From "Furling Mainsails and Jibs "

San Francisco is a sailing mecca for those who are prepared, capable and confident and a hell for those who aren’t. One of the easiest way to remain in control and have FUN while sailing is to have a comfortable understanding of sail handling and area reduction, aka; ‘reefing’ to prepare for the Springs blustery days.

First, let’s look at furling systems. Time was, not long ago, that furling systems for headsails were cumbersome, unreliable and too expensive for practical use. Today nearly every manufacturer includes one of the many furling systems as part of their ‘standard’ package on new vessels. You’ll notice that I don’t call headsail furling “reefing.” While many people may use furling systems for reefing their jibs or genoas, it’s an unreliable system for regular use for this purpose for these reasons. First, it puts a HUGE amount of torque on the furling drum which is the focal point for all the stress from the sail being partially furled and then the sheets at the other end trying to unfurl it. Second, sails are cut with a prescribed shape at the luff (leading edge) and furling them moves the draft horribly too far aft, a problem exacerbated by the headstay’s flexibility.

If you use the headsail furler as just that, a furler, you’ll see years of trouble-free service out of it. When it comes to headsail furling we have an expression here at Spinnaker, either off or full. It means either set the sail fully, or furl it fully. All of our boats have, at most, a 90% blade on the forestay so these sails are well suited for the Bay’s fresh breeze. One of the foremost problems that arises out of furling use, both jib and main is that you MUST have a tight halyard hoisting the sail during furl and unfurl. This requires that you actually CHECK the halyard both before unfurling AND furling. Save yourself a lot of grief by performing this simple task.

A late entry into the manufacturers value added (ie; big price increase) options is mainsail roller reefing. Yup, I said reefing. These systems are intended for furling the main but additionally they can be used for reefing the main and are much better suited to the task. The mast is much stiffer than the headstay and therefore keeps the sail shape potentially much flatter and the draft further forward. While there is considerable torque on the furling drum, the friction of the sail along the mast entrance helps reduce the torque loads to a workable factor. While mainsail furling can make sail handling easier, these systems are complicated and prone to jamming, definitely something to avoid on the Bay. I’ve outlined step-by-step procedures for setting and furling both jib and main below.

The newest of mainsail roller reefing systems is on-boom furling. These systems offer the absolute best of mainsail roller reefing, allowing use of full battens and if they jamb, you just drop the sail on the boom. Unfortunately this all comes at a great premium so only those boat owners with deep pockets are likely to install this option.

Oh yeah, finally, I’m not covering jiffy or slab reefing in this article as this topic really deserves to covered thoroughly in a subsequent newsletter.

I hope this article helps make your adventure on the Bay with furling jibs and mains nothing but smooooooth sailing :)

From "Diesel Tips"

Diesel Engine, a sailors best friend.

I have a friend with an old Monterey Fishing boat. You’ve seen them, the little double enders scattered all over Fisherman’s Wharf. Italian fisherman called them Felucas. My friends boat has a single cylinder Hicks gas engine built at the turn of the century (the last century that is). It’s a finicky, temperamental beast, but he can always get it running through sheer determination. No starter, you just put your shoe on the 300 pound flywheel and spin it like you were getting read to jump up on a log roll.

Thank goodness the modern diesel is the predominant engine in modern sailboats. While the diesel engine is a reliable beast of burden, it does require maintenance, and being mechanical, it WILL break or falter at some point in time.

I’m not going to delve into the complex issues here, just keep it simple which will deal with perhaps 90% of the problems you’ll likely encounter.

As diesels don’t have an ignition system (other than the electric starter and it’s requisite parts) most of the problems you’ll encounter will be fuel related. Critical to the diesel engine is a constant and uninterrupted fuel supply. Probably one of the easiest preventative maintenance precedes that you can do is to make sure the fuel tank is always nearly full. Additionally it’s important to keep some sort of ‘diesel gard’ in the tank. This is an additive that keeps a specific form of algae from reproducing in the tank (and keeps your fuel filters clean and reliable).

Small sailboats generally hold less than 30 gallons fuel and with all the rocking and healing, it’s easy for the fuel to slosh around so much that the engine picks up some air, killing it within a few minutes. If this happens, you’ll need to ‘bleed’ the engine to initiate an uninterrupted supply of diesel once again. It’s easy to see why keeping the tank pretty full helps a great deal, especially in the Bay where the boat bounces considerably.

Bleeding a diesel fuel system is really much easier than most people know. Key is understanding that you start at the engine mounted fuel filter (there better be one), move onto the injection pump bleed screw, then finally the injectors themselves. It’s absolutely imperative that you take all precautions to insure that NO fuel gets into the water. It’s best to find some rags or a small can to let this fuel run into while you’re bleeding the various components. Also I put some rags or paper towels immediately under the engine (make sure the engine sump is dry) to pickup anything I may miss with my can. Now you’re ready to bleed the engine. First, find the fuel pump, usually it’s engine operated via a cam. There’s a little lever that you simply pump to move fuel through it. You simply open the exit hose from the filter, making sure as fuel comes out there is no ‘hiss’ or bubbles. If there are, keep pumping until there isn’t. Next open the bleed screw on the pump. Some have a couple and it’s important to check the owners manual to ensure you’re opening the right one(s). Once you have clear fuel running through that, barely crack the fuel inlets to the injectors and make sure you have no air escaping those. Volia, you’re done.

The one electrical problem you’re likely to encounter is that the starter either won’t turn over the engine fast enough to get it started, or won’t turn over at all. This is the most frustrating of issues as you generally really ‘need’ the engine to start when you hit that button.

Key to keeping the starter working is ensuring that the batteries have not been depleted of reserve amperage during your great day of sailing. The best way to accomplish this is to ALWAYS, without fail, turn off one of the batteries (or the engine battery if it has a separate one). Most modern boats have 2 batteries aboard. Make sure you switch to the ‘house’ battery while you are sailing to prevent draining with engine battery with electrical loads from water pumps, electronics, autopilots, etc.

One issue EVERYONE should be aware of. The engine exhaust runs through a muffler which is cooled by the exiting raw (salt) cooling water after it has run through the engine. The ONLY way for the water to exit the exhaust is for the engine to be running. These exhaust mufflers have drains installed on them in case you can’t get the engine started and need to drain them. If you DON’T drain them cooling water can backup into the engine cylinders and cause a hydrolock (seize up the engine). If you have to crank the engine more than a minute or so, make certain you drain the muffler before you damage the engine. The muffler is remote from the engine, after the exhaust manifold but before the through hull.

If the starter doesn’t engage at all, make sure you have the battery switched on and the ignition key turned on (move it a little to make sure it isn’t corroded). If this doesn’t work, then head down into the engine room and locate the starter. It’s down low and the rear of the engine as it engages against the flywheel. Double check the wires running to the starter and the solenoid. Make sure everything is tightened and that the wires isn’t green. You may have 12v to the solenoid, but low amperage won’t allow it to turn. It takes well over 100 amps to start the engine so good electrical connections and a well charged battery are a must.

As you can see, I could go on and on about all the issues that come to bear.

Use the Troubleshooting flowchart to the right to help do a quick diagnosis of your engine trouble. There's several great books on diesel engine maintenance in the Retail Space at Spinnaker. Check 'em out and have some fun sailing (and motoring) this season!