Finally, We Are Sailing

[John Stone]

After 23 months of nothing but unending boat work, testing the engine, switching the propeller blades we got out for a sail. It's hot here. I didn't care. There was no wind. We left this morning and motored out on to a mirror calm Neuse River. The deck was hot under our bare feet. I saw cats paws off to the east about 500 yards away. I hauled up the main and the big 140 percent 2 oz drifter. We shut the engine off and sailed along on a close reach at 4.5 kts. It was such a wonderful sensation to feel the deck heel as I trimmed the main and drifter. After about 30 min and 10-12 knt sea breeze came calling. The Far Reach powered right up to about 6.5 kts. As the breeze continued to build we dropped the drifter and raised the working jib. We tacked the boat and sailed back up river on a beam reach with Gordo, our trusty Cape Horn wind vane steering us along.

We anchored under sail near the shore line outside the #1 mark leading into the channel to the marina. We made coffee and took showers in the sitz tub to cool off. Then we lay about with a light breeze filtering down through the hatches and port lights. We will head back into the slip layer today.

It's good to be back on the water.

[S/V Ethan Grey]

Congratulations! Well deserved.
-david

[jbenagh]

Yay!

[wikakaru]

Looking good, John! You have to be really pleased with how Far Reach is now set up after all of your hard work. I didn't realize it had been that long. Congratulations on your first sail! I hope you have many more to come, and that you get to escape the heat soon.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

I appreciate the kind words. It was a lot of work. But, in reality probably it was a good time for such a complicated project. Pretty much everywhere was locked down tight due to the pandemic so I couldn't have gone anywhere anyway. I learned a lot too which I always enjoy. Hope to see you'll out there....

[fmueller]

Great John ... how’s the motor ?

I know you posted about adjusting prop size but how does it push the boat ... I know there are drawbacks to props in apertures but one nice thing is that the prop flow over the rudder in forward can really “kick” the stern around even from a stand still ... which I rely on sometimes in the marina in my little ship.

Cheers

[John Stone]

Great John ... how’s the motor ?

I know you posted about adjusting prop size but how does it push the boat ... I know there are drawbacks to props in apertures but one nice thing is that the prop flow over the rudder in forward can really “kick” the stern around even from a stand still ... which I rely on sometimes in the marina in my little ship.

Cheers

Hi Fred. We got the prop dialed in. About 5 knots at 2000-2200 RPMs. Stops the boat quickly. A little prop walk to port in reverse. Tracks straight going forward. Relatively quiet. Nothing seems to rattle below.

No question having the prop in front of the rudder would help with slow speed maneuvering. Thrust and fill. Short blast to push the stern either direction...all that stuff. But as long as the boat is moving she seems to steer fine. However, we are very conservative where we are going. I have very little time/experience with our new set up. But it seems manageable. The top half of the rudder gets half the prop blast in reverse since the prop is aft of the rudder. Maybe there is some usefulness there as I gain more skill.

On the flip side there is no noticeable drag sailing. She still seems to handle beautifully under sail...and in light conditions. She powers up quickly and tacks effortlessly. I would not trade sailing performance for better performance under power for all the tea in China or whatever the current correct phrase is these days. But that's just me (I'm talking about sailing now and not tea). I know other people might feel different.

I don't visit marinas (just the one we are in). I don't go along side fuel docks. I don't go to docks to pump out. If I did need to do those things maybe I would feel different about it.

So far, I'm impressed with the engine. It seems powerful and very responsive. The sailing performance does not seems adversely affected. Gayle says the low rumble feels reassuring. She is very happy about it I think. I still have mixed feeling about the whole thing though I am pleased with the installation (I think I did a good job which I hope might inspire to others who want to try similar complex projects but worry their skills are not up to the challenge). I am of course quite happy that I no longer have to avert my eyes when looking at the port stern of the FR....

I will probably have a more informed opinion next year after I have sailed back to the West Indies and spent some time aboard.