Ep 61 Sailing Solo to Iceland fm Ireland

Since you asked...
MY experience with top down furling an A2 spinnaker:
1. PITA as a solo sailor
2. locking the furling line will NOT keep the sail from unfurling in big wind- the continuous line does not have enough friction to keep the drum from spinning
3. when unfurling use the furling line to unfurl- OTW if you only pull on the sheet the furling drum will wrap the loose furling line around itself
4. In low to moderate wind (6-10 kts) OK to hoist with genoa furled
5. when furling - have the TWA at about 160 with the main fully out. The kite will be collapsed mostly. Run the acitve sheet once around the winch and take it with you to in front of the mast. Keep some tension on the active sheet with your hand or foot while you furl it in. Watch the foot of the sail to notice when the tack has grabbed the sail and started furling it backwards. If you see this stop and unfurl some then try again. The mid girth will only furl in unison with the top when there is enough tension at the right angle. As soon as the sheet starts to turn around the torsion line stop furling- don't put multiple wraps of sheet around the torsion line- that will only make it harder to unfurl next time. As soon as it's furled release the halyard and drop the furled kite on to the deck ( before you bring in the tack) . OTW it will start to unfurl pretty quickly.
6. Gybing- not more difficult than conventionally hoisted kite. I prefer inside gybes- I turn down to 160 TWA and let the main out. - completely release the active sheet and pull quickly on the new sheet to bring the clew around the forestay . Once on the new side I head up to 140 TWA and adjust as needed. No worry of lines under the boat- the sprit prevents that. Outside gybing is also possible provided you have a short batten attached to the luff to catch the sheet. Timing is critical though- the gybe has to be initially fast after releasing the active sheet so the sail flies out in front then slow through the turn to have time to bring in the new sheet before the sail fills.
Given all this as I stated previously I have gone back to no furlers on my A2 or A5 but bottom up continuous line furlers on my staysail and Code 0. The fixes for problems with conventionally hoisted A2 are easier than the fixes for partially or improperly furled kites with top down furler. I think some sailmakers are now offering specially cut gennakers which address some of the issues with top down furlers.
another tip- tie a snatch block to the end of the continuous furling line with a bungee and fix so that there is always tension on the furling line

New inspiration because of you. Not sure what you're motivations are but seeing an..."Older gentleman", for lack of a better word, do what you just did, makes me reconsider a LOT of things.

❤

Hi Patrick - great viewing as always and we particularly enjoyed the assymetric sequence as we have been donated an old sail which we hope to use as a cruising chute. Your reasoning for the "sweet spot" size of a boat is very similar to our reasoning when we went looking for Salty Lass except we decided 36ft was best for us (even though she is really 37ft 4in :wink:)

This is the second time i have watched this. Still in owe of your calm and collected manner in big seas and big breeze. We had an unforecast 41knts in the cyclades, it got to use 6 nm from our bad weather option. It took us 2 hours to sail into the wind. The sea state was 2-3m short and steep at 3 seconds period. Motoring was useless as the prop was getting so much air time. After this sail we felt a different connection with our boat for getting us through Safe and sound. I can only imagine getting acquainted with jenna in such conditions has set the scenes for a wonderful relationship. ⛵💨💨💨💨💨💨⛵💨👌

I get the asymmetric spinnaker is great in light winds and adds good power, but why not take the reefs out of the mainsail first?

I’ve just recently started watching your videos and enjoy them very much. I am curious why you don’t use a wind vane. 🤷‍♂️

Hi Patrick your almost home after an epic journey.Tony in Galway still being inspired with your incredible tenacity
Safe sailing my friend

take me from ct to azores good sir

Patrick, Always good to see a sailor going on, and always good and informative to hear your very abbreived and edited thoughts. Well done on the trip and harbours.
Raining heavy here tonight but its a lovely sound.

Hello Patrick. Thank a lot for your nice videos ! What kind of video recorder you are using. I think a GoPro. Which type if so. Greetings Hans.

No bikinis? Well, time to unsuscribe then! :)

Thanks for sharing Patrick!

🇲🇱

My prayers of joy, happiness and clear sailing with ya!!

I have found the following fix for tangled up sheets: When rolling or unrolling the gennaker, I hold both sheets on the leeward side as if they were one. After I unroll the sail, I bring the lazy one around to do the gybes as needed with two seperate sheets on either side and before I roll the sail back in, I bring them together again and roll by holding them together, so that they wrap around the sail nicely as a twin line.

Bravo Patrick, your videos are a treasure…🥇

hello. I've watched your adventures before, a while ago. Are you ok? I can hear a big difference in your voice. It sounds like you are drunk, which i doubt. Enjoy your time. wonderful hobby. be safe.

Can we have a clip of you eating at the Tjőruhúsíď restaurant in Isafjotdur please? Catch of the day sounds interesting, lets see the menu. Also- have you seen any orcas? From a distance, hopefully. Bon Voyage!

Hi Patrick, I’m sure that you already figured out the furler stuff but I’ll share my experiences just in case… I had a top down furler on my last boat. I ended up putting about a 1.5m piece of Dyneema between the sail and the sheets, it made it much easier to avoid the layering and same number of turns issue as I only furled up to the end of the Dyneema and not the sheets. I 100% agree that furling then gibing especially single handed is the safest easiest way to manage. We have a sock on the new boat, not sure yet wether we will stick with the sock or get another top down. Not sure if that’s helpful or not. So excited to be watching your adventures again! Flat sails and following seas Sir.

Hi Patrick
I just recently came across your channel and I am really enjoying your content. You explain life on board as an older single hander with great detail and clarity. I am going back to your first post and work my way through the series. A great contribution!
Cheers.

Yes, agree with everything Gistavo said. I usually just used the main fully let out to ease the spinnaker in or out. Also full tension on the torsion line is paramount when furling or unfurling, just dont forget to loosen it afterwards so you get a natural shape for your spinakker. Enjoy, you will soon get the hang of it! I may have just bought a Slotta 30 myself. It is a Polish made boat with a swing keel. Wish me luck bringing it Hungary from Oslo, Norway...

😀Glad to see a new video from you Mr. Laine. You make great sailing entertainment and learning. It's a THUMBS UP for me👍👍

❤❤❤ love your sailing videos. Cheers from Squamish BC Canada 🇨🇦

My wife and 11 year old son read "Alessia in Atlantis" together as a daily ritual before going to sleep -- they loved it! Full of imagination, twists and turns! They'll be happy to hear the sequel has arrived :-)

Just the best! Love the measuring scale for waves! Very true

Patrick Ep 60 and Ep 61 are your best to date in my humble opinion. La Rochelle to Ireland in one hit is a hell of an undertaking with all the traffic and lack of rest. I would have to break that one up into manageable passages. I don't think I've ever been far so soon after buying a new boat. Again ... not an easy thing to do. Talking about ideal lengths for the open ocean, Joshua Slocum decided that 38 feet was about right for the ocean. Close friends of mine who have circumnavigated the thick end of twice, did so first in a 30 foot boat. With that experience they decided on a 41 foot Koopmans 41. You would be hard pressed to find something better for making very long voyages. But she's just a tad bit hard work for us solo sailors. We need to remind folk that when the weather gets really severe the sea will toss anything about. Provided you're a cork you stand a chance. And again a reminder ... folk just can't think they can buy a boat and set off. It takes a lot of miles to become part of a good crew and a lot of miles and work to understand what is required to sail alone. It is no more skilled than being part of a crew but it is a completely different discipline. And it works for very few. So folks, don't be lured just because Patrick makes it look easy. Fair winds and stay safe. James

Nice technique Pat! Good storytelling as always!
I’ve been away last week 😉 but ended up in not buying that boat. Now I have my focus on another one ⛵️

Thank God you're not going to wear a bikini!

I prefer the Bangles' to S&G's version.

You're loved and being allowed to go sailing.
That's all the commission you need.

I just wonder, how do your daughters rest easy watching your videos. My heart is in my mouth at times . They have my sympathy. I suppose writing books helps.😮

Patrick watching your videos is always light, inspiring, rich and sooo cool. Merci, vraiment merci for sharing these with us. God bless

Polar Patrick …cool as an ice cube in a container of liquid nitrogen….after flying fighter jets for the navy really no surprise 😂

looking forward to the next eposode!

I enjoyed your sail in the North Atlantic. Looking forward to the next one. I'm glad to be a phantom shipmate.

A brisk and lively sail! Glad to see that you found your weather window Patrick, that you've arrived safely, and that you're continuing to share online. Looks like your autopilot managed just fine as you were roaring along. Will be very interested to see what refinements/choice you make as you gain efficiency managing the RM. Fair winds, stay safe. Regards, Dave Syer.

Really enjoyable video yet again Patrick, thanks for sharing. I wonder if you could include a little detail about the software you use for navigation and route planning and the hardware. Are the charts downloaded in advance? How do you download the weather data when you are offshore?
I'm looking forward to your next video, Greenland?

BZ , Skipper, Wow! No dilly-dallying, here she is, new vessel on a shakedowns cruise to ICELAND!! Thank you again for sharing this new adventure! Fair Winds

Your channel is so informative..

Ssssooooooo glad your back. Still praying for you.

After a long wait, thank you for showing us real skills and a different perspective on sailing.
On the setup of the asymmetric, I was surprised to see your starboard sheet to be inside the Genoa and not running outside the Genoa luff. I'm curious to know how you would have gybed under such conditions.. I'm running everything outside the boat and when sailing solo, it is not always obvious to rig it right before hoisting...
Looking forward with great appetite for the next leg.
Fair winds till then !!

Great video, as always, Patrick. Congratulations on yet another successful passage. I sailed to Iceland from Northern Ireland in1967 in a Vertue and although almost everything else has changed, the north Atlantic ocean and the weather remain the same.🙂

No need for the "Sorry gents"...(context 'no bikinis').
No bikinis = good. I prefer to watch real sailing, thanks.
All the best from Perth, Western Australia.
Arvind

Other than the (granted, enormous) advantage of complete control from the safety of the cockpit with roller-furling of foresails, it seems that in every other aspect, hank-on is preferable: trim and performance, simplicity, maintenance...). There seem to be plenty of adherents of hank-on even among the solo sailors. This makes me wonder whether there are other / better ways of managing foresails from the cockpit, but using hank-ons. My idea is running the halyards (hoist and drop) down below-decks along the cabin ceiling to the cockpit. More purchase and power than normal deck route to cockpit? Perhaps even less friction?

What model of boat are you sailing ?

Why are hammocks so llittle used, effectively a bed-on-gimbles? Has anyone ever designed or rather constructed a cruiser where the entire below-decks is on gimbles? The only tricky bit would be the companionway entrance, but then that often is tricky in any case. I suppose the big trade-off would be a loss of the sentiment du fer that you get through your body propped in a wildly moving confine.

Children are often more sensible than grownups when it comes to "recommended ages" (something publishers invented). I would venture to suggest that Nathalie's storytelling would be enjoyed outside that range, right up to grownup children.