Since I also get seasick when the storm hits and waves take over (let's add insult to injury) I douse the sails, heave to and drop anchor, even in deep water. The sailboat pivots around the anchor even if it doesn't hold in a quick storm, and I've never had any ill effects. I am not a seasoned sailor and will accept other advice.
How to weather a sudden storm?
- Thread starter Ward H
- Start date
Those were some really well pointed out considerations Rich!
Many thanks mate!
Sudden Storm Reaction
Last summer, I was caught in a micro-burst about 2 nm outside Portsmouth (NH) harbor. Wind went from near zero to over 70 kts in about 2 minutes, seas went from 1-2 feet to 6-8 feet, visibility went from 2+ nm to zero all in the same 2 minutes. Because of another boat w/i 0.5 nm and inability to read radar (too much rain and sea clutter) to identify shore nearby, I elected to run before storm for sea room, also because wind opened a pocket in the furled jib and was flogging the forestay badly. After about 10-12 minutes, I elected to turn into the wind to see whether we could pop out the back of the cell, which we did in about 2 minutes.
I concur with getting sails down when you see weather coming and getting all crew into PFDs and getting into foulies, battening down, etc. The decision about whether to head into or with wind is a function of what other collision hazards are nearby, closeness to shore, and other unforeseeables (e.g., flogging furled jib). We were fortunate that I had dropped sail when I saw the dark wall 30 minutes before, just didn't expect the micro-burst condition.
Last summer, I was caught in a micro-burst about 2 nm outside Portsmouth (NH) harbor. Wind went from near zero to over 70 kts in about 2 minutes, seas went from 1-2 feet to 6-8 feet, visibility went from 2+ nm to zero all in the same 2 minutes. Because of another boat w/i 0.5 nm and inability to read radar (too much rain and sea clutter) to identify shore nearby, I elected to run before storm for sea room, also because wind opened a pocket in the furled jib and was flogging the forestay badly. After about 10-12 minutes, I elected to turn into the wind to see whether we could pop out the back of the cell, which we did in about 2 minutes.
I concur with getting sails down when you see weather coming and getting all crew into PFDs and getting into foulies, battening down, etc. The decision about whether to head into or with wind is a function of what other collision hazards are nearby, closeness to shore, and other unforeseeables (e.g., flogging furled jib). We were fortunate that I had dropped sail when I saw the dark wall 30 minutes before, just didn't expect the micro-burst condition.
Someone asked about heaving to with in mast furling. My only concern is the typically those furling mains are thinner than average, and they are loose footed. The clew may rip out because that is where all the force is concentrated when hove to. Worth some experimenting in 10 to 25 knot winds to see how she handles and where balance will be.
Ben
Ben
Well, first I'd get a lifeline secured about me, second I'd reef the sails, Third, I'd get her bow into the wind, then I'd throw out a sea anchor. Also nothing like some good foulies with flotation. Ah, pour myself a nice Scotch and hang on. One hand for the boat, one hand for me and another for my Scotch.
perfect storm
Reminds me of a major storm we had a long time ago but worth the story. It was June 16, 1973 and we were sailing our new Islander 30 in a 35 mile race on Lake Michigan. The storm came with about 30 minute warning ..get this..we had winds over 100 mph for at least 20 minutes. Got our sails down in time then visability went to zero. Wind was so strong that I could not stand in the cockpit. Tried all of the Coles stuff....warps, etc. Engine is a 28 hp gas inboard....was useless at full power...the wind was in full control. When the wind abated to about 40 mph we raised the main and sailed to a near port for the evening. Was disqualified from the race due to the engine use...was happy to be alive. Local salts back at the Milwaukee Yacht Club said they had never seen anything like it. Flying Scotts were being towed back to the club and the wind picked up the lead towed boat with crew aboard and flipped it over....a 19 ft glass boat! Since then I have been in many storms but nothing like this. Still sailing our Islander 30 now at 41 years old!
Reminds me of a major storm we had a long time ago but worth the story. It was June 16, 1973 and we were sailing our new Islander 30 in a 35 mile race on Lake Michigan. The storm came with about 30 minute warning ..get this..we had winds over 100 mph for at least 20 minutes. Got our sails down in time then visability went to zero. Wind was so strong that I could not stand in the cockpit. Tried all of the Coles stuff....warps, etc. Engine is a 28 hp gas inboard....was useless at full power...the wind was in full control. When the wind abated to about 40 mph we raised the main and sailed to a near port for the evening. Was disqualified from the race due to the engine use...was happy to be alive. Local salts back at the Milwaukee Yacht Club said they had never seen anything like it. Flying Scotts were being towed back to the club and the wind picked up the lead towed boat with crew aboard and flipped it over....a 19 ft glass boat! Since then I have been in many storms but nothing like this. Still sailing our Islander 30 now at 41 years old!
If your anchored a good tip is those 18 inch long pieces of rubber that you can buy for ten bucks at the marine store that act like a shock absorber. What a difference , it stops the boat from jerking up and down and side to side. Really very amassing. You just attach it to the anchor line and wrap the line around several times.
Exactly, ALWAYS make sure the engine will start and is running before you lower the sails. That should always be the rule. I have a 2007 Merc 9.9 long shaft on a Catalina 25, and it is very undependable. I learned this lesson the hard way.
As far as storm tactics, I'm a lakie and blows can come up quickly but almost always, if you have situational awareness, you won't be caught off guard. As has been said, watch weather radar and forecasts. One advantage we have being inland is that I have broadband coverage, even in the middle of the lake. I remember one example where there was a huge thunderhead well east of the lake. It was bright sunshine but I was concerned about the outflow. Nothing on Doppler in our immediate vicinity but I headed in anyways. Just minutes after I put my boat up we walked up to the parking lot and the lake got smoked with 60 to 70 plus knot winds. Several power boats were sunk and there were a few sailboats that had a high pucker afternoon.
Brings me to the second point, if you are caught with your sails up and you have room, run down. Take the pressure off, get a chance to start the engine, get the head sail down,main, strap in etc.
Stay away from land or anything else hard, as has been said, if you can beat it in, beat it. I'm always within several miles of my marina or another on the lake so we got it kind of easy, but always be aware, the clues are there.
NotCook
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- Dec 29, 2008
- 805
Exactly the way I heard it. If the thought occurs to you, "Should I reef", that is the time to reef. Otherwise, you'll be thinking later, "I wish I had reefed back when I first thought about it!".
Personally, I don't want to be anywhere near anything hard when it really starts blowing.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that when it starts getting choppy, your fuel is going to get churned up. In addition to all the potential gunk in the bottom of your tank all getting suspended in the fuel, you can end up with all the fuel at the other end of the tank from your pickup. Both of these are bad deals when you are running a diesel. Another good reason to keep your fuel clean.
Lot's of good advice here. I like this one best:
Great advice!
I'll drink to that!
There are lots of good comments and one that is really good is that every situation is unique. I was in Port Madison Bay on Puget Sound sailing in late winter and REALLY sudden storm occurred where the south wind went from 8 knots to 40 almost instantly. People roll their eyes at this statement but I have the West Point wind trace to prove it. Then it hailed on us for a half hour. We had just been practicing a heave to and were turning out of it when this wind spun us around 180 degrees with us just hanging on. Thankfully all the ballast on modern cruisers kept the 30 foot Catalina from overturning. After gathering our wits, the conditions were so bad I did not trust my passengers to go forward and reef and I did not trust them at the wheel enough to go forward myself. So I turned the mainsail away from the wind as far as possible (fisherman's reef) and furled the jibe about half way and sailed across the Sound to Shilshole. In a protected area of the marina I was able to drop the mainsail and secure it. In some later situations I have also had success on a different boat sailing in bad conditions with about 20 percent of the furling mainsail deployed. It can move you along at about 4 knots that way and the boat is more stable than while motoring.
We were offshore a few years ago in our trusty Morgan 28OI, just 5 miles outside the Barnegat inlet in NJ, when we observed a front coming in from the west. It was amazing to see how fast all of the fishing boats raced into the inlet! Unfortunately for us, we can only make 6 knots at best, so we shipped all sails, battened down the hatches, donned foulies and PFD, and kept our heading at roughly 260 deg. - directly into the wind (it was a derecho). Depth was approx. 50 ft.
Our trusty Universal M20 kept us safely into the wind which topped out at approx 50 kn. with waves 6-8 ft. I never thought to put on the diving mask! We observed a 30 ft. fishing boat off our port side who also slowed down & kept us company until the winds abated after 20 min or so.
I have to admit, it was a wild ride for awhile, but we made it thru just fine and by the time we reached the outer marker, everything had died down, the sun came back out, we raised the sails again, and made for our slip in Ocean Gate.
Our trusty Universal M20 kept us safely into the wind which topped out at approx 50 kn. with waves 6-8 ft. I never thought to put on the diving mask! We observed a 30 ft. fishing boat off our port side who also slowed down & kept us company until the winds abated after 20 min or so.
I have to admit, it was a wild ride for awhile, but we made it thru just fine and by the time we reached the outer marker, everything had died down, the sun came back out, we raised the sails again, and made for our slip in Ocean Gate.
Storms can get nasty on relatively wide and shallow lakes like St-Louis with tall, short waves. Traffic on the lake - including ships on St-Lawrence Seaway - makes for dangerous conditions. The lake has a bit current and shallows, too. Whenever we go out despite a probability of T-storms, we keep life jackets handy, the deck clean, anchor with a good length of rode ready to drop, hatches closed. When the Tstorm approaches I drop the jib and furl down my main, leaving some fabric. The boat is difficult to handle with outboard alone, at 24' it rolls in and out of sharp waves, the prop cavitates often. And when hit, we keep our hands away from the motor controls, railings etc. Once a 30% probability of a T-storm has become t-storms for 30% of my day. Surprisingly, other boats somehow dodged it and came in dry, happy and smiling:...
Those are called snubbers and are designed as shock absorbers for short dock or mooring lines. If you drop anchor you should be laying down enough scope so that the elasticity of the nylon rode would be more than adequate shock absorption. In fact, the overt action of the snubber could cause the jerking action on the ground tackle to magnify... which may cause your anchor to break loose.
Since small boats rarely have a lot of chain in their anchor line... you would be better off suggesting one to use a kellet........ extra weight on the rode.... the purpose being to lower the angle of the rode which lowers the possibility of the anchor breaking loose.
Caught by storm
In my past boat a Morgan OI36 in the 80's, we were sailing in Sabine Lake, Texas. We had a system to the North that looked bad and I tuned to NOAA to confirm this storm wasn't coming toward us. We had two families on board with small children and our wives were getting a little nervous, but NOAA still said they were moving away from us.
After thunder and darkening sky proved otherwise, we started back to the marina. I knew we weren't going to make it so we dropped and furled sails and began to motor away from a lee shore and towards the marina. I knew we were in for a blow as we witnessed dust and shale from the roads being blown straight up. We were about 2 miles from the marina when we were hit with 60+ mph winds. Visability zero and lightening really close. Everyone except my partner and I were below and the rain stung on parts of the body not covered by foul weather gear. It was blowing so hard we couldn't make headway and could not steer directly into the wind. We had no radar and couldn't determing how close to shore we were as we only had an old loran unit below. Lucikly during a wind shift we were able to steer through the wind on another tack and the winds lightened enough so we could hold our position. In about 15 minutes the worst was over, but the vhf was really alive with reports of groundings, draggings and one demasting by a smaller boat.
To this day my wife looks at surrounding thunder storms and make me remember "that one storm". One piece of gear I carry to this day is a pair of swim goggles in case I ever get caught again.
In my past boat a Morgan OI36 in the 80's, we were sailing in Sabine Lake, Texas. We had a system to the North that looked bad and I tuned to NOAA to confirm this storm wasn't coming toward us. We had two families on board with small children and our wives were getting a little nervous, but NOAA still said they were moving away from us.
After thunder and darkening sky proved otherwise, we started back to the marina. I knew we weren't going to make it so we dropped and furled sails and began to motor away from a lee shore and towards the marina. I knew we were in for a blow as we witnessed dust and shale from the roads being blown straight up. We were about 2 miles from the marina when we were hit with 60+ mph winds. Visability zero and lightening really close. Everyone except my partner and I were below and the rain stung on parts of the body not covered by foul weather gear. It was blowing so hard we couldn't make headway and could not steer directly into the wind. We had no radar and couldn't determing how close to shore we were as we only had an old loran unit below. Lucikly during a wind shift we were able to steer through the wind on another tack and the winds lightened enough so we could hold our position. In about 15 minutes the worst was over, but the vhf was really alive with reports of groundings, draggings and one demasting by a smaller boat.
To this day my wife looks at surrounding thunder storms and make me remember "that one storm". One piece of gear I carry to this day is a pair of swim goggles in case I ever get caught again.
Gepps,
Nobody gets sick on my boat.
Ya know why, some people cannot take motion sickness pills. It makes them down or druggy.
I do a lot of spearfishing, so I need to have my sinuses clear. In all the motion sickness meds, the main ingredient is merely antihistamine. That's all.
When folks I do not know come on my boat, the first question I ask is, "Do you ever get seasick"? If I don't get a definitive NO, I give them a pill.
I keep a box of Alka-Seltzer Sinus on my boat & in my dive bag. It's non-drowsy. There are other non-drowsy pills that work the same. Just make sure they are non-drowsy. I believe it comes in pill & fizz tablet. Just take one.
A fellow sail-boater friend of mine used to get sick all the time. I talked him into this method to try for a month (1 trip per week on average) and he cured himself of seasickness.
To me, if a person gets seasick, because of this they expect to get sick again, and that's why they do. It's a mind-meld thing man, but totally reversible.
What causes seasickness is conflict between what your eyes are seeing and your Olfactory system senses. Sort of like tilting a pinball machine. However thru trial & error, this works pal.
CR
Nobody gets sick on my boat.
Ya know why, some people cannot take motion sickness pills. It makes them down or druggy.
I do a lot of spearfishing, so I need to have my sinuses clear. In all the motion sickness meds, the main ingredient is merely antihistamine. That's all.
When folks I do not know come on my boat, the first question I ask is, "Do you ever get seasick"? If I don't get a definitive NO, I give them a pill.
I keep a box of Alka-Seltzer Sinus on my boat & in my dive bag. It's non-drowsy. There are other non-drowsy pills that work the same. Just make sure they are non-drowsy. I believe it comes in pill & fizz tablet. Just take one.
A fellow sail-boater friend of mine used to get sick all the time. I talked him into this method to try for a month (1 trip per week on average) and he cured himself of seasickness.
To me, if a person gets seasick, because of this they expect to get sick again, and that's why they do. It's a mind-meld thing man, but totally reversible.
What causes seasickness is conflict between what your eyes are seeing and your Olfactory system senses. Sort of like tilting a pinball machine. However thru trial & error, this works pal.
CR
One thing I was taught is, especially when the local forecast indicates the possibilities of thunderstorms => gusty surface winds, put a reef in before you leave the slip. Sometimes it's easier to pop out a reef if the wind's not as heavy as you thought than put one in under stress.
Rich
Rich