Mariah Catamaran Maiden Training Cruise By Rohan Damani & Kuba Fietkiewicz

(Photo credit: Ian Nicholson)

Friday November 22nd, 2019 The maiden cruise of Mariah was used as an opportunity to shake down the new boat prepared with so much hard work by MdR rear commodore Steve Fenster, and all of the boat chiefs, before opening training to the general membership. This was also an opportunity to train a new crew of motivated young trainers and instructors to learn the boat’s unique characteristics during an intensive three day exercise, and then spread those lessons learned to the greater membership. The crew was comprised of Scott Kelly as skipper, fleet captain and Mariah boat chief Art Toye, Marc Levine, Kuba Fietkiewicz, Greg Kupiec, Rohan Damani, and Drew Baldwin.

This crew of trainers assembled early morning on the first day of the cruise, prepared for departure, to leave the dock early Friday morning. Before heading out past the breakwater, the Mariah crew practiced picking up a mooring ball using channel markers for practice. The crew learned valuable lessons about approaching on both Starboard and Port sides while having obscured visibility. A critical component of this practice was getting the team to establish clear and effective communication between the spotter and the helmsperson, repeating instructions to ensure cohesion. Each training session, throughout the weekend, concluded with Scott Kelly leading a debrief of ‘what went right what went wrong’. The crew analyzed and assessed both the strengths and weaknesses of the performance – what changes could be done to make it a more efficient process, and what is the best way to be taught to all club members. On this first attempt with a brand new crew, it was clear that communication was the most important skill to improve, and focus on while instructing. Boat control was also a little rusty and would need to improve as the weekend progressed. Mariah departed from the south entrance of the marina at about 09:30 with a heading towards 2ES. The team learned how to use the boat’s GPS, entered waypoints for 2ES, 10PV, and Avalon (additionally, Isthmus Cove, Cat Harbor, et al. for practice), and set a route for Avalon. Under way, the crew split into two teams to go through each compartment of the boat. Items were assessed and then the crew discussed different solutions, such as organizing the storage by hull – Starboard as the galley, and Port as the garage, for tools, spare boat parts, and sails. Once past 2ES, we were of course greeted by a pod of dolphins that played for a few minutes between the hulls, before going on about their very important fishy business.

(Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Due to a lack of wind and with flat seas, Mariah motored to Avalon the entire way. We left MdR around 09:30 and arrived at Avalon at 15:55, with an average speed of just over 6kts at 5,000 RPM.

(Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Once we arrived, we approached the Harbor patrol, and discussed the best method of mooring. Even though we have all moored at Catalina before, none of us have done so with a Catamaran, and the first challenge to overcome was the decision as to which side to moor on, or whether to use a bridle and so we asked the harbor patrol officer for advice. The Harbor patrol officer indicated that first, there is only one row where they normally place catamarans in Avalon due to their beam. Because of this we were placed between the two other catamarans already there, and that we should cleat bow out, on the starboard side, just like the other two. However, we were warned, that if the catamaran next to us was too wide, that we should be prepared to use the bridle if necessary. There was some confusion as to what to do with the stern attachment if we were to use the bridle on the bow, and how we would lead the sand line aft. The instruction from the harbor patrol officer was to use a bridle in the stern as well, although it is unclear as to how this would be accomplished. This needs further discussion as to the best way to set this up ahead of time if or when it is necessary.

Once we got to the mooring can, with Drew on the helm, the determination was that it was best to tie up to starboard, using the sand line to secure the stern in similar fashion to a monohull. The training from earlier in the day paid off using both engines and plenty of communication to align the boat at the pendant, and stop it when the pendant was picked up. Although the boat was initially stopped, its windage from the stern and an offshore breeze did push the boat forward toward the mooring can before the stern cleat was fully attached, which required additional reverse throttle to keep the boat positioned, so as to prevent the potential of hitting the mooring can. It was a cold, cold night that night, requiring just a few layers of extra clothing for some of the crew.

(Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Since the boat does not have an oven, and given that it’s an Australian boat, dinner was of course cooked on the barbecue. We used aluminum pans to warm up the food just like you would in an oven, which proved to be simple and clean.

The crew finished the night discussing different approaches to train other members on the boat most effectively, considering the volume of new knowledge that trainees will need to synthesize before being safe stewards of the boat. Although the training curriculum is still a work in progress, it was determined that Art’s extensive systems syllabus will be a prerequisite training before any on the water training. This will help prepare the trainee to be able to respond effectively to problems such as the engine going out for example.

Saturday November 23rd, 2019 The crew rose early in the morning on Saturday to start with the day’s training. The first challenge of the day was docking to get fuel, and the second challenge was docking at the pump out floating dock. Both of these were challenging situations with the fuel dock being in an unfamiliar location, and the pump out being a moving target due to it being on a floating dock. Before getting to fuel dock the crew, with Greg at the helm, discussed approach, put out fenders and got the dock lines ready. Just prior to arrival to the dock, we discovered that due to low tide, the dock was quite a bit higher than the waterline complicating attachment. Rohan hailed the harbormaster walking on the dock to get further clarification as to whether we will need to land a crewmember on the dock ladder, however, the instruction was to wait for the fuel pump attendant to come out and grab our lines. Twice we confirmed that the attendant handed us the gasoline nozzle, instead of diesel. This is a crucial habit to get into whenever refueling the boat in order to prevent disabling the boat with the incorrect fuel. As we proceeded to fill the tanks each engine needed approximately 4.5 gallons of gasoline since the previous fill up. This was after motoring practice in the morning for an hour in MdR, then motoring all the way to Avalon. Thus after about 8 hours of motoring, most of it at a constant 5,000 RPM, the burn rate was just over half a gallon per hour per engine. Despite filling the tanks extremely slowly with small bursts, each overflowed out of the vents, and it was necessary to sop up the spilled gasoline with diapers. Due to the tilt of the tanks and the position of the overflow vents at the bottom of the slope, auditory signals aren’t very effective to determine fill level so as to prevent spillage, and we suggest a protocol of not going past 3/4 full on the tanks while filling, rather to use the fuel gauges to determine fill level instead of topping up. Due to the efficiency of the engines, there is more than enough fuel in the tanks to motor all around the Santa Catalina island and back

and still have plenty of fuel in reserve. It is also prudent to always have diapers on hand while fueling, just in case. Kuba got Mariah off the fuel dock swinging the stern to port in reverse and performing a 3 point turn by first reversing into the channel between the rows of mooring cans perpendicular to the dock, then proceeding to go forward with a turn to starboard to complete the reverse maneuver. The second challenge of the morning was for Kuba to place the boat at the floating pump out dock by docking the boat in reverse on the obscured port side where the deck plate is located. This was a challenging maneuver because of three main factors: 1) Due to a low tide, the floating dock was in constant motion with several feet of play from side to side making distance judgements change on an ongoing basis; 2) It was a tight space with a lifeguard boat parked close on the starboard side; 3) because the landing was on the port side it was obscured requiring exceptional communication from the crew. These factors required a watchful pair of eyes at each corner of the boat, constant communication to convey distance, speed and direction, and the slow walking of the boat closer and closer to the dock until it was securely tied. The final unplanned challenge of the morning happened with Rohan practicing close quarter motoring between the mooring cans on our way out of Avalon harbor. During those maneuvers, the port engine stalled out requiring Rohan to stay calm, use the working engine to make sufficient way for steerage, while the crew restarted the stalled engine. Once out of the harbor, Mariah proceeded around the East end of Catalina, and headed towards Cat Harbor. Underway, the crew decided on the training plan for the rest of the day. We agreed to go to Cat Harbor to have everyone practice mooring on both sides of the boat, then proceed to Iron Bound Cove to see if it was a good place to anchor for the night. We agreed on a backup plan to return to Cat Harbor to either anchor or moor if Iron Bound Cove did not turn out to be a good overnight option.

(Kuba and Greg planning out anchorages, Scott making training plans, with Marc at the helm. Photo credit: Rohan Damani) When we arrived at Cat Harbor, each one of us took turns practicing mooring on both sides of the boat with variable wind directions. Both the bowman and the helmsman have critical roles during these maneuvers. The bowman is required to manipulate the boat by providing clear and constant instructions to the helmsman, and given that the view is obscured, the helmsman is required to follow the directions by manipulating the boat by using both engine controls with finesse to respond to the provided instructions. The trust and communication between the bowman and the helmsman is critical during these maneuvers and should be an important part of the training curriculum for this boat. First we practiced mooring on the easy Starboard side where the helmsman had full view of the mooring pendant, to give the bowman a chance to perfect communication, and for the helmsman to perfect boat control while listening to that communication. Everyone got this on the first try.

The port side was not so easy, and showed how important both the communication and boat control jobs are. On the communication side, one of the most important skills to learn is the constant rate of information to give to the helmsman, especially when the helmsman does not have a visual reference point to help them understand what to do. By keeping the rate of communication at a constant flow, the bowman is the one that is controlling the boat by allowing the helmsman to judge their performance and adjust the boat if necessary. Practicing the rate and amount of communication will be an important teaching requirement as that amount of information flow does not come naturally to most people. Similarly the helmsman has to understand how the boat will respond to their inputs. The engine throttle controls do not have a linear progression from 0 to 5,000 RPM, and so it is easy to overdo it on the throttle with a jerky motion, instead of a smooth input of just enough throttle. Additionally, the throttle response isn’t immediate adding to the delayed movement of the boat and the potential to add too much throttle when it is not called for. Furthermore, when switching between forward and reverse gear, it is important to allow the engine RPMs to drop sufficiently so as not to damage the transmission. This again delays response. Practicing working with the throttles using both hands in a smooth and controlled manner, and getting a feel for the throttle and boat response will be a required part of teaching motoring skills on this boat. After having successfully landed a mooring on both sides of the boat, rotating helmsmen and bow spotters, we headed eastbound for Iron Bound Cove, where the crew intended on assessing the situation for overnight anchoring.

(On the way to Iron Bound. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) The crew first performed an assessment of the situation with a slow approach harbor tour by entering Iron Bound, assessing the weather and sea conditions and potential spots to anchor. Iron Bound is a small rocky cove exposed to wind and swell that was coming in from the South, and so it was decided that it was safer to head back to tie up in Cat Harbor.

(On the way back to Cat Harbor. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Returning to Cat Harbor in the evening, the team again, first performed a harbor tour to determine the best mooring or anchoring location, before deciding on and landing the perfect mooring pickup having practiced this earlier that day.

(Deciding on a mooring. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Once safely tied up for the night, the Mariah crew broke bread and celebrated a long and fruitful day of training. We also further discussed how to train as many members as possible on this fantastic boat, committing to come up with an aggressive training schedule in the morning.

(Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz)

Sunday November 24th, 2019 On Sunday, to take advantage of as much daylight as possible, the crew decided to rise before the sun to get the boat ready for another day full of training, book-ending the motor back to MDR.

(Before the sunrise. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) As soon as the sun provided enough light to begin, the crew started the day of training by practicing additional motoring skills as well as motoring teaching skills by circling mooring balls with a slight amount of wind. With this exercise, Kuba really helped Marc dial in his motoring skills, and Marc helped Kuba dial in his teaching skills. The biggest learning from this exercise was the importance of reinforcement of learning from previous days to further be able to finesse the boat controls and controlling the boat with grace. Once this pre-coffee exercise was successfully completed, with the water still glassy and calm Mariah was set on course to motor back toward MdR.

(View from the galley while preparing breakfast. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) After breakfast, the crew came up with an aggressive training schedule filling up every weekend through the next two months with training slots available to all of the members qualified to train on Mariah.

(Scheduling member training slots and writing this newsletter article. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) As we crossed the Catalina kelp line we found that because the motors are at the waterline, they tend to pick up kelp. It was never a major issue, at no point did it block the propellers or cooling water. One of the benefits of these outboards was that it was simple to reverse, or raise the engines to remove the kelp. Before entering the shipping channel, the crew practiced MOB drills under power, using the same skills that were used in all of our previous mooring practice. Again, effective and calm communication became an evident and important skill learned from this drill. We learned that not only is it important to execute the pickup using your knowledge of controlling the boat with both engines, but also to effectively delegate tasks to each crew member. Over several tries we all got better and quicker at this all important communication and pickup. The port engine stalling was also again an additional source of training during these maneuvers, adding to the realness of the situation.

In general, the source of that engine’s problems appears to stem from not allowing the engine to idle down before shifting too quickly into the opposite gear. This happens when going from forwards to reverse quickly, and vice versa, such as when steering by engines alone in close maneuvering situations. Shifting gears slower helps prevent this. It will be important that the students practice an engine failure situation and are confident restarting the engine in these intense moments. Once we crossed the shipping channel, some of the crew joined Scott in a refreshing dip in the drink, also deploying the life sling to demonstrate its use and deployment. It appears that it had never been deployed before, and that it was not packed correctly, so this too was an important exercise, repacking it in a way to make the line pay out without issue when it is needed most.

(Greg testing out the life sling. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Once everyone was back on board, we were greeted by Sandpiper, an MdR harbor medium boat that caught up to us as they were coming back from their own Catalina cruise.

(Sandpiper coming back from Catalina. Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) After a quick chat, both boats then proceeded to head back to harbor. Once Mariah reached 2ES, we were greeted with 4-6kts of wind, so we decided to raise the sails and play with different sail configurations. We have found that the best procedure to raise the main is that, if you have the crew available to do it, you should prefer to jump the main 80% of the way up, rather than to use the powered winch. Then once the sail is mostly raised, you can trim the last 20% with the power winch without risking the potential problems of using the power winch to raise the entire sail. This is because to use the powered winch you will have to take several factors into account. 1) You will need to have the engines on, and slightly powered; 2) you should not continuously keep the winch button pressed, rather you should power on, power off for a few seconds at a time; 3) you will need to keep a close eye on the battens, making sure that they do not get caught in the lazy jacks as with the power winch you will not feel any resistance if they are caught; 4) using the power winch has the potential to trip the engine breaker disabling both the engines and the winch.

After jumping and trimming the main, we then deployed the screecher, and practiced jibing it. One of the big lessons from this exercise is the need to furl in the screecher for a jibe, so as to remove any pressure from the sail before feeding it through the relatively small space between it and the jib. We then also deployed the jib, to see if the combined sail configuration had any effect on sailing performance. This proved to have a negative effect on performance relative to flying the screecher alone.

(Photo credit: Kuba Fietkiewicz) Once the sail configuration was set, Art of course surprised us with an MOB drill under sail. We must have been exhausted because knowing Art, this shouldn’t have been a surprise to us. Despite knowing that generally the best way to recover an MOB under sail on a catamaran is to jibe, most of the present skippers instincts were to tack first, which cats generally don’t like to do, and which requires additional time to get to the distressed victim. Yes, we all landed the MOB, but had we jibed, as shown expertly by Art, we would have done it in less than half the time.

This instinct is hardwired to many of us, and this will need to be another one of those drills to help break the habit on this boat. Another important consideration is that it is best to tack the boat from a close reach/close haul to a close reach so as to minimize the effect of slowing the boat through the turn with its extra drag imposed by the additional hull, and allowing the boat to complete the tack without getting into irons. After sufficient sailing practice, we then dropped the sails, lowered the engines once more and headed back to harbor. We were all exhausted after a long day of training that started before the sun rose, but the day was not over yet. We continued the training with an additional couple of hours of docking/undocking practice in a variety of ways, including springing on and off the bow and stern. One of the more difficult docking procedures was to back toward the dock on the port side to then spring the boat forward having cleated to the aft cleat. This is due to the windage presented by the hull and cabin, requiring a not too wide of an angle of approach in reverse. If the angle is too wide, the windage of the hull and cabin top makes the boat crab sideways which is then difficult to overcome once it has started. This will be important to note not only while docking, but also in crowded mooring situations at times when the wind is not coming from the prevailing direction. It was dark when the training finally ended, we parked the boat, and sat down for our one last “what went right, and what went wrong” debrief of the weekend. What went right is that this cruise format, while grueling in its firehose of training, was incredibly effective in getting all of us to become far more prepared to handle this boat and to understand what to teach in the handling of this boat. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats, and during this training, when one of us learned, all of us learned. This cruise was incredibly effective to in a relatively short period of time, show us what to focus on to help the rest of the membership become good stewards of this vitally important asset to the club. We are eternally grateful to Scott and Art and Marc for sharing this wealth of knowledge with us and we are all excited to help pass it on to the rest of the membership.