Sailing the windward/leeward buoy races on the foredeck of Corvo with the Port Townsend Sailing Association One-Design Thunderbird Fleet on Wednesday evenings in Port Townsend Bay has made The Resourceful Sailor a better offshore sailor. Naturally, it has made them a better sailor overall, but writing about the nuances of sail trim and their controls, strategy, or rules feels a bit stuffy right now. This is about working the foredeck and managing agility, comfort, confidence, and fear.

On Corvo, The Resourceful Sailor was at the bottom of the pecking order. Because of age, lack of experience, or some other reason, the foredeck was assigned to them. It seemed appropriate and has proven a winning combination. Since winning is fun, he did as told. The veterans do the skippering, steering, line-controlling, and strategizing. The foredeck crew does the fancy footwork and jungle-gyming, with stints of being rail meat and anemometer in between.

A Thunderbird, at 26 feet and 3850 pounds, is quick and squirrelly with a small foredeck and no lifelines. The foredeck crew hikes out on the high side during the windward leg. With each tack, jumping up, shuffling the flogging genoa across the deck and around the shrouds and climbing to the new high side, always watching the leads of the lines and keeping their feet from entangling in the sheets. On downwind legs, there is readying the nine-foot spinnaker pole, hoisting the kite, getting the headsail down and secured to the foredeck, easing the outhaul, and tending to the pole and boom positions. Depending on wind and traffic, the needs of the strategist and helmsman might require an immediate gybe of the kite and the pole, with subsequent gybing as necessary. For the sake of rounding out the job description, though not very physical, on both legs, the strategist likes input on the course wind field, such as favored sides and approaching gusts.

These physical demands and repetitions in an exposed position on Corvo have made The Resourceful Sailor a better offshore sailor on Sampaguita, a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. With a foredeck even smaller than a T-Bird and six hank-on headsails, trips to the foredeck to match sail to wind are a regular occurrence. Deteriorating conditions demand it. As winds and seas build, so does the movement of Sampaguita and her foredeck.

On a 2023 rounding of Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest, the confidence and comfort acquired on Corvo was also realized on Sampaguita. The sometimes feeling of dread over a headsail change was replaced with a more go-getter attitude. This has advanced even further as Sampaguita voyaged to Baja California. Night time? No problem. Steep wind against current hills of the Sea of Cortez? No problem. When not making it out to be more than it has to be, it goes pretty quickly. They felt more relaxed on deck, and pole-handling went from never before to whenever necessary. It was a comfortable feeling.

Since The Resourceful Sailor is apparently too rock-n-roll for roller-furling, the cliché, ‘the time to reef, is when you first think about it,’ could also read ‘the time to change the headsail is when you first think about it.’ Confidence is valued because hesitation could be dangerous. Tense, tentative, and scared movements do not work well for professional athletes, or amateur offshore sailors. Remember, keep your sailing safe and prudent, and have a blast.

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