First Sail

[Davo]

First on this boat anyways,

Friday night winds were about 10-12 knots and I decided to venture out of the marina cove for a mini-shakedown sail before sunset.  I unfurled the jib and had the main ready but didn't raise it, I just motor-sailed about a 1/4 way across the lake and back.  I wasn't sure about the furler before, and after how much of a hassle it was to rig up I was even more unsure, but once I got to experience using it underway, I am instantly sold on it.



Sunday the winds were pretty light, maybe 1-3 knots at the most with moments of dead calm coming and going.  I figured it would be perfect to just get out and actually hoist all of the sails just to make sure the rigging was all sorted out.  I started out with the jib and brought the main up and it was really slow going, that is, until I brought out the stay sail and hanked that on and hoisted it up as well.  Below I am getting ready to put up the staysail, excuse the mess of line, I need to add some more hardware to get it all organized.  Between the furler, main, staysail, extra jib halyard, spinnaker rigging and lazy jacks (I haven't even attempted to get those sorted out yet) things are pretty messy right now.  Plus the boat needs a good cleaning.



With all three sails up it was perfectly balanced and smooth sailing, and when the winds picked up around sunset to about 6-8 knots it was absolutely perfect.  I am wondering if the PO intended to rig the boat up as a cutter instead of just having the extra inner stay for a storm/stay sail, with the jib completely unfurled it still seems pretty small by itself, but with both headsails up it seemed to be the right amount of area to have out.  I'll refine that opinion when I get to sail in some heavier winds though.



I have to furl the jib to tack so it doesn't foul on the inner stay, really it's no big deal, just an extra step in the process.  I definitely don't have enough cleats for two sheets on each side in addition to the halyards, and the cleats on there already are showing signs of age.  Luckily, the boat came with enough new cleats to replace and add as necessary.

I thought about flying the spinnaker while the wind was slow, but I figure I'll save that for later, probably when I'm not going out solo as well.

Also, I caught dinner!


Just kidding, it was so small I could barely tell it was on the line, he went back in the lake after a glamour shot.  you can see in the earlier picture I mounted some rod holders to the stern rail, I figure if I'm out sailing on the lake I might as well try to catch something tasty

[NateD]

The clew on your jib is really cut high, which looks great for visibility, but in combination with the small overlap, makes for a pretty small jib. The PO either sailed in an area with really high wind, or was planning on sailing it as a cutter. Cutting the jib down would also make it easier to tack through the small slot, but if he was trying to make things easier in general, adding a whole nother sail was going in the wrong direction (again unless he was in a real windy area and it was either-or proposition).

Either way, looks like fun, will be interested to hear how it does with more wind.

[Bob23]

Davo:
   That looks like an interesting traveller someone installed on your rear deck for the mainsheet. Looks like something similair to a catboat traveller. Kinda cleans up the mess of lines that are typical on the 23. Like mine.
   If I scale your dinner catch according to your boat photos, looks like he's about 7 to 8 feet long. Quite a dinner!
bob23

[LConrad]

That traveler is very interesting. I bought some parts to do about the same thing, and I am just deciding how to mount them. Closeup pictures would be greatly appreciated if you get a chance to post any.

Also, does anybody know if the standard CP23 mainsheet hardware is screwed or bolted in position? Nuts on the bolts might be really hard to reach way back up there.

[Bob23]

bolts and nuts. I cut an access hole behind the fuel tank cover to get to the nuts when I removed everything for varnishing. I have teak pads under the standing blocks.
bob23

[Davo]

That traveler is very interesting. I bought some parts to do about the same thing, and I am just deciding how to mount them. Closeup pictures would be greatly appreciated if you get a chance to post any.

Also, does anybody know if the standard CP23 mainsheet hardware is screwed or bolted in position? Nuts on the bolts might be really hard to reach way back up there.

That might be a little better, it's pretty much a bent bar with a traveler car on it and then a pulpit eye on each end to tie the control lines to, I'll need to add some cam cleats each side to actually be able to adjust the traveler on the fly, right now it is just one end or the other.  I had a similar setup on my old Catalina 22, although not nearly as beefy as this is.

[LConrad]

Great info. Thank you.