On Single-handing

[Kings Gambit]

Skippers should be prepared and able to single-hand their yachts, in my opinion, b/c they may unexpectedly be forced to, and of course wish a happy outcome. Several years ago I found myself having to single-hand my Pearson 30 into Oceanside Harbor after my entire crew of three (not including me) was struck by the mal de mer during a race (N2E) and could not function. The Pearson had no autopilot, no chart plotter (but it did have a GPS receiver), no radar, and no self-tailing winches. I did have a chart but no chart table below. The short, steep seas were on the std quarter; sailing was on a broad reach in about 15 -18 kt. Nearing 1600, Oceanside Harbor bore ESE about 20 n.mi. so I decided to make for it. First gybe, find my compass bearing, and then sail to it for about three hr. Just me and me largely incapacitated crew.

Challenges: First time sailing into Oceanside Harbor, a lee coast. It’s approaching twilight; fairly brisk wind. Can’t leave the helm except very briefly if to study the chart & plot my GPS position, but the chart was below. So, not sure my position except by water depth. Not sure how to get the mainsail down and “furled“ in the wind and steep, choppy seas following me ; but need to do it while still up-wind of the Harbor channel. (Main halyard is stopped off at the mast.) Cannot really sail into harbor directly b/c it opens to the SSE, is narrow & protected to the NW by a breakwater, and I’m approaching from the NW with the wind astern. So, I needs me auxillary to control me SOG approaching.

Getting closer, the conditions suddenly abated some. One of me crew came back to life briefly. I started the diesel, put her on the helm with instructions to keep the bow into the wind. Increase thrust if needed. With this aid I was able to get to the mast, boat pitching/hobby-horsing like mad, drop the mainsail and get it tied down. Next, find out where the hell I am with a GPS plot in the cockpit after fetching up the chart; light fading fast, but with conditions still abating some nearing the coast. A second crew rises from the dead while the first resumes incapacity. Hand her the Fujinon to find the head channel marker. Many lights ashore on the city roads interfering with us; confusing us. GPS plot (actually, more like DR) says we’re very near the head channel marker. Where is it? Duh. We pass it close aboard having not picked it out against the background of the lights ashore, or it was out. A 120-deg swing to port and in a few minutes we’re in the sheltered lee of the Oceanside Harbor breakwater.

So, was not prepared for “single-handing” here. I think it’s evident what one needs to do this properly. (The third crew did not arise until the next morning.)

PS: There were three other boats taking refuge in OS when we arrived. One, a Baltic 38 (Peterson design; high quality racer-cruiser) with a crew suffering a broken arm after having been flung from the rack. Another, a smallish racing cat, its crew “refuging” until lighter conditions expected later that night.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

If I can do it, anyone can. The only limitation comes in docking which increases in difficulty with LWL.

 

[DayDreamer41]

Your story brings shivers, I fear even more the possibility of what if I am the one that is incapacitated, then what?

 

[JamesG161]

Skippers should be able to single-hand their yachts, in my opinion, b/c they may unexpectedly be forced to, and of course wish a happy outcome.

As Captain of my boat I am responsible for the boat and crew. Captain's should be prepared for the unexpected.
I give the boring Safety lecture each time I venture out, unless my crew has been trained for my boat, then only minimum Safety reminders after giving them their Personal Flotation Devices.
_____
My Brother [US Naval Academy graduate, Aviator and Sailor] and I went on a 5 day cruise in normally protected waters.
Long story short...
We were caught in a summer squall with gale force winds. Lightning and wind blowing blinding rain in my face, my brother in the the area protected by my Dodger. We saw the squall and battened down the hatches pulled in the main [in-mast furling] and reduced the head sail.
But...
As we were pulling in the Head Sail furler, a gust of wind ripped the Sheet from his hand and went flailing [the stop knot worked but too late]. He forgot to make a turn around the winch.
I started my engine and within 5 minute the engine stopped. Later we found out no diesel even though my diesel gauge said half full.
Now adrift in 6 foot seas, being blown toward a large data tower.
Then the squall stopped!!!

We finally untangled the jib sheet mess and the winds went to 1 knot. ETA to safe harbor 8 hours by the wind. Now Dark.
____
I had stored 10 Gallons of extra diesel, but outside the life line and in heavy seas I would not venture outside to the rear hatch and risk losing my brother or me to be lost at sea in the dark.

I could have single handed the entire episode.
______
Now the rest of the story, short version.
1) We had someone bring us diesel
2) Returning by engine and no moonlight I finally saw the value of my Radar.
3) We arrived safely in harbor

I am now prepared to single handle my boat.

To all Captains....
Be Prepared!!!

Jim...

PS: The USCG never calls me Skipper.
PSS: Skipper is name for a dolphin and The Captain of the SS Minnow.

 

[DayDreamer41]

As Captain of my boat I am responsible for the boat and crew. Captain's should be prepared for the unexpected.

So as a captain you found yourself out of fuel? do you not keep a log??

 

[Kings Gambit]

I hear what you say; but the skipper is the captain.

 

[Rick D]

Absolutely. When I can't single hand, the boat goes to a broker.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Your story brings shivers, I fear even more the possibility of what if I am the one that is incapacitated, then what?

If it’s likely to be due to mal de mer, then you need to prepare for it ahead of time w/remedy options. The first thing is to appreciate your general susceptibility to it. But, if something acutely life threatening comes along, like heart attack or stroke, and you’re alone, then there’s not much to do about it except to set off the EPIRB, or your PLB, if you can. The Pearson was not equipped for “serious single-handing” in difficult conditions where making an unfamiliar “distant” harbor was the goal. But that was hand to be played. I was not really prepared for it beyond having some situational awareness, perhaps. But why not?? Because I had no inkling that ALL three crew could be out at once; likely for the duration. My fail-safe, back-up crew/skipper, a boat owner and two-time veteran of the N2E race, was the first to “succumb.“ Once that happened so early (ca. 2 hr into the race from our start), I figured I would soon end up as the only person not affected, and started thinking alternatives!

 

[capta]

I single handed this boat a lot for a year before I met my now wife. Anchoring was no problem and docking was OK as long as I could get a line to the dock, then use a gene winch to haul her in, even against the most adverse current. The nice thing about a big boat is that it takes more time for wind and/or current to affect her, so if you can get her alongside a dock, you have time to drop a bowline over a cleat and get it onto a winch before the current and/or wind tears you off.
Underway, of course the bigger boat has a less violent motion in adverse conditions, and it certainly doesn't hurt if all sailing operations can be handled from the cockpit, if not the wheel.
Back when, it was said that one should never buy a boat one couldn't sail alone, exactly because of the idea of this thread. So, 42' was considered to be the optimum cruising boat size. Today, with roller furling, electric winches and chart plotters at the helm, I think that can be increased considerably by a competent sailor.
However, for anybody who may ever think they might be forced into single handing, an autopilot should be budgeted into their immediate future expenditures. If you've never sailed with an autopilot, you can't imagine the pleasure of having a crew member who will steer unlimited hours without complaint, sleep or request another drink!

 

[thinwater]

The obvious answer is to go sailing with crew, but tell them that they are only to watch, as you work out how to perform every task on your own.

• Plan. A singlehander provides more time and space for each task, acording to expereince. He also avoids the need to do two things at once.
• Break it down. Every task can be done in steps. You can figure out a way to reef, raise anchor, or duck below, with no one at the wheel and no autopilot. For example, a tiller lock helps and most boats will track straight with the jib in and main way out.
• Charts. No autopilot or GPS? That's how I learned, and I still often navigate that way, just because it is habit. Keep binoculars at hand, keep the chart under a cushion, and run a DR plot. You should know how to do this without much effort.
• Get an autopilot. Really helpfull. But you should be able to reef, for example, by bringing the jib in tight, easing the traveller, and letting the main backwind. Steering should not really be needed. Tacking and jibing single handed is a matter of propping the lines so they are readdy and knowing the rhythm of the boat. On most boats up to ~ 35 feet you should be able to just kick the helm over, release the jib when it breaks, haul it across, and pull it in by hand almost tight enough before the wind hits it. Cleat it off, set a course, and then fine tune with the winch handle.
• Docking. pad the dock at least for practice. Then do blocked docking practice with crew, observing when a second hand is needed and how that could be avoided.

I find it much more relaxing when I don't need the crew to do anything at all.

 

[DayDreamer41]

@Kings Gambit what I refer to is the captain becoming incapacitated and the passengers/crew not being able to manage the vessel, this is a fear of mine, that I am working on.

 

[Kings Gambit]

@Kings Gambit what I refer to is the captain becoming incapacitated and the passengers/crew not being able to manage the vessel, this is a fear of mine, that I am working on.

A totally legitimate concern. But those folks probably will need to know much more than how to handle or manage the boat. In the case I related, if I had been the one down first, I can’t say for sure that even me first mate, the Admiral, who can sail just fine, could yet make a compass course to a new harbor 20 n.mi. distant on a lee shore and enter safely in those conditions. Although there would have been other options for her, none of them much better.

 

[Brian D]

Even with crew (or passengers) we are still single handed. Unless the crew can do 100% what you can do. By the way, that is all I do, single handling the boat. I do get nervous when it is time to dock and there is a strong wind. But if I circle and look at the docks first, the it is easier (in a way).

Great story, KG! And yeah, I know the situation with the lighting at O'side Harbor. I had issues even when both lights are working. Only difference is I go straight and not make a right turn at the channel entrance.

The entrance: If entering O'side Harbor, you turn ever so slighly to the left you head into the Marine base. Guarded by fire breathing dragon, two nuclear attack submarines and one aircraft carrier. If you bear 90° to starboard you enter O'side harbor guarded by two Chihuahuas.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Some good came of it all. The folks in the Baltic 38, we think Black Magic, gave us two quarts of clam chowder from the Crab Cooker of Newport Beach. They “didn’t need it now.” Three of us were ready to eat, it was close to 2100, so we enjoyed it immensely. The next day—calmed down quite a bit, a very pretty day, we sailed to Dana Pt to put ashore two crew. Admiral and I stayed the night anchored in the West Basin; sailed the 30 n.mi. home to Long Beach on Sunday.

 

[Calif. Ted]

@Kings Gambit what I refer to is the captain becoming incapacitated and the passengers/crew not being able to manage the vessel, this is a fear of mine, that I am working on.

I figure it's like an airplane, the only tricky part being take offs and landings, with sea room you can leave it on auto pilot until you can sort things out a little.

 

[dLj]

an autopilot should be budgeted into their immediate future expenditures. If you've never sailed with an autopilot, you can't imagine the pleasure of having a crew member who will steer unlimited hours without complaint, sleep or request another drink!

I'm of the mindset that an autopilot is mandatory equipment. A tiller break, or a way to keep the rudder fixed is second if your sailing area does not require an autopilot. For off-shore, even just coastal cruising, I think an autopilot is a must-have. Any distance off-shore and an autopilot plus wind vane steering should be mandatory equipment.

dj

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Single handed from Mobjack Bay to Port Lavaca in 2011, including 32 hours out in the gulf of Mexico.. Got lonesome a few times.

Then Port Lavaca to Pensacola and return in 2015. Thank goodness for tiller pilots

 

[JamesG161]

So as a captain you found yourself out of fuel?

I was not out of available diesel, but not taking the chance of retrieval. I do have a few friends.

Now...
1) I have a tether.
2) a new, Calibrated and maintained diesel tank gauge ±10 gallons.
3) yes to keeping engine/genset running time log [but even that is an estimate and varies with sea state]
4) MOB drills
5) Have standing rigging cutters, Titanium marlin spike with fold out saw blade, and Duct Tape.
6) All of my control lines are to the cockpit
7) Floating and submersible FM Radio that connects to my PFD.
8) Water activated beacon light connected to PFD. [have you seen the new AIS one?]
9) 12 gallons of extra diesel stored inside my life rails and learned to vent my injectors.
10) FM Radios that transmits 25 miles with MMSI and DSC and is submersible, until battery dies.
11) A water proof Ditch Bag
12) At temporary "life raft" fashioned from extra bag of PFD. Stored in bag next to the extra diesel.
13) can stop up to a 2 foot long x 3" wide hole in my boat.
14) My ET and Gusher pump handle in easy place, plus a "come along" to hold the ET on course. [self made autopilot]

All of this gear is easy to reach, in special cabinet near the companionway.

Are you as well prepared to single handle a boat with a seasick crew?
[I have never been sea sick after Navy ejection seat qualifications.]
Jim...

PS: Skipper or Skip [nickname] is used in the US Navy, Coast Guard, or Marines when you have close personal contact with the Captain.
PSS: All other personnel call him Captain, even if the Captain's rank is an Ensign.
PSSS: Listen to a distress call being answered by the USCG.. "The person calling is always assumed to be the Captain"

 

[capta]

The one time I can remember being totally incapacitated was on a delivery on a 65' motor yacht from St. T to Wiggins Pass, Fla on the night SF played the Broncos (I was a 49er fan) in the Superbowl. I so much wanted to listen to that game, but I was so sick (not seasick) I kept passing out. We were coming up the Old Bahama Channel in the days before GPS and it was blowing like stink. That channel is 90 miles long and very narrow, made especially so by the fact the Cubans would impound any boat they thought was too close to their waters (but not necessarily in them!) with unlit coral reefs on the north side.
To make matters worse we were having fuel problems, going through one filter per engine every hour. We knew the tanks were dirty and thought a couple of cases would be enough, but it wasn't. Fortunately, I had a good engineer aboard who could change filters very quickly, because on one engine it was very difficult keep her bow to wind, or we'd lay broadside rolling dangerously.
So, every time an engine died, the crew (very inexperienced) would drag me up to the helm and I'd struggle to keep awake, steer the boat as best I could, listen to the game and take sights on the lights on Cuba for a fix. Then I give a course to steer, fall back to sleep, right there on the floor of the bridge. And again in an hour or so, etc.
I improved slightly as we exited the Old Bahama Channel and set a course across the Gulfstream for Sombrero Key Light and the 7 mile bridge, which we could get under to get to the west coast of Fla, instead of going all the way around Key West.
The weather across the Gulfstream was very strange with probably about 25 knots of wind from the north, but no seas and patches of fog that rolled down the Gulfstream the size of houses.We'd be in the clear, then run some 10 minutes in the fog, then in the clear again. I've never see anything like it before or since and I grew up boating on the west coast traveling from Frisco north, one of the foggiest places on earth, I believe.
As fortune would have it Sombrero Key Light came up dead ahead and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, as I remember it.
Having spent most of my career on yachts with amateur crew, I'm acutely aware of the situation that would develop should I become completely incapacitated, so I'm extremely cautious about doing anything which might put me in that situation. If it's too rough to sleep safely in a bunk, I'll make a little nest on the cabin sole, etc. I do my best to impart this philosophy (situational awareness) to my crew as well and in over 5 decades of seafaring on yachts and commercial vessels, no crew member has ever had any injuries worse than a cracked rib or a broken finger or toe any time I was captain.
I feel extremely fortunate, and hope this trend continues.

 

[jeepbluetj]

I find docking to be one of the easier parts of singlehanding. Unless there's a billion paddleboards and kayaks to run over in a boat that can't stop very well. Docking in my slip it's a no brainer at all (upwind slip), and on a side tie it only gets sporting if it's upwind - in which case I have to lasso a cleat with a spring line (using a boat hook). I can screw that up quite a bit. Once lasso'd, a bit of throttle and counter rudder and the boat snugs right up to the dock, where I'll then lasso another cleat before I turn the power off. Won't get off of the boat with the power on, in case the spring line lets go. Only thing crew does when docking is step off and get a line on.

Hardest part? KG alluded to it - getting the main down. For me that's a trip to the mast, deploy the lazyjacks, and drop the main. With a functioning autopilot in decent contitions, it's easy. If it's real rough or breezy - it gets more worrisome. Same for a reef, so I'll often be reefed even if unnecessary when solo.

Solo, I'll often drop in the channel of Dana Point harbor because it removes the "rough" part of that equation, and it generally is right into the wind. I'll also deploy the main right as I make the turn by the bait barge. (Solo w functioning autopilot or crewed...) If I have decent crew, or I (once again) forget to open the fuel valve, I'll sometimes sail out. Solo that'd be with the jib only. (It's downwind). The inevitable paddleboards and kayaks floating about in random directions do indeed make sailing out an exciting proposition.