dooody doo deee doo

Overnight Trip to Muskegon.

On Friday I had it in my mind to head to Saugatuck and actually make a passage in Allez!. After doing some research I found that Saugatuck although charming, is not the best place to spend the night "on the hook". I'm cheap, and I didn't want to pay for a set of 4 traveling dock lines, along with paying the transient rate at a marina there, so I decided to trek up to Muskegon which is excellent for anchoring out.

I left at noon on Saturday, with following seas and great winds on a beam reach to Muskegon. The seas were fairly large, with 4-6 foot waves. Allez! loves being driven downwind, and Saturday was no exception. I had the jib up, along with an unreefed main all day in 15-18 knot winds. The theoretical hull speed of Allez!, with a 19.6 foot waterline is 5.8 knots and I spent all 6 hours between 5.2 and 6.5 knots on the GPS. This really moving for a 25 foot boat with little to no planing areas and a crew of one. I set up a sheet to tiller steering system running a messenger line from the jib sheet through a turning block and to the windward side of the tiller. The leeward side of the tiller got a few bungees and it was off to the races. On a broad reach, Allez! does a great job steering herself, even in biggish seas The run up to Muskegon took just over 4 and a half hours from breakwater to breakwater, which is pretty damn fast for a 25 mile run in a 25 foot boat.

The Muskegon breakwater was a bit of a challenge for the outboard, big seas were kicking at the entrance, and keeping the prop in the water was a challenge. I think sailing in such a way to depend on auxiliary is reasonably short sighted. There was more then enough room to tack up the channel with just the main up. The quick run up the lake about a mile to Snug Harbor was quite nice - Dunes and scrubby scenery along with a cadre of drunken rafted powerboats was about all there was to see.

Setting the anchor was a bit interesting. Allez! being a racer, sits a bit weird at anchor. She wants to work upwind, even under bare poles and little wind. So I was typically pointed a different direction than the traditional looking sloops who were also anchored out. The main casualty of the anchoring was my little shortwave radio. As I let the anchor line out, a strand of rope grabbed the radio and chucked it overboard. If the bitter end of the anchor line was secured, I would've jumped in after it, but I rather lose a radio than an anchor.

The trip back to Holland was a bit more trying than the trip up. Although the seas were much smaller, the wind required me to run Allez! straight downwind. I tried a number of combinations of sails, including the main, and jib - the main and jib and poled out drifter - and the poled out drifter and jib with a furled main. The winds were flakey, so I made a bunch of sail changes along with poling/depoling the headsails. Eventually a good wind came up, and a poled out drifter and a full main took me back to Holland at 5+ knots. The return trip took about 9 hours, and was a much bigger challenge than the trip up.

All in all it was a fun weekend. I need a dinghy or kayak so I can get out and about when I get to where I'm headed. Also, an autopilot and an extra long shaft outboard would make life a ton easier.

Motoring out of Muskegon Harbor on Sunday morning

Running with a jib, poled out drifter and a furled mainsail

The NOAA building at the base of the Muskegon breakwater

The Muskegon nautical museum, the long grey thing is a huge submarine

Anchored out on Muskegon lake

Tour for Super-Rookie, First double handed sail, The ol' switcheroo, Tiller Tamed and GPS (West Marine donation)

I made a crappy cell phone video tour of Allez! for the Super-Rookie - Enjoy! (or don't)



Went out on the big lake on Saturday with a friend for the first double handed sail of Allez! The workload was much lighter, and we had a fun time out on the Big Lake. It was the biggest swell I've been in yet, with waves averaging 6-8 feet in height. The reefing points in the headsails work like a charm, and do a great job depowering the boat, and as an added bonus are really easy to put in. Drop the halyard a bit, and scramble to the foredeck to pull the sail down to a higher clew. I've yet to set up the jiffy reefing system for the main, but with as small as the main is it would have to be 20+ knots before it would take a reef.

Went out again singlehanded on Sunday afternoon. I decided on Sunday morning that I'd have the day off, but I changed my mind when I thought there'd be a good chance at a Lake Michigan sunset. The winds were steady from the West at about 10 knots for the first hour or so on the lake, but suddenly the winds came up enough to start the whitecaps forming. I quickly got a very necessary reef in the genoa in, but as fast as the wind came it went away. I was becalmed for about 20 minutes, making less than a half a knot towards the Holland Breakwater. I used the time to check the calibration on the sextant that my Uncle Jim gave to me. With a little fiddling it seems to work fine, although I need to get an almanac to get proper positions with it. About 3 miles from the breakwater the wind started coming up from the East. The wind had switched 180 degrees, and I would now have to beat upwind to the Breakwater. I managed a whole day of sailing closehauled, both to and from the harbor entrance.

I made my donation to West Marine last week and purchased a Davis Tiller Tamer, and a Garmin Colorado 400 GPS.

The Tiller Tamer works great at holding the tiller where you leave it. Simple deal. Allez! sails herself very well with a lashed tiller (especially into the wind), so the skipper can go and make sail changes, etc.. without manning the steering. Not as nice as a windvane (5,000 dollars) or an auto pilot (400-1000 dollars), but for 30 bucks it's worth every penny.

I've been really impressed as well with the Garmin Colorado 400 GPS. It's a handheld chartplotter with all the Great Lakes and Coastal maps built in. The nice thing for a singlehander is that it clips on to my vest, and is always easy to get at. I use Garmin products at work, so the interface is familiar as well. Although it's no replacement for good seamanship, it makes getting out to the lake without bumping the bottom very very easy.

Next time I'll have updates on some structural issues, the ongoing outboard saga, and details of tomorrows sail.

Kedgication, Autopilot, Shear Pins

Went out on Monday and managed to REALLY run myself aground again. The North end of the channel on Lake Macatawa is really poorly marked, and poor Allez! draws quite a bit of water for a 25 foot boat. So, I got to try out my kedging skills. Throw anchor as far out as you can, winch the boat along, pull up the anchor and repeat. About 45 minutes later, I was off the shoal and back into the channel. I've noticed singlehanding is very similar to flying in a single pilot environment, like at work. Always too much to do, and not enough time to do it. I've mastered the art of flying by myself, but singlehanding a relatively complicated sailboat is proving to be a bit of a challenge. After my kedging, it took me at least 30 minutes to get the boat to a modicum of order - untangling lines, and storing the anchor are quite hard while underway when the boat doesn't steer itself. So, I'm planning on buying a cheap autopilot to help with the steering duties. They're not cheap, but I think it'll be worth it in the reduction of panic.

On my way back into the marina, I accidentally bonked my rudder into the propeller of Linda's motor, breaking the shear pin. I'll always remember Linda doing the same thing with the same motor on Truant waaaaay back when, so irony rules the day. The shear pin, for those who don't know, is a little piece of soft metal that is made to break when the propeller stops suddenly. This prevents damage to the engine internals. So today, I bought a new shear pin, along with a new water pump for the outboard, just to be safe. The little 4 horse seems to run better every time it starts, but alas, Allez! will need a bigger motor with a longer driveshaft soon.

Saturday sail, Man overboard, Leaks, Recovery and Cleaning Day.

Had a nice sail up Macatawa, and on to Lake Michigan on Sunday. The wind dropped out on the lake so I decided to strike the Genoa and put up the Drifter for the first time. This is a huge headsail made of very light cloth. For the first time I used the dual track arrangement on the headfoil to raise one sail and at the same time drop the other. This worked well, but the lashed helm doesn't work so well during changes so an autopilot is in the budget. Singlehanding without steering assistance is proving to be quite the chore but it seems to be like my job; too many things to do, and not enough time to do them - prioritize or die. Managed to run aground as well - after reviewing the charts the night before, I mentally noted areas NOT to sail. I promptly sailed right into the Macatawa Middle Grounds but was able to heel Allez! over enough to escape the shallow area.

Along with running aground, another occasion of poor seamanship reared its ugly head on Saturday. After 5 hours of sailing, most of it upwind, and 2 of it in rain putting Allez! away on the dock was the only task left for the day. I made a decent show of it, without having to use the outboard motor. While scrambling to secure the 3rd dockline, I slipped on the wet deckhouse, and managed to shoot between the lifeline and the toe-rail. I managed to grab the toe-rail, and hoist myself up on the deck with no shortage of adrenaline. After securing Allez!, I pondered the the actions that let up to the incident. Although I've been exceedingly careful, especially out on the "Big Water", you can never let your guard down. I always used to tell students that you must fly the airplane until you set the parking brake. Same. Deal.

After securing Allez!, I managed to put the wet sails in the cockpit lockers, along with the sheets. I lashed the mainsail down, but with a thunderstorm approaching I kept my exposure to the elements to a minimum, leaving much work to be done on Sunday. After raining like crazy for a 3 hours, some leaks started to manifest themselves on Allez!. I think most of these have to do with bedding on the toe-rail, which I'm NOT going to tackle. At least I know where to intercept the leaks in the future. Some easy and obvious things need to be re-bed, including the handrails on the deckhouse.

Sunday was a drying/laundry/recovery/cleaning day. Living in a tiny space takes an extra-ordinary amount of work to keep in decent living condition. Keeping things in sailing shape is an even bigger challenge. I Vacuumed, scrubbed, and organized most of the boat, and dried and folded most of Allez!'s sail wardrobe. I made the pilgrimage back to Grand Rapids to do some laundry and continue the move in/move out process. Three straight days of single handed sailing have left me battered bruised and worn out as well. Even though the conditions were ideal today, I'm happy I took care of essential business.

Pics and a video tour for Super-Rookie are in the works for tomorrow,

Lake Michigan, Self Steering, Genoa.

Woke up and discovered that somebody tried to steal my crappy 50 dollar Yakima rack off the trunk of my car. Ghetto dock indeed.Dave the drunk asked if I had tie-downs in my car so I could help him move a couch he spotted to his boat. How one can make a couch fit on a 23 foot boat is beyond me, I can barely fit my bare essentials onto a 25 footer. Waited out a morning storm, and pulled out of the slip around noon. It was an easy sail up to the harbor entrance and I decided to sail through the breakwater with power, even if it appeared to be an easy reach through to the lake. I was happy I did this, as the winds through the channel went a bit crazy. Experience duly noted. It was a bit intimidating to be out on the lake, but it was a nice easy day with steady 10 knot winds. What I noticed the most was the color change of the water leaving the river and on to the lake - muddy brown changes to a brilliant dark greenish blue.

after sailing on the lake for a bit, I felt a bit hungry so I decided to rig up some self steering gear. I found that if I rigged a bungee from the weather side of the boat to the headsail cleat,a normal lashing to the lee rail and a messenger line from the tail end of the mainsheet to the middle of the lashing Allez! would sail herself very nicely. The development of the self steering system will be a point of constant discussion on the blog from now on, but it's VERY encouraging to see Allez! so willing to take direction.

Feeling a bit adventurous and with the wind steady at about 10 knots, Allez! was begging for more sail. The first headsail change on open water was a bit unnerving but it went off without a hitch. The headfoil fore-stay allows you to raise two headsails at once during a change, but I opted to drop the jib and then raise the genoa after switching the sheets over. I think to do the change correctly with 2 sails up at once would require 2 sets of sheets (which I have), and 2 sets of snatch blocks (which I don't have). It was interesting to work on the foredeck with a harness and jackline. It's a bit difficult to navigate around when you're attached to the boat but it's nice being clipped in on such a big piece of water.

More to come, enjoy the crappy cell phone videos.

Outboard Issues, First Sail, Ghetto Dock.

Today started with great enthusiasm. I was going to go out, get the outboard shook down, run a few errands and sail down to Crescent Shores by the noon hour to get acquainted with my new home. Wishful. Thinking. My first errand, legally disposing of the remaining gas in the previous owners tank took a turn for the worse when the very odd fellow at the Ottawa County Waste Disposal Facility told me it would take 7-10 days to dump my gas out, and give me my tank back. So I resorted to plan B; spend money. I bought a new tank and hose to go along with Linda's 4HP Sailmaster. When I got back to the boat and mounted the bracket on the transom, It was obvious that a ton of wood was going to have to be trimmed to make everything work. after a solid hour of cutting and sanding, I finally got the bracket to fit on the Allez!. When I put the motor on the bracket, It was damn obvious that the motor was too high out of the water. In fact, the prop was barely touching the substance that is meant to make the boat go. I was able to cut down the bracket with a hacksaw and a dangerously crabby jigsaw. FINALLY the motor was reasonably happy on the bracket, so I tried to start it. Nothing. More of nothing. I finally figured out that if you squirted a bit of gas in the carburetor, the motor would run. Must be carb issues. Pulled the carb off, and of course the fuel line cracked. Drive to AutoZone to grab a new bit of hose and scramble back to the marina. At this point it was almost 2pm. I then commenced pulling on the starter cord until my arm was about to fall off. Nothing. Pulled the carb off, and poked, prodded and generally teased the little thing into submission. It took four removals until the thing ran, and I couldn't actually tell you what I did, but it worked. So, happy to have a running auxiliary, I prepped Allez! for the sail upriver.

It turns out that there is/was something off about the outboard. The amount of thrust seems tiny, and about 1 knot is about all that I can expect with the power plant in the current state. Consequently, the poor dock-boy at Eldean didn't know of the sorry capabilities of the outboard. I did manage to back out of the slip without harm to Allez! or anybody else but it wasn't in fine fashion. I got the mainsail up as soon as I could and was happy to shut the stricken outboard down. I've never sailed a boat with mainsail slides; I was quite impressed with their ease of use. Pull up the halyard to make the sail go up, and vice-versa.

Allez! Isn't much of a sailing vessel with out the headsail raised. In fact, the tiny mainsail makes her a yawn without headsail power. After coming to grips with singlehanding with the main up for a bit, I decided to throw up the sail marked "Jib" figuring it would be a smallish heavy air sail. What a surprise. The "Jib" was a 120% lapper, rather than a little easy peasy headsail. Although the winds were varying between 5-15 knots, the "Jib" was plenty of power for the conditions, at least singlehanded. Allez! proved to be a bit hard to balance; it will take a considerable amount of time to learn to sail her competently singlehanded. Although the boat rates much slower than the J/24, Allez! feels far more dangerous and way less stable than the boat I have most of my experience on. Like a 25 foot dinghy.

My slip at Crescent Shores is a singlehanders dream. Nosed into the prevailing wind with a ton of shelter, and a clear run to the dock. Docking was easy, and I was met by a bit of an odd fellow who apparently runs the marina. Although nice enough, the management here seems to be in a permanent state of some kind of PTSD/Bad acid flashback mindset. Very odd, so I say as little as I can and for 300 a month transient, I can put up with a lot.

The guy next to me is Jim. He has a 80's SeaRay 26 Express, just like my Dad's. He seems a nice fellow - he lives aboard during the week because of work and to get away from the wife. Or so he tells me. We're already scheming to get a dock ladder installed so jumping on to my boat won't be so treacherous. Also, he drove me to my car at Eldean.

Jim warned me the fellow on the port side of me. His name is Dave, and he lives aboard his Pearson 23. Jim tells me he's retired, and a hardcore alcoholic. Apparently Dave has place on the outskirts of the marina where he in Jim's words, "Get's polluted, and listens to the baseball game".

B dock here is known here as "Ghetto Dock." All I know is it is FAR more interesting than Eldean.