First of all, welcome to the world of sailing and Hobie Cats!
Docking: if you want to pull up to a dock, there's not much you can do to stay still for sure short of dropping the sails. The next best alternative if you're only going to be there for a minute is to dock with the bow facing into the wind, but if the wind shifts then the boat may try to sail away. The best way is to pick up a mooring instead of going into a dock, as the boat is then free to rotate 360° and always face into the wind. Obviously this makes it harder to get ashore, and I wouldn't leave the boat unattended with the sails up regardless.
Wind direction: determining the wind direction can be tricky when you're starting out, particularly on a river or something like a Hobie. as HiFiRobbie mentioned, look up "apparent wind" (will make the wind seem like its coming more in front of you than the flags indicate). I'm not familiar with the river you were on, but you may have also been seeing some local wind swirl due to the surrounding topography- generally the wind in a narrow river will be funneled to slightly more of a upstream/downstream direction than the prevailing wind above the river banks (what the flags see).
Definitely find a cassette tape to use as telltales for the shrouds- if you don't have any tapes, eBay, Salvation Army, and older friends/relatives are all great resources to find them. Having the telltales on the shrouds/bridles help a lot in determining the wind direction. I wouldn't pay for one of the wind arrows ("windex") that goes on the bridle yet; personally I think that they're more trouble than they're worth until you're at a higher level.
pyroboy08 wrote:
I finally got to take my 1983 16 for a spin yesterday. The wind was minimal but we got an occasional gust of 10 mph at most. We managed to sail down the Caloosahatchee and back up again from Franklin Locks. At one point we docked at a marina. I let the sails all the way out but shortly after jumping on shore, a gust of wind made the boat try to take off. I had it tied down but when we jumped back on, no matter what I did I could not get the boat to sit still, so I untied my docking lines and we just kept going. Is there anyway to cage the beast without lowering the sails, or relying on docking lines to hold it? Also, even though we managed to sail down the river and back up again, I honestly could not determine the wind direction the entire time. I could see flags but it only added to the confusion because they appeared to be blowing opposite the direction that my boom was being blown. The flags were pretty high up so maybe there was a wind shear. What do you guys use on board to determine wind direction? I just pointed my boat as close to the desired course that it would move and played with the sails to achieve the best speed. Keep in my that my friend and I are completely self taught and this is my second time ever sailing and my first time on this boat.
Straighten me out! Thanks.
I personally prefer the tape over yarn, as I feel that it does a better job of picking up the slight changes/puffs on very light air days, but hrtsailor is right, it will tear off at highway speeds (or even really big gusts- I keep a spare cassette in my sailing box). However, its all a matter of personal preference, both tape and yarn work, as will ribbon.
hrtsailor wrote:
Instead of cassette tape, I use pieces of wool yarn. Cassette tape will tear off when trailering the boat at highway speed but the yarn won't. When sailing, always look at the windward tell tale. The downwind side is affected by air coming off the jib and isn't indicating wind direction.
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