When to Start the Iron Headsail

by Patience Allot on 15 May 2006 To the racing sailor, there is, of course no question. You never, under pain of a guilty conscience forever, start the engine during a race (‘I was really just charging the battery’). After the race is finished, of course, the lure of the bar and the post mortem seems to be overwhelming, so the sails are down and the engine on before you can say Out of Sight and Out of Mind.

But what about the cruising sailor? How does the cruising sailor decide what’s ‘right’ about when to start the engine? When the boat speed falls below 6 knots? When you’re becalmed? And if that’s the case, how long do you wait? An hour? Five hours? Three days? At the other end of the scale, how long do you wait in heavy weather before giving up and letting the engine help you through those square concrete waves?

Maybe there are as many answers as there are cruising sailors.

The only cruiser without that dilemma is the cruiser without an engine. Cruisers’ stories of how they have had to tow un-engined boats out of danger are frequent enough to be able to call them a safety hazard. While cruisers are unfailingly helpful to each other, even towing an un-engined boat into port instead of enjoying a sundowner pales after a few repetitions.

Making the decision is also complicated by the fact that on many cruising boats there are only two crew on board - the Captain (most often male) and the Admiral (most often female) – particularly when the lines of authority are often not as clearly marked as they could be.

Admiral: (calling out) ‘Why don’t we start the engine?’

Captain: ‘What? Why on earth?’

Admiral: ‘It will help us to point higher’

Captain: ‘We’re going fine as we are – it’s a great wind, the boat’s doing really well, what more do you want?’

Admiral: ‘ I’m not so sure….I’ve just checked the chart. We’ve covered 20 miles along the rhumb line in the last 6 hours.’

Captain: ‘I reckon we’ll be in port in about three hours from now - we’ll be fine, don’t you worry’

Admiral: ‘Yes but this was an early morning sail – we were meant to be there for breakfast’

Captain: ‘There you go, thinking about food again’

Admiral: ‘No, it’s not hunger, but it’s the salt water in my eyes while steering that’s getting to me’.

Captain: ‘O that’s too bad - is it still raining up there?’

Admiral: ‘Like cats and dogs’

Captain: ‘Well why do you have the chart up there – it’ll get wet!’

Much of the decision making is simply a matter of how impatient you are, how much you hate the sound of the engine, and how much you love the vagaries of Mother Nature. However, after sailing many thousands of wonderful miles across oceans, there are two situations where we think there are good arguments for turning on the dreaded engine.

The first is when a couple of extra knots will allow you to get to the next port before nightfall. We hate going into any unknown port in the dark, and will go to great planning lengths to avoid it if possible. So if starting the motor prevents you having to spend another night at sea, particularly if it hasn’t been a good passage, then it’s a wise decision.

The second is when the radar shows there’s a bad electrical storm threatening. In that situation, we turn and run – in any direction that will have us heading away from the worst quadrant of the storm and at top speed, engine and sails at their best, and to hell with the fact that we’re heading away from our destination. There are no prizes for being struck by lightning, and no joy in doing damage to any part of the boat, especially when days away from help.

However, we have been known to wait for over two days for the wind to come, enjoying the unique experience of being in the middle of an ocean that is as flat as a pane of glass, and as blue and white as the sky above.

What do you think?

www.sail-world.com/send_message.cfm!Click_Here!same to write to us about this article