The Blue View - Exercising Aboard a Sailboat

Staying reasonably fit aboard the typical cruising sailboat is usually not that difficult. Living on a sailboat involves a lot of day-to-day physical activity, especially at anchor or in port. We are usually without a car, so most trips to the grocery, laundry or chandlery are accomplished by walking. There are always repairs and projects underway that involve physical exertion. Sometimes it seems like we must climb the stairs from the saloon to the cockpit a hundred times a day, and just getting into and out of the dinghy requires effort. Transporting fuel and water by dinghy is always a workout, and when we are in a warmer local, we spend a lot of time swimming and snorkeling. Even so, I routinely find myself putting on a few pounds if we stay in one place for an extended period. When I have to start wearing my larger “fat-boy” trousers, I know it's time to move on. When on a long passage, if we aren't actually seasick, we will certainly not be feeling well enough to be hungry for the first two or three days. After that, our appetites come back, but we never eat as much on a passage as we do when at anchor. We also drink no alcohol on a passage, so our overall caloric intake is down. To counter the heel of the boat as well as the rolling and pitching motion, I find that the muscles in some part of my body are always tensed - sometimes I think I even sleep with my body tensed up. There is also a frequent requirement for physical activity, when sails need adjusting or reefing for example. And the occasional epic battle with a 700 pound swordfish really takes it out of you... or so I would imagine, but even landing, dispatching and filleting a 25 pound tuna on a moving deck takes a fair amount of work. Usually by the end of a passage lasting more than a week or two, I've lost those extra pounds I put on in the last port.

At least, that's the way it used to be. As I get older, I'm finding that my “fat-boy” clothes are getting more wear than they used to, and it is becoming more difficult to keep those extra few pounds off.

So, a couple of years ago, I began looking for exercises I could do aboard Nine of Cups. It's more of a challenge than you might think. To begin with, there is not a lot of space – neither for exercising nor to store exercise equipment. I'm a bit self-conscious about it, so I wanted something I could do below deck. Jumping jacks on the foredeck aren't my kind of thing. In addition, I have a bad ankle due to an injury a few decades ago, and I needed something that was very low impact.

Then I discovered High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short. There are several variations of this type of exercise, but basically, the idea is to repeat an exercise at full intensity for a short interval, followed by a brief rest period. The most common protocol is to exercise full out for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds, and repeat this cycle eight times. When I first came across HIIT exercise, I thought it was another fad for the moment, and I was sure I would find an infomercial selling the book and video on how to do it and “ but wait, that's not all... if you order right now, you will also get a free jar of emulsified fish liver that has been proven to reduce back pain and can be rubbed onto your head to promote hair growth”.

As I did more research, however, I began to be convinced that there is something to it. Several universities around the world have been studying this type of exercise regimen for several decades now. One of the more well known papers was published by Professor Izumi Tabata in Japan who investigated the effects of HIIT on Olympic speed skaters. He tested two sets of athletes over a six week period. One group did 60 minutes of aerobic level exercise a day on a stationary bike, five days a week. The second group did four minutes of HIIT - 20 seconds of high intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times, four times a week. Dr. Tabata tested the aerobic and anaerobic capacity of both sets of athletes before and after the six weeks of training, and found that, while both improved their aerobic capacity, the group doing the HIIT improved more. In addition, the control group showed no improvement in anaerobic capacity, while the group doing the HIIT showed a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity. In other words, doing four minutes of HIIT a day, four days a week will improve your fitness level more than 60 minutes a day, five days a week of an aerobic exercise like biking, jogging, etc. This seems too good to be true, but several other studies done by other universities have shown similar results.

Another benefit seems to be the ability of the body to metabolize glucose more efficiently after a few weeks of the HIIT protocol. More than one study has shown this, and if true, it is of great interest to those of us who are genetically predisposed to Type 2 Diabetes.

There seemed very little reason not to give it a try, and I did. I have now been following my own HIIT protocol for a couple of months, and I am quite pleased with the results. The attached, actual photos of me before and after a few weeks of the program show the amazing results. Well... okay, perhaps they aren't actual un-retouched photos, and perhaps my improvement wasn't this pronounced, but I do feel better and have lost enough weight to stow my “fat boy” wardrobe.

It is something that is very easy to do on the boat and requires no equipment. I chose exercises that were very low impact and easy on my old joints. My protocol is described below, but if you are interested in trying this type of exercise regimen, I highly recommend that you do your own research online.

Here is what I do three times a week:

2-3 minutes of warm-up exercises.

Exercise 1 – Endurance/Cardiovascular Exercise: Total Time 4 Minutes

20 seconds of intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest – repeated 8 times

Rest: 1 Minute

Exercise 2 – Strength Building Exercise: Total Time 4 Minutes

20 seconds of intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest – repeated 8 times

Rest: 1 Minute

Exercise 3 – Endurance/Cardiovascular Exercise: Total Time 4 Minutes

20 seconds of intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest – repeated 8 times

Rest: 1 Minute

Exercise 4 – Abs: Total Time 4 Minutes

20 seconds of intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest – repeated 8 times

Rest 1 Minute

2-3 Minutes of cool down exercises

The entire session takes about 25 minutes. There are lots of variations recommended by many different experts, ranging from one minute of full out exercise 3 times a week to considerably more than I do, so do your own research and find a program that works for you. Don't, however, buy the video and the fish emulsion. It did nothing to restore my bald pate.

The Blue View - Clifford Ashley

“When I arrived at a proper age I went to sea and served my apprenticeship in knots aboard the whaling bark Sunbeam. My chief instructor and the most quoted man in this volume was Captain Charles W. Smith, then acting mate. Under Captains Smith's tutorship I progressed rapidly in knots and marlinspike seamanship to a point where even my teacher admitted that if I persevered and maintained my health I might someday hope to grasp the rudiments of the art.” Ashley Book of Knots

Almost two decades ago, when sailing off into the sunset was still a distant dream for us, I read the book The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. Something that was quite intriguing to me was that each chapter began with a quote from Clifford Ashley's The Ashley Book Of Knots. Usually the quote was a couple of sentences that described a particular type of knot, like a bend or hitch, and perhaps a little about its history or its use. The quotes were interesting and I think they were meant to be allegories to the story as it was unfolding.

I had never heard of The Ashley Book of Knots. I found a copy at a bookstore, browsed through it and was quickly hooked. It is a compendium of over 3000 knots and 7000 illustrations, but what makes it much more than just a huge collection of knots is Ashley's narratives about the history and uses of all those knots and the life of the sailor. Marcie bought a copy for my birthday 18 years ago. It is now battered and weathered from hard use and its exposure to life aboard Nine of Cups for all those years. Not unlike the crew (or this half of it, anyway), I suppose.

When we visited the historic whaling town of New Bedford and were wandering through the whaling museum there, we saw a number of nautical paintings by Clifford W. Ashley. Until then, I didn't know Ashley was remembered for anything other than his well known book. What I discovered was this native son of New Bedford is just as well known for his hundreds of paintings and sketches.

He also wrote and illustrated two other books that described whaling and the life aboard a whaler. While I am in no way a proponent of the mass slaughter of whales that began in the mid 1800's, I do have an admiration for the hardships and dangers the typical whaler endured. Ashley probably did as much as anyone to preserve and record this heritage, and he did so in a manner that was as interesting as it was beautiful.

I also have an appreciation for the patience and craftsmanship of the sailors' arts over the centuries, especially the practical knots as well as decorative knots and rope work. I remain optimistic that if I study hard, persevere and maintain my health, even I might someday hope to grasp the rudiments of the art.

The Blue View - Lazy Jacks

As my years start to catch up with me, I am beginning to realize that making Nine of Cups easier to handle by “senior sailors” is a worthwhile objective. Our lazy jacks are a case in point. When we first started cruising, I didn't think twice about going forward in 30+ knots of wind to manhandle the main and secure it in place with sail ties while Marcie kept Cups pointing into the wind for the ten or so minutes the process took. Holding on dearly with one hand, as the roll of the boat tried to fling me overboard,was just part of the adventure. Now, as I most assuredly fall into the “senior” category, I can certainly see the advantages to such things as a lazy jack system. Lazy jacks are a network of lines that are rigged to contain the mainsail when it is lowered. These lines run from a point high up on the mast to several points along the boom. As the mainsail is lowered, these lines make a cradle of sorts to keep the main from drooping down onto the deck. Sailors were once referred to as tars, and British sailors were called “jack tars” because of the union jack on the British flag. Legend has it that these types of sail taming lines were first employed by the British navy, and since the jack tars no longer had to work as hard as other tars to lower or reef the sails, these systems became known as “lazy jacks”.

I looked at what a multitude of other cruising boats had done. There seemed to be an even mix of commercially purchased systems and custom, owner built systems. I first looked into purchasing one of the commercially available lazy jack systems. Most were undersized for our size vessel, many were more complicated than I wanted, and all were more expensive than if I did it myself. After talking to several other yachties who had built their own systems, I decided to do the same.

The lazy jack system we devised for Cups is quite simple. It is retracted out of the way for most of its life. It is only in place when it is time to drop the main, and it remains in place only until we have the opportunity to secure the main with sail ties. We can only retract or engage the system at the mast, which means one of us must leave the cockpit when we drop the main. Our main has partial battens and simple plastic sail slides, and since it does not always drop all the way without a bit of help, one of us is usually at the mast anyway, so this is a minor inconvenience.

Figure 1 shows the basics of the starboard side of our system. The port side is the mirror image. Each side consists of several lengths of line (color coded in the figure for clarification), blocks, thimbles, eye straps, and one cleat. The system we implemented on Cups uses four line segments as shown. The foot of our mainsail is 15' 8”(4.8m). If the foot of your main is significantly shorter, you may only need three line segments. Likewise a longer foot may require an additional line segment.

The first decision is where the upper block is to be attached. Considerable vertical height is needed if the system is going to contain the sail. On a double spreader rig, the upper spreader is about the right height, and a small block can be attached to the underside of both upper spreaders with eye straps. The eye straps should be located aft of the center line of each spreader, and about 9” (23 cm) from the mast, although the distance is not all that critical.

For a single spreader rig, a cheek block should be attached to both sides of the mast somewhere around 70%-75% of the mast height. If the base of the cheek block is stainless and the mast is aluminum, the two metals should be insulated from each other to prevent the inevitable corrosion. The paint or anodizing on the mast is not sufficient. I keep a small roll of the heavy clear plastic used for dodger windows as insulating material. It can be cut to size with scissors and I use a small hole punch to make holes for the mounting screws.

The mast or spreader should be drilled and tapped, and the eye straps or cheek blocks mounted with stainless machine screws. The screws should be gooped-up with an anti-corrosion compound like lanacote or TefGel, and the cheek block or eye strap should be insulated from the aluminum surface.

To determine how much line is needed, I started with the hoist (the blue line in Figure 1). The line needed is about twice the “H” dimension plus about 5 feet to allow room for an eye splice and enough line to cleat off the end. On Nine of Cups, the height of the block from the boom was 37' (11.4m), so the hoist length was 2*37 +5 = 79', which I rounded to 80' (24.6m). Each of the other line segments were about ¼ of this length, or 20', plus about 3 feet to allow for eye splices for a total of 23' (7m) each. So the total line for the starboard side was 80'+23'+23'+23' = 149' (45.8m). The same amount of line was needed for the port side, for a total of 298' (91.6m). I used 1/4” (6mm) polyester double braid. Cut each line to length and whip one end.

Next the cleats are mounted on the mast. The best location is near the end of the boom, but if there are other lines or hardware interfering with this location, locate them elsewhere. The holes should be drilled and tapped as for the blocks, and the mounting screws and cleats insulated from the aluminum mast.

It took me three iterations to get the combination of blocks and thimbles right. On the first iteration of the lazy jacks, I spliced stainless thimbles onto the ends of the lines instead of using blocks. The crews of several cruising boats I talked with used this approach and were satisfied with it. It didn't work well on Cups. I think the reason was that we used four line segments, and while thimbles may have worked on a three-segment system, there was too much friction on a four-segment system to draw the aftmost lines tight. On the next iteration, I used small blocks on the end of each line segment, but this approach also had problems. It deployed and retracted very well, but the upper blocks hit against the mast. After the first good blow with them in place, not only were they noisy, but they removed an amazing amount of paint from the mast. On the third and final iteration, I used stainless thimbles on the highest connections and small blocks on the other three, and this has worked well.

As a starting point, I used equal spacings along the boom for the eye strap positions. Then I temporarily attached the ends of the lines to the boom at the measured eye strap locations. I pulled the lines taut and hoisted the mainsail and let it drop a few times to make sure the lazy jacks would contain the sail without too much spilling out. I needed to move the eye straps to get it right, and when I was finally happy with the positioning, I remarked their locations with tape.

The next adjustment is the height of each of the blocks. I retracted the starboard lazy jacks and hooked the lines under the reefing hook at the forward end of the boom as shown in Figure 2. Then I pulled the hoist line tight, cleated it off, and made sure the blocks and thimble did not interfere with anything. I adjusted the lengths of the lines as necessary. Then I adjusted the port side lines to the same lengths.

I removed the lines and tape from the boom, then drilled and tapped holes for the eye straps and attached them with stainless machine screws. I used plenty of anti-corrosion compound on each screw. After putting the end of each line through its eye strap, I tied a stopper knot to keep it in place. I deployed it, retracted it, and raised and lowered the mainsail a couple of times to make sure it worked well.

Now, after at least three iterations and several more tweaks, I am happy with the system. When we are ready to drop the main, one or both of us goes forward to deploy the lazy jacks. This takes only a minute or two. Then Marcie turns Cups into the wind and lets the main halyard go. The mainsail usually comes down on its own, but frequently needs a little help in the form of a tug or two. The sail stays contained in the lazy jacks until we have anchored. Then I secure it with sail ties, retract the lazy jacks and put the sailcover on. Much easier for this senior sailor.

I have a longer, more detailed version of how we made our own lazy jacks which we will be happy to send along on request.