This past Saturday my wife, our two boys and I had our first experience with a pretty rough following sea. We were coming back into the Housatonic around 5pm. Wind was blowing 15kts or so out of the S, tide had just started coming back in and according to some folks on our dock who came in around the same time, some of the swells were easily 6FT. I couldn't tell you...I was too busy white-knuckled trying miss the breakwater and praying my keel would eventually right us. I guess in our 4 years on the Sound we've been fortunate enough not to have dealt with waves this size off our stern. Generally when weather picks up it's out of the north so we're beating into them or from the west and the point eases the entrance. As most lawnmowers have more horsepower than our trusty 18HP Yanmar, we were tossed around like a cork. My 3 year-old puked all over the salon and it'll take most of the winter to fix the indentations on the fiberglass rail left by my wife's fingers. I have no issue stating for the record I was terrified. Any recommendations from the group on how best to deal with such a scenario in the future. Outside of the...hey dummy ride it out nose-into in open water until it calms down. Many thanks.
- Status
Staysail
I suppose a staysail or small jib would help provide speed as well as stablity, but who bothers to carry one? The alternative would be a severely reefed jib. Congrats on keeping your wits and bringing everyone home safely. My experience has been to avoid looking at the swells and concentrate on the feel of them at the stern to right the ship. Nothing like six feet, though. Wow. Tell your wife she's a good sport and not to waver or take up bowling just yet.
I suppose a staysail or small jib would help provide speed as well as stablity, but who bothers to carry one? The alternative would be a severely reefed jib. Congrats on keeping your wits and bringing everyone home safely. My experience has been to avoid looking at the swells and concentrate on the feel of them at the stern to right the ship. Nothing like six feet, though. Wow. Tell your wife she's a good sport and not to waver or take up bowling just yet.
Pete
Hi Pete, Our prior boat was a 33.5 and we really liked it a lot. Two quick questions: Not being familiar with the geography up there, were wind and tide both on your stern? Also did you have any sails up? Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust h37.5
Hi Pete, Our prior boat was a 33.5 and we really liked it a lot. Two quick questions: Not being familiar with the geography up there, were wind and tide both on your stern? Also did you have any sails up? Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust h37.5
A following sea
Great story Pete and ya did good. We have been caught like that also and having little experience at the time, we did the best we could too. After it was such a rush to know your vessel is way more prepared for it than you are even with, in my case, a pretty green skipper, and a first mate who is either the bravest woman I have ever met or a candidate for the er.. rubber room. After succesfully getting in the slip, we poured a rather large cocktail and talked about what we did wrong. We didnt check the forecast before shoving off for home. Hey its always beautiful in the pacific. NOT! None of the bigger swells broke into the cockpit thank goodness because we left the frickin companionway open, oh along with the front hatch! IDIOT! We had our harnesses on but were not tethered in. We did furl the jib, I didnt want anything holding the bow down, while surfing down the front of the wave, but we left the main up with NO reef. I wanted the stability of a sail and after all, im a fighter pilot. Har Har Of course we didnt have the preventer rigged. Our seas were only about 6-10 feet and I took them dead astern instead of perhaps quartering when we, unlike you, had plenty of searoom. When the gust rounded us up, I didnt start the motor, so we were lucky we didnt get her sideways while putting in the reef. But our trusty little Hunter let us play about 6 mulligans that day under what was average seamanship at best. Funny thing is the wife just thought it was a blast. Women... hmmfff. Man do I love sailing Cheers
Great story Pete and ya did good. We have been caught like that also and having little experience at the time, we did the best we could too. After it was such a rush to know your vessel is way more prepared for it than you are even with, in my case, a pretty green skipper, and a first mate who is either the bravest woman I have ever met or a candidate for the er.. rubber room. After succesfully getting in the slip, we poured a rather large cocktail and talked about what we did wrong. We didnt check the forecast before shoving off for home. Hey its always beautiful in the pacific. NOT! None of the bigger swells broke into the cockpit thank goodness because we left the frickin companionway open, oh along with the front hatch! IDIOT! We had our harnesses on but were not tethered in. We did furl the jib, I didnt want anything holding the bow down, while surfing down the front of the wave, but we left the main up with NO reef. I wanted the stability of a sail and after all, im a fighter pilot. Har Har Of course we didnt have the preventer rigged. Our seas were only about 6-10 feet and I took them dead astern instead of perhaps quartering when we, unlike you, had plenty of searoom. When the gust rounded us up, I didnt start the motor, so we were lucky we didnt get her sideways while putting in the reef. But our trusty little Hunter let us play about 6 mulligans that day under what was average seamanship at best. Funny thing is the wife just thought it was a blast. Women... hmmfff. Man do I love sailing Cheers
I am not embarrassed to tell you that I would have
never left the dock into that weather. It was the very similar on Cape Cod on Sat. I am a firm believer that if you freak the wife out under those conditions, you may spend the rest of your life sailing solo. Just my thoughts...I don't think it is worth the chance in recking the boat or someone getting hurt. If the boat was in an away from home port, I would pay extra to leave it there until things calm.
never left the dock into that weather. It was the very similar on Cape Cod on Sat. I am a firm believer that if you freak the wife out under those conditions, you may spend the rest of your life sailing solo. Just my thoughts...I don't think it is worth the chance in recking the boat or someone getting hurt. If the boat was in an away from home port, I would pay extra to leave it there until things calm.
I raced on the Sound....
...yesterday. We did the annual Stamford Danish Friendship Cup. It was very light till about 3:00 when the breeze started to fill in from the S and built from 3 to 12 kts. The final leg was a broad reach from Long Island to Stamford. We set the chute and headed across clipping 9 kts every time we could surf a wave. If you were feeling over-powered and fighting the wheel you probably over-sheeted your main and had the traveler in too far. You should have eased the main sheet way out and had full tension on your vang, outhaul and cunningham to flatten the main. Main sheet tension on a reach only induces twist in your main which increases heeling. A very flat main on a lowered traveler would have been a MUCH more comfortable and faster ride. As the swells come under your stern, this is the time to take advantage of their power and surf down the face. Fighting the wheel means you were close to stalling the rudder and slowing the boat needlessly. Balancing the sail plan and the rudder would have made a huge difference in your efforts and made your family much more comfortable. I would encourage you to take a sailing instructor out in these types of conditions and let him show you how to trim your sails for a balanced sail plan and you will see that it isn't as bad as you thought.
...yesterday. We did the annual Stamford Danish Friendship Cup. It was very light till about 3:00 when the breeze started to fill in from the S and built from 3 to 12 kts. The final leg was a broad reach from Long Island to Stamford. We set the chute and headed across clipping 9 kts every time we could surf a wave. If you were feeling over-powered and fighting the wheel you probably over-sheeted your main and had the traveler in too far. You should have eased the main sheet way out and had full tension on your vang, outhaul and cunningham to flatten the main. Main sheet tension on a reach only induces twist in your main which increases heeling. A very flat main on a lowered traveler would have been a MUCH more comfortable and faster ride. As the swells come under your stern, this is the time to take advantage of their power and surf down the face. Fighting the wheel means you were close to stalling the rudder and slowing the boat needlessly. Balancing the sail plan and the rudder would have made a huge difference in your efforts and made your family much more comfortable. I would encourage you to take a sailing instructor out in these types of conditions and let him show you how to trim your sails for a balanced sail plan and you will see that it isn't as bad as you thought.
Not fun but good experience!
Pete: While I realize that this was not a fun outing, it is excellent experience. These type of things happen to boaters all the time. If we did not take our boat out in 12-15kt winds, we may be leashed to the dock for the majority of the year. Use this experience as a learning episode so the next time it happens it will not be quite as harrowing. I was on a return trip from Hawaii about 6 years ago. We encounted 18-20 ft following seas with 28-30 kts of wind and breaking seas. Our vessel was surfing down the waves at 16-18 kts of boat speed. We took a few breakers over the stern. My best advice is to learn how your vessel handles so you can anticipate how to stear in these conditions. We had our boat in the S.F. bay for a few months several years ago and had these conditions entering Emery Cove Marina most every weekend. While I disliked the conditions, it was "just another experience".
Pete: While I realize that this was not a fun outing, it is excellent experience. These type of things happen to boaters all the time. If we did not take our boat out in 12-15kt winds, we may be leashed to the dock for the majority of the year. Use this experience as a learning episode so the next time it happens it will not be quite as harrowing. I was on a return trip from Hawaii about 6 years ago. We encounted 18-20 ft following seas with 28-30 kts of wind and breaking seas. Our vessel was surfing down the waves at 16-18 kts of boat speed. We took a few breakers over the stern. My best advice is to learn how your vessel handles so you can anticipate how to stear in these conditions. We had our boat in the S.F. bay for a few months several years ago and had these conditions entering Emery Cove Marina most every weekend. While I disliked the conditions, it was "just another experience".
Sails down
Such great responses - thank you. Gary - to answer your questions, the entrance to the Housatonic faces Northwest. Our course at the time put the wind and waves off the port-side stern and the tide hitting us near broadside to starboard. We had, perhaps foolishly from the responses, just dropped both sails for entry into the river. Rick - could not agree more. Once safely at dockside a few cocktails were consumed and a feeling of what I can only describe as admiration ensued for a fantastic boat that brought us home safely despite our inexperience. Alan - the 40 minutes prior to entering the river we were essentially on a dead run. I even had delusions of wing-on-wing...but then came to my senses. Boom vang was tight, main sheet way out. Never considered the traveler which sat midline. Will try that next time. Under sail we were much more comfortable and I felt much more in control. It wasn't until we dropped the sails and were attempting to motor in that panic set in. Pete
Such great responses - thank you. Gary - to answer your questions, the entrance to the Housatonic faces Northwest. Our course at the time put the wind and waves off the port-side stern and the tide hitting us near broadside to starboard. We had, perhaps foolishly from the responses, just dropped both sails for entry into the river. Rick - could not agree more. Once safely at dockside a few cocktails were consumed and a feeling of what I can only describe as admiration ensued for a fantastic boat that brought us home safely despite our inexperience. Alan - the 40 minutes prior to entering the river we were essentially on a dead run. I even had delusions of wing-on-wing...but then came to my senses. Boom vang was tight, main sheet way out. Never considered the traveler which sat midline. Will try that next time. Under sail we were much more comfortable and I felt much more in control. It wasn't until we dropped the sails and were attempting to motor in that panic set in. Pete
Whatever doesn't kill me...
I think a knee jerk reaction to adverse conditions sometimes is to douse the sails and motor in. As you discovered, our wimpy little motors can easily get overpowered by winds and seas. The power of those winds can be harnessed if you've got the right amount of sail up and properly trimmed. I agree with Alan--your traveller should have been down quite a bit. It also sounds like you came up on a wind against tide situation. Fifteen knot winds don't usually produce six-foot seas. But if the tide is running in a direction opposite to the wind, the waves get, bigger, squared off, and closer together--a situation that can be dangerous to small craft. This is why the gulf stream can be dangerous. It pays to know the areas in your cruising grounds where this happens and be mindful of the state of tide and what's happening to the wind to avoid them. Nonetheless, you got through it. Now you know you can do it, and next time will be easier. Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Hope this helps. Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust h37.5
I think a knee jerk reaction to adverse conditions sometimes is to douse the sails and motor in. As you discovered, our wimpy little motors can easily get overpowered by winds and seas. The power of those winds can be harnessed if you've got the right amount of sail up and properly trimmed. I agree with Alan--your traveller should have been down quite a bit. It also sounds like you came up on a wind against tide situation. Fifteen knot winds don't usually produce six-foot seas. But if the tide is running in a direction opposite to the wind, the waves get, bigger, squared off, and closer together--a situation that can be dangerous to small craft. This is why the gulf stream can be dangerous. It pays to know the areas in your cruising grounds where this happens and be mindful of the state of tide and what's happening to the wind to avoid them. Nonetheless, you got through it. Now you know you can do it, and next time will be easier. Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Hope this helps. Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust h37.5
- Status