Sailing Reports

At the end of each sail, all sailors are encouraged to file a report of what you learned and experienced. These will become our knowledge base and are inventoried below.

Patrick Hughes, July 2009 - What a fun and beautiful little boat! We had a bright sunny day with appox 10 knot winds gusting to about 15. On our boat we used a rope to attach the tack of the jib to the bow. We tied a bowline on the jib halyard since there was no shackle. The jib also didn't have hanks so close hauled to close reach will cause a lot of flapping in the wind. Be careful not to let go of the mooring ball too soon as the winds coming out of the west will blow you into the nearby boats. Loosen up the opposite back stay - attached to the side of the boat - of whatever tack you're on so the boom isn't constrained. Seems like you need more momentum to tack than on J24's. There are shallows S.E. across the channel by the nice homes, you don't need to be that close to shore for the centerboard to start bumping along the bottom. We found it easiest to approach the mooring ball under full sail, after we grabbed the line we dropped the sails. You can sail with 5 people but it's much more comfortable with 4. Loved the crabcake sandwich at the little place across the road where we broke for lunch. Looking forward to going again!

Jennifer Dudanowicz, July 2009 - Gorgeous boats, gorgeous bay. Kuduos to Mike for making these available to us. Advice: bring a sailing knife. You will wind up wanting to cut a piece of line here or there to fit your purposes. A few extra pieces of line also would be helpful- we would have loved to have some to tie the jib to the forestay, as the jib did not have hanks. Also, I have to reiterate what Keither said about these being antique boats and needing to be treated lightly. Merely leaning on the boom gives you a sense of its fragility. We found that to get to the mooring, you stay under sail for as long as possible. Paddling is onerous due to a combination of (gentle, but annoying) current and due to proximity of the other boats moored nearby. Dropping the main and jib can be done quickly, so you should keep them us as long as possible when trying to reach the mooring ball. Oh, also, the oysters at the crab shack across the road from the entrance to Beaton's were excellent.

Deborah Zajac, July 2009 - What a day, what an experience, and what a great asset for the club. I look forward to this being my first of many days out on the Barnegat with great people in beautiful boats. A great way to learn and expand the opportunities of the club members. Thank you again to Commodore Fortenbaugh and the many other dedicated members of our club who had the foresight and follow-through to make this a reality. It was great to meet you all. Looking forward to sailing with you again soon!

- Dale Kagan, July 2009 - G Sloop 19 feet. No winches. Secure sheets one turn around cleat instead of keeping the sheet in your hand. Works both ways a pulley, letting sail in and out. Injury could result in keeping sail of jib in your hand for a long period. Nice channel on far left on leaving. Go between red markers and green only if wind is favorable. Do not go in between the green markers. Underwater poles. If you cannot get out due to wind direction, go through mooring area. Had a great time. Bay is large and well marked. Boats were fun.

- Peter Plemper, July 2009 - Just a quick note to all to say "THANKS" for another great sailing experience. I was very happy happy to see Mike bringing his son to the event - a new generation of sailor in the making! (and that Lincoln is one cool car). Thanks to Mike for his vision in adding this venue to the MSC roster. I'm sure it brings back happy memories for many of us of days spent on the water learning new skills, making new friends, getting salty wet and just having lots of fun until we get hungry. Hey - that's not a memory, that's yesterday! New York Harbor is a magnificent and unique sailing ground were are fortunate to share, but the sailing world encompasses a dazzling array of flavors and it's great to add a new variety to our "menu". It's not just the new location, I also found it quite interesting to sail a much older boat and observe some sailing evolution "hands on". Oilskin covered decks, neither jam cleats nor cam cleats (deck cleats only, thank you very much), no boom vang, a "T" cross-section boom, the tiller mortised directly into the rudder blade, a long tiller rather than a tiller extension, etc. The boats are certainly recognizable to a modern sailor yet these seemingly minor differences have a significant impact on boat handling and crew requirements. I have a newfound appreciation for the rigging refinements found on most any boat today that make single- or short-handed sailing quite easy and comfortable. Good idea Mike, the G Sloop is much more fun and instructive in the water rather than in a museum. Having relived some of my happily "misspent" youth, I have to acknowledge I'm lucky to have shared the experience with a fun group of fellow sailors whom I look forward to sailing with again.

- Han Huang, July 2009 - Thank you very much for the gift of bringing the g-sloops to club members. I had a wonderful time out there. The wind was excellent today and the sailing fantastic. If club members knew what a great experience it is, I think more would come down. I had two short low key match races with Wes which was a lot of fun. Even if not match racing, I think there is a special pleasure in sailing as a pair. On a safety note, with winds gusting 10 knots plus, if the skipper and crew have not sailed a dingy with backstays that need adjusting on each tack, they need to adapt very quickly when navigating out of the the harbor. For example, on our boat, on one tack the windward backstay wasn't brought in and we started to move backwards. As I hadn't sailed on a dingy with these adjustable stays, it took me about 4 seconds to work out the problem was as I had assumed it was tied down and I was visually checking other parts of the boat first. If the same problem occurred, I would now be able to identify the issue much faster. Also, if tying up on the dock, with 10 knots or so of wind pushing the boat directly towards the dock, getting the bow close enough to tie off and de-power at the same time had become a relatively tricky maneuver by the middle of the day as the wind had picked up. The maneuver was definitely doable, but it needed a relatively high degree of precession and confidence from both skipper and crew in terms of working the backstays etc in a relatively tight space. Tying both boats to mooring buoys would obviously eliminate this issue. Thanks again, Han

- Keith Cooper, July 2009 - WOW! We had such a great day! These boats are such a joy to sail; quick and lively to the wind and very fast off. We left the slip under jib power, raised the main in the channel where we could luff up and off we went. With a west wind of 10k steady and gusts to 15k, we discovered why the G Sloops were so popular on Barnegat Bay back in the day. And the Bay is such a beautiful and historic place to sail and visit! We zipped back and forth, tacking and jibing, tuning our crew to our new vessel as we harkened the era when the Bay was graced by the G-Sloop fleet racing out of Bay Head. We ended our day as it started, sailing right up to the dock, luffed and dropped sail. As we stowed our new friend we all looked forward to another adventure 'down the shore' very soon! Thanks so much for creating this very special opportunity Michael! KC

- At the end of each sail, please remove the rudder and place it in the boat. Remove the main and jib. Fold the main along the leech (because the battens are sewn in) and then store the sails in their bags in the stern of the boat where they will stay dry. Things stored under the bow get wet as rain water runs to the deepest section by the mast step and centerboard well.

- If you wish to go north under the Mantoloking Bridge in order to sail the Metedeconk River, you can just sail under the main span with the bridge closed. The boat cannot fit under the sides of the bridge. When sailing under the bridge, be sure to have both paddles ready and your crew prepared to paddle. The bridge will block your wind.

- These are old and antique boats and therefore fragile. It's like driving an antique car. Please make sure you treat the boat lightly. In the first weekend, we broke a shackle on a back stay and a book. Please do not crank down the backstays. They are only there for protection when you go downwind or jibe. They do not control the shape of the mast. Therefore, put them on basic hand tight but do not pull them in super tight. For the boom, do not sit on the boom! The booms do not have boom vangs. Let the boom ride up. And rather than going dead downwind when the wind is up, sail at a broad reach.

- Barnegat Bay now has small clear jellyfish which have tentacles and sting. Be careful before you jump in the water. Evidently, the antidote to the sting is white vinegar so you might consider bringing a small bottle of white vinegar along with you when sailing.