We got a 4 hp Nissan motor and, after a few weeks of bad weather, tides too low for clearance, etc., we got out today for a trial run. The motor is much smoother than the old Yamaha and can run on a low idle, which makes departure a little less stressful. It was a nice day on the water with 8-10 knot winds, which were a little more changeable than usual. Despite the good conditions for sailing today, there was hardly anyone out on the water. It sure is great to live in a place where you can sail in January! (*Note to Bill in the comments of the previous post - and welcome - Morro Bay has strong incoming and outgoing currents related to the tides and shallow waters - sailing out of our little marina in the thin buoyed channel with strong currents working against us and the wind usually right in our face would be a problem - even worse would be trying to sail back with dead wind when the current is pushing us backwards).
We are quite happy with our purchase of this boat. It sails well in the harbor, it is very low maintenance, has good speed and gets some admiration from other boaters. Some of the bigger boats on the harbor are rarely ever sailed. I think this is partially because of the rough sea once you get out of the harbor. So the boats are too big to maneuver around and just sail in the harbor and the sea is too rough to really have much fun as a day sailer. We now realize that, barring an unusually calm day on the sea, we will have to confine the Bluenose to the harbor. To do more open water sailing, we really need to head down to the more protected waters in Santa Barbara and charter a bigger boat.
Our next project will probably be a scrape and paint of the hull. We considered doing it ourselves, but both of us have significant time commitments and lack a trailer to pull it out of the water in any case, so we will set up a time to have it painted at the local boat yard. Yes, we will have it painted blue.
Knockabout Sloops Blog, The End
13 years ago
3 comments:
Hey Steve,
It looks like you got your engine issue worked out. But I still say "don't sell yourself and your Bluenose short". I don't know what you harbor entrance looks like but I sail in and out of a very narrow channel in exactly the conditions you describe. You can see our channel and read about the winds and currents on my blog post if you like.
http://knockaboutsloops.blogspot.com/search?q=imaginary
In any case I say give it a try every now and again when it isn't crowded just to know you are safe in case the engine fails. Your Bluenose won't let you down.
Cheers, Bill
Hey Bill,
That is a nice looking boat and it adds something to not have the engine. Is that wood exterior on the cabin and anchor stow door?
As to your point, the channel I come out from the marina is only about 15 to 20 feet wide and has a sharp right and left turn to it. Generally the wind is coming straight into our face and, even with good wind, we couldn't get up enough speed after each time we come about to even get steering. When we first got the boat, we tried to do things like that and we were saved by the motor on more than one occasion. The currents can also get up in the 3 to 4 knot range and, even with a light breeze, we have found ourselves sailing backwards. What do you do when the wind dies and the current is pushing you in without any rudder steerage or pushing you back out? By the way, do you singlehand it and how is it for that?
Anyway, nice boat. We thought maybe we were the only ones on the west coast sailing a bluenose.
So, are you ready to sell it yet? I'm looking for a McVay Bluenose so any time you are ready, just post a note.
Dave D. Fort Wayne IN
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