Night from Hell

[Cathy Alcorn]

Raining inside the boat

We were sailing for an overnighter when a light mist turned to hard driving rain. By the time we got to the anchorage my husband and I were pretty wet in spite of our weather gear. Then as we were having a "bonding moment" anchoring up, our two dogs were howling in the cabin (in the cabin to stay dry) to be rowed to shore. We hadn't put our inflatable dinghy together on shore because of the amount of sticky tar on the docks where we were berthed so that had to be done there on deck in almost the worst of conditions. Rather than listen to the howling (which was deafening) while we put together the dinghy, we brought the dogs above deck and put on their life jackets. Much better. We put together the dinghy, hoisted it overboard, plopped one dog at a time into it to be rowed ashore to do their business and stretch their legs. I was left on the boat with one dog to make sure that the anchor was good and set and to take action if we started moving in on the very steeply sloping shoreline. After the dogs were taken care of, the deck cleared, sails put away, we were one wet group. I dried off the dogs as much as possible and put them down on their bed with a flannel drop cover to pick up some of the moisture. We turned on the cabin heater and hung all of our wet gear and clothes to dry. (Rookie mistake!) Between the boat next to us creeping over on anchor and general anxiety about the steep swells dislodging us from anchor and running us aground, we weren't going to get much sleep anyway but somewhere in the middle of the night the condensation from the drying gear reached the precipitation point in the far reaches of our boat and started raining on me in the V berth and my husband on anchor watch in the quarter berth. Only the dogs in the main cabin were dry and comfy. It took my husband the next day with good sailing in sun and good breeze to see the humor in that night and for the cabin to dry out. We both laugh about it now and learned from our mistakes. Could have been far worse.

 

[Travis Cooksey]

I need banana's for good luck!

Captains Log........Vessel: 2001 326 Hunter sailboat Name: Banana WindCaptain: Travis W. CookseyCourse Destination: Scorpion Bay Santa Cruz IslandFriday night August 23rd got all weather conditions from computer before heading to boat. Also listened to radio, should be OK. Reporting 15 to 20 knots of wind, coming from the NW. 1 to 2 foot sea and 1-foot wind chop. This is pretty typical sailing condition for the Santa Barbara Channel. OK its ago. A high pressure was moving in so no fog. A south swell from a hurricane in Baja suspected to arrive here sometime Saturday. I’m looking forward to surfing at Santa Cruz! Hopefully make Scorpion Bay by midnight. Of my hast to leave and get to the boat I forgot to pack sweets and long leg pants. Bummer, All I have are shorts. I will make due. Crew and Passengers are Brandon Cooksey, Peggy Cooksey and Chris Just.  First 10 miles ok a little rough. However, at the first oilrig (Gail) conditions took a turn for the worst! Not to mention oil/shipping freighters everywhere! And not in the designed shipping lane! Seems it is starting to turn into survival of the fittest! When weather turns to shits there is no such thing as a shipping lane. Hummmmm, I don't remember reading about that in my captain’s book. The oilrig marks the about half waypoint to scorpions from Ventura. The question was do I continue or turn around? Everyone on board is still willing and ready. And I wanted to surf those nice waves, I will continue. After another 30 minutes the winds have picked up. I can hear the shrouds scream like a hundred ghosts in the wind. I’d say the winds are hitting up over 30 knots. It’s also a full moon out tonight. Seas have also picked up from 1 to 2 feet to 7 to 8 feet. I've stared into the black walls from hell that towered a quarter of my mast length. (And here I thought the waves in "perfect storm" movie was fake..... ) These black mammoths were not coming from the south either, but rather from the NW. With the boat heeled over so, I swear my keel was out of water. I wanted to say “ fish out of water!” like the game I played with friends in the pool when I was a kid. I was preparing myself to start reefing the sails. When SMACK! The wave reached out with its white water hand and out of the corner of my eye caught glimpse of Peggy's kayak flying through the air pass the dodger and behind us. Trailing behind a spray of sweet from the wave with the bad hand that took the kayak. The man over board drill was now in tack! Chris and Peggy spotted the tinny boat in high seas with the help of the full moon and large spotlight. I steered up wind and dropped all sails. Steered backed for retrieval of Peggy’s favorite little unit with all fishing gear strapped aboard. Peggy fought the winds and swell with Banana Wind while Chris and I managed to bring aboard Peggy's little friend. The 7 to 8 foot waves crashed the deck and almost swept both Chris and I over. I was soaked by the time I was finished. Yes, some pants right about now would be nice! I tie ratchet the kayak this time; she won't go anywhere now. Continued across the Santa Barbara shipping lane channel, after dodging four freighters only 1 mile from Santa Cruz Island in 3 hundred feet of water we made it to scorpions at 1:30AM. Only two boats anchored and it was not a pretty sight. Decided to go to smugglers. After making the bend to the other side, winds had stopped and calm water......Ahhhhhhh, relief! 5 and half-hours of hard helmsmen sailing I can relax and let Mr. Auto pilot take control for a while. 2:00 AM anchored in smugglers with half a dozen other boaters. All this and Brandon my son, slept through the whole thing! Must be nice to be a kid. Saturday AM South swell hit and I had epic surf all weekend! Well worth the Friday night trip through hell. Was hot and sunny and just the best weather you could ask for at the island. Lesson learned on this trip, now matter how much weather info you get from various sources always be prepared for the worst. Get auto strobes for everybody's life vest. (If that were a real person going over board instead of Peggy's favorite pastime kayak we would have never found them.) Get tether system on board to tie down to when going up front on deck. Buy over board buoy stick. If you have anything to tie down on the top deck use ratchet type tie downs! And sometimes, just sometimes we need to experience hellish crap to receive a little paradise! Last lesson, and probably the most important; sacrifice something to King Neptune before leaving port of every trip. In our case, because it's “Banana Wind” (name of our boat) we will give a Banana to good o'l King Neptune! Yes, legend has it that Banana’s are bad luck on boats, but in our case because it’s part of her name, we are sure it will give her good fortune in our travels aboard our lovely craft.Ahhh, she’s a good ship….. She’ll take more than any human would ever be able too. Skipper Travis W. CookseyBanana Wind, Ventura, California

 

[Bill Kerr]

Sailing on dirt

We were in a 50 mile race with no time limit or motoring. The wind died and we drifted all afternoon. After sunset it began to build and was blowing pretty good when my tired eyes took a bearing off the wrong light and sailed us on a powerful reach Waaay up into the mud. Spent all night getting free.

 

[Al Wheelock]

A three hour tour

Last year I took My Mom out on my Kells 23 for a "three hr tour" I made all the wrong choices in planning to go out.No extra bat no cell phone no food.I was taking her over to Boblo Island to show her all the big houses that they are building on the isl.Well we got over there just fine but when I decided to go between the Island and the livingston channel the trees on the edge of the channel cut off my wind.It was getting towards eve and I wanted to speed up my return home so I fired up the OB.Well we got downriver from Boblo and got out into open water at about 7pm.The wind was getting light so I left the OB running till I got into some weeds.To make a long storie shorter We got stuck in the weed beds, bat got to low to restart the OB.The pull start wouldnt work and it was getting late.I could see the boat launch from where we sat,it was frustrating.We were out of the shipping channel so I didnt worry about the big boats.We got inside the cabin and looked for some warm clothes,Had nothing but a small piece of tarp.We spent the night there ,freezing all night.Woke up to a nice east wind,put up the main and off we went.The problem was that we were dragging a huge piece of weed bed along with us so I had no control of the boat.we got a lot closer to the launch were we put in the day prior,but were heading for another weed bed so I through the ancor and waited for help.We could see people milling around at the launch so we knew that the morning fishermen would be out soon.Sure enough here comes a fishing boat full speed right by us.I took off my white shirt and waived it at them,but they zoomed right by.Four other boats flew by us before one nice man stopped and pulled us in.I really learned a good one that trip,and now I,m the good boyscout,ready for anything.

 

[Don Crawford]

Island Flopping

Toward the end of our cruising career we decided to visit the romantic shores of Captiva Island in beautiful Southwest Florida. We followed the markers to where we thought we could find a comfortable anchorage. There were many boats at anchor in the area. We were out of the channel and I thought "safe" to anchor up for a couple of days. Just as we were getting set to drop the hook womph! we hit a sand bar. It was about 15 min. before HIGH TIDE!There we sat. We tried (with the help of other friendly sailors) to get loose, kedging and you name it to no avail. Finally after 12 LONG hours, during which we were sure we were going to roll over and sink, at about 1:15 AM we were floated loose with the help of Boat US towing.We finally did get to enjoy the island after our re-location to DEEP water.

 

[G&G Webster]

Bugs!

The absolutely worst night was at the dock at Lake Perry, Ks., on our Catalina 22, Southern Lady, roughly 18 years ago. We loved our little boat, but that night a storm was blowing in. Wind was coming from the stern blowing all these black bugs (can't remember what they were called) straight into our cabin.We had them crawling in our bunks, clothes, mouths. Awful.Decided to get a bigger Catalina and get the heck outta Kansas!Many years later, up to a Catalina MKII 36 and loving it.Pura Vida,G&GAtlanta, Ga.

 

[Dave Abel]

Bugs in the Bahamas

Trip of a lifetime. Two weeks in the Bahamas. Crossed the gulf stream on Wednesday, 6/6 at midnight, arrived in West End just in time for lunch. Spent the day there, then left Friday morning for Great Sail Cay. Located in the middle of the Bahama bank, it's a sailers dream, crystal clear waters averaging 10 ft. deep. My boat, the FREE SPIRIT, has almost everything,,,,except a genset...which means no A/C and billions of bugs..up all night. The remainder of the trip spent in marinas.....ahhh, hot in the sun, cool at night.

 

[Joe M]

Tornadoes in the Chesapeake

Late September 2001 I'm on a three day trip on the Chesapeake. I'm a new sailor on my Hunter 34. The forecast called for a possibility of showers and thunderstorms on the second afternoon. No problem. I'll just change plans a bit and shorten the sail for the day. But then the weather hit and much earlier than expected. The storm came up really fast! One minute it's getting dark down the Bay and within twenty minutes I'm under those dark clouds. The National Weather Service changed the forecast from showers and thunderstorms to several tornadoe sightings just west of where I was. They were heading right for me and they were wiping out everything in their paths. Holy @#$%. I'm about five miles from safe harbor when the winds and waves picked up significantly. It starts to rain hard and gets almost totally dark at 3PM. I quickly dropped the sails, left a smidgen of jib up, and started the engine. The waves quickly grew and were coming at me every few seconds. Before one was past the other was on my stern. I'm trying to remember everything I've read about conditions like this because I've never actually been in conditions like this. I made some terrible mistakes as I ran for safety. I went into a harbor I had never been in and in the excitement I read the charts wrong and almost went aground. I hit bottom very hard three times in a row as the waves followed the boat into the harbor. I finally got to a place where I could anchor with the winds at about 35-40 knots for six plus hours. The tornadoe warnings continued until 11PM. Every few minutes I was checking the anchor. Now I'm listening to the local radio stations and the tornadoes are knocking everything out. Buildings are being demolished all over what's known as Southern Maryland and there are reports of several fatalities. And the tornadoes are still coming. It was an unbelievable afternoon and night for a new sailor. I was scared to death for several days after the storm. Several people died that night and the devastation was enourmous throughout the area where I spent the night. The tornadoes eventually crossed the Bay and went about their destruction on the Eastern Shore. It was definetly a night I'll never ever forget.

 

[Brian Blevins]

weather,gas,and running aground

Labor day weekend, wifes first wknd boat trip,got started late,then wind dead ahead or no wind at all.Motored to flagler bch on intercoastal stopped for storm that had aleady soaked us,found no gas,darkness came,storm passed so motored north 9 miles to palm coast no problem till we ran aground in the middle of the channel,finally got off the bottom and storm that passed us was now coming back at us.And chased us to Palm Coast marina.Damn marina is closed fuel dock is empty though,oh no,so is my tank,moored to fuel dock,1st customer in am,hey thatll work. 1st light fuelled up head north to St Augustine found the last slip in the marina and had a good dinner(things aint all that bad) more storms all night.1st light head toward home now we have a south wind,in the face again.Motorsailed home motor ran good

 

[Don Evans]

Blood and Guts

It's one thing to have ones bodily fluids to deal with within the confines of a home, but its quite another aboard ones boat. It was our first time aboard our O'Day 25 with the dog for an overnight at a favourite anchorage, both boys and my significant other were settling in for a fun evenning. We decided to row ashore for a walk and I was having a difficult time figuring how to get our 75 lb. golden retriever aboard the dink. I managed to get most of her front half into my waiting arms as she stepped off the transom into the dinghy when she caught her nail of her hind leg in a cleat and decided to leave it behind on the boat. I heard the yelp but was not aware of her injury until a pool of blood started to form in the bottom of the dinghy. Discovering this I decided to heft her back aboard the boat to tend to her serious wound. Bad move, as she ran all over the boat leaving red blood paw prints everywhere. When we finally got her calmed down my 6 year old started to wretch at all the blood everywhere and before we could get something to his face, up came dinner and his shoes. Now we had 2 down and the boat covered in blood and vomit. My 4 year old started to cry hystarically as he witnessed the carnage. I had had enough, and started back to the dock to get the dog off to the vets and at least 1 of my 2 kids home to bed. I decided to stay the night aboard at the dock with the young one and sent my wife home to deal with the dog. She thought she was getting the light duty but as it turned out she was up all night trying to keep the dog from ripping her stitches out. Ah the best laid plans of mice and men....

 

[George D. Bush]

Tip of a Tornado

My wife and I were returning to port on lake Winnipeg when we heard a tornado warning over Goast Guard radio. As we were too far from a safe harbour, we prepared for the worst. A wall of wind and water rapidly approached us through a green sky. For about 40 minutes, we were continuously knocked down with zero visibility. I could not see even the bow of our 30 ft sloop. The anemometer was pegged at 60 knots. With forethought, wife was below with our GPS and as we were knocked down under bare poles she pointed through the hatch cover to where I should steer for safe water. Oddly enough there were no waves, the water was being drawn up much like whipped cream might be on a cake. After 40 minutes of excitement, the wind stopped, the clouds parted and the sun came out.

 

[Randal Orton]

Point Conception Nightmare

In 1980 I took my 30ft rotting trimaran "Neutron Star (AKA The Death Trap)alone around Point Conception. I was apprehensive about going around the infamous cape at night, but everyone said it was calmest then. So I anchored in Little Cojo, just below the point, and retired early to sleep until midnight. I woke to my girlfriend calling and waving from shore, so I launched the dinghy and rowed in. As I approached the beach, she suddenly was nowhere to be seen. I jumped in the ankle deep surf and waded in when something bumped my leg. Looking down, it was my girlfriend floating underwater, lifeless eyes staring up at me. Just as I screamed, she surged out of the water and tried to pull me down. I snapped out of the awful nightmare in a hot sweat, still anchored, still night. Needless to say, my state of mind could have been better going around the point that night.

 

[Mark Rode]

On the wall

My 2 boys and I were tied to the wall in Grand Haven when a storm rolled thru. It was blowing 40-45, the boat was surging up and down the wall about 4', the youngest was in tears because the police were driving by telling us to get off the boats because the worst was yet to come. Well, we played poker until 2A, the storm cleared out and never did get worse and the sun was shining in the morning...it was still better than a quiet day at work.

 

[newly anonymous]

Hey Bob from San Diego!

Was fascinated to read your account, because I was in Ayala Cove that night. Around dusk we put out a second mooring lines bow and stern, and I commented to my wife that the folks in your raftup were going to get bashed. We were the ones who called the Coasties when the Catalina broke out of that raft. Otherwise we stood by feeling helpless, because there was nothing we could do from our position. I've probably spent 30 nights moored in that cove, and have never seen anything like the night you described before or since. Next time the wind shifts like that at sundown, we cut and run.

 

[Jean Gosse]

Oops!

Dreadful nights aboard. Well, it wasn't exactly ours, but there are things to be considered.Our boat, a Lightning, anchored quietly off of Blake Island in Puget Sound. The tide was due to drop some 15 feet overnight and we elected to anchor close in. With centerboard up and rudder lashed to the deck, and bow and stern anchors set, we turned in under the boom tent for a quiet night aboard. Sometime in the night the boat would take bottom, and lift again as the tide came in.In the middle of the night there was a resounding THUMP! We heard some loud talking, but no one came near so we went back to sleep until dawn. There, a few yards away, lay a pretty little raised deck, deep keel boat. A Bay Bird, I think. On the dry sand of the beach was a heap of sleeping bags.Seems the boat came in late. The crew saw our Lightning by flashlight, and decided the boats were about the same length, so it was safe for them to anchor!! Apparently the little keel boat balanced quietly on its keel as the tide went out until someone rolled over in his bunk!! Thus the THUMP. The four aboard were all tumbled out of their bunks, everything aboard toppled about, and they trudged ashore dry shod to finish out the night.I guess they had the last laugh. Our outboard would not start next morning and there was no wind, so we had to beg a tow home. Glad we had not laughed too loudly. Moral: Always check the water depth and the tide tables!!

 

[revron]

an easy to remember difficult night!

It was early May, 1989. It was the first trip for Dot, who was to become my wife, even after this memorable time.We set sail from Falmouth Forside with the destination of the RIYC in Cranston, RI upon my 26' Pearson. I must have had my eyes on Dot as we left the dock of Falmouth Foreside because the genny's halyard slipped out of my hands and looped into the air swinging back into the raised mainsail instantly ripping the main so that it was useless.To sail or not to sail was the question. So, we headed off to Cranston with only the Genny and with only one of the two cylinders firing on our 9.9HP outboard.On day three, we reached the Cape Cod Canal around 11:30 PM and were almost out of gas. We planned to gas up at the dock on the eastern side of the canal but, of course, it was closed.The winds picked up and the tugs and freighters passed by and we became concerned about holding our line especially with the shortage of gasoline. I could not steer with only the genny and the tiller; Dot had to also steer with the outboard which was cavitating badly.We neared the western exit of the canal and the motor suddenly raced - and I new that meant it was running extremly lean as it was on the remaining vapor. Silence - except for the waves and the oncoming tugboats.We exited the canal around 2:00 AM and our loran and navigational lights dimmed, dimmed some more and then extinquished themselves. We had no engine power to charge the batteries.So, we sailed off to starboard, listening, always carefully listening for any unusual sounds. When we heard breakers, we'd veer off away from the sound. And we'd listen, and listen some more. We had no power, no light, no charts we could see, no navigational aids - only our ears.When the first break of day was visible we instantly headed off toward shore and grabbed onto the first private mooring we saw. We both crashed in the vee birth and went straight to sleep.We sold the Pearson in '93 and moved to ND. In 1999 we moved back to the Great Lakes and purchased our Oceanis 370.Ron

 

[revron]

an easy to remember difficult night!

It was early May, 1989. It was the first trip for Dot, who was to become my wife, even after this memorable time.We set sail from Falmouth Forside with the destination of the RIYC in Cranston, RI upon my 26' Pearson. I must have had my eyes on Dot as we left the dock of Falmouth Foreside because the genny's halyard slipped out of my hands and looped into the air swinging back into the raised mainsail instantly ripping the main so that it was useless.To sail or not to sail was the question. So, we headed off to Cranston with only the Genny and with only one of the two cylinders firing on our 9.9HP outboard.On day three, we reached the Cape Cod Canal around 11:30 PM and were almost out of gas. We planned to gas up at the dock on the eastern side of the canal but, of course, it was closed.The winds picked up and the tugs and freighters passed by and we became concerned about holding our line especially with the shortage of gasoline. I could not steer with only the genny and the tiller; Dot had to also steer with the outboard which was cavitating badly.We neared the western exit of the canal and the motor suddenly raced - and I new that meant it was running extremly lean as it was on the remaining vapor. Silence - except for the waves and the oncoming tugboats.We exited the canal around 2:00 AM and our loran and navigational lights dimmed, dimmed some more and then extinquished themselves. We had no engine power to charge the batteries.So, we sailed off to starboard, listening, always carefully listening for any unusual sounds. When we heard breakers, we'd veer off away from the sound. And we'd listen, and listen some more. We had no power, no light, no charts we could see, no navigational aids - only our ears.When the first break of day was visible we instantly headed off toward shore and grabbed onto the first private mooring we saw. We both crashed in the vee birth and went straight to sleep.We sold the Pearson in '93 and moved to ND. In 1999 we moved back to the Great Lakes and purchased our Oceanis 370.Ron

 

[Robert]

the big bang

The night from hell for me was this past superbowl sunday. I took a sweet lil lass to work at a bar on my cat 25. should of known it was going to be a bad night.As we pulled into the slip the wind kicked up and the waves rolled in. The bow swung over and slammed the dock. We got tied in and went to watch the game. We went back to the boat a hour or so after the game. we climb aboard and started to back out. As we rounded the end of the pier we ran hard aground. no mater what I did she would not break free of the bottom. I hailed the local tow boats only to find all there boats out on call and it would be a while until I could be helped. I looked at my tide chart and found that high would be in a few hours so we said hell with it and would wait it out. We through out all available anchors and went down below to settle in for the night. we fooled around a bit then fell asleep. about 3:30am I was awoken by a loud bang I sat up and put my feet down thinking I was going to find them wet. Then BANG again. I went topside to find that the wind had changed directions and was not pusshing the water out of the harbour. My poor swing keel was banging around in the trunk. The waves came up and lifted her up and then slammed her down onto the keel. I paniced.. I feared the keel would come through the bottom. I paced about for a while then went back below and laid there the rest of the night listening to the bang. There was nothing else I could do. Still no tow boat could reach me.I fell asleep about 5 and awoke at 8 to a high tide. I motored out to deep water and let the anchor back out and passed out for 4 more hours.when we woke up and had eaten something the wind had picked up to a nice breeze. we raised the sails and enjoyed the day.

 

[Robert]

the big bang

The night from hell for me was this past superbowl sunday. I took a sweet lil lass to work at a bar on my cat 25. should of known it was going to be a bad night.As we pulled into the slip the wind kicked up and the waves rolled in. The bow swung over and slammed the dock. We got tied in and went to watch the game. We went back to the boat a hour or so after the game. we climb aboard and started to back out. As we rounded the end of the pier we ran hard aground. no mater what I did she would not break free of the bottom. I hailed the local tow boats only to find all there boats out on call and it would be a while until I could be helped. I looked at my tide chart and found that high would be in a few hours so we said hell with it and would wait it out. We through out all available anchors and went down below to settle in for the night. we fooled around a bit then fell asleep. about 3:30am I was awoken by a loud bang I sat up and put my feet down thinking I was going to find them wet. Then BANG again. I went topside to find that the wind had changed directions and was not pusshing the water out of the harbour. My poor swing keel was banging around in the trunk. The waves came up and lifted her up and then slammed her down onto the keel. I paniced.. I feared the keel would come through the bottom. I paced about for a while then went back below and laid there the rest of the night listening to the bang. There was nothing else I could do. Still no tow boat could reach me.I fell asleep about 5 and awoke at 8 to a high tide. I motored out to deep water and let the anchor back out and passed out for 4 more hours.when we woke up and had eaten something the wind had picked up to a nice breeze. we raised the sails and enjoyed the day.

 

[Russ Colombo]

Structural Failure

The boat: a 1985 Hunter 40, owned since new. The scene: close hauled northbound, 0200 hours, 18 miles left to go of a 94 mile sail from Key West to Marco Island.The wx: stalled cold front, rain, north wind 20-25 knots, seas 6-8 feet.Mast failure occurred about eight feet up from deck. Boat immediately threatened to broach. Started engine only to have the failed rigging and sails drawn into the prop rendering engine useless. Cut away all rigging before it was able to hole the hull. Lowered anchor and by sheer luck, the CQR dug in at the end of 200' chain & rope rode in 60' of water, turning the bow safely into wind & waves.It was now time to get help, as we were engineless as well as dismasted. With my emergency antenna attached to ship's radio, I raised Fort Myers Coast Guard station about 60 miles north of my position. They dispatched a helicopter that, upon arriving overhead, asked via marine VHF if air evacuation was desired. I declined, instead asked the pilot to contact TowBoat US at Marco Island, as I had unlimited towing coverage with them. This the pilot was able to do; however he was told that TowBoat US policy prohibited them from responding to any calls in sea-swells exceeding five (5) feet! The helicopter pilot then suggested the Coast Guard could have a cutter on scene in about four hours' time, to which I agreed. The cutter arrived as expected, took us in tow for about four hours into the calmer waters of Marco Island, where the tow was transferred to TowBoat US.Subsequent investigation into why the mast failure had ocurred resulted in a surprise finding. The port shroud of the B & R rig terminates internally of the mast with a stainless steel stem-ball swaged unto the cable end and then pulled down against a stainless steel bearing cup. In this case, the bearing cup had been installed in a cocked position, resulting in the stem-ball bearing against half the s.s. cup and half against only aluminum. It took about 12 years of this condition for the aluminum to elongate sufficiently to allow the stem-ball and shroud to finally pull through, causing the mast to collapse. Because of the internal location of this design (no longer in use) it was impossible to discover the impending failure, even though the entire rigging had successfully undergone professional inspection only twelve days before it failed. I strongly recommend any owners of earlier model Hunters, circa 1985, to check whether their shrouds terminate INSIDE the mast. If so, you should have the terminal points undergo specialized inspection by whatever means your professional maintance provider offers. If at all possible, replacing the shrouds with EXTERNAL tang fittings would be an extremely prudent action.In my lucky case, no one was injured, the mast has been replaced (with EXTERNAL tangs)and the good vessel is as good...no BETTER, than ever!