Where we sail the winds are often light and always fickle. This is river sailing. There isn’t much we can do about the fickle nature of the winds, but we can look for ways to maximize sail performance in light winds. I am far from being an expert in this area, but I have found that poling out the genoa when sailing off the wind, in light winds, allows the sail to stay full and drawing. Since Rêverie did not come with a whisker pole, I need to either shell out big bucks for a ready-made one at the local chandler or, the more likely choice, fabricate one from bits and pieces. I am going the fabrication route. Rêverie has a loop on the mast to accept the inboard end of a pole with a snatch type hook, so that is one less worry.
Two seasons back, while out sailing on a fall day with my friend Chris, we came across a whisker pole floating vertically in the middle of the lake. A two foot length of the pole was visible above the water. The pole seems to have been at the bottom of the lake and the low water levels and probably a passing mouth-breathing power boater combined to free it from the murky depths (not so deep depths in our lake). We hooked it with the trusty boat hook and brought it aboard because we felt it posed a threat to navigation. When we hoisted it aboard it expelled a puff of noxious gas that it had transported from the bottom of the lake. We persevered. After a brief discussion about salvage etiquette, Chris insisted that I had salvage rights to the pole since I am the owner of the salvage craft. I suspect the foul odour that continued to emanate from the pole might have influenced this opinion.
This, now less smelly, pole with its snatch hooks on either end will provide the keys parts for my home-made whisker pole. The snatch hooks seem to be the expensive parts of a standard non-carbonfibre pole. As a quick check with the afore-mentioned chandler would indicate that I could not justify the costly purchase of these end-pieces to the admiral. Luck comes in many forms, some more smelly than others.
The pole itself is too short for use on my 27 foot boat, but fortune once again favoured me with a convenient and free alternative. We took out our old above-ground pool last fall because our sons are grown and it does not get used often enough to justify the work required to maintain it. The skimmer handle, which is long and adjustable will be fitted with a snatch hook at one end and small bolt/pin at the other. The pin end will be used to hook into the clew of the genoa and the snatch hook will attach to the mast.
I am still working out the technical details of this Franken-whisker pole, but I will try to take some pictures to share the fabrication process and, hopefully, successful use of this pole.
Sailing Rêverie 