Commander #241 is back on the water

Just a quick note to say hi and let you know that Commander 341 has moved from Marshsall (on Tomales Bay) to Tiburon. After some nice renovation work by Jeremy Fisher-Smith , she's back on the water and I look forward to as much family sailing as possible. Here are a few pictures.
I hope to see some of you on the water and am already thankful for all of the information and knowledge!
PS: the boat has a new name (yes, I know...). Previously Alta Mia, she is now Mamachaca. If you're wondering where that came from, you'll be seeing photos of our 4 kids (Maxime, Madeleine, Charlie and Calixte).
Best - Alexis

Wow, those are some great pics! Nice looking Commander and crew too. Welcome aboard!

Good looking boat there!

Your MAMACHACAs have a perfect boat for learning water and sail.

Thank you for the compliments and for the confirmation that this is a good boat to teach the kids. You may have noticed that there are no stanchions. While I love that this teaches the kids to hold on while on deck, I'm thinking that I should add a life-line that I can hook their harness into if we do any night sailing. Has anyone added one on an ariel or commander?

The Commander cabin is wider than the Ariel making lifelines on stanchions more of a hurdle than a help going forward. There is little foot room to begin with then the lifelines crowd things further. I've looped a dock line around the base of the mast, passed the bitter end through the eye of the bow cleat and tied a stopper knot. This gave me a line to hang on to between the mast and the pulpit. Could be a problem at night but in rough conditions was very reassuring going forward to change a sail when the wind blew up.

I've considered a lifeline from the top of the pulpit through one stanchion half way back to the shrouds then bringing the life line down to the deck on a pad eye opposite the front of the cabin just forward of the front lower shroud. That would provide a conventional but short lifeline just on the fore deck while not crowding the path around the shrouds. I find there are plenty of things to grab onto until you reach the forward shroud. Between the front of the cabin and the bow pulpit can be a leap of faith when things get nautical.

The best advice I've heard is to install rolling furling and just don't go out there at night. There's a lot to be said for that idea but I still prefer the versatility of selecting the right headsail for conditions rather than trying to coax boat speed or control out of a miss-matched sail.

@SkipperJer : thank you for the detailed suggestions and thoughts. I agree with you that something on the deck could be more of a risk than help out. Rolling furling certainly has its advantages. I was considering it and opted out to keep the cost down since in addition to the hardware it would have required a new jib. I might end up there simply because it's also very convenient when I sail solo.

most sailmakers can alter an existing jib. My 150 is an "unfixed" roller that now has hanks.

That's a good thing to know. My jib is in need or replacement so this might be another incentive to get it all done in one go...

It's been just over a year since we started sailing our boat on the Bay. Kids have learned so much on the Commander and really enjoy the night sailing that we do from time to time. The link to the photo album remains the same .
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...09c87397bedf_1
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...594a88d5f088_1
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...fbce695e9f70_1
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...69667e2070ea_1
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...bb1be9ce6c90_1
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/im...87eaa40074bd_1

Hope we see Commander 241 at next year's Hoppe Regatta (June 25). She's not far from the starting line!

Would love to join. I'll mark the date in our calendar!

Great! Look forward to seeing you! Announcements should start appearing in the Sailing and Events forum in the Spring.