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Cruising the coast sailing engineless.


Guest shane

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Back in the very early days, before Engines, Sailing Vessels of all kinds managed to sail everywhere without the aid of an engine.
Back in the very early days, before Engines, Sailing Vessels of all kinds managed to end up on rocks all around our coast line.
Sure you can sail without an engine, but I think that unless you have the experience, you could be asking for trouble. How do you know if you have enough experience?? well you would likely be confident enough in your abilities, that you would not have to ask the question.
Sailing from Wellington and turning West, you strike two major area's to be very wary of. Karori Rock and the very western point as you round the NI from Wellington (name escapes this early). Then as you approach the Sounds, there are some more areas to be very very wary of. And you will never row against these currents and sea conditions. In fact most can't even motor against them.
The next place to be careful of is Cape Egmont.
And of course Cape Rianga. But the biggy is that all the West Coast usually has a Westerly blowing onto it, so you are always in a lee shore situation. This is what makes the West Coast a great choice for many. An almost constant wind from West to SouthWest. At the same time, several have come to grief on that Coast due to big storms that have pushed them ashore and those big storms can happen any time. Mind you, some have been blown onto the coast and they had engines, so having an engine does not always mean you are safe either.

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How about an outboard bracket, and a $400 2nd hand 4 or 5hp two stroke? That would give you at least some contingency.

Maybe on a nice day, not so much in the conditions you are likely to need it. I had a 7.5m 600kg sport boat with very low windage, a 5hp 2 stroke pushed it at 6+ knots easy in light wind, motoring into 30 knots of wind it would be lucky to do 2 knots in flat water with no tide, I imagine in a heavy 30 foot scooner with relativly high windage you would be luck to make headway into 20 knots with flat sea.

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Went 2 whole seasons on a Townson 34 without an engine.

Even carried a kite all the way into the Town Basin in Whangarei. Dropped both sails a few hundred metres short and coasted straight into the piles.

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A couple of summers ago I saw a traditional gaff rigger about 25foot long anchored in Whangaruru. The couple on board told me they had sailed it up from Whangarei. Keeping it simple, but I think you would need a lot a time and patience when the wind drops.

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I remember being stuck on a lee shore at the Barrier many years ago when the weather changed suddenly which normally wouldn't have been an issue but the lack of a working engine at the time caused some serious worry as we couldn't sail out of where we were anchored. Luckily we ended up getting a tow to shelter and sat out the storm over the next few days until the conditions settled. Wouldn't want to repeat that experience of being caught on a lee shore in a blow again if I didn't have to.

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I'd be in serious trouble trying to get to the ramp in Lyttelton under sail! Would be like playing dodgems :)

Does that ramp still have the "continental shelf" at the end? Have seen many a skiff sailor drop off that while trying to get a rudder on with an offshore breeze

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even more fun is running the diesel dry tank at Motuhiue so you know there is no option but to use what's free, sailing off the anchor and onto the old W (?) pier ( before the yellow dock got shifted there) at , filling up at and going back out. All single handed and without incident.

Taught me a lot.

Including not to run the tank dry

:oops:

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Had a Sachs Wankel rotary engine in my trimaran used to be very temperamental we learnt to sail that boat anywhere including along side wharfs still get a kick out of sailing in and out of bays.Every yacht owner should learn how to do it and know how to hove to.

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