Disaster Strikes; Mayhem ensues

[Hayden Watson]

I second Mr. Hoisington's suggestion of heaving to.

Actually you WERE hove to when the sail slugs let go. You had a back winded jib. I would have cleated the jib at that point and lashed the helm down. Then you can drop the main in the partial lee of the back winded jib and maintained directional control throughout. BTW. in this case lazy jacks would have been more of a problem than help. the top of the main would have gone over the side of them and they would prevent getting the sail all the way down. I have EZ-jax on my boat which allows me to lower them to the deck so if this happened to me I would still have a way to lower the main.
BTW, what was the wind speed. It didn't seem very windy to me.

 

[justsomeguy]

BYW.

What does this mean, Mr. Watson?

 

[Hayden Watson]

What does this mean, Mr. Watson?

typo. BTW edited. I am an engineer which means by definition, I cannot spell or type.

 

[uncledom]

My first reaction is to put the wind behind me and run. I find it much easier to pull in the jib and you can center the main allowing it to contribute very little to forward motion. Also this flattens out the boat and allows you a little time to get your thoughts together while pulling in some sail. You can do it all from the cockpit until you need to pull down the main.

 

[Cowpokee]

BTW, what was the wind speed. It didn't seem very windy to me.

The wind was ~ 10 knots from the north with gusts to 20

 

[dlochner]

Yes, that has been an ongoing issue with the sheets. I was told to not unwind the sheets from the winch but instead remove the handle and just pull straight up. I still haven't got that worked out.

Sometimes sheets get really fouled. The easiest way to get them straightened out is to toss the sheet overboard while sailing. The sheet will stream aft and sort itself out. In freshwater this is not a big issue, in saltwater the sheet does get salt in the line. Of course keep one end of the sheet attached to the boat.

Some lines are more prone to hockles than others. Sta-Set is one of those.

 

[Alansails]

The Good thing is you did not panic! As others have said the nylon sail ties are the way to go and get the sail down, without getting knocked overboard with the boom and ending up in COLD Water without a life jacket on would end up not good for you!
You have learned from this as others have and you will be a better sailor because of it!
Now Call your sailmaker!

 

[justsomeguy]

Now Call your sailmaker!

He doesn't need a sailmaker. He needs new slugs.

 

[SFS]

I needed two sail slugs last week for a Sailkote application tool, and my first call was to my sailmaker (but he is a 10-minute drive).

 

[Will Gilmore]

I agree with the PFD, but since you are practicing for blue water, where is the harness? In open ocean, you have to drift, but in that bay, I would have deployed the anchor to keep her head in the wind. In giant swells and high winds, a sea anchor will keep you head to the wind and help stabilize the deck. Add preventers to keep the boom from swinging under circumstances like that. On the ocean, you WILL be rocked to death when things fail.
I also think it was not a mistake to pull the sail in as you drop it. Wet sails in rough seas are much harder to handle. You have it right, practice under controlled conditions, just don't forget to extend your experience and actions to the ocean environment when analyzing your day.
Auto-pilot, wind-vanes, a tiller tamer may not have been a good idea. What if you stood up to get to the halyard and the boom knocked you in the water, your boat sails off. Throw out a safety line with a large float, maybe an inflatable even, that the wind can catch. It will help keep the head up until you get a sea anchor out, as well as give you a better chance of climbing back aboard. You are planning to be alone out there. Do everything you can think of to stay on board, get back on board, and stay alive.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

Yes, that has been an ongoing issue with the sheets. I was told to not unwind the sheets from the winch but instead remove the handle and just pull straight up. I still haven't got that worked out.

That is exactly why you got hackled. Don't pull a coiled braided line up from its coil, unroll it. you are just twisting it othersize. That is why you should coil braided line in a figure-eight. for each turn that gives the line a twist, you reverse the turn to untwist it. On a winch, you should pull it out the way it was rolled up. However, a winch only puts three or four twists in the line and if you shake them out each time, it will probably not be a problem.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[jssailem]

@Cowpokee good for you. Practice is a skill building key. As stated be many safety is one way to give you a chance at making it back to port.
Going in the water kills solo sailors. First rule stay on the boat. To do that you need to be tied on. Blue water sailors use jack lines tied securely to the boat. I prefer the single line down the middle. The line is secured in the cockpit and run to the mast and secured. That takes you from the cockpit to the mast. Then a second line is attached to the mast and run to the bow. These lines need to be tight so that if you fall they will not let you fall off the boat. Then you need a tether to attach to the jack line. The tether let you move along the jack line. It needs to be long enough to let you stand and move along the boat but short enough to not let you fall over the side of the boat. When properly fitted you should be able to stand and lean back against the tether and jack line hands free. The tether is attached to you. For that you need to be wearing a harness. There are several options here. Many opt for a harness PFD combination. Some just a sailing harness while others choose one of the many rock climbers options. Your choice.

Safety setup aside, sail handling you accomplished the job. You got the sails secured and made it back to port.

Ideas. I like rolling in the jib first. Reduced sail and flogging lines making the work at the mast a little bit easier and less dangerous while working forward.

Many like the lines running back to the cockpit. I favor having the halyards at the mast. I move up the boat and can see what is happening to the boat. This means having your control lines all in one place. My boat is rigged so that the main control lines are all on one side. Reefing, Halyard, Vang, Cunningham, and preventer all to port while foresails are to starboard. This makes the task of Sail handling easier. Nothing to hockel, bind, jam or get caught on something in the cockpit.

Your effort to Man handle the main went well. Focused task get the main secured. I like to use 3 web sail ties. They are quick to use. I can bind the sail in place around the boom. Till I get back to the dock where I can take care of all the folds and proper storage.

I would suggest you try all of this on a calm day at the dock. Replay the conditions. Raise and lower the sails and walk through all of the steps you experienced. The ways of smoothing out the process will present themselves to you as you go through the drill complete with safety gear. You could even get a couple of sailors to comment on your progress if you have a cooler loaded with Lone Star long necks.

Keep going Cowpokee your on your way towards the Big Blue Waters.

 

[wing15601]

1. “Halyards brought back to the cockpit”. Have a long enough halyard that you can release the clutch and take the line to the mast with you if necessary.
2. Lazy jacks. At 74 I no longer enjoy leaving the cockpit when it’s rough.
3. In cold water tow an inflatable an at least wear a life jacket so they can recover your body.
4. You handled the surprise well and survived. Good job. We all learned from this.