We had some cray sailing weather last week. 25+ knots and 3ft waves. Between two different marinas and yacht clubs there mustve been 40 boats out ranging from lasers and 420's to 40 footers with carbon/kevlar sails. After some thrilling sailing the winds started to pick up. I started the outboard and proceeded to take down the main. When I got back to the cockpit I found the motor wasnt running. I restarted and it ran for a few seconds and died. Same thing happened a couple more times and immediately had the admiral call for a tow as we weren't sure what the conditions were in the harbor. The operator advised us to drop anchor. I got it ready but did not feel it was the best move to deploy while we still had a furled/reefed jib to maintain control. By the time I got back on deck every other boat was gone. I noticed a bit more play than usual in the rudder but we had more important things to worry about (or so we thought).
TowBoatUS showed up in about 20 minutes. Conditions had gotten much worse during this time. The captain circled around us to evaluate the situation. He came along side and tossed us a half inch line that was maybe 6' long and told us to tie it around our winch. Both boats were bashing against one another in the 4-5' waves and the wind had increased to an estimated 30-40 knots! As quickly as I could I wound the line around the winch. Wait, the line is sliding through my hands! Crap, I wound it the wrong way and the jib sheet is still on! I quickly remove all the lines. The two boats came crashing together again and I had to jump back to avoid having my arms crushed as the line continued to slide away. I finally get it wound correctly and with only a foot left I manage to crank it in between the waves. I tell the captain to start pulling us and before he could get to the helm we heard a small wood crack followed by a big popping sound. Our winch went flying through the air as I reached to catch it. It hit my palm and bounced off. I juggled it a couple more times before being forever lost to Davey Jones' locker.
At this point we looked up at the captain who had a look of shear panic on his face. This is not what you want to see when conditions are this bad! He was frozen for a good five seconds before he tossed the line back to us and told us to wrap it around the jib cleat.
I looked at him like he was crazy. I yelled back to him, "If the winch just broke there's no way this cleat is going to hold!". I didn't get a response and proceeded to do what he asked. I got it wrapped around and he started to pull us. No more than five seconds past before his line snapped!
Finally he starts prepping a tow line! Amazingly I caught it. He told me to put it on my bow cleat. The O'Day 25's have a small piece of fiberglass as backing and I attempted to yell back to him. He coun't hear over the wind and waves. I proceeded to crawl to the bow trying to keep my center of gravity as low as possible. I carefully take every step as if it's my last. One wrong step and I would fly overboard. Finally I got to the foredeck. I'm now laying on my stomach with my body sliding around with each wave. I placed the line through the bow eye and then wrapped it around a cleat. He yells something incoherently but there was no need for words. I knew he was asking if it was secured. I yelled back and gave a thumbs up. He hopped on the helm. His boat started to move. I braced myself against the bow pulpit as I watched the slack of the nylon line disappear. Our boat jolted as the line became taught. I waited, still gripping for dear life, until the line stopped jolting us around. Once again, I crawled back holding onto any solid object and very carefully placing each step. I finally get back to the cockpit and grab hold of the tiller. Our adrenaline was still pumping and we're still sliding around our seats but we're in high spirits. We joke around a bit and talk about what just happened. The waves are starting to smooth out as we make the 20 min trek back to the marina.
As we approach the inlet the captain calls us. I'm handed the phone and the first thing I hear was, "I didn't want to say this in front of your lady friend but that was some scary sh*t!". I laughed. We chatted for a moment. He apologized for the lost winch and I told him which slip I was in. The conditions were surprisingly calm in the harbor. I could've easily sailed in to this. Regardless, we were happy to be back at the dock. I peered my head over the transom and found one thing that shocked me and another that made me feel like an idiot. The shocker was the lower gudgeon (rudder bracket) was torn in two pieces! The other thing I found was the motor had been pushed to the side and the fuel line had come undone slightly. I pushed it in all the way, primed it and it fired right up. Ugh!
A couple of days later we returned and discovered that the gudgeon was on its' way to splitting into three pieces and that the nuts with literally no backing plates had pushed into the wood in the transom. We didnt see any sealant on the gudgeon. At this point I felt it was safe to assume that the wood was waterlogged. We put a new gudgeon on yesterday. I saw a drop of water come out when I tightened down the new hardware. I'd like to forewarn those of you with outboard rudders mounted below your cockpit drain before you lose a rudder. I've motored under normal conditions with just an outboard. It is very difficult to control the boat. It would've been nearly impossible in those conditions.
Secondly, Our captain was clearly more fit to piloting a tour boat that only goes out in perfect conditions. While most captains have more training and experience than us recreational boaters, do work with them to come up with the safest solution possible. Our captain panicked when he saw that we were a 1/4 mile away from shore. I was never scared as I knew how slowly we where drifting closer and we still had multiple options available to get us out of such a situation if needed (anchor and sails). Im also very glad I did not have to pull that oversized anchor up in 5' waves
Lastly, periodically check your motor if you're sailing in heavy conditions so any potential issues can be dealt with in a timely manner. Safe sails and have fun out there!
TowBoatUS showed up in about 20 minutes. Conditions had gotten much worse during this time. The captain circled around us to evaluate the situation. He came along side and tossed us a half inch line that was maybe 6' long and told us to tie it around our winch. Both boats were bashing against one another in the 4-5' waves and the wind had increased to an estimated 30-40 knots! As quickly as I could I wound the line around the winch. Wait, the line is sliding through my hands! Crap, I wound it the wrong way and the jib sheet is still on! I quickly remove all the lines. The two boats came crashing together again and I had to jump back to avoid having my arms crushed as the line continued to slide away. I finally get it wound correctly and with only a foot left I manage to crank it in between the waves. I tell the captain to start pulling us and before he could get to the helm we heard a small wood crack followed by a big popping sound. Our winch went flying through the air as I reached to catch it. It hit my palm and bounced off. I juggled it a couple more times before being forever lost to Davey Jones' locker.
At this point we looked up at the captain who had a look of shear panic on his face. This is not what you want to see when conditions are this bad! He was frozen for a good five seconds before he tossed the line back to us and told us to wrap it around the jib cleat.
I looked at him like he was crazy. I yelled back to him, "If the winch just broke there's no way this cleat is going to hold!". I didn't get a response and proceeded to do what he asked. I got it wrapped around and he started to pull us. No more than five seconds past before his line snapped!
Finally he starts prepping a tow line! Amazingly I caught it. He told me to put it on my bow cleat. The O'Day 25's have a small piece of fiberglass as backing and I attempted to yell back to him. He coun't hear over the wind and waves. I proceeded to crawl to the bow trying to keep my center of gravity as low as possible. I carefully take every step as if it's my last. One wrong step and I would fly overboard. Finally I got to the foredeck. I'm now laying on my stomach with my body sliding around with each wave. I placed the line through the bow eye and then wrapped it around a cleat. He yells something incoherently but there was no need for words. I knew he was asking if it was secured. I yelled back and gave a thumbs up. He hopped on the helm. His boat started to move. I braced myself against the bow pulpit as I watched the slack of the nylon line disappear. Our boat jolted as the line became taught. I waited, still gripping for dear life, until the line stopped jolting us around. Once again, I crawled back holding onto any solid object and very carefully placing each step. I finally get back to the cockpit and grab hold of the tiller. Our adrenaline was still pumping and we're still sliding around our seats but we're in high spirits. We joke around a bit and talk about what just happened. The waves are starting to smooth out as we make the 20 min trek back to the marina.
As we approach the inlet the captain calls us. I'm handed the phone and the first thing I hear was, "I didn't want to say this in front of your lady friend but that was some scary sh*t!". I laughed. We chatted for a moment. He apologized for the lost winch and I told him which slip I was in. The conditions were surprisingly calm in the harbor. I could've easily sailed in to this. Regardless, we were happy to be back at the dock. I peered my head over the transom and found one thing that shocked me and another that made me feel like an idiot. The shocker was the lower gudgeon (rudder bracket) was torn in two pieces! The other thing I found was the motor had been pushed to the side and the fuel line had come undone slightly. I pushed it in all the way, primed it and it fired right up. Ugh!
A couple of days later we returned and discovered that the gudgeon was on its' way to splitting into three pieces and that the nuts with literally no backing plates had pushed into the wood in the transom. We didnt see any sealant on the gudgeon. At this point I felt it was safe to assume that the wood was waterlogged. We put a new gudgeon on yesterday. I saw a drop of water come out when I tightened down the new hardware. I'd like to forewarn those of you with outboard rudders mounted below your cockpit drain before you lose a rudder. I've motored under normal conditions with just an outboard. It is very difficult to control the boat. It would've been nearly impossible in those conditions.
Secondly, Our captain was clearly more fit to piloting a tour boat that only goes out in perfect conditions. While most captains have more training and experience than us recreational boaters, do work with them to come up with the safest solution possible. Our captain panicked when he saw that we were a 1/4 mile away from shore. I was never scared as I knew how slowly we where drifting closer and we still had multiple options available to get us out of such a situation if needed (anchor and sails). Im also very glad I did not have to pull that oversized anchor up in 5' waves
Lastly, periodically check your motor if you're sailing in heavy conditions so any potential issues can be dealt with in a timely manner. Safe sails and have fun out there!
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