Sailboats don't roll – June 14, 2009

I was looking forward to sailing on Jeff's cutter. Unlike most boats, sailboats don't roll. They do pitch but that has never bothered me. I have done a lot of sailing in small boats on the Great Lakes but I had never been on a large sailboat on the ocean. Jeff's boat is about as long as Marc's 36 foot Grand Banks and is a heavy boat but still weighs only half as much as the Grand Banks. As we headed out to sea, I was jubilant with the impending adventure. We cleared the channel and burst into 4 foot rollers that tossed even this heavy boat. I climbed up on the bowsprit and rode the waves.

Another one of the boats from the marina was out and we soon had a race. Jeff's competitive edge showed sharp as a blade as he gave orders to trim the sails for maximum efficiency. Tacking to windward on a northerly route up the coast we soon passed Torry Pines Golf Club with the other boat trailing. Even though the cutter was a much heavier boat, more sail gave us the advantage. Jeff took pity and we dumped wind to allow the other boat to come up. After taking pictures of the other boat and they of us, Jeff brought her back into the wind. I was reminded of the lines from the pirate song by Emmerson, Lake and Palmer: “Closer to the wind my boys, the mad eyed Captain roared. For every man that's alive tonight will be hauling gold aboard”. They soon fell far astern.

Satisfied with our apparent victory and once again feeling a bit queasy, I requested a return to port. Our captain was reluctant as we were making a good nine knots which is excellent for that boat. Nevertheless, he turned and showed off the stability of the boat by jibing downwind. In a small sailboat, making a jibe turn by turning downwind and then coming across the wind is usually a violent maneuver as the main boom crosses quickly from starboard to port. But under Jeff's expert handling we hauled the boom in tight and let the jib and mid-sail pull us across the wind, another advantage of the cutter.

Dave really got an education in relativistic politics (the interplay between brothers) on the trip home. Jeff wanted a tack that would take us directly into the channel but the course was difficult to find with the wind variable and mostly directly up channel. So we tacked back and forth in front of the channel looking for a course that would take us by the point and into the channel. We all discussed the appropriate course while Jeff enjoyed the wind and weather while still making a good seven knots.

Finally, Richard bet Jeff that he couldn't make the channel by 3:00 P.M. With almost intuitive pre-conceptual thinking, Jeff turned the boat downwind directly into the channel just as we were passing the mouth of the channel for a third time.. With a regular sailboat, the downwind position of the sails are “wing on wing” with the jib fully to port and the mainsail fully to port. No wind is lost as the mainsail shovels wind to the jib and maximum speed is attained. It seems slow because you are moving at about the same speed as the wind so there is no breeze. With a cutter, the mid-sail is problematic. If it is on the same side as the mainsail then it is blocked. If it is on the side of the jib, it blocks the jib. That is why Jeff wanted to avoid the downwind tack. With Marc handling trim on the main sail, Richard on the mid sail, me on the jib, and back and forth between all of us, we managed a sloppy but timely entry into the channel five minutes prior to the deadline.

Jeff cooked us another great dinner. We tidied up the boat for the end of the weekend and early in the evening we drove both my brothers to the airport for their flights back to northern California. It would be a short farewell as we would be joining them there shortly.

By coincidence, Dave's friend Tim was in San Diego to participate in a nation wide water competition. Water sports are widespread in San Diego but this competition is not what you would think. These folks are from water departments all over the country and compete in how fast to tap a municipal water connection. It is also a chance to have an industry convention for the tools, supplies and services of the water industry. Held at the San Diego Convention center, at the south end of the gaslight district, the whole place was hopping with conventioneers. We had a drink with Tim at his hotel and then headed back for the marina to pack up.

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