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Morgan 416 Owners Manual

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It's Possible is now Pelican

We happily put the boat back in the water and brought her home after two weeks in the yard. We are now nearly finished with the major maintenance. This trip to the yard included:

Scraping and painting. We did it ourselves once on a 31' Bombay Clipper and am much happier finding a good yard (like Salt Creek in St. Pete) and writing a check. The barrier coat is really doing a good job because there was not a single blister. However, the guys in the yard said that there must have originally been some issues with priming when it was put one. They used some fancy 3M expoxy primer this time where there were bare spots (barrier coat showing.)

The cutlass bearing was in good shape, so was not replaced this year.

We had four seacocks in the engine room that were either stuck or very hard. All were serviced and now are easy to use.

A new Garmin transducer for depth, speed and water temperature was installed. This will be wired into the Garmin 182C chartplotter. We used the hole for the Data Marine knot meter which did not work, and kept the existing Data Marine transducer in place which leaves us with a spare depth finder. Now the GPS will be full of all kinds of information!

We also had the sides compounded and waxed. The sides came out great, but the whale stripe still needs more TLC.

Also had the mechanic plumb the Northern Lights generator into the existing electric oil change pump for the Perkins. Now I can change the oil and filters on either generator or diesel engine in about ten minutes. The pump speed is about a minute per gallon.

And finally, we had the name It's Possible stripped from the back, and a fancy Pelican lettering and graphic is now painted on the transom.

Once the side curtains finally show up, we're left with just a few more items to go:

1. Auto Pilot (below decks, hydraulic, leaning towards the new RayMarine units which includes a rudder indicator as part of the system)
2. Radar
3. electronic wind speed and direction indicator
4. Whisker pole
5. New carpeting
6. Replace a couple of original lights below

4.

Pelican hard aground getting painted and necessary mechanical work completed. January, 2005. 

New Years Eve Cruise

We had our second overnite cruise on our soon to be named "Pelican."

We met the Dolphin Cruising Club at Demens Landing to view the evenings fireworks show off the pier. December 31 was a nice day, but the winds didn't cooperate much. We started the day by installing our new sail cover system. The Doyle Stak-Pak system eliminates our old lazy jack, sail ties and cover system that took forever to put on and take off. The new system now allows the sails to drop into a fixed bag and gets neatly zipped up. While it's still hard to pack the very tall mainsail on Pelican, it does save us at least a half hours labor everytime we take the boat out. And they look nicer too.

We left about 1:00 and motored to Demens Landing. The trip took a little over 2.5 hours and was pleasant and calm although too calm to sail. We took full advantage of our electrical windlass by staying in cockpit and dropping the anchor with the press of a button. That was cool! Then we dropped the dinghy into the water off of its new davits and went exploring.

After Betsy baked cookies in our oven (including learning how to start the oven!) we had a great time enjoying a cocktail hour on the deck of one of the Dolphin boats. We were one of 9 Dolphins anchored out. Everyone is very friendly and very knowledgeable about sailing. Later we went back to our boat for dinner of grilled steaks and steamed brocoli and enjoyed a drink or two using ice that we had made on the boat! Yes, this is a very comfortable boat!

We got an early start out of the anchorage on New Years Day, leaving the St. Pete Pier before 9:00 AM. Our intention was to enjoy as much sailing as possible across Tampa Bay taking a longer route home to enjoy the warm sun and calm bay. We hauled the sails, turned off the motor, and made our way across the bay and under the Sunshine Skyway bridge averaging a little under 4 knots along the way. We noted that most sailors were either under power or motor-sailing but figured our tall rig was doing pretty good under light wind conditions.

The bay was absolutely full of frisky dolphins who were constantly swimming alongside the boat or fishing not far away. Hoover kept whining and barking at them, and at one point we had to put the leash on him for fear he was about to go swimming after them. As we passed under the Skyway we headed north up the "ditch" which is the narrow channel that runs along the west side of the Skyway. Here we caught a beautiful wind across our beam and averaged about 5 knots under sail. All in all it was just a very comfortable and enjoyable cruise and a great way to start out the new year.

How to Sail A Morgan Out Island 416

IV-29 Morgan Out Island 416 Operating Procedures

A. Tips on Sailing the 0ut Island 41

This section describes the sailing characteristics of the Out Island 41 and presents several tips on how to achieve maximum performance from your yacht.

All yachts are a compromise. As such, each design has its strengths and weaknesses; the Out Island 41 is no exception. She is very beamy to allow for more living space below and more room to enjoy the pleasures of being on deck. In addition, her draft was kept relatively shallow so as to allow her owners to enjoy many anchorages and gunk holes. These can be enjoyed only by dinghy when sailing deeper draft yachts. As a beamy, shallow draft yacht, she must be handled on some points of sail in a slightly different way than a deeper draft yacht with less beam. The most prominent distinction exists on the wind and close reaching. Sail trim on both these points of sail is critical for optimum performance.

First, do not sail the yacht with any greater than a 25 angle of heel. Since she is a shallow draft boat, it is important that the keel stay as deep in the water as possible so as to minimize leeway. Install an inclinometer so you won't have any doubts concerning your heel angle. As the winds pipe up, shorten sail; keep the keel under the boat instead of alongside It, and she will surprise you with her abilities to windward.

Second, don't over trim the jib. In fact, don't over trim any sail, but especially the jib. The roller furling 150% genoa reacher found on most Out Island 41 's should not be trimmed any closer than a foot off the shrouds and usually not that close. Trimming the jib closer greatly reduces the speed of the boat. And, instead of making her point higher, this results in reducing considerably her distance made good to windward.

Third, the lead position is important on the jib and should be set such that the sail luffs in the top 1/3 of the luff just slightly before the other 2/3. To aid in determining the correct lead position, install three sets of yarns or tell tales on the jib about one foot back from the luff and evenly spaced up the sail.

These will also help you to achieve proper trim on most all points of sail. With the aid of the telltales, you can easily find the proper lead. Trim the jib about 1-1/2 feet from the shrouds, and steer the boat up until all ribbons inside and outside are laying nicely back along the luff. Now ease her closer to the wind and see which windward (inside) tell-tales begin to flutter first.

If those lower go first, move the lead back — if those above are first, move it forward. Once the lead is set, mark the track so that if the snatch block gets moved, it Is simple to put it back in the right place. As you come off the wind, toward beam reach, you will find that the upper tell-tales begin luffing even sooner. If you are fussy about trim, you could move the lead forward about six inches and call this a reaching lead. You could go to the forward lead when the apparent wind is further aft than 65.

When on the wind, the mainsail should be let out until a slight luff appears about 2 feet in back of the mast. It won't hurt the yacht's performance if it is sailed that way. In fact, if you own a ketch, the main should always luff slightly when on the wind. This will allow the mizzen to become an effective airfoil, because it won't be back winded by the main.

Because the OI-41 is intended to be an easy to handle cruising yacht, the mainsail is sheeted at the after end of the boom. This is so no deck or cockpit space is lost to accommodate mid-boom sheeting or a traveler. As a result, when the yacht is on a reach, the main boom tends to rise and allows the leech of the sail to spill a good bit of wind. For those who ore concerned by these small inefficiencies, a boom vang is the answer. Tension the vang until the main leech has only a slight camber. Now, let the sail out until a slight luff appears. This sail trim will produce optimum yacht performance.

If you own a sloop, slightly better windward performance can be attained by vanging the boom to windward from the end of the boom until it is on center line. Doing the same for a ketch will only backwind the mizzen and will not help the windward ability.

When sailing off the wind, the ordinary principles of sail trim prevail; ease the sail out until you get a little luff and then firm it up. Remember; always trim sail from forward to aft. That is, trim the jib first, then the main, then finally the mizzen.

As on any sailing yacht, halyard tension should be regulated so as to correctly position the draft of maximum camber of a sail. Tighter halyard tension moves the maximum draft forward, while looser halyards produce draft further aft. Halyard tension on Schaefer roller furling gear does not appreciably affect the draft, only the tension on the luff. However, for grooved stays, tension should be adjusted so that the maximum draft appears between 1/3 and 1/2 the distance bock on the sail. Maximum draft on mainsails and mizzens should be 50% of the way back or approximately in the middle of the sail.

Your OI-41 should tack through 90-95 on the compass in breezes above 10 knots and through 95- 105 in lighter winds. It is important to "sail the boat" through a tack so as not to stall her momentum. That means turn the wheel with moderate speed and break the old sheet just after the bow of the boat passes through the eye of the wind. Releasing the sheet sooner increases the chance of ending up in irons, while holding it longer means the boat will tend to stop as the jib backwinds.

When tacking from a reach to a reach, trim the jib in to a close hauled position before flipping. This helps the boat maintain forward speed while she goes through the wider tacking angle. Coordination between the helmsman and the sail trimmer is important to begin so that the optimum tacking speed can be learned. If you find your boat unusually difficult to tack, be sure you are following the above suggestions.

For cruising yachts without spinnakers, sailing downwind calls for a whisker pole. When sailing with the apparent wind between 150-180 on either tack, it is best to sail wing and wing. Pole the jib out to windward and keep the main to leeward. The jib will fill well up to 150, and the whisker pole should be trimmed perpendicular to the apparent wind. On a ketch you can alternate jib, main, and mizzen on opposite sides of the boat to reduce the problem of back winding. Be sure to put a preventer on the main boom, so you won't lose anyone in case of an accidental jibe. When executing a jibe, it is always best to bring the main boom near mid-ships before the jibe then let it out after the stern passes through the wind. This reduces the hazards of a jibe and prevents the boom from riding up and hitting the back stay resulting in a goose-wing jibe.

Remember, all yachts incorporate compromises. The OI-41 will not go to windward like a 12 meter. Neither would you have any desire to go cruising on a 12 meter. However, once you learn the few principles necessary to get optimum sailing performance from your yacht, you will have attained the best of both worlds.

Note: Winches should not be used for operating the roller furling line. This over-stresses the roller furling hardware and could result in rig failure and possible dismasting. For ease in furling the jib, head the boat up until the jib starts to luff, then furl.

Harborage Marina

February weekend trip?

Harborage Marina