Larry and I are fortunate to be alive right now. But for good crew work, fast thinking, and experience things may have turned out differently. We were in danger of losing the boat in the 48 degree of water of Lake Ontario. It was early May. Great Lakes are all cold this time of year and hypothermia is a real danger for a MOB. In water this cold one has no more than an hour submersed to remain conscious.
We were a good half mile from the harbor mouth at Olcott, NY when the squall line hit. We had seen the dark clouds moving in. They were spotty and mostly to the north of us. Winds were very light moving Larry's Irwin 30 Citation at less than 2 knots. We had been keeping an eye on the clouds and could see the wind line moving towards us. It did not look bad to me as it had no white water associated with it. Larry felt differently and started the engine, but I discouraged him from furling the 150, which we were using with no main.
The wind line hit and we started sailing nicely on a beam reach. The rail dipped into the sea and it was time to ease the jib sheet. I was at the helm and leaned leeward to ease the sheet, but Larry had not run the sheet around both ends of the cleat before hitching it off. The hitch over the first turn on the cleat made the sheet impossible to release. The wind increased and suddenly, not being able to ease the sheet, we were on our beam end with solid water pouring into the cockpit. With the companionway wide open it was immediately clear we were in grave danger of flooding the cabin and sinking the boat. The rudder was now out of the water,and, with the upper life line completely submerged we were in a full knockdown with the 150 genny pinning us down. The boat did round up only to backwind the jib putting us in an even worse spot. I was at the helm and took advantage of having steerage to jibe the boat around so the jib was no longer backwinded. The steerage allowed me to put the boat into the wind which kept us on our feet long enough to do something. The sheet was still hopelessly tight on the cleat. How long could I keep the boat into the wind? My Leatherman was on my belt and I grabbed it and gave it to Larry. It took him a few seconds to figure out how to access a knife blade, but he did and cut the trapped jib sheet. We were at least solidly on our feet, but now we had a wild jib to tame.
It is my policy never to use a winch to furl in a sail, but that went out the window. We got most of the jib furled, but since it was so tightly wrapped, we ran out of furling line so that a small triangle remained exposed. In all the action, the other jib sheet fowled on something below the waterline so the sail was still pulling. Fortunately, the prop did not seem fouled and we were able to motor in.
Larry took over the helm – it was his boat – and we were able to dock. In the shelter of our harbor, I was able to untie the bowline in the remaining sheet so we got in without any real problems. It was time to reflect on the problems that the fouled jib sheet caused us and have a couple of beers.
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We were a good half mile from the harbor mouth at Olcott, NY when the squall line hit. We had seen the dark clouds moving in. They were spotty and mostly to the north of us. Winds were very light moving Larry's Irwin 30 Citation at less than 2 knots. We had been keeping an eye on the clouds and could see the wind line moving towards us. It did not look bad to me as it had no white water associated with it. Larry felt differently and started the engine, but I discouraged him from furling the 150, which we were using with no main.
The wind line hit and we started sailing nicely on a beam reach. The rail dipped into the sea and it was time to ease the jib sheet. I was at the helm and leaned leeward to ease the sheet, but Larry had not run the sheet around both ends of the cleat before hitching it off. The hitch over the first turn on the cleat made the sheet impossible to release. The wind increased and suddenly, not being able to ease the sheet, we were on our beam end with solid water pouring into the cockpit. With the companionway wide open it was immediately clear we were in grave danger of flooding the cabin and sinking the boat. The rudder was now out of the water,and, with the upper life line completely submerged we were in a full knockdown with the 150 genny pinning us down. The boat did round up only to backwind the jib putting us in an even worse spot. I was at the helm and took advantage of having steerage to jibe the boat around so the jib was no longer backwinded. The steerage allowed me to put the boat into the wind which kept us on our feet long enough to do something. The sheet was still hopelessly tight on the cleat. How long could I keep the boat into the wind? My Leatherman was on my belt and I grabbed it and gave it to Larry. It took him a few seconds to figure out how to access a knife blade, but he did and cut the trapped jib sheet. We were at least solidly on our feet, but now we had a wild jib to tame.
It is my policy never to use a winch to furl in a sail, but that went out the window. We got most of the jib furled, but since it was so tightly wrapped, we ran out of furling line so that a small triangle remained exposed. In all the action, the other jib sheet fowled on something below the waterline so the sail was still pulling. Fortunately, the prop did not seem fouled and we were able to motor in.
Larry took over the helm – it was his boat – and we were able to dock. In the shelter of our harbor, I was able to untie the bowline in the remaining sheet so we got in without any real problems. It was time to reflect on the problems that the fouled jib sheet caused us and have a couple of beers.
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