I’m cogitatin’ on a winter build of a row boat that also sails decently. The Lighthouse Tender Pea Pod , the Skerry and the NorthEaster Dory have great appeal though I am leaning harder to the Pea Pod. Perhaps my subject line question is a bit naive but I admit that my small craft experience has been limited and then to either rowing or sailing never both at the same time. Not obvious to me so I ask.
Since my intent would be to use primarily as a row boat for fair weather boating (aware that fair weather can turn to challenging quickly) in the bay, or on the rivers or bigger lakes, it would be great to also be ready to hoist the sail as conditions are favorable. One of my favorite local destinations is an island about 2-1/2 miles off shore so seaworthiness is a serious consideration. Rowing out to there is a long enough effort that having the sail at the ready would add to the fun. Would be a camper/ expedition use vessel too.
To the question - do you guys leave the mast stepped and the sail furled while you row?
If not, with either of these models, is stepping the mast and setting up the rigging (likely the balanced lug rig) practical while on the water away from the shore?
For my Peapod I tie the boom, yard and sail together with bungee ties, tuck the front end of the package under the bow breasthook, attach the downhaul, move the mainsheet attachment to the mast from the thwart and then tighten the lazy jacks, outhaul and mainsheet until the boat takes this configuration:
The boom/yard/sail is locked into place above my head. It wobbles a little but does not move. The boat is rowable as usual, especially if the tiller is captured and immobile. For shallow areas or faster rowing in calm winds, raise the rudder and centerboard; put them down in deep water to allow a quicker transition to sail.
To transition to sail, row into the wind, drop the centerboard, stow the oars, drop the rudder if raised, move the mainsheet back to the thwart, loosen the lazy jacks, move the front of the sail package out from under the breasthook, attach the bead parrel and get the outhaul and other lines to the proper tensions. Then raise the sail with the halyard, tie off everything that needs to be tied off, grab the sheet and rudder and get sailing.
In the stowed position, all the top hamper can slow you down, especially rowing into the wind. It can also mess with your steering, but putting down the centerboard and using the rudder to help with the steering can ameliorate the problem.
I learned how to do this from John Harris back when I owned a Faering Cruiser and adapted the idea to my Peapod. Here I’m using it on the FC to beat a thunderstorm back to the ramp which was directly into the eye of the wind. It works well and is well within the capabilities of either boat.
Thank you very much @Laszlo_Morocz . Excellent info. and precisely answered my question. As this will likely be my set up 4 out of 5 times I am happy to have your assurances that the pea pod is “rowable as usual - especially . . . ” and a view to the set up.
Just a quick note from experiences in my NE Dory. My answer is, it depends.
If rowing in higher wind, the windage on anything above the gunwales can become pretty significant, so both the upper and lower lug spars (and sail on them) are stowed down on the seats. The spars and sails are likewise stowed if I know I’ll be rowing for a whole long time, without expecting to sail anytime soon. It takes a bit of creativity to get them out of the way for rowing, but is doable. I usually leave the mast in the Dory up whenever I’m carrying sails (but I do frequently go out soley as a rowboat, too, which means mast and everything stays ashore).
If I do have the sails aboard, I’ll only shift to rowing when I’m actually trying to get somewhere, and rowing (based on wind speed and direction) is the fastest way to do so. This almost always means the wind is light, or the destination is upwind (and usually both of these conditions). So sometimes, if I’ll be rowing for more less than an hour or two but more than a few minutes and and I don’t want to lower the halyard, I’ll just truss up the boom a bit with a topping lift so it can’t hit me in the head and just let the sail flap around. For even shorter periods (and this is my most usual condition) I’ll just let go of the mainsheet and start rowing, and put up with the bother of the boom banging about my head. These short rowing periods in light wind often occur when following a winding river (sometimes sailing, sometimes rowing, often shifting between the two every few hundred yards) or when approaching something like a point of land where to round it under sail would take a whole 'nother set of tacks, but ten good strokes on the oars will have me around the point and then able to bear off on a new reaching course (or something).
So anyway, what I leave up in the air while rowing (or how welll I stow it if I take it down) is very dependent upon how long expect to be rowing, and how hard the wind is blowing. Basically, whatever is fastest, least effort and least annoying - weighing those factors make the decision for me.
What Jeff said. I have a skerry and you can either braille the sail up against the mast or drop it beside you. The skerry is light and has a nice glide when rowed but windage can take a lot of that advantage away. The skerry can accommodate the sail and the mast down in the boat. It gets in the way of rowing some but if you have a hard row ahead it may be worth it to derig the sail and mast. I’ve rowed the skerry with rig down for 2 to 3 nautical miles and maintained an average 3 knots in fairly flat water.
I have a Passagemaker Dinghy (lug rig, take apart), and I routinely strike the entire rig, mast and all, and lay it down on the seats. The mast hangs over a little, but not a problem. We chose the lug rig for ours for this exact reason and the fact that I like to row. That small sail (62 sq. ft. vs. the gunter rig’s 78) bundles up out of the way quickly and does not interfere with the rowing. If it’s just rowing into the dock, I’ll leave the mast up. Otherwise, I’ll strike the mast and catch a line around it so it won’t roll over the side. Works best with the heel of the mast against the bow transom and the masthead over port or starboard quarter (whichever is opposite the sail), which leaves enough clearance that it doesn’t interfere with the recovery stroke. In this small size, I haven’t felt the need for topping lifts, lazy jacks and such, so getting all of this done quickly is pretty easy.
I will add that I originally thought that the sailing would mostly be auxiliary to the rowing, having much smaller sail area than the gunter rig. I have been proven quite wrong after a decade of sailing her! That little “Egyptian cream” sail from Stu Hopkins of Dabbler Sails is very well cut and pulls like an American Cream draft mule IF properly set and trimmed. She’s a great little rowboat, a good load carrier, and a surprisingly good sailer, even upwind, for such a short, plump, curvaceous creature. We had two rows of reef points built into the sail, and this makes it possible to sail her comfortably when the wind and waves get up a bit.
The one thing she doesn’t do well is ghosting in fluky light air or when there is turbulence near trees or high bluffs. Not a problem; just strike the sail and row!
I regularly row my Peapod with the mast up and yards on the thwarts when there is no wind. It will be slower and a bit uncomfortable, but good for a couple of miles if there is no chop or wind. Remember to raise the rudder.
