I recognized your voice trying to figure out where it came from then I realized you're the one who talked me into picking up my Sunfish a few months ago with your lovely book "Introduction to Sailing". Love the audio book, it convinced me to just go for it!
Great video Christian. Aviators say there is nothing quite so useless as runway behind you, or airspace above you. The nautical corollaries are unused reefing line and chain in the anchor locker. :-)
Thank you, Christian! I raced on SF Bay, in a fleet of 24's back in the '80's and early '90's, then moved up to an Ericson 29 and ventured outside the gate for 3 years, doing both south and north along the central CA coast. In '98 I truck hauled her up to Puget Sound, spent 8 years doing US and Cdn. waters. Watching your videos has given me the urge to go bigger and go out for more, but at 83 I have concerns. May I ask your age? You are an inspiration to many, keep it up, friend I haven't met yet! John Colley, Sonoma, CA
"It's necessary if you want to come home, to stay in the boat" what a wonderful understated comment! Good to have you back - some serenity amongst the madness...
Ive read all of your books with great pleasure. Wind, wisdom and humor make a for truly meaningful journeys. Sailing is the backdrop but life is the subject. Sail on Christian, I'm a fan.
My kids fall asleep to your Audi books during our passages. Love the beauty of your words. You were one of the inspirations for us to circumnavigate as a family -- which we started 35 day ago. Hope to run into you on the blue water during the next ten years that we're at sea. You're knowledge is absorbed at night. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, I'm a solo sailor also and it's blissful at times, docking and mooring takes a bit more planning and reefing sooner than later . Thats when and where crew are handy. Cheers, John .
I like your idea of “staying ahead of the boat” although I never described it the same way while I’m single handling my E32, sailing with my wife or with other guests. I’m usually thinking, “What can go wrong or what can I screw up?” Same thing, I guess, but you put it in a more elegant way. My biggest worry is what things can go wrong that I haven’t thought of yet.
Christian you could also try moving the genoa lead forward to balance the helm without luffing or under trimming the main. As you ease the Genoa sheet and begin reaching the center of effort of the sailplane always moves aft (creating weather helm) unless you keep the genoa fully powered up by preventing it from being “over twisted” with sheets eased. Genoas are generally designed for upwind sailing. They lose efficiency rapidly when eased for reaching and at that windspeed you probably could have benefited from leads forward (or outboard) to increase Genoa power and move the center of effort in the sail-plan back forward.
Christian, I´m a casual single-handed sailor from Spain. I have discovered your videos one week ago and I enjoy them a lot. Thank you for sharing your experience, it´s very useful. I wish you fair winds and following seas
Philosophy and sailing clearly go hand-in-hand. I am exactly one week away from taking my sailboat out for the first time since the pestilence entered our world. I have been adrift ever since. The practical planning tends to take over at this point, but watching this video reminds me why I sail. I thank you for that. All the best to you Christian.
Hello Captain Williams, Thank you for the u-tube videos since I haven’t been sailing for three years because I sold my Cal 2-27 then. In one of your sailing videos you talked about using “Baggy wrinkles”
Being a casual « singlehandor » sailor myself I always find your fables interesting, envigorating, charming and so much to the point. Thank you Christian, have a good sailing season.
Thanks so much for the lessons. I may never get to sail but balancing the sail, staying ahead of the boat, practicing muscle memory, and having a life line, are all relevant in life. And thanks for the new word that I had to look up; bucolic!
Thank you sir. Love your videos. Picked up my first boat 18 months back, a 1970 Ranger 26. I love it. It sails well with constant work. Looking forward to an upgrade one of these years. I didn't know you wrote. I'll need to look for your work.
Hello Mr. William; great video as always. At the end of last season, I chickened out and didn’t do my first single handed sail; within a month I will be sailing solo from Winthrop Harbor near Boston’s Logan Airport out to Peddocks Island; not a long sail but it will be my first solo. Thank you for continuing to be an inspiration and a wealth of knowledge.
You might want to consider easing the vang to help balance the weather helm. It is a bit easier than putting in a reef. I just came upon you channel. I try to go sailing a couple times a week on my I36 in San Francisco Bay. This works for me but I need to work on the not racing part!!! As I get closer to 70 three wraps around the winch as turned into four! I also have the five minutes rule between tacks to Windward. 😊 Your boat looks very well maintained. Looking forward to your next video.
Agreed. I love my family and my friends, but they are good for .... Departing from the slip, sails down, returning to the slip. Earlier this week, I had my Catalina 320 on a 50 degree reach (by choice, it can go higher) and sailed 3/4 of the way across the Chesapeake Bay without the autopilot engaged, or ANY correction, hands free. A balanced boat with sails set correctly is just plain magical. Wind comes up, boat points up, sail angle reduces lift, boat settles back to it's original set point.
Hi Christian, You have inspired me to learn to sail and ultimately own a Ericson 38. My ambition is to sail an Ericson throughout SE Asia. (I currently live in central Australia). Learning will begin in September. I will keep you posted! Thank you!
Love your continent and poetic words of description. You inspire me. I once owned a cat27, will own a boat again. Those who have never sailed, I feel, have yet to live life to its climax. Again, keep being you and sharing those thoughts.
Always a refreshing time watching your videos Casual sailing is a must to enjoy and love your boat. Fair winds and a cheers from Muros !!!! I hope this unusual low pressure will pass and I can sail away around the Galician Rias !!
i really miss my sailboat,,,,,,,,really.....!!!!! i miss those days when the water off marina del rey is like glass and you hang off the bow, fingers dangling in the glass-like water, you see your face in the water, the engine on low and you can barely hear it, sun in the sky and no worries, you got a case of ice cold beer on the boat. ahhhhhhh, the good life..............................
I'm not a sailor, but I enjoy watching sailing channels of all sorts. One thing I've come to conclude is that heat exchangers are a weak point In a sailboats engine. Every sailing channel has an episode where they're replacing, repairing, or cleaning a heat exchanger. Anyway thanks for another great video! Take care.
It's always a prudent sailor that does 'sail ahead of the boat'. Another great video is in the books! I always look forward to your videos, keeping making them. All the best, Richard in Ventura!!
I think I enjoy singlehanding more than sailing with others, and just being alone with my thoughts, not having to consult with or answer to anyone about plans, when to come back in, etc..
Great video, the advice to ‘keep ahead of the boat’ is itself worth the price of admission. Not that I don’t do that, but to keep that thought at the fore in your mind as I go about my habitual single handing (my wife is NOT a water baby) is on primary way to avoid doing something stupid and thereby staying relatively safe. Thanks for the thoughts.
Some great shot sailing around MDR! I also sail out of there and end up seeing your boat (I think it’s Thelonius) near the Bluewater Sailing school boats, which I tend to use. Loved your books and videos! Hope you’ll keep making more.
It's so good to see you again you look happy and I'm happy for you your boat looks happy the water looks happy and I think my dogs happy for you let's all be happy and go sailing hope to see you out there one day my friend.
Excellent message and delivery. Love the term “casual single handing”, been doing a lot of it during the shutdown of America. Quite enjoyable, and very busy at times. I’m working up to my first single handed beer can race. We’ll see. Thank you and smooth sailing.
In flying they say "you fly the plane, don't let the plane fly you"... same as your 'stay ahead of the boat' philosophy... 'you sail the boat, don't let the boat sail you'. Thanks for the interesting upload.
"Casual Singlehanding", that's just about ALL I do, sure the wife comes along a few times a season, but mostly I am solo day-sailing, good to know there is a term for it.
Another great video, Christian, thank you! I was single handing for almost two years before I ever had anybody sail with me, don't know what that says about me... :) As long as you stay safe, I believe it's a steeper learning curve, at least to attain a comfortable level of skill. But when I finally had a more experienced hand with me, I was able to pick up some finer points, like the difference a fore/aft adjustment on the genoa car can make.
I can relate. I'm of the opinion that the best way to learn to sail well is to sail single handed one time for every time you crew: you learn so much from both but you learn more when you do both. You learn so much more on a crewed boat as a single hander, and so much more as a single hander coming from a crewed boat.
@@wilfdarr The best way to really get to know your boat, and what she can do, is to actively race her! Maybe start with a smaller fleet and work up to your size boat. The alternative is to go on some long trips, in varying conditions.
@@johncolley6225 Sorry, yes, absolutely that was my meaning: race once single handed for every time you race crewed. Considering Christian no longer races I can see how my vagueness lost my meaning. My bad. Racing in a One Design Fleet you immediately see if you're slow, and you can look at the boats passing you to see what you're doing wrong, you can talk to them in the club house after, and you can often wiggle your way into a good crew to study under. And yes, a smaller boat, around 25' is the sweet spot for learning, something like a J80, a Kirby 25, or a San Juan 23 or 26. Big enough that it benefits from a full crew, but small enough that it's not a big leap to single hand.
Thank you Christian, always nice to come on a Thursday “casual single handed” sail with you. I liked the weather helm adjustments, nicely done 👍Stay safe in these strange days. Regards From Martin. Melbourne Australia
Great video! I hope to get up the abilities and confidence to casually singlehand at some point. My biggest worry right now is getting in and out of the slip on my own without issue.
Great video and I agree wholeheartedly. Single-handing takes the pressure of instructing and entertaining the crew out of the equation. So less pressure on the skipper (captain if you're your side of the pond) ….
Hi Christian, Good to see you back on the water. Do you have anymore sailing trips planned? I read your book, "Alone Together" last year. I enjoyed it very much, well done! Regards, Al Hester C&C 35 Vancouver
I singlehand my boat all the time but the only genoas I have are deck sweepers. It really makes keeping an eye out a PITA. Even when I'm up on deck. I'd love to be able to see 360 degrees from the companionway, like that.
