On becoming a Geezer Sailor

[Sea Hunt Video]

A geezer is a descriptive word in the UK which is used to define a mans characteristics. A geezer will be found usually out side a pub with a pint in his hand on match day. They commonly like football, scrapping, beer, tea, tits, and Barry white. Geezers often acknowledge other geezers by a greeting each other by saying geezer followed by a nod and a thumbs up.

I'm a geezer Oh, wait

[Joe Myerson]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but I finally bit the bullet and ordered two self-tailing winches for my 25D. I've been able to singlehand using rubber "winchers" on the original equipment winches. But my aging fingers hurt after a day on the water.

--Joe

[Oswego John]

Hmmm.

An interesting thought. Is there such a thing as a geezerette? Just wondering.

Think spring.
O J

[John Stone]

Joe, I’m with you on the STs. I added them for my staysail and replaced the ST primaries this year. Very nice addition. Might even add a couple for main and jib halyards.

[tartansailor]

I'm 82 and if you called me an old geezer I'll break your knee cap.
Sometimes a thunder head might appear out of no where, especially
on the Chesapeake; so in order to minimize going forward, and before
leaving the dock I bring my anchor aft outside of the lifelines with plenty
of scope. It sits in the cockpit sole. To launch, drop overboard under the life lines,
secure, and hit the cabin for a snooze or a good book. A painter w/ block to the anchor
line makes retrieval easy. I love to sail.
Old Sea Dog

[jen1722terry]

Good thread. Where to start?

We echo Joe Myerson on the midship docking. Just one dockline to worry about to get the boat guickly under control. Then you can use the engine to bring in the bow or stern. Easy on aging hands and backs. Love the idea of the rubber self-trailers. We’ll put them on our sheet winches before we launch.

We also carry a wetsuit with hood for me in case we have to clear a lobster trap warp, string or grass from the prop, or recover lost anchors or other items in the very cold Maine waters.

Our boat came with davits, odd for a boat as small as a 31 but we LOVE them. With a very light dinghy and light motor the weight on the stern is not an issue. The light dinghy is much easier to drag on and off the beach.

Depending on where you sail, Fortress aluminum anchors have good holding, light weight and need less chain to set and hold - much easier on the back if you lack a windlass.

Falling risk increases with age, so a good harness and tether system will keep you aboard if you slip.

My bifocal sunglasses make viewing the chart plotter and seeing ahead very convenient.

A Bimini top or some type of sunshade will cut down on fatigue from the hot rays, which are hard on us older folks.

Refridgeration, which is more compact and less expensive than it used to be, eliminates hauling ice and one can safely store medications on board.

We’re considering a smaller wheel to make it easier to move around the cockpit. I’m not as spry as I used to be.

We avoid night sailing if at all possible, as neither Jenn nor I have the night vision we once had.

And lastly, as live-aboards all summer, we plan trips in shorter legs to avoid fatigue and the concomitant deterioration of judgement.

Not all of the above applies to smaller boats, of course.

Jenn and Terry

[Chrisa006]

We put "winchers" on our CD25 and love them though they have limits. What I have learned is my next boat will have ST winches.

Oh yea I'm just watching this thread for information purposes as I believe I haven't hit the old geezer threshold yet.

[jen1722terry]

Hey Chris,

Could you elaborate on the limitations of winchers? We're thinking of adding them to the cabin-top main and jib sheet winches, maybe the halyard winch on the mast and maybe even the reefing winch on the boom.

Thanks so much.

Jenn and Terry

[mgphl52]

Hey Chris,
Could you elaborate on the limitations of winchers? We're thinking of adding them to the cabin-top main and jib sheet winches, maybe the halyard winch on the mast and maybe even the reefing winch on the boom.
Thanks so much.
Jenn and Terry

I'll chime in on those... I've used them on two different boats. When relatively new, they seem to work "as designed" but are no replacement for true ST winches. For one, you have to add more wraps on the winch before it will begin to hold. Those extra wraps can cause other problems as well.
After they weather a year or so, they loose a good bit of their grip. I have had them let loose completely more than once.
If you do go with them, once you've trimmed in, I would suggest removing wraps until you only have 3 or 4 max and then cleat the sheet.
They will not hold like ST winches... however... they do cost a lot less...

[Dino]

Lot's of posts about easier winching ...

Don't know if it is necessarily a geezer thingy or not, and may not be appropriate on larger boats, but on my CD22, I do something that makes winching much easier and more convenient in several ways. This may be a well known thing with a name but if so, I'm clueless. Here goes...

Most of us sit on the high (windward) side of the boat. The active jib sheet winch is therefore on the low (leeward) side of the boat and thus kinda inconvenient to get to - well actually, gravity will get you to it, but moving back to the high side is another thing. Not to mention that the boat heels even more when we move to the low side. In a gust, sometimes that side gets really low, suddenly, and it would be nice to loosen that jib sheet fast without heeling even more or having to head up.

So, here's a different way of winching that solves a lot of issues. You might want to give it a try ...

While tacking, wrap a couple or three loops of jibsheet on the appropriate winch as you normally would. As she moves head to wind halfway through the tack, pull the tail to take up slack. So far, standard procedure. Now for something a little different. Move to the windward side of the cockpit as usual, but take the tail of the jibsheet across the cockpit with you. Make a couple of wraps or three around the windward winch, pull tight and cleat it off. Or not.

If you took up all the slack while head to wind, the jibsheet will already be fully tight. If not, no worries. Grab the middle of the jibsheet where it runs athwartships across the cockpit and haul aft on it. That gives lots of leverage without the need to use a winch handle, similar to the manner that you might sweat up a halyard. Take up the slack on the tail of the line behind the windward side winch and cleat it off, or not. Repeat the process of sweating the jibsheet a bit more if needed.

You'll end up with a total of 5 or more winch wraps, at least two on the active winch (leeward side) and three or more on the high side winch so you'll have plenty of friction to hold it in place, that's why you might not need to cleat it off. And since you can now adjust your jibsheets from the high side of the boat where you're sitting, it is easier and faster to make adjustments to your jib trim as needed. No winch handles required. No need to move over to the low side of the boat. No need for self tailing winches.

The only downside is there is a jibsheet running across the cockpit. Then again, I rarely need to go forward of it. When I do, I either step over it or remove the line from the high side winch jib and cleat it off on the low side like a normal person. Other than that, I'm mostly abnormal.

Works great for me. Your mileage may vary.

[Carl Thunberg]

I've been reluctant to comment on this topic, because I still consider myself young. There are many good reasons to steer from the leeward side of the boat. It's more comfortable and accessible to the jib winch, but the real benefit is you can see better. I used to sit on the windward side until I almost ran down a nun buoy that I couldn't see because the genoa blocked my view. That event scared the crap out of me, and now I always steer from the leeward side. That little bit of crew weight on the "wrong" side doesn't concern me. Running down stationary objects does.

[Joe Myerson]

I've been reluctant to comment on this topic, because I still consider myself young.

Don't worry, Carl, that feeling won't last forever!

Actually, I tend to agree with you, although sometimes the heel is so great on a smallish boat like mine, that I have to sit to windward.

BTW, I've been using "Winchers" for years, and they are adequate under many circumstances. But I thought it was time to upgrade to ST. The darn things still haven't arrived, BTW.

--Joe

[Dino]

Carl, I agree with your point about the importance of being able to see where you're going - that kind of trumps most other things. I used to sail a Typhoon that came with a 100 (or less?) and a 130. The 130 was so low I couldn't see around or under it well from either side of the boat. Over time, I stopped using it - the smaller jib just seemed to work better in most circumstances for a number of reasons, including visibility forward.

The view forward from either side varies by the boat, sails, wind speed, sea state, point of sail, etc. On my CD22, the jib is a 110 and not a deck sweeper - the foot is just above the lifelines at the luff and well above at the clew. Unless I'm heeled more than I should be my windward side view forward isn't obscured at all by the jib. Even then, just ducking my head a bit gives me a clear view ahead until I retrim.