Learning to Sail

This entry is about all the lines on this boat. Sila is meant to be sailed and you need to know the lines to sail. (Line is the nautical word for rope.) Just the other day I learned the names of all the lines and what each one does.

 

We are going to start with the lines controlling the sails. Now, the Main sail is the most important sail because it is the biggest. The mainsail has a boom to keep the bottom of the sail straight. To hoist the mainsail, you have to use the halyard. It hauls the sail up the mast. If the halyard breaks or gets lost, the extra halyard is handy. You use the Main Sheet to adjust the angle of the sail relative to the wind. In the cockpit, there is another line called the boom vang line. When you adjust this line, it lowers or raises the boom vang, which lifts or lowers the boom, again to adjust the angle the main sail.

 

Also on the boom is a line called the gyb easy. When sailing downwind, the gyb easy slows the boom down so it doesn’t swing across the boat too fast when gybing. Gybing is when you turn the boat so the wind comes from the other side of the boat and your stern goes across the wind first.

 

When it is windy and stormy, you can reef the sails. Reefing is shortening the sail to help the boat stay more flat. To reef, pull down the sail on the mast then to not have flopping sail, pull on the reefing outhauls.

 

The other two sails are important too. They are both connected to the mast and the bow of the boat. The biggest of the two is the genoa. To unroll it, pull on the roller furling line. To flatten, loose, or adjust the genoa, pull or ease the genoa sheet. The Staysail has the same kinds of lines: a roller furling line and a staysail sheet. The only difference between these two is that the genoa is bigger and also has a track with cars on it. The cars are pulleys that you use to set the angle of the sail. Pulling on the line moves the cars when you want to adjust them.

 

Sila is a centerboard boat. So at the mast, there are two lines that you use to haul up and down the centerboard. These lines are very important for drying out, which is when you anchor in a harbor and let the tide go out so that the boat is sitting on the ground. Because Sila is a centerboard boat, you need dagger boards to help you steer. They are like mini-centerboards except there is one on the port side and one on the starboard side in the stern. You put the leeward dagger board down to help you steer. Leeward means the side of the boat where the wind is going, opposite from the windward side.

 

When you are done sailing, it is time to lower the main sail. You release the halyard so the sail can come down. In order to have the sail pile up neatly on the boom, you use lazy jacks which are lines that keep the sail where it is supposed to be.

 

When I learned about these lines and parts of the boat, I thought it was going to help me sail the boat. And I had a fun time learning all of these names from my mom. I think one of the most interesting parts of this adventure so far is learning how to sail. I also started learning how to navigate from my dad. I can tell it is going to be very interesting in the end.  – Jack Rabbit