i like the agm suggestion.
thats what i will do. now to wait for my old ones to get tired. thanks.
thats what i will do. now to wait for my old ones to get tired. thanks.
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Sea Water Over the Floor
I have had sea water over the deck inside twice. The first time was when the cooling water hose from the block to the exhaust manifold broke and pumped all the cooling water into the hull before I noticed. It overpowered the auto bilge pump. I noticed when I arrived at the marina after powering for about two hours in a choppy sea. The second time was half way across the Gulf of Mexico in a touch of bad weather. Every time the cockpit filled with water the weather boards leaked, the dorades leaked, every opening leaked and the water entered the hull through the cockpit lockers which are not water tight. No permanent damage. It all dried out before my heart was back to normal
. The bad weather set my standard with which I now compare all weather. Sailing in the Puget Sound area is very nice except the water here is cold. I would not want to have the cockpit full of cold water!! Fair winds. Don
I have had sea water over the deck inside twice. The first time was when the cooling water hose from the block to the exhaust manifold broke and pumped all the cooling water into the hull before I noticed. It overpowered the auto bilge pump. I noticed when I arrived at the marina after powering for about two hours in a choppy sea. The second time was half way across the Gulf of Mexico in a touch of bad weather. Every time the cockpit filled with water the weather boards leaked, the dorades leaked, every opening leaked and the water entered the hull through the cockpit lockers which are not water tight. No permanent damage. It all dried out before my heart was back to normal
. The bad weather set my standard with which I now compare all weather. Sailing in the Puget Sound area is very nice except the water here is cold. I would not want to have the cockpit full of cold water!! Fair winds. DonD. Prior
yeh, but where were your batteries and did you enlarge the cockpit drains after that? Boy, what understatement as to your condition/situation.
yeh, but where were your batteries and did you enlarge the cockpit drains after that? Boy, what understatement as to your condition/situation.
Yes
After that trip I CLEANED the cockpit drains. The batteries were in the starboard cockpit locker (normal position) and were the least of my worries. They are higher than the deck inside the main cabin (I think) and did not seem to suffer. I am sure they were wet but I do not know if they were submerged. No size of cockpit drain would have helped. My Hunter would go over the crest of a wave and surf down the backside and then bury the bow up to the mast in the following wave. As the bow came up all that water came aft and filled the cockpit after every wave. I guess as much water was thrown out of the cockpit by the motion as came in. I do not think the drains were doing much. I had locked the sliding hatch closed to hold the weatherboards in place (crew below). There was 6 to 8 inches of water on the deck inside sloshing around. It was an eventful passage. One of the crew would not return with me so I came from Tuxpan to Galveston with one crew. The other man flew back. It was totally boring on the return trip with no incidents. I am still sailing the same Hunter. The batteries have been replaced many times but I do not remember any faults due to water. The auto pilot drove back so I still had power. I did change the fuel filter as soon as it calmed down but to tell you the truth I never even thought of the batteries. Fair winds Don
After that trip I CLEANED the cockpit drains. The batteries were in the starboard cockpit locker (normal position) and were the least of my worries. They are higher than the deck inside the main cabin (I think) and did not seem to suffer. I am sure they were wet but I do not know if they were submerged. No size of cockpit drain would have helped. My Hunter would go over the crest of a wave and surf down the backside and then bury the bow up to the mast in the following wave. As the bow came up all that water came aft and filled the cockpit after every wave. I guess as much water was thrown out of the cockpit by the motion as came in. I do not think the drains were doing much. I had locked the sliding hatch closed to hold the weatherboards in place (crew below). There was 6 to 8 inches of water on the deck inside sloshing around. It was an eventful passage. One of the crew would not return with me so I came from Tuxpan to Galveston with one crew. The other man flew back. It was totally boring on the return trip with no incidents. I am still sailing the same Hunter. The batteries have been replaced many times but I do not remember any faults due to water. The auto pilot drove back so I still had power. I did change the fuel filter as soon as it calmed down but to tell you the truth I never even thought of the batteries. Fair winds Don
Don
What a ride, How high would you estimate the seas were? Wind speed? Did you have sails up? We got to hear a little more? What year is your hunter, I wonder if the later models have any bigger drains in the cockpit, but as you said it probably would not matter. I have a 1984, so it may be interesting. After you have had time to digest the situation, do you think you could have done anything differently to make it go easier? youve got to give us a little more, great thread!
What a ride, How high would you estimate the seas were? Wind speed? Did you have sails up? We got to hear a little more? What year is your hunter, I wonder if the later models have any bigger drains in the cockpit, but as you said it probably would not matter. I have a 1984, so it may be interesting. After you have had time to digest the situation, do you think you could have done anything differently to make it go easier? youve got to give us a little more, great thread!
More Thoughts (You asked)
Ed, I have never actually written any of this down before so I will have to think a bit on it. First, I have a 1984 Hunter which I bought new in Houston in April, 1984. The trip mentioned was in June 1986 across the Gulf of Mexico. As far as I can remember I only added a rented life raft and an Autohelm 3000 auto pilot which I am still using. Wind speed; I have no idea but it was the tail end of a hurricane that went north into the New Orleans area well to the east of where I was. I do not have a wind speed indicator so I do not know the velocity but I do remember the noise in the rigging. Screaming does not describe it. Wave height; Again this is very difficult to estimate. I do remember trying to estimate the waves during a moment when I was not scared stiff. In a trough the top of the next wave and the top of the last wave appeared to be at the height of the spreaders. I tried to eliminate the view perspective in that estimate. I know the wind definately was reduced when I was in the trough. Sails: I went down through the entire inventory and ended up with a double reefed main. I did have the engine running slowly in gear to assist in keeping the bow into the waves. The engine oil light came on periodically when the oil pump lost suction due to the extreme motion. I just ignored it. Anything Differently? The small hurricane devloped rather quickly on the south side of the Gulf of Mexico and went north so notice was very short. Nothing could be done about that. I was too far west in the Gulf in rather shallow water. That is why the waves were so high I think. I would stay off shore over 150 miles if I did it again. I was only about 25 miles off shore at the time which was the scariest part in hind sight. I had young and inexperienced crew. The young made up for the inexperience and they were quick to help when needed. Unfortunately I could not trust them at the wheel for any time. They could not keep the bow into the weather. I assumed we would roll if the bow was ever pushed off the weather. Fortunately it never happened. If I was further offshore I would have put the bow down wind and drifted with warps out off the stern. I could not do this as I was too close to the shore. I eventually found the easiest motion was to have the bow about 10 degrees off the waves. If I went into the waves square the bow would be airborne and the front of the keel would come out of the water before the bow dropped. The crunch was sickening. If I was at a slight angle there was no pounding but of course if you did not pay attention the wind would swing the bow too far and it could broach. It was interesting in hindsight, terrifying in fact. In those days the biggest concern was navigation. Without sun and star sights for a couple of days I was never exactly sure of how far offshore I was. It is much easier today with GPS. Fair winds Don
Ed, I have never actually written any of this down before so I will have to think a bit on it. First, I have a 1984 Hunter which I bought new in Houston in April, 1984. The trip mentioned was in June 1986 across the Gulf of Mexico. As far as I can remember I only added a rented life raft and an Autohelm 3000 auto pilot which I am still using. Wind speed; I have no idea but it was the tail end of a hurricane that went north into the New Orleans area well to the east of where I was. I do not have a wind speed indicator so I do not know the velocity but I do remember the noise in the rigging. Screaming does not describe it. Wave height; Again this is very difficult to estimate. I do remember trying to estimate the waves during a moment when I was not scared stiff. In a trough the top of the next wave and the top of the last wave appeared to be at the height of the spreaders. I tried to eliminate the view perspective in that estimate. I know the wind definately was reduced when I was in the trough. Sails: I went down through the entire inventory and ended up with a double reefed main. I did have the engine running slowly in gear to assist in keeping the bow into the waves. The engine oil light came on periodically when the oil pump lost suction due to the extreme motion. I just ignored it. Anything Differently? The small hurricane devloped rather quickly on the south side of the Gulf of Mexico and went north so notice was very short. Nothing could be done about that. I was too far west in the Gulf in rather shallow water. That is why the waves were so high I think. I would stay off shore over 150 miles if I did it again. I was only about 25 miles off shore at the time which was the scariest part in hind sight. I had young and inexperienced crew. The young made up for the inexperience and they were quick to help when needed. Unfortunately I could not trust them at the wheel for any time. They could not keep the bow into the weather. I assumed we would roll if the bow was ever pushed off the weather. Fortunately it never happened. If I was further offshore I would have put the bow down wind and drifted with warps out off the stern. I could not do this as I was too close to the shore. I eventually found the easiest motion was to have the bow about 10 degrees off the waves. If I went into the waves square the bow would be airborne and the front of the keel would come out of the water before the bow dropped. The crunch was sickening. If I was at a slight angle there was no pounding but of course if you did not pay attention the wind would swing the bow too far and it could broach. It was interesting in hindsight, terrifying in fact. In those days the biggest concern was navigation. Without sun and star sights for a couple of days I was never exactly sure of how far offshore I was. It is much easier today with GPS. Fair winds Don
wow!
Thanks for the scoop, I can identify with the fatiuge issue, really a tough deal. the heading off 10 degrees or so makes sense to me and i will keep that info filed. hope i won't have to use it! thanks again.
Thanks for the scoop, I can identify with the fatiuge issue, really a tough deal. the heading off 10 degrees or so makes sense to me and i will keep that info filed. hope i won't have to use it! thanks again.
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