Season 4 Drascombe Lugger Shake Down Sail - It's A Good One!

[@JagoWilson]

Such a lovely feeling when the wind finally fills the sails!

[@SailingWithDave]

@JagoWilson definitely and definitely a long overdue sail!!

[@HELIFAN1]

Nice to get out on the water again!

[@SailingWithDave]

Certainly is, you just get all those little sailing feelings come back to you and you remember why you love it so much!

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

Dave, the loop of string on the rollocks could be to bring up and loop over the rollocks to stop them falling out. Hope that makes sense. Also another suggestion is that you maybe moor tadpole somewhere different on the mooring, so you can pick up the mooring strop and put it straight on the cleat, without having to sort tadpole out

[@SailingWithDave]

Aha, I wondered what they were for!! So you thread the oars through them I guess?

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

@@SailingWithDave just use the oars as normal as if the string wasn't there

[@richardallen2091]

Hi Dave , nice video , when you pick your mooring up try to get it midships and walk it to the front of the boat then on to the cleat asap .you will find that the boat comes head to wind quickly . Then the boat will settle and you will be able to sort her out. try tying your jib sheets together ,you may find you can reach them easier . keep up the good work . Richie Bala sc

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Richie. Good advice! i think this was the first time I did it under sail and it was a bit of a mess!! Hopefully I will get better from here!!

[@jeffellis1149]

Hi Dave. Great video again but don't cut the drysuit suit seal. The skin contact area will be reduced and it'll leak once you're in the water. Put the seal over something to stretch it. We used to use a diving cylinder but anything about that size then periodically take it off and put it round your neck to test it. It can take hours or more - depends on the temperature and the size of the object. The other thing that can happen with cut seals is the tiniest nick and it''ll split. Easy enough to replace a seal but messy (or you can pay..:(..).. Keep up the good work - You help get us through the winter!

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Jeff. I will look into that. I tried to stretch it with a football but it was a bit bog so I don't think it worked too well. The neck seal is way too tight for me though. It literally hurts my throat after a few hours so I need to do something about it!!

[@anotherangleUK]

Could be a shoal of Perch but, not every little fish icon is actually a fish. The sounder maybe picking up soundings from floating debris in the water - often sea weed at sea. Must have been great to finally get out for a sail.

[@SailingWithDave]

@anotherangleUK well the lake is fed by the river DEE so who knows what's down there!!! Yes a good sail today!!

[@fibber2u]

Your right but there will be literally millions of small Perch and Roach in Llyn Tegid.

[@anotherangleUK]

@@fibber2u And also some Trout, Grayling and good sized Pike. My best Pike (going back many years ago) was 17lbs. Still my best to date 😁

[@fibber2u]

@anotherangleUK I fished the lake for pike once in 1973 (the only time I fished it) without luck. I did catch a small perch very little larger than the lure, and that was unintended, I left the line trailing overboard whilst I was rowing. But I enjoyed the day.

[@anotherangleUK]

@@fibber2u Around that time (1973) there was a preserved Gwynaid in a case in the bar of the White Lyon Royal Hotel. The Gwynaid is / was only found in the depths of Llyn Tegid. Anyway, think I'm straying from the sailing content of Dave's excellent channel.

[@fibber2u]

You worry about the lump on the back of your lifejacket we'll worry about the lump inside it mate.😜

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha. Many thanks!

[@marcdaigle1163]

All is good,... Watch the swinging sail pole, Dave... It looks merciless... If you could only aligne those flying jets, overhead, to give you more wind,...then,... Be safe!

[@SailingWithDave]

CHeers Marc. To be honest i've been clobbered enough times by that block on the loose footed mainsail enough to not be too worried about the boom now!

[@naignildoi826]

i used a spring 2" chrome hook to secure my dingy to boat or mooring. No probs. mabe you could use similar to attatch main to boom.

[@SailingWithDave]

Yes I think it would make that easier. The trouble is that in order to pull the sail flat you need to get it tight so I need something quick , easy but also small!

[@christophe6065]

Thank you for this long video. Two things that could improve the rowing :🙂 - Put some leather on the oars (where they are on the oarlocks). - have a sort of board on the floor, to block your feet. Like that you can use your arms first, and then all your body (leaning back).

[@SailingWithDave]

Blimey Christophe you'll have me strapped in next and add 7 other guys and we'll be doing the boat race!!. I have the "proper" oars for the boat that have leather on them but these oars are in fact my packraft paddles and my jib stick so only for emergencies really.

[@gregaldworth1200]

Crutches/rowlocks, whatever you prefer to call them, outfitted with lanyards, can by unshipped and left on the the thwart for later use without fear of them being lost underfoot or overboard. Find something to secure the lanyard to and they will stay on board, ready for use and not plucked out of their socket by a flogging sheet etc. Traditional rigs are complex, simple and beautiful all at once. They cannot be treated like a modern racing dinghy, but cannot be treated with contempt. Drascombes are great boats to explore that difference in.

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks for the comment Greg. I think the oars issue isn't solved just yet so I may well give that a try!

[@Spud63]

a great start to season 4 looked lively at times, wind is always better once you leave the moorings and go further down the lake. what happened to the bluetooth mic you had, had a job to hear in the wind , , that fish finder seemed to work very well, i can see it now fishing with Dave , watch out Phil you could have a rival lol . look forward to the next

[@gregaldworth1200]

So much to talk about... As 6065 pointed out; leather your oars, lots of instructions, suggestions in books and online to help with that simple process but, before you do that, buy longer oars. Rowing becomes even easier when the oars are about double the breadth of the boat and then add some. They seem un-naturally long but there is tremendous leverage in longer oars. Ease of rowing is also enhanced when the oars are nearly flat when the blades are in the water and your hands and grips overlap. Your are then rowing 'cross handed'. Seems awkward at first but there is better leverage and rowing is easier as your hands are not describing big arcs through the upper atmosphere on the pulling portion of each stroke. Sail on brother!

[@SailingWithDave]

I think I have a lot to learn with rowing. I do have the original oars that are over 8ft long but the issue with them is stowing them for cruising trips. A lot of wood to find a home for when trying to sleep aboard! I will look into the other method you mention above!

[@gregaldworth1200]

The main's "motorboating", as we used to say locally, is partly a result of not having battens to support the leach of your main. Older pattern, traditional sails, may not have had a "roach", which needed the support provided by battens to support that sailcloth which extended beyond an imaginary line drawn from head (or peak) to clew. The result is that irritating thrumming, which is difficult to avoid in a traditional rig. Drascombes are not Vendee Globe foiling boats screaming across the Southern Ocean (except in my imagination). one cannot trim them the same way in hopes of avoiding all creases, sounds etc. The charm of traditional rigs is their ability to move mass with minimal fuss/expense, their downside is the occasional crease and flutter, like some of us...

[@SailingWithDave]

I agree. I have found the Lugger a charm and frustration all in one. A frustration, because I am finding I am always trying to make he go faster or better, but a charm because she simply has such a lovely calm nature and she's such a solid boat too. Many people have told me that my journey in the dinghy world has definitely not come to an end just yet and another boat may be the answer!