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West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
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Well, I did it. Dont tell the boss, but snuk out of work at 3 yesterday
and took advantage of the 65 degree day. Wife and I took the new dinghy
out for her first sail. She fit in the back of the pickup easily and with
just the mast roll, sail kit parts bag and a pfd, we were off.
Destination: small 3 acre lake 1 mile from the house. (and 85% of it now
wasnt covered with ice!)
Now dont tell the city parks folks, but without a boat permit, this
activity was **illegal**, then again, all them public types was off
lounging yesterday on account of celebrating some old dead guys that used
to live on Pennsylvania Ave in Washington.
We backed the truck up to the little ramp, dropped the boat, stuck the mast
in the hole, ran a few lines (about 60 seconds), and shazam! we were ready
to sail. I soloed while the wife looked after the little skipper in the
stroller around the path of the lake.
I rowed out, then dropped the CB into the trunk, and dropped the rudder
into the gudgeons. A little breeze and we were off and running. It sailed
great. I'd pitch it against the potter for speed, they seem really
similar, about 2-5 knts in general conditions.
After sailing for an hour on all points of sail here are my observations:
1. The boom is pretty low, so its best to sit in the hull rather than on
the middle seat. Setting on the rear seat raises the bow way too much.
2. The sail could do well to have one of those little windows. No other
boats out yesterday (not very common there anyway) but a real pain to have
to stoop down or bend your head down to look under the boom and see what
you might be on the way to run into.
3. The little vang dosent work very well, the rope seems to too easily
slip through the plastic v notch fitting on the boom underside. I had to
keep tightening it and that was hard with a hand on the tiller and the
other on the free main sheet.
4. The tiller is too long or should be hindged for upward movement. When
I sat in the hull behind the center seat, the tiller would hit my back
because the tiller was too long. Without a hinged tiller, i couldnt lift
it up over me like we can on our potters, I will likely shorten it with a
worm screw clamp as a stopper. This should take care of the problem and it
dosent need to be the regular length for enough leverage.
5. The main sheet was a little difficult to manage--the line itself that
is, I had to do some wraps around my hand or thumb to get good pulling
leverage. It is a loose system, no cleating, etc. I did buy a v fiddle
block for this but not sure if its a good idea to install it for quick
reaction. Also though got tired of holding it and having to loop it for
traction.
6. The hull really flexes. I was forewarned about this and the experience
was unnerving at first. I would catch some good wind and looking at the
bow I saw significant heel. But, I would also look at the stern at the
same time and the transom was completely flat--no heeling--that means boat
twist, so I adapted and learned that when I was heeled over 25 degrees, it
was only the front of the boat and I didnt have to worry about the gunwale
going into the very inviting 33 degree water.
7. Although I wore a vest PFD, I made the mistake of not bringing a life
cushon. My butt could really feel that 33 degree water through the plastic
Poly resin hull. A cushion would have helped a lot, wont be an issue in
summer.
8. I tracked a lot of muddy water residue into the white boat while
boarding. Should have brought a sponge to clean it up and i would have
been happier. Plus might have kept my jeans drier--but no big deal, it did
clean up easily later.
9. I had a lot of onlookers, sailing craft (and any craft for that matter
other than small vinyl inflatables) are a rarity on this little but popular
neighborhood lake. It was kind of fun to be showcased. Especially in
winter in Colorado.
10. Returning to shore was difficult, Im supposed to pull the CB and
rudder then row in. I pulled the CB but with a flying boom in a small
boat, rowing wasnt really a viable option so I slid (no CB) drift sailed
into the ramp. The kickup rudder bottomed out as I did, no damage or
scratching of any consequence. May be the way to do it.
We pulled the main sheet out, lifted the boom (hinged at the gooseneck) so
the stern end of the boom went to the mast head, then rolled the folded
sail around the mast/boom into a long rod and pulled it up out of the boat,
pulled the cb and rudder assembly into the sail kit bag and threw the bag,
the mast and the hull with oars into the back of the truck and we were off
(about 4 minutes derigging/packing up time).
Its a great system for the most part. I highly recommend it.
I do think I will rig a simple topping lift system that will hoist the boom
aft end up to the masthead making the process easier. This might help
while out to de rig the sail/boom so one can have room and be unhindered by
the boom to row back or into the ramp/dock etc...
Thomas Westerman
WalkerBay 8' Sailing Dinghy "LeiLulu"
(and P19 #578)
Colorado Springs, CO
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