20-knot winds & choppy waves, in my 20' boat. This time, can I get the sails up? 

Thanks v much. Yes, that’s the sensible way. 👍

Thanks Marcus.

Thanks Adrian. I have this strange urge to find out how much weather Shamrock and I can deal with - even though the sensible part of me is saying, "There's no need to do this, you idiot!" Anyhow, one step at a time. And it was very satisfying to manage it. I forget to uncleat the mainsheet every single bloody time!

Thanks v much. We did!

Thanks Richard. Yup, it was quite a daunting challenge, but turned out far better than I expected. So that was very satisfying. And the topping lift is my other favourite thing to overlook. The less said about fenders, the better. But good to know you won't reveal anything. Cheers!

Great, glad to hear it.

Thanks

Wise words! When I first got Shamrock I would always use the stove & put the kettle on. Which is a nice thing to do. But these days I tend to take a thermos.

Thanks! Yup, tiller pilot was great. Tiller clutch OK for brief periods of reaching but not much more. All good things to learn...

Thanks. Crabbers look pretty similar to Gypsies - though I've never sailed one. Good luck!

@@tobygoessailing Thanks. Well we went two up on Sunday in a bit more than were used to, two reefs,.. huge fun.

Too kind! Thanks.

Thanks Jon. Yup, those were the trickiest conditions I've had for hoisting the sails, but good to have done it.

Thanks Chris, and good luck. Yeah, fenders are a real drag single-handed. Especially as I err on the side of caution & have them on both sides of the boat. Too many things to move around!

Thanks. I'm not sure how anyone could get the sails up in those conditions without a motor, as there would be no way of getting head to wind. When I've tried raising the mainsail when I'm *not* head to wind, it's never worked - there just seems to be too much friction to get the sail up. (Things rubbing against the shrouds etc.) But pre-engine sailors must have done it, or else boats were built differently? Or I was doing something wrong (most likely option)...

@@tobygoessailing I think it's a question of reducing the chafe as much as possible and then finding the best way that suits your boat. On Naiad the main is bent to the mast with soft loops with parrel beads instead of a lacing and that's only because I forgot to put the mast hoops on, which I would have preferred. I use the jib to get some speed downwind, then luff and start hauling on the two haliards as soon as she starts to round up. The aim is to get a couple of feet of sail up with both throat and peak together & then concentrate on getting the throat up as fast and far as I can. Once there is a bit of main up I can usually get Naiad to heave to (of sorts) which allows me to get the rest of the main up. If She won't heave to, then I repeat the downwind & luff until the throat is up and then the peak goes up fairly easily. With that much wind I'm not concerned about getting the luff bar taut, just tight enough. All this predicates enough downwind room. Most of the time I'm either at anchor or on the mooring meaning that getting the sail up isn't a problem. Getting the anchor back onboard in those conditions with the sail up, even with 2 reefs, is most certainly a problem and that's when I up anchor and then hoist sail. I'd prefer not to do that, but very occasionally you have no choice. By the way, in the olden days when boats didn't have motors, they didn't go into marinas either (there were none) and hence no problem 😄

@@tetleyk Thanks for the detailed answer - v helpful. I'll have to experiment with going downwind under jib & then luffing up/heaving to. One question. When trying to get the mainsail up fast, one thing that always slows me down is uncleating the halyards. I have deck (horn? - not sure of the terminology) cleats for the halyards, so there's a lot of winding/unwinding. Let's say you've had one attempt at hoisting the mainsail, and have got the sail halfway up. The halyards are (obviously) cleated. When you come round for the second time & luff up, you're going to have to uncleat both halyards in order to free them, to hoist the mainsail the rest of the way. By the time you've uncleated both halyards - quite a few valuable seconds in my case - you may have missed the moment & been blown off by the wind again. Just wondering if a jamming/cam cleat would be useful, to make it easier to do quicker actions here? Or does it not happen like that?

@@tobygoessailing I use cam cleats on all my halyards, furling lines and topping lifts, precisely for that reason. I can uncleat the line one-handed.

@@tetleyk Makes sense. Thanks.

Indeed!

Thanks. Yup, the waves can get quite exciting in the river here!

Thanks Ian. That's a very acute observation - because with this video, for the very first time, I had my GoPro camera on a gimbal. I wanted to capture the motion better i.e. for the horizon to stay horizontal whilst the boat moved. (With the camera clamped in a fixed position on the boat, it's the horizon that moves in the background - which isn't so satisfying to watch). Anyhow, I was pleased with the results, and glad you noticed!

@@tobygoessailing Really effective, had me guessing!

Thanks Charlie. Someone (maybe you?) suggested that to me before i.e. hoisting sails before getting into the river. Which is a great idea in principle. But the thing is that Bradwell Creek (next to Peewit Island) is full of moored boats with very little room for manoeuvre. And once you get round the corner heading towards the N Cardinal, the channel is pretty narrow, and doesn't leave you much room. Having said that, if it was more than an hour or so after low water, I could most probably do it - as Shamrock is shoal draft. So it is actually a good idea, thanks! I'll try it one of these days. And yes, the Gypsy is a lovely boat.

@@tobygoessailing I forgot to add how inspirational your videos have been btw. I was a professional skipper for many years - several Atlantic crossings, lots of Mediterranean and Caribbean stuff. RYA qualifications, the lot. Then I fell into a decades long rut and hardly sailed at all. Your videos have reminded me what fun it is to sail for its own sake. So mich so that I’ve got myself a small trailer sailer and am launching on Monday week! Keep the videos coming :-)

@@fatcharlieuk Wow, that's some compliment, especially coming from an ex-pro. Thanks! Appreciate it. And in fact it prompts a question from me. I've been thinking for a while of finding someone to give me a bit more training in handling Shamrock in more extreme conditions - bigger waves, more wind etc. I know Shamrock's not a heavy weather boat & has a big open cockpit & a centreboard rather than a keel - and therefore maybe it's not realistic or prudent to go out in anything above F5. But if it is a possibility and you ever thought you could help, that would be great. No worries if you can't, don't want to, or think it's a completely mad idea in the first place! And if you do think it's a bit mad, be interested to hear your thoughts. I'm really interested in what Shamrock's capabilities really are.

@@tobygoessailing The first thing you need to remember is that Shamrock can stand far greater weather than you can and you will reach your limit long before Shamrock will. At a guess I'd say that you probably shouldn't think about setting out if it's blowing force 5 or more and you'd probably find that Shamrock sails best in force 4 gusting 5 or less. If you wanted to sail in stronger winds than this then you need to invest in smaller "storm" sails made of a much heavier weight cloth since too much sail up for the wind conditions is the best way to overpower the boat. Think capsizing or finding that you cannot steer the boat as the force in the sails overcomes the correcting action of the rudder, to say nothing of the excessive drift to leeward since your centreplate is quite small. Naiad is 16' 6" in length, gaff rigged and the centreplate goes down to 5' and I won't go out if the wind is stronger than force 4. Her sister boat, Shoal Waters was sailed in winds much greater than force 3 gusting 4, her nominal limit, but in order to do this she had a loose-footed storm main with it's own gaff and a miniscule storm jib that was hanked on to the forestay when required. With this very reduced rig she sailed in gale force winds but only when she was already out sailing and never setting off from her mooring in those conditions. I don't have storm sails for Naiad yet, that's next on the list of things to buy. Not that I want to go out in high winds but sometimes you're out there and it blows up unexpectedly. So it can be done, but you need to have the correct setup in order to do so. Even with the correct heavy weather sails you'll find that the sailing is quite different as well. You won't be able to point as high and if there is much of a sea then before trying to tack you'll need to free off the wind a little to gain some speed before pushing the boat round through the wind. The idea here is that your speed and timing is such that the oncoming waves don't slam into the bows and stop you in irons. I have two paddles, one on each side deck, so that if Naiad looks like she isn't going to go through the eye of the wind that I can usually frantically paddle to get her round. This might not be possible in Shamrock but you may well find that having your engine ticking over in very heavy weather is a good idea just to achieve the same thing if necessary. You'll probably also find that Shamrock won't make much way to windward if you are beating against the tide, so be ready and willing to change your plan/destination to suit the conditions. Going downwind in high winds is usually a foresail only trip and you'll need to determine if Shamrock prefers the waves on the quarter or dead astern. I don't need to tell you that a buoyancy aid is essential since you seem to wear one when sailing even in light winds but I'd also advise being clipped on as well in even moderate weather. The other thing that a lot of sailors forget is the human factor. In heavy weather you are going to get wet and cold and once that happens your judgement suffers. You'll regularly find me wearing three pairs of gloves, for example. A thin silk liner, a woollen inner and an overmitt that I used to use when riding a motorbike. And I have several backup pairs of gloves in the cabin so that when the inner pairs get wet I can take them off and put on a dry pair. Likewise socks and clothing. Layer up and have dry spares. Getting wet and cold in when sailing is a recipe for disaster. As Charles Stock used to say, then best thing is not to get wet and cold in the first place. He was a big fan of heavy duffle coats and the like. The other thing to bear in mind is that you have a shoal draft boat with a centreboard and you should never bash on unless you really have to. Find a sheltered spot to windward and anchor or put Shamrock on the mud and wait it out. Sorry, this got a bit long but since I don't know any other way of contacting you, this will have to do. One of these days we may meet out on the Blackwater, but not if the wind is stronger than force 4. 😀

@@tetleyk Brilliant advice, thanks v much. Yes, my limitations are definitely well below those of Shamrock! The thing is that I felt surprisingly comfortable in my latest outing. And with two reefs and a partially furled jib, Shamrock didn’t feel over-canvassed at all. Which made me think I could go out in a slightly stronger wind and still be OK. Sailing amongst the waves - after I’d realised it was all going fine - was great fun. Though I do realise that with Shamrock’s current setup there are limits to what’s possible. Having the ability to change the sail plan would require some significant modifications e.g. replacing the furling jib. Mostly I want to know that I can handle worse weather if it does blow up during a longer trip. I don’t want to feel anxious every time the wind starts picking up (within reason). And there’s also part of me that finds the idea of sailing in tougher weather strangely appealing. Which might well change on contact with reality, of course! Would be great to meet up some time, if you ever felt like it. For that, or for any other words of sailing wisdom, you can contact me at tobygoessailing@gmail.com (Just set up that email address).

Thanks. Yes, it’s Radio Caroline. (The ship itself is called the Ross Revenge).

@@tobygoessailing Oh wow !! I used to listen to Caroline & Radio London, back in the day !! I really enjoy your sailing adventures, its what I would do if I had access to east coast sailing - Thanks again..

@@john3Lee I used to listen to Caroline too. Though they were a bit further out to sea then! Thanks.

@@tobygoessailing That's showing your age! I made a crystal radio and listened to Caroline at night in bed. Happy days !

@@tetleyk Yeah, I know! I also made a crystal radio, though for some reason it would only ever pick up Radio 4. Not what I wanted at all.

Thanks! I hadn't thought about the lowered peak like that. I was thinking I'd just done a hasty job of hoisting the sail in tricky conditions & not properly completed it. But you're right, it probably did help in those winds - a helpful idea, thanks! And makes me think I should experiment a bit more with the peak position in stronger wind.