Self Reliance

[Steve Souther]

Sailing out of trouble

When a motor is depended on too much, as the case is many times, trouble is going to happen sooner or later. We ran aground recently in a 22' Columbia (fixed keel) without a motor. Not having a motor to depend on, we carry two long sweeps (about 10 feet), and without any great thought, lowered the main and brought out the sweeps. With one sweep on the bow pushing to starboard, and the stern sweep holding the boat off the lee shore, we worked it off fairly easily. If this didn't work, the next step was to take a life jacket and walk/swim the anchor out as far as possible. This provides the necessary gear to kedge the boat off. Failing that, we would hail a power boat -- not to pull us off because that may do us damage-to haul the anchor(s) out for us. I keep enough gear on board for this eventuality. I did swim out to set an anchor once, but have not (thankfully) had to ask for help; not yet anyway.  The rush that comes with having successfully gotten your boat out of a tight situation, using your own gear and skill, is part of the fun of sailing!  Steve

 

[Beverly SV "Sight Unseen"]

Liferaft Choices

I would like to know what kind of liferaft is aboard most of these cruising boats and why did you choose the specific brand. I have seen them all at the boat shows but the decision is a difficult one. I value the opinion of this group. I have a Hunter 380 and plan to cruise for 3 months in the Bahamas area. Thanks for your input.

 

[Harley Nygren]

FOREHANDEDNESS

East Coast sailors are somewhat spoiled, and seem to count on someone always being there to bail them out. West Coasters do not share this luxury, and are inclined to get themselves out of trouble. This is a big cultural difference, although there are others.

 

[Michael O']

Water too cold, Steve?

Steve, you're in a great sailing area in the Puget Sound(used to keep a Pearson 28 there), but I'm guessing you wouldn't crawl into that COLD water for ANY reason!!! Yeah, SoCal has some nice weather and warm water, but I do miss exploring the Sound.(And Adam - no sweeping oar, but we do tow a dink.... with oars only. We're still shopping for the outboard! But would a 10-foot dink with a 3-4hp outboard tow a 34' sailboat against the current? )Michael O'

 

[Adam Yuret]

Dink

Well you can Tow her with Oars the real question is how severe was the current. I would say with a 3 or 4 hp outboard and the dinghy lashed astern of the centerline pivot point tho she could tow her quite well. I watched a 55ft Schooner use its dink outboard (which sounded small) to tow itself out of boston harbor Marina (puget sound). And of course sometimes you have to throw out the hook and wait for the current to slacken then you can tow with oars. Not fun... hard work but i think once you get some inertia you should be good to go.

 

[Steve]

Righteo, Mike

You better believe it. Even in Florida, I would not go for a dive if the water was below 75 degrees! I prefer 80.Up here they are serious about hypothermia, although on the news just last night was a story about a convict who jumped overboard from a ferry on his was to a prison. He was in the water for two hours, according to the newsies. I was told, over 45 minutes and you have had it! Either way, I will try NOT to fall overboard.But you are right... exploring Puget Sound on the water is like nowhere else in the country!Steve

 

[Jeff M.]

I read that article

While I agree that the guy in the story probably should have gotten some sail in the wind as soon as possible, the real blame, IMHO, lies with the tug-boat operators who, after cutting him loose, took off and left him to deal with the damage their (illegal) operation had caused. Seems there is little difference from what they did and hitting someone with your car, coming back to see if they're still breathing and then taking off. At the end of the story the company that owned the dredge and tugs ended up paying a lot of money for what they had done, but a bit of jail time should have been included. (not to mention a full C.G. review board hearing on wether or not those punks on the tugs should still have their licenses!) Maybe someone with a bit more knowledge of C.G. regs can comment, but isn't what they did akin to leaving the scene of an accident, failing to render aid to a vessel in distress, failure to report an accident, etc?

 

[Phill]

thanks to Jeff

grat to hear from you i realliked the part a bout stouped amen brother