New Jersey Friends of Clearwater's Environmental Sail Program

Log of 2016 Sail's

[Latest at end]
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We have six new active crew members, the biggest surge in crew since the 1980's when the ESP began with the Adam Hyler as our vessel. I think the construction of Pete's Banjo attracted many to this program.

This winter we had 3 training sessions on weekday evenings:
    - knots at Gibson's house,
    - folding and bagging sails at McKay's studio
    - points of sailing at Gross's house.
These were also social events designed to keep the crew together until Spring.

Real training began after the launch in May 19. The experienced crew with help from new crew stepped the mast, rowed from MBC (Monmouth Boat Club) to OPM (Oyster Point Marina). No sailing that day, just getting launched and secure in our slip at OPM was a big enough chore. But valuable experience to the new crew folk.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016, 6pm, OPM
First sail. Crew only. Experienced crew showed new crew how to bend sails to spars, rig sheets, etc. Many hands. Lots of time went into just this. A brief sail afterwards. I was skipper. Flood tide. My approach returning to the slip was poor, I failed to account sufficiently for the flood current. Boat hooks saved the day.

Saturday, May 28, One-on-one
Most of Tuesday's "training" was demo mode, not hands-on lab mode. And two "teachers", one at each mast, each had two or three new crew watching and occasional knot tieing or holding this or that. I offered by email one-on-one training to whoever wanted it. Call me, set a time, and I would give intensive rigging instruction in the slip. No sailing was anticiped, but we could add that in later sessions.

Sunday, May 29
First one-on-one. Rick Padula and I this afternoon, about 90 minutes. I would demo a step, undo it, and Rick would then do it. All in the slip. Wind was light but from South with shifts to SE so we could not raise sail. But we practiced snotter on the mizzen mast. Knots are an issue. All crew need to practice knots at home.

Tuesday, May 31
At 4pm a second one-on-two. Carmella and Ray (I think). Then at 6 our second sail. Boat all rigged by then. Light wind. John was skipper. Leaving the slip was an issue. We need specific training on that manuever. Returning was much better than last week.

Tuesday, June 6
Thunderstorms. Sail cancelled.

Monday, June 13
4pm: One-on-one with Charles Gross. Rigging and sailing, just the two of us. A bit too windy for just us,too much work for just two hands. But with scandalized main we managed. Couldn't scandalize properly on the water. Need a longer peak line, 8 feet instead of 3. Current and wind against us returning. 6pm: After many tacks we gained the T-dock at OPM, scandalized properly, and boarded three others: Robert and Liz McKay, and Phil Flego. Nice sail. Wind was incredibly variable: shifts over 90 degrees, strong puffs now and then, then nothing sometimes for minutes. I kept the helm the entire time. Social at Brothers afterwards.

Tuesday, June 14
Charlie G. had the boat all rigged by 6pm. My sail. I put crew at helm, spring line, and rowing stations and I did nothing except "con." What a pleasure. For the first time the crew new HOW to do each job. Our tacks went well, very seldom an oar needed. Wind was as confusing as yesterday but lighter. Eight on board. Photo by Jim Franchi accompanies this log. From left, me, Rick, Phil, Gwen, Ray at the helm, Wayne facing Ray, Charlie G, John. As skipper of this sail I sat on the bench and called for maneuvers. The new crew did it all with an excellent coordination. All the training pays off.