Boat and gear are being prepared for trucking. Trying to decide if it is feasible to get the bagged sail below decks before I pick up a bagged Nonsuch 30 sail and try to get it through the companionway while on the hard. And of course, it then has to come out again. My gut feeling is that the bagged sail might be better tarped against weather and left in the cockpit, maybe wedged between the lockers. Any thoughts?
Bill Baxter
Persistence NS30 #507
Penetang ON
Yes. Our bagged 30 sail fit below but it is super heavy and hard to maneuver without two people.
Just trucked C.A.T. (1982 NS30C) from Mexico and had the sail, sail cover, hard dinghy, radar pole and dome, outboard, Fairclough clover, wheel and a bunch of other stuff all below.
Only thing on deck was dodger frame, wishbone and battens.
Much prefer to put the wishbone below the boat on the trailer but depends how she is being loaded.
Jim Denmark
C.A.T. 1982 Nonsuch 30C #146
On the hard, Oriental NC.
Yup we store our sail below on the forward bunk in a sail bag. It’s a bit of a bitch getting it down below and likewise back outside but that’s more of an issue of weight than dimension. Piece of cake with two people.
Ron
Ron & Diane Schryver
“Alpha Waves” 1987 NS30U #393
Georgian Bay Midland ON
Thanks Ron – looks as if two people are available, this is doable.
Bill
Wow! That’s a LOT of heavy lifting! My older Fairclough cover (since retired) was a bear to get hoisted on to the frame, and I would never have thought to stuff it below! Thanks for the info.
Bill
Ron,
I’ve just gotten a new sail for my 26…how in the world do you get the 30s monster folded and rolled?
It does, every autumn I bag the sail and leave it on the Starboard couch/berth for them winter. Quite easy to get it in and out via the companionway. I don’t think I would want to risk tarping and storing outside during trucking.
Cheers
Brian McCuaig. NS30u
Whitby, Ontario
“Having a yacht is reason for being more cheerful than most." -Kurt Von.negut
Thanks Brian – the distance the truck has to go makes it likely a day trip, so security, if that’s your concern, may not be a big issue. But I agree, below is much better. Just thankful that once I get it in, it’s someone else’s job to get it out!
Bill
Joe: Go to a sail loft and they can show you the proper way to fold a sail of the Nonsuch type. It would normally be flaked starting at the foot. Keep the luff lined up, not the leech. Then role it up tight. There must be a video out there.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Once we’re on the hard I drop the sail over the side. Then Diane and I fold it into bag size. No matter which way I want to fold she wants to go in the opposite direction and that’s where it gets interesting. Once the arguing stops we wind up with a neatly rolled and bagged sail.
Once again, Joe is correct. There really is a proper way to fold these sails and when you do, they fit just fine into their bags (but they are heavier than a dead seal). Crazy idea - What if you simply dropped the sail into it’s sail cover and then stuffed this long but more cooperative and flexible “snake” through the companionway as opposed to one gigantic fat and heavy bag ??
Just possibly .. this idea will NOT work but … it just may.
Ernie A. in Toronto
When I was “snowbirding” between Port Townsend & Palo Alto CA I put my Bott’s sail
zipped up in my homemade cover w’out battens below single handed for some 6yrs
Dick Lane
NS26c Swoose
Ernie, not so crazy! Or maybe I am as crazy as you! I use my old, non-top-zippered sail bag as carry-on luggage and set it in the lazy jacks and take it off the same way. Then I spread it all out on tarps and get it in the bag for storage. But for shipping, I think I will squeeze the bag in the cabin at the companionway and let the buyer heft it out – he will probably have 4 hands to my 2.
Bill Baxter
To remove mine from the boat, I drop mine into the cradle lines after removing the battens. Apply my sail ties, drop the cradle lines (which are connected using sister clips) and haul it off the boat to a grassy area.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
When I used to manage a couple of racing boats with high tech sails, they were never folded and never stayed on the boom. We rolled them and placed them in “sausage bags” which were stowed below.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
We do exactly the same, SB berth, no problem. We flake the sail like Joe descibes below, luff aligned. The advantage of a classic is to use a quarter berth for easy access to stuff we rarely use. Alan & Tracy, Corvus NS30C, BPYC Toronto
Hey Bill, been stowing it for years in the shower stall. Actually a one man job. This year with heart failure and slow moving, I left the mast up, dropped the wishbone with sail in my cover in the cradle , left it on and covered it up for winter. Piece of cake raising again and the lines were all in the right spot this spring. Disgusting I know but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I have a ~7’ boom crutch for winter that lets me easily remove topping lift and then reattach in spring with wishbone in place.
Duck Soup
30U 382
Collins Bay
On Friday, July 3, 2020 at 3:23:56 PM UTC-4, Bill Baxter, Persistence, NS30 #507, Penetang, ON wrote:
Hi Bill
Easy enough to flake, roll and bag the sail. However at 60-ish pounds, as noted, it is much easier for two people to get it thru the companionway (back up into the cockpit is harder direction).
If it is rolled tight enough to get into the back, it will fit.
Here is a link to a video of me flaking and rolling the sail on the lawn adjacent to my dock. Joe Valinoti’s directions are spot on - start at the foot, keep the luff lined up, roll tight.
https://gopro.com/v/1eVbzG6Rl5WVn
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30 Ultra 430
Jersey City, NJ
On Friday, July 3, 2020 at 3:23:56 PM UTC-4, Bill Baxter, Persistence, NS30 #507, Penetang, ON wrote:
Wow, Peter !!
You did the whole darn job in less than TWO minuyes.
But, no joke, This is an EXCELLENT and really helpful vid. That’s the way I flake mine for storage except, once flaked, I roll each side to the middle and then fold and browbeat the thing into a tight bundle before bagging it.
However, you’re sail looks like it is made out of thee absolute lightest weight cloth on earth. It just kinda flops around like a bedsheet (and it’s not because the video is sped up - it looks like a DRS or spinnaker).
What is the weight of the cloth, if you know ??
Ernie A. in Toronto
Sorry, Peter, but the search - https://gopro.com/v/1eVbzG6Rl5WVn - did not match any documents.
Suggestions:
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA