Time to sail

It's time to sail, gentlemen. I chose this picture out of a number of similar shots because it's better showing a number of details.

On top you see the unmistakable curved gaff of a skutsje , on which two dark metal details are well evident. One is used to hook the sail to it, the other holds a rope (see running rigging) that is used to adjust the sail's angle and keep it to the right tension. The sail is kind of sewed thru the gaff, as you can notice.

Close to the mast the gaff opens into a round fork (the boom has a similar one, too). This fork is loosely fixed to the mast by a rope. Another rope runs thru holes in the sail and keeps is close to the mast.

The foot (unlike what's usual for modern gaffed rigging) is absolutely loose. That is, no rope keeps the mainsail attached to the boom; it just has a hook at the further end (like the one you see here on the gaff). This is important because it allows a maneuver called opening a window; i.e. when you need more wind to reach the fok you can simply rise a bit the foot of the mainsail to let the air thru it.

What? You mean it sounds like Gothic written in Sanskrit with a strong Venusian accent? Don't worry; it would be weird if it was immediately clear. The good news is that a Dutch barge uses two sails in all (sometimes up to four, but that's when you meet a very experienced schipper).

So it does sound weird in the beginning, but in the end it's a limited number of names and ropes you are going to deal with. You can think of a rope as a "command" you can issue to a sail. A rope is something you can use as an extension of your hands to modify the shape of the sail and its angle to the wind. No more than that. If you can grasp the fact that you can use a mouse to extend your fingers into a computer than you will have no problems in understanding the logics behind running rigging.

It's just a matter of getting used to the names and learning to feel how the inclination of the boat varies along with its inclination to the wind. It takes time, but it's not difficult. Just give yourself the time to learn and accept that it won't happen immediately.

I almost forgot to say... the man in the red jacket is Paul. This is one of the best pictures I have of him. I was usually too busy learning from him to have the time to use him as a model, too...