26 Jul 24:
Nice weather for a sail and a photo shoot, we took our 1981 AMF Sunfish named MADISON out for the first time on the James River. As mentioned in an earlier post, we had the boom set too low for our liking, so the first few photos are of Skipper going out and returning immediately so we could adjust the gooseneck.
Even sitting in the cockpit and ducking, the boom is still too low for a recreational sail. But we have nice wind and a few small waves. Winds were around 6-8 knots with a few puffs coming off of a rain shower about 15 miles distant. Mostly cloudy skies added to the pleasantness with the water temp at 82F and air temp at 75F, dewpoint 74F.
MADISON has been in the family since the late 1990s, she spent a bit of time teaching new sailors at Corpus Christi State University, and after being sold as surplus she found her way to Skipper's parents. We can't remember how and when, but she worked her way from the Texas Gulf Coast over to the Florida Gulf Coast, spending some time on Escambia Bay and then East Bay. Now here she is in the Mid-Atlantic region. Is she trying to get back to Waterbury, CT?
We slide the gooseneck well forward, maybe 16-18 inches from the forward end of the lower boom, which is a little further forward than our normal 19-21 inch setting. We could also tie the halyard 6-12 inches lower on the upper boom. But this setup got us sailing today, with decent lower boom clearance above the deck and the aft end of the lower boom angled up a bit. We like the lower boom set high, the way ALCORT shows in all of their advertising photos, but you may notice in other photos that modern day racers set the sail rig very low.
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| Image Credit: Ginnie Gilson Spofford Lake Sunfish Regatta July 13th, 2024 |
Anyway, we like what we call "The Geezer Rig." And check out our beautiful custom sail, made by Hunter and his crew at Schurr Sailing Pensacola.
Video: Skipper and MADISON Fly By
Back to the beach. Low tide by the way, we used the dolly to roll the boat about 50 feet out before there was enough water to launch, even then we didn't have full clearance for the daggerboard. We like how the nose wheel rolled, so we didn't have to hold the bow the entire time. The dolly rolled so well that we had to turn it sideways to keep the dolly and boat from rolling back into the bay.
A few photos follow of a recreational rigged boat. At the top of the upper boom here, the tack of the sail, take notice of the outhaul line and that there is a sail ring on the last grommet, some folks forget to add that ring. The outhaul can be adjusted as desired, tight for high winds to depower the sail a bit, and loose for "loose" winds to add more cup or draft back to the sail.
On MADISON we have a long bungee run from the bow handle back to the daggerboard, the bungee's is to be a retaining line to keep the daggerboard from floating away after a capsize. The ideal length is to have just enough tension on the bungee so that the top of the daggerboard is pulled forward enough to keep it from sliding down into the trunk....for some folks...that is where I like it. The Skipper likes to have a loose retaining line, so she clips the bungee around the mast when she goes out.
We use a Sunfish snap shackle on one end of the bungee, so that we can easily unsnap to move or remove the line.
Skipper got becalmed last time she was out, for at least two minutes and twelve seconds, so she is going to start taking a paddle with her as entertainment. Here's one spot to stow it, another way is to slide the handle under the halyard. And many Sunfishers keep a shorter telescoping paddle in the cockpit. Also shown in this photo is how we like to stow the excess halyard. One last note about the sail and booms, it is easiest to put the sail, lower boom and upper boom on the port side of the mast so that the halyard can run free from the top of the mast down to the deck fairlead/bullseye. If the sail is on the starboard side, then there is a big mess of sail and booms to try and work around when raising or lowering the sail, and either you are reaching behind the sail to get to the halyard or if the halyrd runs outside of the booms, then it fouls the sail when the rig is raised. How to remember which side the sail and booms go to? One way is to remember is the "Right is Wrong" meaning sail on the right side is wrong :)
The daggerboard retaining line is attached to a daggerboard handle through a 1/4 inch hole that was drilled into the handle at the factory. The earliest daggerboards do not have this hole, because it took a while for folks to realize that it would be a good idea to keep the daggerboard from floating way, as it is needed to right the boat after a capsize. To right the boat, insert the daggerboard fully, swim around to the bottom side, push down on the end of the daggerboard to use it as a lever to get the boat rolling upright. Then grab the deck edge and haul yourself back aboard over the side, or over the stern.
Capn Jack always liked using a line bridle over the factory wire bridle, and he added a little block to clip a snap shackle to for the sheet. He liked the sound of the block going back and forth and the ease of the snap shackle over tying a bowline knot. There are many variation on this theme, one of which is using a bridle block to create a 2:1 purchase by starting the sheet on the lower boom, running the sheet down to a single bridle block, back up to the aft boom block, forward to the forward boom block and down to the cockpit, where another slew of variations happens with open fairleads or swivel cam cleats or stand up ratchet blocks or...FWIW MADSION has a swivel cam cleat (factory) which I use, but Skipper likes the sheet coming right off of the boom straight to her hands, she don't need no stinkin fairleads and will be the first to tell us to never cleat a dinghy sheet.
AMF Alcort Division. The 1/8 inch hole above the cockpit bulkhead sticker is a hull vent, do not plug it. Without the vent, air inside the hull will heat up, expand and create enough volume to pop a deck/hull seam or pull internal foam blocks loose.
The original Cool Cat AMF cubby cooler...
Did we mention how much we like the nosewheel?
MADISON in the foreground and our photship CLARK lounging on the beach.
Field Trials with the trailer winch were a success, operated by the Trailer Wench aka Skipper aka Dock Line Wench and Galley Wench.
We are also very happy with the Railblaza C-Tug kayak cart.
Video: C-Tug
650 Cold Cranking Amps for the winch is plenty, as is 100 minute reserve. The winch motor has to be cooled 14 minutes for every 45 seconds of cranking, we assume this means when pulling a full 2000 pound load.
Updated the Marine Traffic Control Board.
Log of MADISON
