Bigger is always better. At least that’s what we’ve been taught to believe. Wasn’t it McDonalds that was telling us to “super-size it”? I hate to generalize, but women want bigger diamonds. Guys want bigger engines in their bigger trucks. We all want bigger houses – 3500 square feet isn’t enough. We need bigger TVs to watch while we sit on our bigger couches (to accommodate our bigger bodies).
But what does this have to do with sailing. Perhaps if we were out sailing more, (or just working on our boats) we wouldn’t need bigger TVs and bigger couches (and we probably wouldn’t have bigger bodies!).
So, how big does my boat need to be? Very good question! Some people will suggest that you get the biggest boat you can handle. I think they mean “that you can ‘really’ handle”, not what you ‘think’ you can handle. I know a lot of people that really can’t handle “B’Gosh”, Isaac’s eight foot wooden pram. Sure, they think they can handle a boat, but if you watch, they’re the ones who rub the boat against the dock to slow down when docking. They’re the ones who don’t realize that easing the main will allow you to turn downwind with less rudder.
So how big does my boat need to be? I suppose that really depends of what you want to do. Want to impress your friends? Get a boat that’s a few feet bigger than you can afford. At least you’ll have bragging rights and you can tell everyone that you own a bigger boat. Oh, wait, the boat will own you, and so will the bank.
Personally, I think my Laser is about the right size. Easy for me to launch, sail and put away. And the slip fees are great – or, the lack of slip fees. But, there’s no room for the microwave or the shower. And what do we do when we want to sail together as a family? I suppose we could buy a few more Lasers so we would all have our own, but I don’t think that would cut it. In fact, I know it won’t. When we did own six Lasers, more than enough for everyone to get out at once, we never had more than two in the water at a time.
What I learned about boat size, I learned from Mike. There have been a couple of ‘Mikes’ in my sailing life. The most recent was filming the arrival of the Spanish Open 60’s as they were offloaded from the container ship here in Baltimore today. But, he has nothing to do with boat size.
Another ‘Mike’ got me into me sailing instructor career and my involvement with US SAILING. He also got me into dinghy racing. And I skippered his 34’ boat for a couple of season of racing. While I consider him my mentor in many things, boat size is not one.
Then there’s the ‘Mike’ that got me into racing originally. Frustrated with working on boats and not having a boat ready to sail, I answered an ad for race crew. It turned out to be a blast. I got to love the boat I was crewing on so much that I found one and boat it. That was my Express 30, Pony Express. But it wasn’t the racing that taught me the lesson on boat size. Mike’s words of wisdom were “get a boat as big as you can handle”. Yeah, I’ve heard it before. But he went on. Get a boat as big as you can really handle. That meant a bunch of different things.
Get a boat that ‘you’ can handle. If you always depend on someone to help you sail the boat, you’re going to be limited in when and where you can sail. You’ve got to be able to handle it by yourself. When we bought Pony, Sam was still rather terrified of the whole sailing and heeling things. Anna loved it, but was too young to do anything. When Isaac came along, he required attention which kept either Suzanne or I taking care of him and the other one sailing. So, when a couple sails with little kids, one of them is going to be single-handing the boat while the other is playing parent.
Mike’s “handle” also meant maintenance. Get a boat that you can take care of. Granted, there are a lot of people that have big boats with big systems that they pay other people to take care of. All they know about their engine is that you turn the key and push the button to start it. What are they going to do when something goes wrong away from the dock (assuming they ever make it away from the dock)? I suppose that’s why SeaTow is in business.
Mike also meant that you should be able to do the work on the boat yourself. He felt that 30’ was all the boat he wanted to sand when it was time to sand the bottom. 30’ feet of bottom is a fair amount of sanding. 30’ of topsides (really 60’ because you have to do both sides) is a lot to buff and polish.
I don’t know this, but he might have meant you should get a boat you can handle financially. Being cheap, I hate giving my money away to people who don’t need it. I can’t see paying interest to the bank so I can own a boat. I guess technically, if they’re financing it, they own it. That makes it even worse! They want me to pay them and do the work and spend the money to maintain it? Not this sucker. If I can’t afford to pay for it up front, it’s not going to be mine. We own Condor, not the bank.
So, is Condor big enough? Is she too big? The bottom surface on a 36’ boat that draws 6’4 is exponentially more than a 30’ boat that draws 5’6. That’s a whole lot more sanding! In fact, Suzanne has nicknamed Condor ‘the big blue whale’. When you’re standing under Condor sanding off the many old layers of blue bottom paint, you feel like you’re trying to roll a big blue whale.
Yes, 36’ feet of boat is a fair amount to handle whether you’re speaking of single-handed sailing, or sanding, painting, and buffing. But Condor is a comfortable size for us, we think. And in this case, bigger would probably not be better.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Making a big To-Do.
We’re making a big to-do, but I can’t say it is a big to-do about nothing. Sure that has happened before. Everyone has witnessed an instance where someone has made a big commotion about something which turned out to be pretty minor.
But, this is big to-do about something. And that something is Condor. As mentioned before, we have a self-imposed deadline of March 31 to get Condor to the point where she can be launched and sailed from Solomon’s to Baltimore. The deadline is not 100% self imposed. The PO (previous owner) has paid winter storage through March 31. Being cheap, we decided that it was worth the extra push to get Condor in the water before having to pay more storage. And besides, what good is a sailboat sitting in a yard. We want to get her out and sail!
So, we made a big to-do. And a big to-do it is. Close to 40 things. If you haven’t realized, we’re talking about a to-do list. Close to forty items on Condor’s to-do list. Rather, our to-do list for Condor. In a sense, making this big to-do should really help, though at times looking through it can be overwhelming. Suzanne thinks it should help keep me focused. ADD, you know. All too often, she has to call me back to task because I have found some other issue that requires my attention. For instance, while rebedding the deck plate for the water fill, we had to move the whisker pole. She commented that the spring loaded jaw for the pole wasn’t moving freely. Steve to the rescue! I ran and got some lube and spent fifteen minutes getting it moving while Suzanne stood, glaring at me, holding the deck fitting and waiting for me to apply the caulk. She had to remind me that rebedding the deck plate was on the list and freeing the jaw of the whisker pole could be added to the list – after we finish the deck plate.
It should be pointed out, for those of you with little firsthand experience, that ADD is not the inability to pay attention. Rather it is the ability to pay attention to many things. All too often, those of us who benefit from the effects of ADD are called abruptly back to the task that someone else thinks is more important than the many things we’re focusing on. And so, Suzanne calls me back to her deck plate and we complete that task. By the way, the whisker pole jaw works perfectly now.
Armed with our list, we head to Condor. Please remember that she is about a two hour drive away. With our massive list we jump to work. But where do we start? Time to back up again and prioritize our list. This shouldn’t be too hard. We read through each item and quickly decide if it has to be done before launching. For example, apply bottom paint. That generally works much better if the boat is on stands in the boatyard rather than in the water. So bottom painting is a ‘1’ job. Not all tasks are so easily decided. Rebuild and lubricate the winches. Okay, the winches, all eight of them, function, though not as smoothly as we would like. So rebuilding winches is a “2” job. But have you ever disassembled a winch while the boat is in the water? There is always that one spring that likes to jump overboard. Much safer (read ‘cheaper’) to do while the boat is on the hard. Maybe this should be classified as a “1-2”, meaning it would ideally be done before launch, but can wait.
I mentioned the benefits of ADD. In all truthfulness, I’m still looking for them. So if any of you can offer ideas as to the benefits of ADD, please do.
So, the list? In no particular order:
Fair keel
Sand bottom
Paint bottom
Replace cutlass bearing
Buff/wax topsides
Overhaul seacocks
Rebed chainplates
Replace halyards
Tighten toe-rail bolts
Clean/rebuild winches
Replace rotten cabin subfloor
Clean water tanks
Replace water system filter
Sand/bleach cabin sole
Replace engine zinc
Replace impellor
Replace engine coolant hoses
Finish cabin sole
Lubricate spinnaker and whisker pole ends
Replace all other running rigging
Install radio
Replace Loran
Replace gunwale scuppers
Rebuild manual bilge pump
Replace float switch for auto-bilge pump
Replace batteries
Rebuild quarter berth shelf
Refit doors and drawers
Reattach trim at companionway
Make mainsail cover
Purchase mainsail
Clean fuel tank
Replace prop zinc
Replace fire extinguishers
Replace flares
Replace PFD’s
Replace rotten wood in anchor locker
Clean/replace anchor rode
Replace scupper in anchor locker
Replace fixed ports
Install opening port in quarter berth
Clean and oil interior
Replace stern lettering and hailing port
Check all nav lights
Install bimini
And there you have it. At least until our next visit when I find more stuff that needs to be completed right away and Suzanne gently reminds me to add it to the list.
But, this is big to-do about something. And that something is Condor. As mentioned before, we have a self-imposed deadline of March 31 to get Condor to the point where she can be launched and sailed from Solomon’s to Baltimore. The deadline is not 100% self imposed. The PO (previous owner) has paid winter storage through March 31. Being cheap, we decided that it was worth the extra push to get Condor in the water before having to pay more storage. And besides, what good is a sailboat sitting in a yard. We want to get her out and sail!
So, we made a big to-do. And a big to-do it is. Close to 40 things. If you haven’t realized, we’re talking about a to-do list. Close to forty items on Condor’s to-do list. Rather, our to-do list for Condor. In a sense, making this big to-do should really help, though at times looking through it can be overwhelming. Suzanne thinks it should help keep me focused. ADD, you know. All too often, she has to call me back to task because I have found some other issue that requires my attention. For instance, while rebedding the deck plate for the water fill, we had to move the whisker pole. She commented that the spring loaded jaw for the pole wasn’t moving freely. Steve to the rescue! I ran and got some lube and spent fifteen minutes getting it moving while Suzanne stood, glaring at me, holding the deck fitting and waiting for me to apply the caulk. She had to remind me that rebedding the deck plate was on the list and freeing the jaw of the whisker pole could be added to the list – after we finish the deck plate.
It should be pointed out, for those of you with little firsthand experience, that ADD is not the inability to pay attention. Rather it is the ability to pay attention to many things. All too often, those of us who benefit from the effects of ADD are called abruptly back to the task that someone else thinks is more important than the many things we’re focusing on. And so, Suzanne calls me back to her deck plate and we complete that task. By the way, the whisker pole jaw works perfectly now.
Armed with our list, we head to Condor. Please remember that she is about a two hour drive away. With our massive list we jump to work. But where do we start? Time to back up again and prioritize our list. This shouldn’t be too hard. We read through each item and quickly decide if it has to be done before launching. For example, apply bottom paint. That generally works much better if the boat is on stands in the boatyard rather than in the water. So bottom painting is a ‘1’ job. Not all tasks are so easily decided. Rebuild and lubricate the winches. Okay, the winches, all eight of them, function, though not as smoothly as we would like. So rebuilding winches is a “2” job. But have you ever disassembled a winch while the boat is in the water? There is always that one spring that likes to jump overboard. Much safer (read ‘cheaper’) to do while the boat is on the hard. Maybe this should be classified as a “1-2”, meaning it would ideally be done before launch, but can wait.
I mentioned the benefits of ADD. In all truthfulness, I’m still looking for them. So if any of you can offer ideas as to the benefits of ADD, please do.
So, the list? In no particular order:
Fair keel
Sand bottom
Paint bottom
Replace cutlass bearing
Buff/wax topsides
Overhaul seacocks
Rebed chainplates
Replace halyards
Tighten toe-rail bolts
Clean/rebuild winches
Replace rotten cabin subfloor
Clean water tanks
Replace water system filter
Sand/bleach cabin sole
Replace engine zinc
Replace impellor
Replace engine coolant hoses
Finish cabin sole
Lubricate spinnaker and whisker pole ends
Replace all other running rigging
Install radio
Replace Loran
Replace gunwale scuppers
Rebuild manual bilge pump
Replace float switch for auto-bilge pump
Replace batteries
Rebuild quarter berth shelf
Refit doors and drawers
Reattach trim at companionway
Make mainsail cover
Purchase mainsail
Clean fuel tank
Replace prop zinc
Replace fire extinguishers
Replace flares
Replace PFD’s
Replace rotten wood in anchor locker
Clean/replace anchor rode
Replace scupper in anchor locker
Replace fixed ports
Install opening port in quarter berth
Clean and oil interior
Replace stern lettering and hailing port
Check all nav lights
Install bimini
And there you have it. At least until our next visit when I find more stuff that needs to be completed right away and Suzanne gently reminds me to add it to the list.
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