Did any one get caught in storm Saturday? We had our boat hauled out Saturday morning for some quick maintenance and inspection. After we splashed we were in such a hurry to get a little sailing in before dark that we did not check the weather forecast. We had two hours of beautiful sailing with the winds from the south at 10 to 15 mph. We started to see clouds building to the north and just that quick we realized that we were getting ready to get trampled. Our topping lift clamp broke as we were reducing sail so we just tied the sails up. The wind stopped then clocked to the north. Then came the blow. My little hand held wind meter was hitting 35 to 40 mph. A little while later the news said there were gust to 50 mph. I believe it. All we could do was motor at full throttle just to hold nose to the wind for over an hour. GPS showed our track as just moving only a little bit back and forth. It was not our first storm but it really was the worst that we had experienced. Very scary to us at time. Waves were only about 3 or 4 feet but very frequent and steep. Very hard pounding. It may not seem that bad now but at the time... My question is... How is the best way to handle a gale like that when caught out? Did we do the right thing? Should we have turned and just ran with the wind? Should we have tried to deploy an anchor with lots of rode? The best thing I can say is that our little boat held up great. Once the front moved on through we motored back with no damage. We are planning a long trip for this summer and know we can be exposed while out in the Gulf. Thanks for all opinions and comments in advance.
Saturday's Storm on Ponchartrain
- Thread starter ChuckThomas
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Great thread Chuck
We had a bad storm predicted in Michigan on Thursday/Friday. Having already had one bad mooring experience this year, I decided to take her to a marina on this one (they were predicting 85 mph gusts, with 40 mph constants - enough to give me pause.) I took our P303 from the mooring to the marina - maybe 4 miles. The first mile or so was not fun - lots of bouncing around, the dingy punishing the painter, my nerves were a bit frazzeled - winds were steady at 25-30 knots, gusting a lot to 40-45 and even hit 52 once. I had no sail up, but as I thought about it a bit, I decided to put out just a smidge of my jib (it's a furler) - roughly what I thought a storm jib would look like - wow... the boat settled down, the nose stayed low, the dingy breathed a sigh of relief (as did I) and the rest of the motor sail was actually fun. I know that there are a lot of the old salts that go, "Yeah, well.. duh?" but to a guy who's always learning, like myself, finding these little tidbits out as I go is a lot of fun and pretty rewarding!
I know what you mean about those waves and freqency, that's our norm in these parts. I have to say, with 2.5-3.0 waves, the motor sail with the storm jib worked well for me. Dave Crowley s/v Wind Dreamer II
We had a bad storm predicted in Michigan on Thursday/Friday. Having already had one bad mooring experience this year, I decided to take her to a marina on this one (they were predicting 85 mph gusts, with 40 mph constants - enough to give me pause.) I took our P303 from the mooring to the marina - maybe 4 miles. The first mile or so was not fun - lots of bouncing around, the dingy punishing the painter, my nerves were a bit frazzeled - winds were steady at 25-30 knots, gusting a lot to 40-45 and even hit 52 once. I had no sail up, but as I thought about it a bit, I decided to put out just a smidge of my jib (it's a furler) - roughly what I thought a storm jib would look like - wow... the boat settled down, the nose stayed low, the dingy breathed a sigh of relief (as did I) and the rest of the motor sail was actually fun. I know that there are a lot of the old salts that go, "Yeah, well.. duh?" but to a guy who's always learning, like myself, finding these little tidbits out as I go is a lot of fun and pretty rewarding!
I know what you mean about those waves and freqency, that's our norm in these parts. I have to say, with 2.5-3.0 waves, the motor sail with the storm jib worked well for me. Dave Crowley s/v Wind Dreamer II
The best part......
For the next several years, everytime you hit a squall, the first thought to come to your mind will be.....well, this aint as bad as that one on Ponchartrain. Its a very calming feeling. The worse storms I was ever in was while day sailing. Tony B
For the next several years, everytime you hit a squall, the first thought to come to your mind will be.....well, this aint as bad as that one on Ponchartrain. Its a very calming feeling. The worse storms I was ever in was while day sailing. Tony B
You really answered your own question
You arrived with no damage and your boat held up great. A lived through experience is the greatest experience one can ask for. What you did, you did because that was the correct thing for you to do. Good job, well done. I'll bet, should you have to do it again you do it again, you'll do it almost the exact same way. Keep it up, Ctskip
You arrived with no damage and your boat held up great. A lived through experience is the greatest experience one can ask for. What you did, you did because that was the correct thing for you to do. Good job, well done. I'll bet, should you have to do it again you do it again, you'll do it almost the exact same way. Keep it up, Ctskip
Right
You did a right thing - there are several good answers to this depending upon searoom and the capability of your crew and handling qualities of your boat. Under similar circumstances, I have done what you did - heave too under power. I have also run and reached off using the small J22 class jib and hove too under main alone on my catamaran. I once watched a Mac sailor make a good choice and anchor to ride it out, he enjoyed a cup of coffee down below while a power boater wiped out a prop on his 90 horse motor on the rocks. Heave too under power would have worked, but the pb'er panicked and tried to get to a crowded ramp and off the lake. A power boat has no choice except to heave too under power - as you found out, it works. That said - I would recommend knowing how to heave too under sail, how to reduce sail on your boat, and how to anchor; you always need to be prepared in case the motor fails or whatever plan that you are using isn't working. Best way? What you did worked. The best way is to keep as many options open as possible - the more tricks you know, the better. OC
You did a right thing - there are several good answers to this depending upon searoom and the capability of your crew and handling qualities of your boat. Under similar circumstances, I have done what you did - heave too under power. I have also run and reached off using the small J22 class jib and hove too under main alone on my catamaran. I once watched a Mac sailor make a good choice and anchor to ride it out, he enjoyed a cup of coffee down below while a power boater wiped out a prop on his 90 horse motor on the rocks. Heave too under power would have worked, but the pb'er panicked and tried to get to a crowded ramp and off the lake. A power boat has no choice except to heave too under power - as you found out, it works. That said - I would recommend knowing how to heave too under sail, how to reduce sail on your boat, and how to anchor; you always need to be prepared in case the motor fails or whatever plan that you are using isn't working. Best way? What you did worked. The best way is to keep as many options open as possible - the more tricks you know, the better. OC
Same kind of thing
I was in the same sort of situation on the Pamlico River last fall. 4-6 foot waves really close frequency because the water is shallow and wind gusting to 40 knots. Running the 30hp Yanmar at 3000+RPM's just to keep the bow into the wind and still stayed in one spot for almost 2 hours. Finally got to the mouth of the creek where the marina is located and because the wind had blown all the water out of the creek ran aground. No damage but had to spend the night aground cause nobody could get to us, finally floated off about 6am the next morning. In hindsight, I should've done as Dave suggests and put out a little jib, that would've probably given me more headway and settled things down a little although I'd still have run aground. And as Tony says I'll compare every storm to that one from now on.
I was in the same sort of situation on the Pamlico River last fall. 4-6 foot waves really close frequency because the water is shallow and wind gusting to 40 knots. Running the 30hp Yanmar at 3000+RPM's just to keep the bow into the wind and still stayed in one spot for almost 2 hours. Finally got to the mouth of the creek where the marina is located and because the wind had blown all the water out of the creek ran aground. No damage but had to spend the night aground cause nobody could get to us, finally floated off about 6am the next morning. In hindsight, I should've done as Dave suggests and put out a little jib, that would've probably given me more headway and settled things down a little although I'd still have run aground. And as Tony says I'll compare every storm to that one from now on.
"Through the Roaring Forties"
I just read Vito Dumas's book again: "Alone Through the Roaring Forties".... as time goes on I am more and more in awe of both what he did and how he did it.... What I worry about - he would laugh at, while patting you on the back.. --jerry
I just read Vito Dumas's book again: "Alone Through the Roaring Forties".... as time goes on I am more and more in awe of both what he did and how he did it.... What I worry about - he would laugh at, while patting you on the back.. --jerry
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