Backyard Sailors?

Got some of these:


These are $5 ground anchors from Northern Tools. Anchored my trailer to the ground and strapped the FX1 safely and kindly to the trailer.

Great debate is now on...

Do I look like an idiot to the neighbors, swinging from the trap lines off the mast in the backyard and listening to...

"Hey, look! Our neighbor is sailing in his backyard again. Looks like Tarzan's Cheeta swinging on vines. Yuck, yuck!"

Or do I take it to the water, where it's a hassle to unload and time is short, and test things there?

Any confessions from backyard sailors??? Does anyone else "sail" in the backyard?

I do it too sometimes. But, get it on the water. I'm leaving for Jordan in about 30 minutes. I'll be there around 12:30. I'd like to see what the FX-one can do. I've always wanted to see one up close.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Aw man...

Jordan, the forecast:

Now work is going to really stink...

All the time. Anytime I get a new piece of gear or make a modification it always starts in the backyard for placement/practice. Commonly refered to as a dry run in the Navy. I even bring the neighbor over for a second set of eyes and opinion/sanity check.

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http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/ac294/gsammy925/

Is it okay to practice trapping in the yard? Any danger to mast without wind acting as a counter balance?

I want to teach my kids to get on the wire and being a backyard trapeze artist would be great

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1985 Prindle 16

No danger of damaging the mast as long as you don't overload it by hanging more than about two or three people off of it at one time. The wind forces in the sail don't subtract load from the mast, they increase load.

Biggest thing is to make sure you've properly supported the hulls on sufficient padding or cradles. You don't want to point load the hulls on trailer rollers with several people sitting/hanging on the boat.

sm

Thanks - I will try that this weekend

Gonna be at Jordan with James this pm should be a great sail

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1985 Prindle 16

Don't forget to look around before you step your mast at home. Think overhead wires.

10-4 - but we live in the back of nowhere so no wires for miles...squirrel nests maybe

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1985 Prindle 16

Sounds like fun!

Other thing to think about: If you're practicing trap work at home (or on the water) with no wind, have somebody trap on each side of the boat to balance out the loads. We used to do this all the time on no-wind days (on the water) when I was a kid.

Or put two on the same side to capsize intentionally, and practice righting the cat. Even 20 years later, all that practice righting comes in handy when it really matters.

When learning the basics, there's nothing like repetition, repetition, repetition -- practice, practice, practice!

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-Roland
Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.

I've done it on the cat ramp where I keep my boat, right next to the lake.

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1982 H16 (C:\Worthy)
Yellow/White Prism type sails

Appreciate the heads up on the Jordan sail. Hit me up next time! I need to sail the H18 I have for sale and need to rig the hotrod and get pics for recut of the squaretop.