I am a ex navy rihb boat driver, i have driven boat since i was about 7 year old, the best practice is not to be on the water if storm are predicted. However, if you sail at some point in time you will be out there in a storm. There are many thing that have to be done depending on your location.
1 if your can beat the storm and get to port safely, do it. If you cant get there before the storm you might get blown in a ruff spot.
2 if you have enough sea room, head for deep water and ample room, there is less chance of a wreck out where noting else then water is around the boat, batten down the hatches and tie yourself in, wear some sort of floating device.
I can offer three example of time where i have been cough in a storm.
Situation 1 : after a long hot summer day of little wind slow speed aboard a san juan 23, we noticed an unpredicted storm cloud building behind us. We scrambled to double reef the main and got the storm jib up. At the same time we got every one inside in pfd except me. When the storm hit us we got railed hard, the hatches got sealed and since i had plenty of sea room i took the storm by the side under sail. The boat who had an average speed of six knot did 9.5 knot, it was a pretty cool feeling. The wind that day came up to 34 knot and the storm lasted about 15 min. Every one got off safely and we where a few mile off course. The boat was in great shape.
Sittuation 2 : we where anchored fishing mackerel. It started raining, since everything look ok and we where relatively close to the marina(1 mile) we carried on. The wind started to blow so we got the anchor up and started the engine toward the marina. Got cough in a gail with hail! The radar became useless as the echo from the ice pellet turned the screen black, the gps and the depth meter where the only instrument trustable as we where in a tight channel. The wind came to 36 knots, we did not have sea room and harbour wasn't far, so keeping an eye on instrument and having the engine pushing at half power we made it in, we docked at the emergency dock since getting in my berth would have been risky. This was on a tanzer 28, we proceeded with extreme caution and had a life raft on board.
Sittuation 3 : a person in kayak went missing, after monitoring the vhf we realized the coast guard who was directing the search from about 500 miles away was looking in the wrong place. No one from our marina was going out to look as the wind was howling at 40 knot. Me and a buddy who is also ex military took my tanzer and went out to search in the area under motor, we where both tied in, we saw the missing person for a brief instant and notified the coast guard, the chopper came in to search the area. The sea state was ugly and the waves where about 15 feet, we where not able to see him again and sadly he was found dead the next day in the area. While the tanzer 28is not a boat that bang in the waves, being in that kind of sea was hard on the boat, 2 week later, the shaft spun in the split coupling, and at fall i discovered some cracks in my steering quadrant. Sails where and absolute nono, i would not recommend to anyone without sea rescue experience to do what we did, however this missing person was some one son and somebody's loves, i would do it again at any time.
Now these are example, if it feel dangerous don't do it, the best way is to keep a cool head look at your option, don't take any instrument for granted as they may prove useless, if you have sea room and experience reduce sail and go on or heave to. If you don't have sea room, use your motor and stay in deep water, head for safety cautiously, and remember you can hit bottom. Your boat can take much more of a beating then you can. If you don't have to be out, don't go out. The people who go looking for missing person are something putting their life on the line.
1 if your can beat the storm and get to port safely, do it. If you cant get there before the storm you might get blown in a ruff spot.
2 if you have enough sea room, head for deep water and ample room, there is less chance of a wreck out where noting else then water is around the boat, batten down the hatches and tie yourself in, wear some sort of floating device.
I can offer three example of time where i have been cough in a storm.
Situation 1 : after a long hot summer day of little wind slow speed aboard a san juan 23, we noticed an unpredicted storm cloud building behind us. We scrambled to double reef the main and got the storm jib up. At the same time we got every one inside in pfd except me. When the storm hit us we got railed hard, the hatches got sealed and since i had plenty of sea room i took the storm by the side under sail. The boat who had an average speed of six knot did 9.5 knot, it was a pretty cool feeling. The wind that day came up to 34 knot and the storm lasted about 15 min. Every one got off safely and we where a few mile off course. The boat was in great shape.
Sittuation 2 : we where anchored fishing mackerel. It started raining, since everything look ok and we where relatively close to the marina(1 mile) we carried on. The wind started to blow so we got the anchor up and started the engine toward the marina. Got cough in a gail with hail! The radar became useless as the echo from the ice pellet turned the screen black, the gps and the depth meter where the only instrument trustable as we where in a tight channel. The wind came to 36 knots, we did not have sea room and harbour wasn't far, so keeping an eye on instrument and having the engine pushing at half power we made it in, we docked at the emergency dock since getting in my berth would have been risky. This was on a tanzer 28, we proceeded with extreme caution and had a life raft on board.
Sittuation 3 : a person in kayak went missing, after monitoring the vhf we realized the coast guard who was directing the search from about 500 miles away was looking in the wrong place. No one from our marina was going out to look as the wind was howling at 40 knot. Me and a buddy who is also ex military took my tanzer and went out to search in the area under motor, we where both tied in, we saw the missing person for a brief instant and notified the coast guard, the chopper came in to search the area. The sea state was ugly and the waves where about 15 feet, we where not able to see him again and sadly he was found dead the next day in the area. While the tanzer 28is not a boat that bang in the waves, being in that kind of sea was hard on the boat, 2 week later, the shaft spun in the split coupling, and at fall i discovered some cracks in my steering quadrant. Sails where and absolute nono, i would not recommend to anyone without sea rescue experience to do what we did, however this missing person was some one son and somebody's loves, i would do it again at any time.
Now these are example, if it feel dangerous don't do it, the best way is to keep a cool head look at your option, don't take any instrument for granted as they may prove useless, if you have sea room and experience reduce sail and go on or heave to. If you don't have sea room, use your motor and stay in deep water, head for safety cautiously, and remember you can hit bottom. Your boat can take much more of a beating then you can. If you don't have to be out, don't go out. The people who go looking for missing person are something putting their life on the line.
