego bay except maybe in the middle of the week when nobody else is out. Since the bay is a very nice place to sail, we didn’t understand him until now. His boat has a hard time coming about. Mahdee seems to come about OK, but it is a lot of work. The skipper of that 25 foot Catalina could have twitched his tiller arm and avoided a collision, but for some reason he wanted to assert his right of way with us. We will probably try to time our future sails for week days.
Other than that little event, the sail was fabulous. Some Navy Yacht Club San Diego friends sailed by in Sorcery and shouted encouragement. Mahdee handled much as expected. The biggest thing that we learned was the critical role the main sail plays in steering. If you really needed to turn, someone needed to be working the main sail sheets in addition to the rudder. The opposite could also happen. Once, while tracking nicely with centered rudder on a reach, some little wave or gust started Mahdee turning up into the wind. No amount of rudder would stop her and we stalled in irons. I ran forward and pushed the stay sail boom out to port so that it would back wind. That slowly brought Mahdee’s bow out of irons. In hind sight, I think the main was slightly over sheeted and when she turned up into the wind, the main drew more and more, bringing the center of effort further and further aft. A great learning experience to have in the wide open bay.
The only point of sail we didn’t try was that of a full run. The main sheet was a little too short which prevented us from letting the boom all the way out. That coupled with the preventer padeye not having all of its bolts yet meant that the boom would have been at risk for a gibe and since the boom wouldn’t clear the boom gallows without the topping lift action mentioned above, there would be a big risk of damage. The brisk wind had us crisscrossing the south bay faster than we had ever experienced. Of course our previous sailing experiences in the south bay were all on smaller boats. Never-the-less, the speed was exciting and kept us tacking. In these winds, Mahdee had no trouble tacking, but I was kept very busy running forward to crank up the boom and back to tack the jib sheets and then forward to drop the boom back down. Then, since we were often tacking to a different point of sail than a reach, re-trimming everything for beam reaches or broad reaches.
Soon, the sun was dropping and it was time to head to our place for the night–the Glorietta bay anchorage. That involved some short-tacking up the main channel to avoid a shoal. We weren’t quite confident enough to do that so close to the Naval security zone without the Cummins engine on. The engine is like having an extra boost in the main sail. When we got to the Glorietta bay channel, we fell off to a reach. This bay itself is rather small. We witnessed an exciting moment that another schooner had after sailing into the bay last forth of July. They ran out of room and had sail problems. We doused the jib early and by coordinating the drop of the halyard with Brenda at the sheets, we kept the sail in the bowsprit netting. A big relief. Next was the big main. It came down just after we turned the corner into the bay and were pointed up wind. I was able to get the main strapped to the boom so that it didn’t cover the entire cockpit and block all visibility forward. The stay sail came down easily and we were ready to anchor in the tight little anchorage. We dropped the anchor and just had time to tidy up the boat and get the sail cover on the main before it was dark.
A perfect day. From anchor in the morning, sailing all day to anchor in the evening. It was just the kind of day that I thought we would have while learning how to handle Mahdee. Over the next days, we would make several changes based on our experiences this day. We modified the staysail boom bail block, changed the staysail and mainsail sheets, repositioned the mainsail outboard sheet blocks, and jib sheet turning block attachment points. Our next big rig objective is to get the gaff fore sail rigged. But since the last sail was so much fun, maybe we will take Mahdee out for another sail first.
