Carlyle sailing

[Fastdoc98]

Finally got off the driveway and got the bottom wet!  Beautiful day out on Carlyle Reservoir with temps in the 70's and winds anywhere from 10-18 with some gusts that I swear were 25+, but fairly steady and not overly blustery.  I wasn't able to successfully reef the main as the cleat won't hold and unfortunately West Marine is extremely slow getting my parts order out so I haven't put in the new reefing system yet, but I was able to get through everything just fine.  This little boat is a stout little thing for sure.  Had lunch in the cabin near shore shielded from the wind while I listened to music, then headed back to the north end of the lake to pick up my daughter off the dock and have her with me for a couple hours.  We saw lots of loons diving and fishing, a heron or two, and a few big fish flipping out of the water.  Winds really picked up near the end and I was really heeled over which made coming in to the dock directly into the wind a little challenging, but I cheated and motored in the last little bit.  I've successfully gotten this boat on and off the trailer twice now without getting wet other than my feet, so I consider that a win!  Hope everyone is staying healthy and getting a chance to get out as well. 

[crazycarl]

Thanks for the write up.  Carlyle is a great lake to sail.

[waterwheels]

I install the boom vang on my Eclipse the other way around. Puts the cleat close enough to adjust from cockpit. User preference though.

Glad you had a good sail, our marina is still closed with Covid-19, so boat still in driveway for now.

Don
"Living Water"

[Fastdoc98]

I actually did run it the other way the last time I was out, but this time I forgot and put it on with the cleat near the mast.  You're absolutely right, it's not very user friendly in that position.  I've only had my boat out 3 times since I bought it last fall so I'm still getting the hang of trailering/rigging and clearly don't have it down yet.

[kickingbug1]

    hey doc, ill keep on the lookout for your eclipse. we will be sailing today on our Catalina 18 " Audrey j". send me a pm if you want to get together for a little "racing"

[Fastdoc98]

I wish I could and I appreciate the invite, but duty calls today...??.

[kickingbug1]

do you sail out of csa doc

[Fastdoc98]

No, I trailer down to sail as I live about 1-1/2 hours away.  Keyesport is the shortest commute and Dam West would be the longest coming from northeast of the lake.  I was considering getting a slip at one of the yacht clubs but I'm just not ready to commit to that yet and with the Eclipse being so easy to actually trailer sail I prefer to keep it on my driveway where its under a cover and ready to go anytime.  My goal is to be able to visit other lakes as well - Patoka, Monroe, Kentucky, maybe even Door County.  If I want a quick day out I can be at Lake Shelbyville in 40 minutes, although it's certainly not the best lake for sailing.  But the worst day sailing is better than the best day at work.

[alsantini]

Very cool Doc.  I hope the conversion to a better way of reefing works out.  Mine has worked well for about 5 years so far.  The original system through the boom stinks.  Maybe it works OK when the boat is new but I think most here have changed it over.  My clam cleat is not the best but it works.  I need to replace the reef line with some stay set once West Marine is open.  Off the Wind is now in the water.  Launched yesterday with what seemed like a thousand other boats.  Two men were actually directing traffic at the ramp to keep it all moving.  Many of the marinas were launching their boats.  The Chain of Lakes has been closed for over a week because of flooding and yesterday became a great day to launch.  I will go tomorrow and step the mast and put the head sail on, and sail a bit......  Enjoy the boat.  I will see you on the water hopefully this summer.  Don't fall for Steve's race post.  He loves baiting Eclipse owners....  and he is fast!  LOL  Sail On.  Al

[Fastdoc98]

At this point I'm not going to sail next to anybody out of fear of embarrassing myself, but in my head I'm the coolest!  Today I spent a little time doing some rigging alterations after my West Marine order came in.  I'm going to say alterations instead of improvements so I don't jinx myself, but the intention was to improve the performance.  I've not been happy with the jib cleats the way they came as there's a wire fairlead at the front that really pinches down the jib sheet and when you release the jib sheet from the cleat it would hang up and cause a lot of friction and often times just get caught in the cleat again so I bought a composite/carbon fairlead for the Ronstan cleats that I hope will work better.  I also changed out the horn cleat for the jib furler for a Harken extreme angle cam cleat which again I'm hoping will work better than the original.  I also riveted an eyestrap and a Ronstan cheekblock to the aft end of the boom and screwed a jam cleat at the fore end of the boom to improve the reefing line.  Sorry, didn't take any pics of the reefing upgrade as I was sweating through my clothes by that point and just wanted to button it up and get in out of the sun ASAP.  Below should be pics of the original Ronstan jib cleat and the new fairleads as well as the new Harken extreme angle jib furling line cleat.

[Fastdoc98]

Last one

[crazycarl]

At this point I'm not going to sail next to anybody out of fear of embarrassing myself, but in my head I'm the coolest!

If you want to look good sailing, sail next to me, I'll make you look like Slocum himself!