Advice for a Solo Sailor?

smokey73 · Aug 21, 2023

@Hayden Watson
There are apparently two different discussions going on here.

One is about heaving-to in general (as in your posts #115 and #120 above)

The other is about heaving-to with the headsail ONLY and no main up at all. (my posts above but summarized by post #119 above)What are the dynamics of heaving to with ONLY the headsail and the main still stowed?

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

Alan Gomes said:
Here's the article I had in mind.

I read that article back when it first came out and it reinforced my decision for hove-to to be the first response to an MOB unless conditions made that untenable. An MOB on a tether will quickly be drowned unless you stop the boat quickly. Far and away, the quickest way to stop the boat from any point of sail is to turn up through the eye of the wind and backwind everything. Once the boat is stopped, then you can decide what next steps to take. On our boat, if we are cruising with the dingy in tow, that includes using the dingy as a rescue boat. We do not have a walk-through transom and it is hugely difficult to retrieve an MOB if they are not capable of climbing the stern ladder under their own strength. A person in the water who is wearing a life vest can be pulled into the inflatable.

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

smokey73 said:
@Hayden Watson
There are apparently two different discussions going on here.

One is about heaving-to in general (as in your posts #115 and #120 above)

The other is about heaving-to with the headsail ONLY and no main up at all. (my posts above but summarized by post #119 above) What are the dynamics of heaving to with ONLY the headsail and the main still stowed?

Correct, heaving-to under main only is thread drift from my initial post on hove-to as a tool for the solo sailor. Given that this thread is "Advice for a solo sailor" my initial comment was on topic.

My intent in all of my comments on this tread is to help the solo or shorthanded sailor to think about and practice the technique of hove-to as a powerful no-tech tool that will work when nothing else will. My previous boats did not have AP and my first AP was unreliable on the best of days and completely AWOL many. In those conditions, If I needed to let go of the helm for more than a very brief time, I needed to stop the boat and that meant either dropping all sails and rolling around or hove-to in relative stability. Kind of a no-brainer as to which I chose.

Kings Gambit · Aug 21, 2023

smokey73 said:
@Hayden Watson
There are apparently two different discussions going on here.

One is about heaving-to in general (as in your posts #115 and #120 above)

The other is about heaving-to with the headsail ONLY and no main up at all. (my posts above but summarized by post #119 above)What are the dynamics of heaving to with ONLY the headsail and the main still stowed?

You are correct, but the underlying source of the “wandering” is testimonials w.r.t. different boat designs and equipment. You CAN heave-to some boats under headsail only and rudder. Flattish-bottom boats with deep fin keels ARE difficult to start with and may or may not heave to properly with or without the mainsail involved, and so forth. My Bavaria will eventually fall off stern to wind from a “hove-to” position regardless what I have done. It’s not stable enough for me to leave for long. Certainly not for sleep, etc. A stubbier, longer keel, works better (best), like on a Cal 34. Take a look.

Stu Jackson · Aug 21, 2023

Kings Gambit said:
...w.r.t. different boat designs ... My Bavaria will eventually fall off stern to wind from a “hove-to” position regardless what I have done. It’s not stable enough to leave for long. Certainly not for sleep, etc. A stubbier, longer keel, works better (best), like on a Cal 34. ...

I fully agree wrt to different designs.
However, my full keel, relatively flat bottomed aft 1986 boat will heave to and stay that way. It's a Catalina 34, not a Cal. Neither my boat nor the Cal 34 (I've sailed on one) actually have the aft flat bottoms that these new designs have, since they both come from the 1980s and earlier design philosophies.
Which, all things considered, supports your quite correct point.

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

Kings Gambit said:
The boat has to make some way through the water for the rudder to exert any force. The old timers (offshore cruisers) say that a properly hove-to sailboat slowly makes way to weather while also experiencing leeway lying at approximately 45 deg angle relative to face of waves/swells.

Here is Papillon's track in 15-kts. This was a two-hour track while I waited for the fog to lift before crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I was sailing NW towards Dungeness Spit and this part took about 10-minutes. I then drifted slowly back over the same track for the next 2-hours. After the fog cleared, I jibed back to my original heading and sailed off this shot in another 10-minutes.

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

Kings Gambit said:
You are correct, but the underlying source of the “wandering” is testimonials w.r.t. different boat designs and equipment. You CAN heave-to some boats under headsail only and rudder. Flattish-bottom boats with deep fin keels ARE difficult to start with and may or may not heave to properly with or without the mainsail involved, and so forth. My Bavaria will eventually fall off stern to wind from a “hove-to” position regardless what I have done. It’s not stable enough for me to leave for long. Certainly not for sleep, etc. A stubbier, longer keel, works better (best), like on a Cal 34. Take a look.

I agree. When I hove-to the J90 it was to prove a point and required the main and careful tweaking of the tiller and main sheet.

We were drifting sideways (wind at somewhere between 100º and 110º and if there was a significant change in the wind speed or direction it would require more tweaking. That said, we were only moving at 2-kts and I was the only one who needed to do anything. The rest of the crew was longing around eating lunch. On the other boats, the crews needed to have a near constant sail handling because with sails up they were making +6-knts given that this was a high-performance sport-boat class.

smokey73 · Aug 21, 2023

That is about what I'd expect. I think the next time I heave to I'll set my "anchor" alarm and it will mark my track. I imagine I'll see something similar but with changes based on the fact that I sail in an area with tidal currents so there will be influence on the movement from that. Thanks. That is the first track shown when hove-to. Very informative. About how much was the drift to the southeast in terms of distance moved while hove-to during the 2 hours? Great info.

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

smokey73 said:
That is about what I'd expect. I think the next time I heave to I'll set my "anchor" alarm and it will mark my track. I imagine I'll see something similar but with changes based on the fact that I sail in an area with tidal currents so there will be influence on the movement from that. Thanks. That is the first track shown when hove-to. Very informative. About how much was the drift to the southeast in terms of distance moved while hove-to during the 2 hours? Great info.

For distance, given that from Land's End to the narrowest point of the spit is 0.75mi, I estimate that the drift was about 1.5-miles in two hours.

When you mentioned current Beaufort currents, I was going to make a snarky comment but was wise enough to go look at the conditions in Beaufort first. I see that you can get tides of +9' and currents in some places up to +3-kts so that is nothing to snark at. :beer:

The reason I was tucked in behind Dungeness Spit was because it was protected from the wave and currents by the spit. Here is the screen shot from about the time the fog lifted. It was a moderate tide day with only 11.8' of total change. A week later it 15.8' with currents over 3-kts. For a major strait, this is pretty slow for our area. The channel is about 16-miles wide here and the depth is 60-80. In Fathoms or 360'-480' for the full width. Most of our strait's flow at over 3 knots several times a day and Deception pass which I have to go through most every cruise will top out well over 8-kts but I don't go through at over 7.0 outbound and 6.0 inbound.

Mark Maulden · Aug 21, 2023

“Deception pass which I have to go through most every cruise will top out well over 8-kts but I don't go through at over 7.0 outbound and 6.0 inbound.”
Hayden, care to elaborate on this? I‘m not sure I would do this either following or against. But, you probably have more local experience than I…

Stu Jackson · Aug 21, 2023

There have been some very good posts on Deception Pass IIRC right here on this forum, some with pictures, including from the bridge above. TGips & tricks, including back eddies and the side to avoid like the plague (I forget whether N or S side) were included. Fascinating place.

Hayden Watson · Aug 21, 2023

Mark Maulden said:
“Deception pass which I have to go through most every cruise will top out well over 8-kts but I don't go through at over 7.0 outbound and 6.0 inbound.”
Hayden, care to elaborate on this? I‘m not sure I would do this either following or against. But, you probably have more local experience than I…

Given that this is not really on topic, I will create a new post in the SBO PNW cruisers forum just for discussion of Deception Pass.

Deception Pass.

I am starting this thread for a discussion of all things Deception Pass. For background, I moved to Oak Harbor, WA in 2005 and had a job in Burlington so I drove across the bridge at least 10-times each week. I always gave myself enough time to stop on Pass Island and walk out onto the bridge...

forums.sailboatowners.com

smokey73 · Aug 22, 2023

@Hayden Watson We certainly don't have to contend with those kinds of currents

but our channel width and depth to get to more open sailing is sometimes less than 1/2 mile and there are shifting shoals. So, if you have to heave to there you'd better be ready and able to come back to course quickly if you drift differently or quicker than expected. I guess if you drifted into a sandy shoal (not many rocks here, mostly pluff mud or sand depending where you are) at 0.75 kts or so it wouldn't be catastrophic, as long as you got off before the tide went out.

That was why I was inquiring about the distance. For me, until I get to the Port Royal Sound or past the ocean buoys heaving to is only for a few minutes if at all.

Hayden Watson · Aug 22, 2023

smokey73 said:
...
That was why I was inquiring about the distance. For me, until I get to the Port Royal Sound or past the ocean buoys heaving to is only for a few minutes if at all.

When solo sailing, most times that I heave-to it is only for a few minutes. I use it to be able to stop the boat so that I can attend to something else. As I said, the most frequent reason is to visit the head. Second most frequent reason is to fix lunch. Both of those chores are much easier on a mostly level and non-bouncy boat. It is bad enough to chase the plastic catsup bottle across the counter but when the glass pickle jar hits the fiddle at the edge...

Stu Jackson · Aug 22, 2023

smokey73 said:
That was why I was inquiring about the distance. For me, until I get to the Port Royal Sound or past the ocean buoys heaving to is only for a few minutes if at all.

Interesting question.
I sailed on SF Bay from before we bought our C22 in 1983, our C25 in 1987 and our C34 in 1998 until I sailed her up to BC in 2016.
I learned to heave to on the C22, most likely from reading about it in Pat Royce's Sailing Illustrated. Remember, this was before the internet. I learned, on my own from practice and use, to employ the technique to take down the hanked on jib - sail on port tack, heave to, backwind jib, drop on foredeck with jib downhaul. That would pre-fold the jib 'cuz of the way hanks are made. Also from Royce's and I've posted that on here often for new C22 skippers. Used it on the 25 for the many years we had her, too.
I'd do this at the entrance to the Oakland Estuary, pretty wide spot on the Bay south of the bridge, the new one, before it narrowed.
Or I'd use it in the main Bay. I sailed a lot on weekdays in the mid 90s on when I stated my own firm. I also used it behind Angel Island (east side) for lunch stops when it was very windy on the main Bay.
When I started ocean sailing, it was a great way to settle the boat for whatever reason. Often when my friend Dave stopped steering past Pt. Bonita he'd get seasick, so we'd heave to, he'd get a bit better and then lie down in the cockpit and I'd sail back.
So, yes, time, speed and distance all count, and speed is usually determined by the wind strength when hove to. You're ALWAYS sailing ON the water, so of course currents will affect the distance over ground.

Davidasailor26 · Aug 23, 2023

jviss said:
So, anyway, I'm back in my home port, having completed the cycle. I sailed onto the mooring in Westport today! It just worked out, I hit the harbor at slack water and had 6 or 7 kt. from the South. Such a good feeling.

I anchored in Cuttyhunk. Had some serious wind Monday and Tuesday so I stayed put. Took off today and wouldn't you know it - no wind! Ha, ha. Motor sailed home, mostly motored.

Feeling good. Might take off tomorrow again, after a short trip to the grocery store. Forgot a few things....

It's a real confidence booster and mood enhancer to do something like this on one's own. It was a bit sadly sentimental, not having the ex along, but I think that will wear off after a while.

The boat's running well, sails like a dream, engine runs like a top. No complaints, except the fuel gauge is a bit of a pain. It's one of those that reads full-full until you've consumed about 10 gal. or more, then starts to move. I was so concerned I removed the sender and looked in the tank - plenty of fuel, but not full, and the float thing worked when I manipulated it manually, i.e., the gauge registered it, but I really want a more accurate gauge. Or sender, I guess.

Glad you’re enjoying it and the boat’s running well. Unless you have a diesel heater or generator I’d just log engine hours for fuel levels. My gauge is not terribly inaccurate but I don’t think I’ve looked at it in 3 years. When I’ve run 25 hours it’s time to go get half a tank (17-18 gallons).