Setting up for Sailing

I have been sailing & racing for over 30 years, first in Lightings, then Dragons, then Thunderbirds and now Thistles. I still race regularly and love it. That's not why I bought this boat. A racing sailboat is not a good fishing or rowing or messing around with the kids boat. There are too many lines, they can be very temperamental, i.e. sails are difficult to adjust just right, usually need constant attention at the helm and while a lot of fun, are less good just for goofing around.

Before I get going let me say a few words about sailing a dory. Dories are not beginner sailboats, they heel way too easily. For that matter I don't think Whitehalls are beginner sailboats either. But if you are used to sailing dinghy's, and don't mind being on and off the rail as the wind rises, puffs, settles etc, its a very nice sailboat. For an open boat, a surprisingly little water comes in over the rail. You heel the thing on its ear and it starts to round up into the wind following the curve of the sides and it slows the boat down and the heel drops off. If you climb on the rail and lean out, it flattens out the boat and then accelerates climbing the waves in front and powering through the chop. For a boat with a flat forefoot, there is no slamming of the bow into the next wave.

That said, I've been applying some of the sailing lessons I learned from those other boats about rigging to this boat.

First, I added a jiffy reef rig setup for the mainsail. The last thing you want to be doing when the wind kicks up is messing around reducing sail. My dory has nylon rings to hold the mainsail to the mast, this makes taking down the mainsail easy as it won't hang up. And when the sail is down its still attached to the mast and ready to go back up again. There were already reef points in the sail, so I added the lines to tie it. (no searching for string when you are in a hurry). I also added a control line and block to the aft reef point. It starts at one end of the boom, (there is a fairlead to tie it to), goes up through the sail, back, down to a cheek block and then forward to a "V" jam cleat on the boom next to the mast. There are photos of this, just keep clicking along this path.

Now the steps to reefing the main sail are, head to wind, ease the halyard about 3 feet, (all the way if you are by yourself) unclip the ring holding the sail to the mast, (put it in your pocket, or back on the mast), stick the grommet in the reef hook, (take it off and turn it around because you threaded it backwards) pull the aft reef line taunt so that the new clew is at the boom. Raise the sail and cleat the halyard. Should take less than one minute, including fussing with the grommet. You can if you want to use the reef lines to roll the foot of the sail up and tie it. This is a good idea if you are going to be sailing this way all day. You can also lower the mainsail all the way, and put the ring that you took off in the top grommet at the head of the sail. (This will hold the sail closer to the mast.) But its not required. Also if you shake out the reef you'll have to move that ring back down to where it belongs otherwise it hangs up on the shrouds.

The trick with the grommet & reef hook is to thread the grommet when the hook is hanging down. Then as the hook rotates up, it threads around the ring and the sail is back facing forward. Pretty slick.

It's all easy because all the reefing lines are right next to the mast and they are pre-rigged.

The next thing to rig is "Lazy Jacks." Lazy Jacks are lines that form a sort of net to catch and hold the mainsail when you reef or take it down. Otherwise the sail ends up in a heap in the cockpit and you can neither row nor sail. When approaching a dock its so much easier to drop the sail and have held all above your head. I have just a two line Lazy Jack. You could rig a four but its overkill with this small sail.

The side lines of the Lazy Jack are tied to the same hooks as the shrouds. Then come down to about 3 to 4 ft above the boom ending in either a Stainless ring or a bullet block. (I had some extra blocks so that's what I used.) The the bottom lines start at the boom on a lift strap, go up to the starboard block, down to the boom and under it through a fairlead, back up to the port side block and down to the mast through either a fairlead or a cheek block and forward to a cleat. You want the aft fairlead about 1/3 the way in from the clew of the sail and the forward lift strap and cheek block about 1/3 the way in from the tack. Now with a single line you can ease or setup the Lazy Jacks.

The operation of the Lazy Jacks is as follows: tension the Lazy Jack control line on the boom, bend on the mainsail, hoist it, now ease the Lazy Jack control line so that it doesn't deform the sail. You could ease it so much that you could bring the lines forward to the mast, but I'm not that concerned with the windage. Lowering the sail is the reverse, ease the mainsheet, tension the Lazy Jack control line, release the main halyard, watch the sail get gathered by the lazy jacks. Re tension the mainsheet and row!

The next thing I added was a track stop for the main outhaul track. This stop is a small car with a screw in it that is screwed into the track at the end to keep the car from coming off. To install I drilled a hole in the track so that the stop was right at the end of the existing track. This means when bending on the mainsail I have to slide the outhaul car on from the outer end of the boom towards the mast, but it won't come off if I release the outhaul while sailing. Which is what I want, because once the car is off the track you'll be lowering the mainsail to get it back on. That's too big a pain. On the other hand to get it off now, you'll have to release the tack first, then slide it off. But that's not something you tend to do while underway. There are a couple of alternatives here. The first is to knot the line so that after you tie onto the clew, it just can't get past the spot in the cleat to let the car off the beginning of the track. The alternate car stop is a large screw in the boom just at the end of the track. Pretty simple.

I've also rigged a vang. I'm not sure you'll agree that its needed but I like to be able to control the boom when I'm running before the wind, and a vang helps a lot. However the boom I have was not designed for it, so I may end up making a new one. (Before I bust this one or after???) There wasn't an attachment strap on the mast. I found one that was designed for a boom and bent it to fit the mast. I may have gone overboard but it has 6 rivets holding it onto the mast. The line is a 3:1 with a fiddle block and cam cleat on one end and clips at both ends so I can use it or remove it as needed. Going upwind you don't tend to need a vang and its in the way of the crew when tacking. When attaching the bail to the boom, put it about 1 1/2 ft to 2ft from the mast. Any further and the angle is too acute to get a pull down instead of inward.

The other plan I'm working on is to make some drop in seats to sit on along the side of the boat on inside. If you look at the photo of the Crawford Boatyard Swampscott dory you'll see what I mean. When you are sailing, you are nearly always sitting on one side of the boat or the other. When rowing you want to sit in the middle to keep the boat level. The basic boat has cross the cockpit bench seats which are great for rowing. For sailing I end up sitting on the gunnel which is only 2 1/2 inches wide. That's hard on the bum after sitting all day. So I am thinking that if I could rig some seats that sat on the inside floatation rails that were held in place by a couple of fast pins, I could put them in when we go sailing and take them out for fishing. I'll have one cross bench seat just aft of the centerboard trunk so that if we are becalmed I can row us home. But the sliding seat will be out. When I make them I'll put up some photos and diagrams.

The next project was to mount a bilge pump. I'm also using a sponge and a cutout milk jug to bail. That works, but I would prefer a pump as well for getting a really swamped boat dry again. The pump I got is a #10 Whale Gusher. I mounted it under the front seat with the handle facing aft. That way its out of the way of the crew. If you have the sail rig, be sure to mount the pump aft enough so that the pickup hose does not point directly at the mast step. There is no way to make the hose bend in that short distance without collapsing it. I ended up screwing this up the first time and now have a bunch of bolt holes to fill. (It was a bad day, don't ask.). I've also got a 1 1/2" exit pipe fitting mounted in the second board from the top so that the water exits cleanly. Mostly that board is above the waterline. (except when severely healing) But it means no fusing with the pump when you really need it. You still have to sponge the last quart of water out but most of it will be gone.

All of this is some extra work. If you really want to spend more time sailing than rowing, start with a boat that's more set up for sailing, like the Lobster boat or the Jersey Skiff, or the Mellonseed, or whatever. But I love to tinker and rowing is what I do most of the time so the fixing of the boat to be "better" for sailing has been a fun project.

If you decide that you want your boat setup like mine, either arrange to rig it yourself or talk to Dave and have him do this the first time. Dave does custom work and he'll get the parts at wholesale. Plus it will eliminate a few extra small holes in your boat. The basic sailing rig that comes from Gig Harbor boats is functional, works, and is reasonably priced. These enhancements add a bit more to the cost, but for me are well worth it. (Especially the jib & mainsheet blocks, get those!)

I think the only other complaint I've heard from another Swampscott Dory owner, is that the two piece mast and shrouds are difficult to rig while out in the water. It can be done if you loosely attach the shrouds to the cleats and then walk the mast up. But it is tricky. Practice on a warm day with light wind close to shore. Of course the pile of mast, boom etc in the boat will be in the way for rowing, So don't expect to use the sliding seat with the mast down, but there is worse cargo. The old sprit or gunter rig looks easier because it does not have a jib, or boom, or any mast supports and the mast is shorter. I may make one sometime just for fun. To use while fishing, you know, just the sprit pole and a roughly square main sail. Those old time fisherman often rigged their dories with this setup so it can't be all that bad. Have a look at the Mellonseed rig, that's what is what I'm thinking about. I suspect it won't go upwind as well but I'll have it with me. Anyway that's a project for another year.