RE: The Running Tide 10 minute filler after 1977 PBS broadcast of OL

Forum Forums General Discussions The Running Tide 10 minute filler after 1977 PBS broadcast of OL RE: The Running Tide 10 minute filler after 1977 PBS broadcast of OL

#1490
leebonnifield
Participant
On 5/14/2013 9:16 AM, R wrote:

> A good captain would be trusted to the hilt and is a god-like figure

I know that grave responsibility, as Master under God, from my summer
after high school as captain of an unpowered trip 400 miles down the
Alabama River. That's me standing beside the blond who is christening
the homemade raft –
http://sdrv.ms/12cgzcR

> "That is astounding, precision engineering that allows such a huge mass
> to be kept centered in an unstable equilibrium with such a small force."
>
>
> Yes, it does seem so on the surface but most wheels have some sort of
> gearing to reduce the load on your arms,

It isn't the reduction in force that is so rare, it's the analog
precision — where you could keep Sea Cloud's sails full with a helm
adjustment as small as 1 spoke, which would be about 1 degree of rudder
in Dino's example. And I bet the length of the rudder is < 2% of the
316' length of the ship. That is Formula 1 precision on a much larger
scale. Such a tiny adjustment of such a small piece would be lost in the
slop of a machine that is not so well-tuned.

> This is why many ultra modern racing yachts have two rudders and helms,
> each rudder splayed outwards so when heeled one rudder is nearer to
> vertical than the other.

Huh!

> the vessel will probably just keep swinging up into the wind which is a
> good thing, a kind of safety measure and helps you steer or if you fall
> overboard as a solo sailor the yacht will stop.

I didn't know that either.

(re "in irons")

> underway again, basically go astern or backwards to reverse out of the
> predicament.

I never knew a sailing ship could go backward! I guess it's a small
movement, mainly rotating in place.

Thanks for all the answers!