Monday, November 16, 2015

Voyaging the House: Thetis




The top image is of the family home, Thetis.  We lived aboard from 1961 through 1963 and made three ICW trips and sailed the Bahamas and South Florida.  The bottom image is the sloop I skippered and lived aboard in the Caribbean during the 2004-2005 sailing season.  The family home was way more comfortable.  The lower image was way more fun to sail.  Choices about the perfect boat all really hinge on purpose, same with houses ashore.

2 comments:

  1. I notice the family home Thetis has 2 reef points in the jib. How often would you guys put in the second reef?
    I'm in the process of adding reef points to my jib and the sail maker is against it. He says if I insist I should only put a single reef point.

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  2. I don't think the jib was ever reefed. I doubt any of the sails were ever reefed. The usual plan was to use sails in combinations that were appropriate for the conditions. We rarely went offshore or overnight.

    I had some experience with a reefing jib, hanked on, of course, and it was not great. The bunt of the reefed sail trapped a lot of water. Also, leading the reefed sheet was troublesome. All resolvable problems just not so easy on a rig not properly set up for the reefing jib.

    The sail plan on Thetis was designed by Spaulding Dunbar who envisioned long ocean passages. Mom and dad envisioned short days sails from quiet anchorages to quiet anchorages.

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