Third Time Out

AdvKayaker

Member
And my last until I get a few things up to par. Went out Sunday evening for a few hours. I found I wasn't having the best of days sailing so I brought her closer to shore to try a self rescue. It didn't take long for me to see a few things go wrong and fast.
1. I needed to secure all lines much better. 2. The bungie for my daggerboard wasn't tight enough to hold the board in place when turtled. Being upside down, with my head in the footwell so I could breathe, removing the daggerboard to re-tighten the bungie was really kinda fun in a way. Seeing all the line floating around just waiting to tangle me up didn't exactly give me any warm fuzzy feelings though.
Righting an inverted Sailfish is actually super easy *once you get the daggerboard to stay where you want it*. Three more times (un-intended btw) the same thing happened. Once, possibly twice it was due to too much crap in the footwell. The mainsheet got tangled around my feet and ankles. After that I just threw the remaining overboard.
Tiller extension! I don't have one. I'm not going out again until I do. Performance in the wind is far superior when seated further forward. Too bad I can barely reach the tiller when I'm there.
 
Sounds like you have a good list of improvements!

Do you have a wooden daggerboard? Typically they float enough when the boat turtles that at least the tip sticks out of the hull and you can then pull it up all the way to right the boat.
 
FRP dagger, rudder is wood. I would have thought the same about pulling it up but it wasn't so simple. Freshly tightened shock cord did the trick though.
 
Interesting. I am sure I have capsized with my foam board - I don't usually use my FRP board, so I likely have never capsized with it. I know it floats, but must be not enough to always get the job done after a capsize. I am surprised I haven't heard that mentioned before.
 
I wish my third had been a charm. I felt like an idiot out there this last time. Just couldn't get into the flow so to speak. Well that and the fact if I didn't crack a rib, I sure bruised the hell out of a few. I'll not mention the knot on the back of my head. lol
Oh yeah I forgot. My biggest mistake. I waxed it before I went out. Never again will I wax the area in which my rump sits. A super bad idea!
 
I was joking! I've had those days where nothing seems to go right, and you keep capsizing, despite trying to counter-act what caused it to happen the first time.
definitely spend the time to make sure you have it rigged up the way you want, with the bungee on the daggerboard, and the remaining lines in order and not a tangled mess in and around your feet.
 
I waxed it before I went out. Never again will I wax the area in which my rump sits. A super bad idea!

It is not a good idea to wax the deck at all - if you are up front trying to adjust the rig or even catch the dock coming in, being on a wet, waxed surface is not helpful!
 

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