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Quicker weekday racer to weekend cruiser conversion


ab1974

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Had a great weekend away on the yacht. However there were a couple of things that I found a little annoying (wont start on the boat that crossed far to close to my stern and took off the lure and munted the line I was towing!) :x

 

1. I find it takes me a long time to get away from the dock and too long to pack up when I go cruising. Part of this is because I am pretty careful cleaning everything and also because I don't want to load the boat up with too much cruising kit when I am out racing.

 

Boat is only small (26' Elliott), so a little difficult to permanently store everything on board.

 

2. Boat can become messy easily (so can a large one I guess) - looking for good storage ideas. Also have 1.5 children, so we tend to take too much gear for th e litle one - need to work on that!

 

However, a few things spring to mind that may make life easier without me leaving too much gear on the boat. Be interested in your thoughts:

 

(i) Inflatable - I inflate / deflate and store at home each trip. Should I build a dinghy storage rack at Westhaven berth (I rent not own) and leave it there. Probably need a cover to protect from UV.

 

(ii) Wet weather gear - I have limited storage space, but thought I could use a "dry bag" and compress and then store under the saloon berths. Assuming gear is dry will this prevent mildew / mould?

 

(iii) Fishing gear - possibly get rod holders and store in the quarter berths

 

(iv) Furler - I need to buy a new #2. Although I haven't missed a furler, this would make life easier from a pack up and go perspective. Would need to get my sails moved from hanks to suit a furler. Worth the cost?

 

(v) Try to get a storage locker at Westhaven to store the gear to save taking it home each trip???

 

Any thoughts / comments to speed the start and finish up or great storage ideas?

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On Mercenary the SR26 i have everything i need for cruising in a couple of big Plastic containers. Means you just have one container for all the cooking gear plates etc, one for the non perishable food, one with bedding etc in it, then when you go cruising you just load three box's in the car, dinghy on the roof and head to the boat. Means you can just load box's on boat and if you need you can leave them in a quarter berth and start heading away from the dock. Can always unpack on the way or in the bay, rather unpack and packup in a bay than in the marina! Also then you dont forget stuff provided what comes out goes back in again!

And for the short weekends its not too bad just living out of the boxes :-)

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yeah we do the same

 

A couple of clear plastic boxes and a couple of bigger dry bags on an E7

 

One box for galley,stove etc

One box for spares, lantern, fishing tackle etc

dry bay for sleeping bags/bedding

dry bag for personal gear

chilly bin for food and beverages

 

As Marshy says as long as you religiously manage the contents of each bin its a good way to go

 

Nothing ever goes mildewy etc as it is always brought home and checked and repacked for next trip- good way of keeping to essentials only too.

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Morning abl,

 

A couple of thoughts, with the caveat that the situation you describe is all too familiar!

 

- The time of baby stuff will pass. I will never forget the first day I could say: "Grab your sweatshirt and get in the car" and it actually happened

 

- Wet weather gear - I always take it away and hardly ever use it. Strangely enough, when it comes to a racing situation, I find I am generally perfectly happy in a sweatshirt and shorts, even if they do get wet by the end of the race. I reckon much the same would apply to the trip home from a weekend away, assuming you are only talking a couple of hours and the conditions are warm

 

- I too have tried to be quite disciplined about the racing/cruising modes myself but feel I may be nearing the end of this phase of my life! At Christmas (without having recorded it fastidiously) it seemed there was one day loading/unloading for every two days away. My dream scenario now would be to be surprised at what I can leave on board without a noticeable drop-off in performance.

 

Interested in what else comes out from this thread.

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Our programme runs like this.

 

All race gear, safety gear, a couple of wet jackets {mainly for those guests who come without any}, a fishing rod and about 3 days of 'minimum eating equipment' i.e knives forks plates pots pans some food splash of water and a few bottles of tipple, always stay aboard.

 

Often we'll take a couple of squabs home as part of our 'race mode' if you'd like to call it that. But there is always a couple left aboard along with a couple of sleeping bag thingys. Ya just never know when you'll want to take a day or 2 sanity break, hence the food etc abaord.

 

We have 2 large plastic bins which house the extra cruising gear which go on if heading away for more than a day or 2. Off prior to most racing. Live in garage. On top of that everyone takes a bag with clothes towel and their bits. Dingy lives in locker by boat so is grabbed on the way out if needed. But often we have an inflatable kayak aboard which works OK for a 2-3 day short trip, it's often aboard when racing also, as is the often aboard when racing but never when cruising liferaft.

 

If heading off for more than a day or 2 we swap mainsail and headsails. The race main is boltrope and a arse at times having to roll it and the headsails are tweaky cloth and I do try hard to look after my boats cloth engines.

 

We can swap from race mode to full cruising in about an hour all up, inc sail swapping. But we do live very close to the boat which makes it easier.

 

Bit like Murky we have found the extra weight knot a biggie really certainly knot as big as the hassle of loading and unloading it all the time nor the vagrancies of the dick on the stick.

 

Actually just reading that back and I'm beginning to wonder if we might actually be heavier when in racing mode than cruising mode. Oh bugger, now you got me thinking, that's generally knot good.

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