Just spent 15 nights on the hook around Santa Cruz Island, California, so this subject is fresh on my mind. It sort of goes along with the reverse transom slapping issue. At night after the wind dies down, boats anchored in the open anchorages around Southern California and the Channel Islands can sometimes experience severe side-to-side rocking (aka rolling). I've seen some sailboats rock through what appears to be a 30 to 40 degree arc (at the mast head) for brief periods. On my Pearson 30 of some years ago, the rocking at Emerald Bay (Catalina Island) was so severe that we had to hold on to the cockpit coaming to even sit outside!! It actually does not take much swell to set the boat going. So. Cal. boaters sometimes try to deal this with by setting the boat into the prevailing swell direction using bow and stern anchors, but this helps only sometimes.
West Marine and some other companies sell devices called "rocker stoppers" which are known in the vernacular as "flopper stoppers." My question is: what is the most effective configuration and what sizes get the best result?
My Bavaria has a spinnaker pole mounted on a mast slide. Basically, I pole it out to one side, supported by the spinnaker halyard, from which I hang a rectangular (ca. 2 x 3 ft) stopper device make of steel rod covered with a thick sheet of plastic that lets water pass as it falls but resists water passage as it comes up. Other people buy the West Marine "rocker stopper" cones and hang a line of them over the side at the gunwales. Mine is only moderately effective; it effectively mitigates the low amplitude stuff, but is totally overcome if the rocking gets too severe.
What do other people do here and how well does it work? Is height above the water and distance out from the boat very important in hanging a device; what's the best configuration?
West Marine and some other companies sell devices called "rocker stoppers" which are known in the vernacular as "flopper stoppers." My question is: what is the most effective configuration and what sizes get the best result?
My Bavaria has a spinnaker pole mounted on a mast slide. Basically, I pole it out to one side, supported by the spinnaker halyard, from which I hang a rectangular (ca. 2 x 3 ft) stopper device make of steel rod covered with a thick sheet of plastic that lets water pass as it falls but resists water passage as it comes up. Other people buy the West Marine "rocker stopper" cones and hang a line of them over the side at the gunwales. Mine is only moderately effective; it effectively mitigates the low amplitude stuff, but is totally overcome if the rocking gets too severe.
What do other people do here and how well does it work? Is height above the water and distance out from the boat very important in hanging a device; what's the best configuration?
