[Rhodes22-list] Detached Furlers and Other Such Calamaties

[stan]

OK, for the record, again, you all are talking about a boat built in 1971 
(one of the first ever built and built by a company in Wichita KS) and not a 
1990 recycled in 2006 that Mark is sailing.  Two different animals with 
different lessons to be learned:  a) that we only recycle boats from 1984 
and later for good reason and b) there is some modest advantage to the 
recycling program.   So go sailing Mark and fearlessly enjoy your boat. 
Think where Geankoplis, Wickman and endless others have ventured - that 
unlike McGregor and other makes,  the Rhodes ( the oldest of them all ) has 
never lost a single soul - so far.

stan/gbi

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <iweb86 at aol.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 9:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Detached Furlers and Other Such Calamaties


Mark,

Let me say from here on. I probably should not have been out in these 
conditions.

1. There were small craft warnings which actually mean small craft should 
stay to shore. I am a little more adventurous than most and will take a 
little more risk than most normal people.
2. There must have been some type of extraordinary failure. THe failure in 
this instance being the pin at the base of the roller furler and the tang at 
the bow of the boat.
3. Six years ago when I bought the boat I had not sailed and did not have 
any idea of sailing any kind of a boat. (Some people may even say after 
reading this that I still don't).

However I have learned a lot from attending seminars, training  and reading 
all I can on sailing. Part of my writing this story in the first place was 
in hopes of being helpful to someone like you.

As I had stated one of the first things I was told to do was drop and 
anchor. I am sure that at some time I had heard this but in the moment it 
had not come to me. As soon as the boat stopped the height of the problem 
went down. The other thing that I am also reminded about is that I did not 
have my life jacket on. I consider myself a very good swimmer so I do not 
wear it as much as I should.

So by all means go out and have a good time. take all the time you can in 
the practicing on the water for nothing can compare. Only then will you 
become confident and able to handle any situation on the water.

Happy sailing

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: mputnam1 at aol.com
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 23:41:08 -0400
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Detached Furlers and Other Such Calamaties


Ok, in all seriousness, as a newbie, (and at the risk of embarassing myself 
by
admitting this) this is the sort of story that scares the bejesus out of me,
because if this were to all happen to me the next time I'm out on the water, 
I
wouldn't have the foggiest idea of how to solve the problem.  Especially 
since I
am mostly sailing single-handed while I get to know the boat and get 
comfortable
with how it handles.  I'm not going to risk the safety of my non-sailing 
friends
(I really don't know anyone who sails) until I feel more confident in my
abilities on the R-22.

Is this the sort of thing that eventually happens to most R-22 owners?  For
instance, what can one do ahead of time to learn more about exactly how the
roller furler is held together so that I can attempt to put it back together
again on the water if something like this happens?  Should I be taking it 
apart
and putting it back together again (not exactly something I want to do --  
I'd
probably screw it all up) Or does one just learn how to handle such things 
as
events unfold on the water?

Sorry for the open-ended question that is most likely answered with "well,
you'll figure it out because you have to" ... but this sort of malfunction 
is
what I am most nervous about as a relatively new and pretty inexperienced 
sailor
...

- Mark P.


-----Original Message-----
From: 
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To: 
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Sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:25:59 -0400
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Wow this is a boring night


Wow, you should ask just as I had the most fun in a long time on my boat 
Sunday

My wife (of almost three years and came after I got the boat) and I went out 
on
my ‘72 Rhodes Continental, Pleiades last Sunday. Now mind you it may have 
been
blowing a little too hard. Actually they did say there were SCW. (Small 
Craft
Warnings) To me that means the there is a bit of so me wind for a sailboat. 
Kind

of like a bigger engine.

Well we were about 15 minutes out and my wife. Mind you know she is not much 
of
a sailor and actually likes it when I keep it flat and not tacking, well she
comments how it is a beautiful day, even though it is blowing about 15 
knots.

Then after a bit of a gibe I look and the bottom of the roller furler has 
come
loose. Oh what a bummer. That dang this is now flying in the air and I 
basically

don’t have any steerage. Oh not that it has come off before so this is a new
experience. Best part was my wife did not know that there was a problem but
trust me when she figured it out, Boy was it a problem.

Well first I thought I would go forward and see if I could get it 
reconnected
and roll in the jib but after almost going in myself I was forced to retreat 
to
the cockpit. First tying a quick knot in the furling line so as to keep the
bottom of the furler from completely flying all over the place.

I then tried to start the Honda 9.9 (Oh Michael that baby is doing great 
most of

the time. You know once I got it home from down south. That in itself was an
adventure. Flying to CT and then not being able to get on the plane and 
having
to fly back to Maine, driving 10 hours with a car that had a blown head 
gasket.
Got rid of that car very shortly after that adventure. Next time you get 
board I

can tell you about my adventure with the hood popping up on us two weeks 
ago.)

Well I think that since we were rocking so much I could not get it started 
and
by this time Susan, That would be my wife who was all calm and sitting on 
the
float cushion 5 minutes earlier is pressing for me to call someone. Like her
mother....

At this point I got to the mic for the radio and called for the CG. No 
response.

I look up and the antenna to the radio, which usually sits happily on the 
top of

the mast, is bending north and not straight up north. I find out later that 
if
you want to call the CG on a cell phone that you can dial *CG and it will 
get
you to them. (Disclaimer: I understand today that this is at least for the 
first

district which is up here in the northeastern US. I do not know if this for 
all
regions)

Well I started to look for my handheld which I could not find right away. 
Susan,

had found her cell phone and requested me to call someone, One of her
suggestions remember was her mother.

I finally found my handheld and was able to call the CG. One of there first
pieces of advice was to drop an anchor. Oh what a novel idea. Once I did 
that
most of the excitement went away.

Well kind of. Turned out that since there was not any pressure on the mast 
cap
that it came out of the mast and this allowed both the jib and back stays to
come down. Now I have the jib and roller furler in the water. Yet help is on 
the

way. I tried to start hauling the jib out of the water yet you would not 
budge.
I found out a bit latter this was due to one of the jib lines had a figure 
eight

in the end of the line to prevent it from coming out of the block. Therefore
preventing me from pulling it from under the boat. This in turned helped to 
bend

the reefing tube under the boat the boat as well. Now I have a 25 foot 
curved
roller furler.

For those that may be a little new to the list and this vintage of Stan and
Phillip Rhodes design. This model had a roller furler design that has a 
long,
about 25’ 11/8 inch aluminum tube with a flat round plate on the bottom. The
sail is cut with a sleeve and the tube is put into. On mine I then have it
attached with screws at the top and the bottom.

Thanks to Stan I have started to try and figure out what I am going to do to
repair the furler. I am trying to find a place that maybe able to straighten 
it
but I think I am going to have to build one from scratch. Any ideas on
straightening the furler would be welcomed.

Long story short, we were towed to our mooring and then I was able to get 
the
boat to the dock, by this time the motor was starting again on one pull, and
demast the boat for now. As we did this my loving wife commented how my 
beloved
boat now was a MB (motor boat). Oh it may be a while before I let her on the
boat again.

Well for the most important point no one got hurt and Pleiades is still
floating.

As for that, when this first started to happen we were healing at one point
almost with water coming in the cockpit. (Actually I have been on the boat 
when
we had water coming. For the person on the helm was not letting go of the 
tiller

as we took on a great header. No neither myself nor my wife were at the helm 
at
the time.) at least 35 to 40 degrees and the boat just came down on its own. 
I
personally felt comfortable that it was not going to go over.

First thing is to have a surveyor look at the boat and work out with the
Insurance Company a claim. Then get it repaired so I can get on with the 
season.

Up here in the north they are short.

Well, that was my excitement. I may not be a regular on the list here but I 
have

always enjoyed the posting and knew I had to tell my story. Especially since
Michael thought it was little boring around here? Not to mention there are
repairs needing to be made.

I wish you all the best and I hope you are having a better season.

Scott and Susan
SV Pleiades

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Meltzer 
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To: 'The Rhodes 22 mail list' 
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Sent: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 21:28:12 -0400
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Wow this is a boring night


Everyone is out sailing?

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