[Public-List] Elderly Person Sailing Slowly Essay

[Daniel Swords]

Epigraph

The goal is not to sail the boat, but to help the boat sail herself. 

(John Rousmaniere

Author of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship)




    I am an elderly, single, live-aboard day sailor with an aging CCA designed Alberg 30 sailboat. 

    I have reached the age and physical decline where switching from a sailboat to a trawler was looming as a potential necessity.  So I began reading forum posts on advantages and disadvantages of switching. 

    But most of those forum posts seemed centered on coastal voyaging. And I wondered, if I lived on a trawler but wasn’t able to voyage what would I do?  Just sit in my slip all day?

    Also, being poor and considering that the cheapest boat I could own was the one I already have, I became determined to see if I might keep my sailboat but change my sailing habits. That was when I considered sailing with only a double reefed mainsail.

    Why only a double reefed mainsail instead of a furling jib?  Because the mainsail attached to the boom is self tacking and easily trimmed without winching.  Also, if caught out in storm conditions, my boat heaves-to best with only a double reefed mainsail. 

    In this fashion I sail almost daily from sunrise to sunset, I am out of the slip, off the grid, out on the open water, and yet I sleep each night securely and comfortably in my slip. 

    When a sudden squall or thunderstorm approaches I don’t have to rush frantically about in increasing wind gusts struggling to reef my already reefed mainsail. My boat heaves-to best with just the double reefed mainsail trimmed flat and tight and the tiller lashed to leeward. The roller furled jib provides all the windage necessary to keep the boat from tacking in high wind and rough waves. And with the double reefed mainsail trimmed tight to the centerline, in the very rare occasion that it does jibe, the jibe is very benign because the boom does not swing violently across the hull. Hove-to in this fashion I can sit comfortably below in my cabin drinking coffee until the storm passes. 

    On very windy days with gusts between 18 and 28 knots sailing like this is like sailing on a live-aboard Sunfish but with no need for hiking out. 

    The only sacrifice I have made to accomplish this much easier and more comfortable sailing is boat speed. But boat speed for me has quickly become relative and unnecessary, especially when daysailing. Having steerageway is fast enough and at my age, if I were in some great need for speed why would I be sailing?  

    An added benefit for me is that my boat is almost always entirely self steering without the need for a tiller pilot or a wind vane. In moderate winds I can sail any apparent wind course between a close reach (60° off the wind) to a broad reach (160° off the wind) just by adjusting the mainsail trim. 

    In light winds my boat has a very slight lee helm. In heavy winds my boat has a very slight weather helm. And in moderate winds my boat’s helm is basically neutral. I either lash the tiller very loosely to compensate for the helm or often I can just let the tiller swing freely. 

    Even though I am elderly and always single-handed I can still experience the enjoyment of open water solo sailing. Sailing like this is like the difference between racing or jogging through the forest versus meandering. I’ve kept my boat and extended my sailing pleasures and abilities without spending a dime. 

    It did take some learning time and effort and patience. On my first few outings I was thinking my boat just wasn’t one that sailed well on only the mainsail. But with practice I soon discovered it was just a new and different skill which has been an added enjoyment to learn. So if you do try this , stick with it and practice. 

    The skills of sailing and self steering and heaving-to with the minimal and most controllable sail, the double reefed mainsail, are useful skills for any sailor to learn. And you may increase and extend your sailing enjoyment and delay switching to a trawler by several years. 


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