How Did You Dry Sails?

[AThompson]

Hi, all.

I've seen dozen of photos where sails are down for drying, possibly with their clews sill held up by lines, but they're unflurlled but they're not drawing wind.

How is that done? Are the sheets and tacks, etc ., just not tied down so that any wind just causes the sails to flap? I would have thought that any pressure on the sails, however light, would cause headway in a sailing ship?

[marcelo_malara]

Hi, all.

I've seen dozen of photos where sails are down for drying, possibly with their clews sill held up by lines, but they're unflurlled but they're not drawing wind.

How is that done? Are the sheets and tacks, etc ., just not tied down so that any wind just causes the sails to flap? I would have thought that any pressure on the sails, however light, would cause headway in a sailing ship?

In my experience with sailboats, if you set a sail with sheets while anchored or moored any wind will move the boat. You need a loose sheet so the sail will align with the wind and not make force. In a square rigger I suppose you can brace the yards so they lie along the wind and so the sails will not catch much wind.

[OpanaPointer]

The sails got wet during weather at sea. They got wet when it rained in port. Either way "hanging them out to dry" was just that. Properly made and treated canvas wouldn't rot just because it got wet.

[Byron Angel]

The sails got wet during weather at sea. They got wet when it rained in port. Either way "hanging them out to dry" was just that. Properly made and treated canvas wouldn't rot just because it got wet.

An interesting sidelight-
There were occasions when sails would be purposely wetted down. In extremely light wind conditions, men would be tasked to climb up with buckets of sea water to keep the sails wetted down, as wet sails would more efficiently catch any breeze and propel the ship under such conditions.

To anyone interesting in what sort of extraordinary measures might be taken to propel a ship under conditions of little or no wind, I recommend reading the account of the dramatic escape of USS Constitution from a squadron of pursuing British frigates in 1814. Both sides pulled out all the stops, using every technique in the book.

Byron

[OpanaPointer]

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by- ... state.html

[OpanaPointer]

https://mysticseaport.org/explore/village/sail-loft/