Glen-L.com

Nobody in their right mind has time for a Sailboat!:p

But what if Nimrod got hold of a Catboat? The one with the Sail mast way up front?
Then Nimrod decides to go out on the Big water.
Bad waves and all like that!

So Nimrod makes the Sail Mast on his Cat Boat with a Hinge at the Deck level. That mast can lay down to the rear, get lashed down and the sail laced to the mast.

Yep, he's got lines n' Pully's all over the boat to do this all by himself.
This particular Nimrod is a nut case that likes to be by himself for long periods in the sun.

So he's headed West from San Francisco, out toward some Rocks in the Ocean a heckuva long ways off.
He's got the Glass to watch the Low pressures develop.
His plan is in-fallible.
When the Glass fall's, and the big waves rise up Nimrod springs into defense Mode.

Nimrod lets the Mast down. Laces the sail to the mast.
Put's some tension on all the lines. Lashes the Rudder down.
Crawls down inside the cabin. Eat's, bathe's, cleans up the cabin and stashes his drinking water handy. Nobody wants to be caught with an un-tidy body or kitchen.
Nimrod now thinks he's ready for the big Bash!

Water tight cabin and Boat. He might get thrown around a bit, but when the sun shines brightly on calm waters again, Nimrod crawls out, cranks his sail back up and off he goes.

So whaddayathink about Nimrods Idea?
Will it work?
A 'takedown' cat boat?

I would think that it wouldn't work based on my offshore experience.

1.If it got so rough as indicated in your scenario, you wouldn't be wanting to rig and drop a mast
2.it would take a lot of rigging to do this
3.To make a cat rig "collapsible" would require more standing rigging I believe that what they have (Disclaimer: I only have had experience with small catboats....I THINK the larger ones like Non Such don't have standing rigging....could be wrong there)
4 I don't believe the cat rigs are good for offshore....again no real experience here,just a gut feeling
5.When I was offshore and in storms,the boat was much more stable with the proper amount of sail up for conditions,and if it got so bad that you'd want to lie "a-hull" under bare poles, you wouldn't want to be dropping the mast & rig!!!!

My 2 cents based on offshore passage making experience on a 25' and a 38' sloop rigged sailboat in minor storm conditions (15-20'seas,probably 40kt winds)

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

I have NO sailing experience at all.
I was watching survival shows on TV and saw a Wrecked Sailboat that lost one person.
Then some more stuff like that.

I thought of a Survival Balloon on a Tether. Good idea, but I dont know what kind of Chemical would keep it inflated for a long time in bad conditions.

Then I thought why not make the Boat to withstand some bad weather, batten down the hatches and ride er' out.

The Cat boat Idea came to me when I thought of laying a long mast down from the middle of a sailboat might be a problem.
I had no idea a CatBoat wasn't a good foul weather sailor.

To add to the pirate's post... Set a sea anchor and go below, hold on and pray!

Bill

_________________
Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

IF you have "sea room"!!!!

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Setting a Sea Anchor sounds like a good idea. It might catch the boat on some Rocks before the Boat actually get's to the Rocks.