Texas 200 and First Impressions.

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Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby John in CC on Fri Jun 12, 2015 7:54 pm

The Pocketship Candy-O sailed beautifully in its first real test. John Harris has designed an awesome boat! The Pocketship feels solid and is something a builder can really be proud of on the water. I am pretty sure it outperformed a majority of the 80+ boats in the event.

I did the the first half of the Texas 200. Camp 3 was at the yacht club very near my house. It was too tempting to call it a trip instead of doing the second half for a number of reasons, so that what I did. I'll sail the second half next year so I can say I completed the slowest Texas 200 by taking a year to do it.

In an event like this there are so many decisions that have to be made and being a newby to this type of event. It is constant problem solving without the advantage of experience. I found the correct answers enough times to stay out of trouble and make it all the way home (the halfway point of the event).

One of the reasons to bail out of the event was an uncommon prevailing wind that was going to cause some problems in the upcoming days without a bit of motorized aid. The other reasons were fatigue, lack of experience, a little intimidation, and a few things that needed to be different on the boat.

Things I will change on the boat to make an event like this:

Seat cushions! -after all day of sitting on a fiberglass/wood surface in bathing suit pants my buttocks felt like I had been sitting nekkid on a cheese grater for ten hours.
Tiller lock and or extension. -this could have given more options in my seating position and made the boat more stable when going down in the cabin to get something.
A smaller more accessible ice chest and remote for the radio. -going down into the cabin is a real pain solo.
Outboard motor. -some of the places we dock were really tricky and tight and the outboard is also a great safety item when things go wrong.
Brought too much gear. -should pack a bit lighter.
A crew.

Things I did that really work out well:

Stereo.
GPS with a transducer. The transducer for this event was well worth the trouble. There were a bunch of shallow areas.
Covering every inch of skin with fabric other than cotton. The sun was intense and the humidity was worse.
Anchor with a long line.
My entire electrical system was flawless. It included a solar panel, cigarette plug, usb charging outlet, volt meter, am/fm radio, fuse panel, cabin lights and nav lights.
Twin size memory foam for sleeping was really comfortable even in the heat.
Mosquito netting...until it fell down


I only sailed Candy-O once (finished the build a week earlier) before the start of the event and I must admit my sailing has been very limited since I was 12. So I was basically sailing with the skills of a 12 year old :? The skills come back quickly (as limited as they are), kinda like riding a bike.

It was so much fun to sail this boat I can't believe how much time I have wasted not doing any sailing all these years...well maybe not wasted :D I live in such a perfect city for sailing it is nice to be able to take advantage. This is going to be great fun for years to come.
Last edited by John in CC on Fri Jun 12, 2015 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby John in CC on Fri Jun 12, 2015 8:09 pm

Image
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby Pastorjim on Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:15 am

What an inspirational and informative post. I can't wait to finish "Journey" and join in the fun :)
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby Bflat on Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:24 pm

John in CC, I'm wondering if you have any more thoughts you can share about the boat now that a little time has passed since the event (Texas 200).
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby Shudoman on Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:31 pm

That was a good list of what did and didn't work. My list from the FL-120 would look like this.

What worked.
    1. The boat - was great in the conditions as they were for the 4 days.
    2. The crew - my choice of crew made it much easier. I'm not sure that I could have finished if doing it solo.
    3. The supplies - we went minimalist. We had 8 gals of drinkable water and we ate mostly dehydrated hikers meals. Actually they were pretty good.
    4. The kitchen - again minimalist. Small hikers stove and hikers pots and pans.
    5. The electrical system - minimalist again. Marine group 24 battery that ran the interior and running lights and an inverter to charge usb devices and torqueedo battery. One charge easily lasted the full 4 days.
    6. Usb speaker - I didn't install a stereo in my boat (they only seem to last a season or so down in the fl salt). Having a cell phone playing music down in the cabin while attached to the inverter and streaming it to a bluetooth speaker attached to the boom support was an ideal solution.

What didn't work.
    1. Seat cushions - I had mine made out of closed cell foam, had them made that way cause they float really well but it's pretty hard stuff. Had "ass rash" after the 3rd day. I have since added hemorrhoid cushions (aka rubber donut) and in subsequent test this worked nicely. We used the same cockpit seat cushions to sleep on below, again too hard. I've since purchased and tested auto-inflating hikers cushions for use down below.
    2. Torqueedo motor - I wouldn't call it a total failure but on the third day the seas were so rough that the mount that holds it out of the water broke (this shouldn't happen on an $1800 motor). Other than that it worked very well for maneuvering.

What I wished I had.
    1. Tiller extension - Using the tiller "as is" limits the position you can put your body in while steering. Left myself and crew with aches and pains.
    2. Gear hammock - It would have been so much nicer to have commonly used items hanging above us while relaxing and sleeping in the cabin.
    3. Solar panel - Even though our battery didn't die during the 4 days, I often worried that it would.
    4. Beer - Water can only go so far in quenching the hot fl sun.
    5. Sun shower - Got a little "gamey" by the end of the event.
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby craig on Thu Jun 18, 2015 11:48 am

Has anybody installed a "no-no" mainsheet cleat or tiller clutch? I find that I can't really leave the tiller alone or I'll go off course (going downwind if currently upwind, and maybe gybing if left untended and already headed downwind). I'm curious if anybody has used one of these devices and if they do help single-handing the boat (or even with a crew on a long trip to reduce the fatigue).
Titania, launched January 2015
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby Shudoman on Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:20 pm

craig wrote:Has anybody installed a "no-no" mainsheet cleat or tiller clutch? I find that I can't really leave the tiller alone or I'll go off course (going downwind if currently upwind, and maybe gybing if left untended and already headed downwind). I'm curious if anybody has used one of these devices and if they do help single-handing the boat (or even with a crew on a long trip to reduce the fatigue).


No but I've gone the "Cajun Tiller Tamer" route and it works very well and is very low tech: http://www.blumhorst.com/potterpages/Photopoint/0005/cajun-tiller-tamer.htm
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Re: cajun tiller tamer

Postby captain charlie on Sat Jun 27, 2015 10:11 am

Per the reference to the cajun tiller trimmer, I used a length of bungee cord installed per the picture in the blog. When sailing I keep two turns wrapped around the tiller which allows me to rest one hand for a while. When trailering, I wrap an additional turn on the tiller which keeps the rudder from swinging about. Sure a lot cheaper than the $100 which I think they wanted for the tiller clutch. happy sailing, captain charlie
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Re: Texas 200 and First Impressions.

Postby craig on Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:38 pm

I like the "Cajun" tamer idea, thanks! I'll try that next time out. I need to find some "grippier" rope though. My varnished tiller is pretty slippery I think, and I wonder whether the nylon or polyester rope I have will have enough grip to keep the rudder centered.
Titania, launched January 2015
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