Re: March 7th - Making Bail, Equipment Failure and other fish stories

Wayne.B wrote:
> On Tue, 06 May 2008 17:19:19 -0600, Paul Cassel
> <pcasselremove2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
>> I'm having a tough time seeing the initial setup. You are motoring 
>> northward with the Stream and on a run or very broad reach? Is that it?

>> What I'm having a tough time with is if you are on a broad reach or
run, 
>> why the engine? I personally hate the things and if you are on a run, 
>> you are moving the disgusting diesel exhaust into your cockpit / cabin.
>>
>> Do I have the setup right or am I missing something?
> 
> You're not missing a thing, the question is why.  I suppose the only
> real answer is inexperience.
> 
> Flying a spin****r at night with only one person on deck is not a good
> idea.  Wing and wing with the jib poled out and the boom prevented is
> one traditional solution of course, and it works pretty well.  The
> *really* serious downwind cruisers have always favored a double head
> sail rig with twin poles, and the main down.
> 
> Keeping the main strapped down hard, dead downwind in a decent breeze
> and large swells is a recipe for disaster.  The only time I'd do that
> even tem****arily  is jibing the spin****r short handed.
> 
> The other solution is the one I originally proposed: reaching up high
> enough that the jib is full, thus minimizing the chances of an
> accidental.  That does require an occasional jibe to stay on course
> but that's easily managed with an auto pilot at the helm.
> 

OK, you may be right, but I'd like to hear from Skip to confirm. This 
entire episode makes no sense to me.