Recently we had an e-mail exchange with a customer that some of you might find helpful.
Hello,
I haven’t seen any photos of the sailing version of t he Melonseed rowed with the sail furled. How is the sail stowed when not in use? Can it be lashed to the boom and then secured to the mast or would it be necessary to carry the spars on deck and therefore in the way of rowing?
Thanks,
Kent
I designed the Melonseed sail rig specifically for Northwest waters, where there are two underlying axioms; 1) The wind will die. 2) When you take the sail down the wind comes back.
So our Melonseed is set up to switch from rowing to sailing and vice versa simply and quickly. These pictures show how this works… the boom and rig is high enough so the operator can efficiently row the boat with the sail up. When the wind dies, just let go of the tiller and move to the forward rowing position. You can row from there either fixed or slide seat. Then when the wind comes back, just ship the oars, move back t o the tiller and sail away. Voila, instant transition between rowing and sailing.
If you are looking at a long row and want to take the sail down then you can lower the sail into the standard lazy jacks. The lazy jacks support the aft of the rig and a mast keeper supports the forward part of the rig.
