First time solo, no problems !!!!!....

My Copilot girl friend did not show up, so I took the 16 solo, only with the Main Sail though, but everything went prefect !!!!! It was a bit dificult to Tack, but I managed. Wind was fair at 8-12, which helped a lot. The only thing is that it`s a little lonely to be out there on the Blue by myself. Now that I have time to think about it, I think I am a little crazy, but that`s me.

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Every second that passes cannot be recovered, so make good use of every one of them that you have left.

Nice.

I can only imagine what it's like to be out there on your own, although, I have been close to doing it once or twice. I think there's a part in each of us that kinda thinks "Y'know, it may not be too bad if nobody shows up to crew today".

I'd love to give it a try one day, but while I have a willing crew in either my best friend or my gf, I'm gonna give them as much time on the water as they can take.

It's funny how your mind wanders when you do these sorts of things alone. I spend a bit of time camping and touring and when I'm on my own, I sometimes scare myself with some of the thoughts that wander through my head!!

Glad to hear it all went well.

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'97 Hobie 16.

Skype: rob_arnolda

Welcome to soloing. I've been doing it for years and really like the time to myself on the water. I was out for 5 hrs yesterday in near perfect wind (10 - 15 knots), plenty of time to solve all the worlds problems, or just chill.

I was solo-ing yesterday, practicing flying winward hull.

I was great until I capsized. Got to try my righting bucket - had a problem were it did not lift high enough to help right to cat. Shore patrol assisted before I could figure out how to readdjust the bucket.

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1980 18 foot class A Unicorn catamaran
1977 Super Sunfish (sold)
1979 Hobie (sold)
1983 Hobie 16 Hawiian Sunset (sold)
1981 Hobie 16 Tequilla Sunrise (sold)
2008 Hobie 16 (sold)
2023 Hobie 16
Founding member of the "San Dimas Yacht Club"
John

Good in a way, bad in another. It's good they helped, you could have been really stuck. Bad in the sense that if you could have figured it out alone, you would have gained good experience.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

I go out solo all the time and love it, I can park the boat on the edge of tipping and balance it across the lake. The one that really got me, was this past Friday night, I was doing a moonlit sail, all the other boat went in by 11:30 but I wanted to make it to midnight. It was just after 12 and I was 1/2 mile from shore and one 1 fishing boat that I could see the lights to, when the theme from Jaws started to go through my head. (after hearing a stripper gasp for food under my tramp.) Just shortly after that all breeze died, I had to hand paddle the last 300 yards in. I still had a lot of fun
If you haven't sail under a full moon, I highly recommend it!! Take your woman with you too, it can be....

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Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning

If I did not solo sail,I would sail less often.Finding crew that is dependable and can go when I am available has always been an issue.I use to think that setting up my 21SE was too difficult by myself until I tried.Now I solo sail more than half the time.
I am always looking for crew if anyone is ready to join in let me know.
Bill 404 21SE

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Bill 404 21SE

jsloan999 - the righting bucket should be attached to a 4:1 block-n-tackle with a jam cleat to aid in raising.

Congrats on going solo. Good practice time. Next time use the jib also. Boat will handle differently, but better. You can make the jib less effective on boat speed by running it tight to the middle or tight to one side. As you get better at handling the boat, use the jib a little more. Helps to see what happens with different adjustments. Then you are a pro when you get a crew onboard. Also with jib, mast will be pulled forward and tighter. Less pivoting back and forth. Believe me, I found out the hard way how to rig a boat.

Went solo again on Saturday, "no problems", only on Main, but ended up falling to the water while gibing, AGAIN, for the second time, but this time solo. I was about 300-400 feet to the beach, with the wind pushing to the coast, so I just waited for about 15 minutes and the wind pushed me to the beach. Luckily, a Gentleman named Craig, from New York, helped me to hold it while I removed the rudders, sail, etc., and helped me to raise it up on the beach.
THANKS Mr. Craig !!!!!!!

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Every second that passes cannot be recovered, so make good use of every one of them that you have left.