Heaving too - and parachutes - the Pardy's

[Franklin]

deploying chute

Note...just thinking out loud here.I would think you would want to come to a stop before deploying or at least as slow as possible...maybe star the engine and head into the wind at .5 knots (just enough to keep steerage). Tie off the rode end to a bow or anchor cleat. Tie another line 30' up and run that back to a stern cleat (on outside of rigging and lifelines). Throw out the chute away from the hull so it doesn't get caught on anything underneith as the boat gets blown past the chute (figuring if the wind is blowing, when you throw the chute, it's going to go ahead of you). As the chute catches and the boat is pulling on the chute rode, let it slip out slowly with tension so it doesn't feel like your hitting a brick wall when you run out of rode. Once all line is out, go back to the stern cleat and set the angle you want and then go below and puke Now retrieval I hear is a real pain, but at least you can wait for good weather for that.Thoughts? Larry: How did this relate to your experience?

 

[Larry Long]

Franklin

That all sounds real good. However...If the situation called for deploying the chute I would be tethered to the jackline and CRAWLING on the deck just to go foreward. That makes all of the finessing with the rodes pretty difficult. You would have to have the rodes around winches in order to have any kind of control. When the chute was first deployed and near the boat it would be pretty exciting when the boat tried to rise with the wave action and the many, many tons of water in the chute tried to hold the boat down. I don't think even King Cong is strong enough to hold onto that rope.All I can say is: try it. I am guessing that the you will find the reality is a lot different from the theories. Oh, by the way, if I can start my engine and have sufficient control to point my boat into the wind and maintain half a knot of headway I don't believe the situation is bad enough to even consider the sea anchor.

 

[Franklin]

True

"I don't believe the situation is bad enough to even consider the sea anchor. "Very true...glad you said that. Forgot about the wind pushing the boat.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Thanks for the picture Larry.

Even the garage floor is first class!P.S. Watch out for that Fiero. Did you know that you can reverse the fuel injection wiring harness (the one that fires the injectors) and it will run? Just not very good and theres no way to tell what the problem is. That's from a friend and fellow bench racer.

 

[Herb Parsons]

Facts

Never said that global warming wasn't a fact, just said that there was no proven correlation between global warming and "pre-season tropical storms".The fact is that the frequency of tropical storms have been noted in the past, and again, not necessarily related to golbal warming.No chip here, just tired of reading gobbledy goop.Sort of like saying "I was sailing along, and because I knew I would have to pass through the Bermuda Triangle which causes unexplainable disappearances"

 

[Rick D]

Update for Fred....

Fred: when he got underway again, he sailed to the closest port, La Coruna, Spain. Fortunately, they have a large commercial fleet there. He hung out for three months and had a new rudder made up, which took longer and cost more than estimated (some things don't chage by geography). Anyhow, he then headed up to the UK and spent a few months in Scotland. I heard from him a month ago (he lost his credit card). He was in the Canary Islands. His next stop is the Cape Verdes, then over to Columbia, then Panama, then over to Hawaii, possibly the S.P. or just back to California.Boat-wise, he is disappointed in his laminate cruising sails and says he should have stuck with Dacron. The watermaker and genset have been fine, as had the B&G hydraulic autopilot. I guess the Raymarine radar and chart plotters are fine too. The water-cooled refrigeration has been a pain. He found it almost impossible to get golf-cart batteries. The swinging radar mount fell apart. Etc.Rick D.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Thanks Rick

If he can wait, GC batteries are readily available in Trinidad at USA prices. (not bad) That's where I bought mine.Does your friend like visitors?

 

[Franklin]

Herb Parsons

Why do you think the hurricane season is from June to Nov? Because the water is warm then. With global average temperature rising, that expands the days in which the water is warm. Put two and two together. If you think 2 + 2 = goop or a political message, then I'm very sorry.

 

[Herb Parsons]

Goop

Franklin,Maybe then, you could explain the extras storms in previous decades.And, while you're dreaming up explainations, go back and find some REAL information on how many degrees we've warmed up, and how much it takes to affect the gulf stream.Your story would have been the same without the supposed link to global warming. That's what made it gobbledy-gook.And, my point was that I personally stop reading at that point. Much like I stopped watching films of the Katrina victims testifying to congress about how they were treated like "concentration camp" victims.When someone starts talking what I perceive as nonsense, then the rest of what they have to say is suspect.

 

[r.w.landau]

The book is cheap,

rsn48,This is serious stuff if you plan on being in that situation. My suggestion is to buy the book. I thought this to be a good read. I also thought that the proceedure was well defined.It recommended using this method early and not waiting for conditions to get worst. Like most of sailing... I have decided when I will reef and how much so that disaster does not compound on disaster. Pardy had the same theoryr.w.landau

 

[Franklin]

To answer the orignal question

The reason a chute is used on the bow instead of a drogue is because they are two totally different animals. A drogue is used to slow the boat down a little to keep the boat at a managable speed when running with bare poles and still going to fast. The chute is used as an anchor in deep sea since most of us don't have a 3,000' rode. The chute brings the boat almost to a complete stop (.5 to 1 knots depending on the wind speed and current). You use the chute just like you would an anchor...set it and go below. The drogue is just a device to help you keep the boat managable while your still at the helm. It prevents broaching.Neither are used when heaving to.

 

[patrick]

I am with you Herb

Global warming is a theory as are the preposterous opinions about what supposedly causes it. It is not science. It is a political science term with all of those connotations.This morning on TV, there was much ado about next years hurricane predictions. That was followed by the FACT that last year they predicted 11 and got 26. Believing in a theory with 130 percent error really is narrow minded. Critical focus on the facts is not.Focusing on your situation, Franklin, how did you come to need to deploy a chute when you had the anchor rode wrapped on your keel?

 

[BobW]

Small drogues do as you say, Franklin...

but a properly sized Jordan Series Drogue will let you drift stern-to the seas at about 1 to 1.5 knots.Which to use is a hugely complex decision, with much of the data (the details of the storm, like direction, speed over ground, etc) unknown when the decision must be made.I expect to carry both a Galerider and a JSD when I go off-shore.Highly recommend: Surviving the Storm by Linda & Steve Dashew.Whether or not there is something like global warming, I wonder if anyone would like to claim that 'we' are not doing serious damage to our environment through pollution......What the heck, we'll all be dead by the time the bill is due.... it's our childrens' problem, after all.Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[Franklin]

No Chute

I didn't deploy a chute. I was anchored (regular anchor...sorry for the confusion) out overnight when a storm rolled in with 50+ knots. Because I got off to a late start, I ended up anchoring in an area that protected me from the waves, but had a decent current. The current changed directions in the middle of the night and my rode got wrapped around the keel (wing keel I might add). I noticed this when the storm woke me up and the boat was taking the waves (storm changed the direction of the waves) on the side of the hull. By the time the heavy winds got there, I was down below puking and hoping it didn't capsize. It was a scary night. The storm passed after two hours and I fell back asleep. When I woke up, the rode was undone.My point was that I was heel over at least 45 degrees, I think more like 60 though. I was almost standing cushion backrests. This was without any sails up and only 50-55 knots of wind. I can't imagine somebody trying to heave-to with 70 knots of wind.

 

[Franklin]

Drogue

if your drogue in keeping you at a knot, then you got too big of a drogue. The whole concept is just to create drag on the stern so it doesn't swing around and allow the boat to broach....that's it. It's not a sea anchor. You don't want the waves slamming against your stern as this thing pulls down on your stern. When using a drogue, you want the boat to run with the waves just like it normally does. The problem is, with the wind near or above 70 knots, even with bare poles your going to be running too fast and you will broach. Remember...when the wind is that fast, the waves are like 30'+ Do you really want something holding you to 1 knot when you got 30' waves following you?Like I said earlier...a drogue and a sea anchor have two totally different functions. Don't confuse the two. One is to stop with bow to wind. The other is just to pull on the stern so you can still run without broaching.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Franklin,

this is reply #35. What you just said sounded familiar. I went back and low and behold, I said the same thing in reply # ONE! But keep beating it into their heads, I'm still with you.

 

[JohnS12875]

Patrick

It's true, global warming is just a theory. So is evolution. So is relativity. And yet we have nuclear power plants (and GPS). Aerodynamics is just a theory. And yet we use it sail our boats. Gravity is just a theory. And yet....Here's a link that gives a fairly balanced perspective. (Read all the way through.)

 

[BobW]

The JSD drift rate came from Don Jordon

being interviewed by Hal Roth in the latest edition of Cruising World, page 84:"When the weather gets to the point at which progress is impossible, the crew can deploy the drogue and retire to the protection of the cabin. The boat rides easily with only modest yaw and with a drift rate of 1.5 knots per hour or so."On page 70, I quote Beth Lonard:"...; medium-pull drogues are designed to slow the boat to a knot or two and hold the stern steadily into the wind and waves."The JSD is different from other drogues like the Galerider. It provides a more constant tension because it interacts with all of the parts of the wave and is not subject to the bungee motion of a single object as the force of the wave rises and falls.I have read numerous negative stories about boats lying to sea anchors in serious storms, but I'm still looking for one detailing a problem with using a JSD.Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[Franklin]

That's crazy

If your going to take the waves on, take them on the bow. That's what bows are designed for. It the strongest part of the boat. Taking waves on the stern on purpose is rediculous.

 

[Liam]

Franklin

The idea of taking the waves on the stern is actually a very accepted practice.If your boat is moving at 1.5-2 knots in heavy sea conditions you really don't want to be going in reverse as this would put huge loads on the rudder and could very easily cause something to break. I agree that the bow is the strongest part of the boat, however... sailboats are definately designed to move in forward and not in reverse. If you can manage to get your boat to stop completely that would be different. But that is very hard to do, if not impossible.