Stressful upwind journey - Long Beach to San Pedro - couple of questions

[Scott T-Bird]

Good job getting back! Despite the difficulty, you probably gave yourself a lot to think about and learned a great deal, too. Preparation is key. When you go out alone or with crew, be sure to plan ahead for contingencies. Don't go out without being prepared to reef no matter where you are. As you found out, you can't always duck into a safe convenient place. Make sure the lines are ready, and if you feel insecure about stepping forward in the conditions, then make sure you are set up so that you can be secure when you need to reef. The fact that you didn't reef is an indication that you weren't properly prepared because there really is no excuse for not putting in a reef either before or when you need it.
As an aside, I find that I generally make more careful preparations when I go out alone than I do when I go out with Sue. It's too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that, with a crew member, I can work out things "on the fly". I found that out when Sue and I had to reef after turning around from a nice downwind run. I wasn't set-up properly and the extra time it took caused us to bounce our keel on a sandbar in the middle of the bay, while pinching upwind for longer than it should have. We had to abort our attempt and, luckily, by turning around under engine power and running with the wind once again, we maneuvered into deeper water until we gained more room. I explained to Sue that I'm usually more prepared when I sail alone because I think ahead. When I'm with her, I'm generally thinking more about her! Yeah right ... she just thinks I'm a knucklehead! Anyway, with the reef in, the trip back to harbor was relatively pleasant, if a bit of work. Without reefing, it would have been a miserable trip in.

 

[Kings Gambit]

As it was, there was no good place to berth, nor drop anchor, really (60+ feet of water, no windlass, singlehanded), and the wind waves were making things tough in terms of handling. Instead I tried to pinch in the puffs to reduce heel. I was glad to have my new sails that were cut appropriately for the boat and the wind.

Marke-- the water depth is about 20 ft in the red rhomboid zone I show on your map, perhaps less. On the long port tack we usually make it into that zone if we wish to. It's sheltered somewhat, so likely a good place to temporarily set a hook although I never have myself. Also a good place for a single-handed tack, and/or for tucking a reef b/f braving the bigger winds out by the gate.

 

[marke14]

Thanks for all the great replies, everyone. I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions.

KG: I tend to avoid that area because on the maps it seems shallow. Closer to the gate is a larger "submerged material storage site" that I've gotten some quite shallow readings from the depth sounder on ... we only draw 5' (I think 4.5 technically) but I worry about hitting something down there. However the area you pointed out is farther back in there and I agree, I do see smaller RIBs and so forth anchored over there fishing. That is a good call for a temporary hook spot.

Also to everyone - message received regarding heaving to and then reefing. At a certain point I just kind of committed to making it through as I was making decent progress (in my mind at least!), and since the boat seemed to be taking it OK.

Just to level-set a little bit - I am not a complete newb sailor, I've been sailing this boat for two years in this exact area, so I definitely know the drill with commercial traffic and wind patterns with the cape effect around PV and the tendency to increase into the afternoon/evening. I've just never been caught out so much by all of the variables coming together all at once like that. As far as the barges go, the first of the two passed neatly behind me, the one that came after him shortly, seemed confused. I stayed on a port tack for a long time in the hopes that he would maintain his course and speed to also pass behind me but he came up and stopped instead. I appreciate that he was trying to help me out but it ended up making for a tight maneuvering situation instead. Live and learn ... will definitely gybe around / chicken gybe and just loose some ground next time.

Someone asked if I had tried sailing on the jib alone. I did not try that configuration, I only tried the main alone. I now have lazy jacks so I could have dropped the main with little fanfare (just as I could have / should have hove-to to reef the main). What is it like sailing on the jib alone, 100% jib on a masthead rig going upwind? My sailmaker once suggested I try that, I guess I will give it a try next time. I always think back to our sailing lessons - the classroom part - where they always talked about the two sails balancing each other out.

Last thing I forgot to mention - it occurred to me to motor back upwind, basically right on the nose. Unfortunately I was having problems getting the outboard to spit water when I put it back down, near Long Beach. I took it as an opportunity to do some in-your-face upwind sailing.

Once I was back in the channel and heading back to Wilmington, it took me many tries to get it to finally spit water from the circulation telltale. I've had a hell of a time with this lately, this is after it will fire right up and spit water immediately when I'm initially leaving the marina and while motoring for 45 mins - no issues. Not sure if it's developing an air bubble near the impeller housing or what exactly is happening there, while I have it tilted up during sailing.

I'm telling you it was not the relaxing day I had envisioned! I screwed around with it for a while before giving up and deciding to "man up" and sail into my slip. I called ahead and spoke to my boat neighbors and had people standing by to help me out when I got back. I tried one more tilt up / down with the outboard and it spit water right away, and I happily motored in with no issues. Good thing as the ferocious wind had completely died back near our marina; I would have had to break out my emergency paddles. GOOD TIMES.

(Of course, I have a Boat U.S. towing subscription but that's no fun at all.)

 

[Kings Gambit]

Thanks for all the great replies, everyone. I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions.

KG: I tend to avoid that area because on the maps it seems shallow. Closer to the gate is a larger "submerged material storage site" that I've gotten some quite shallow readings from the depth sounder on ... we only draw 5' (I think 4.5 technically) but I worry about hitting something down there.

I go around this; it's clearly marked but I believe it's deep enough to go over, etc. By the time we reach that area on stb tack from the "rhomboid zone", we're nearly clear (i.e., leeward) of it anyway; then harden up and go for the middle of the gate. Count on a lift or two to make it.

 

[Rick D]

I think you did just fine. Uncomfortable but fine. I've sailed there a lot in various boats, and as you can see, I'm in Shoreline. My wife hates sailing in there for just the reasons you describe. When we race, we do tack up the inside harbor. Even if you give up some in length, the flat water makes up for it. Anyhow, if you don't have jiffy reefing, I'd suggest you consider putting it in. In my old Thunderbird and O'Day, I did that and brought it back to the cockpit. Made life much easier. Have fun!

 

[LuzSD]

Most of us have gotten into similar situations and they are always the memories that both humble us and make us realize we are better for the experience. Sounds like you did very well and learned a lot. Good for you.

 

[druid]

As for how much heel, depends on the boat: My Ontario 32 doesn't heel much more than 20-25 degrees, but the Cal 25 I had was happy at 30 or so.
I'm not familiar with the exact area you're in, but I prefer going more "outside" - I'd rather deal with big waves than big commercial boats.
Yeah, most boats don't sail upwind well main-only, but if you had roller REEFING (as opposed to furling - depends on what make/model of furling you have), you could have reefed the headsail instead of the main. Having said that, if you're going to be in winds that require reefing, you should set up something so you can easily reef single-handed. On my Cal 25, I had the halyard and reefing lines led back to the cockpit: I could reef the main single-handed in less than a minute (Ease the sheet, drop the halyard, pull in on the reefing lines, tighten up the halyard, sheet in).
Another trick I learned on the Cal 25 was to twist out the main: ease the vang (if you have one), pull the main traveller way upwind, ease the sheet. That way the top of the sail is feathered while the bottom is still driving.
Bottom line - you made it home safe!

druid

 

[SFS]

...Someone asked if I had tried sailing on the jib alone. I did not try that configuration, I only tried the main alone. I now have lazy jacks so I could have dropped the main with little fanfare (just as I could have / should have hove-to to reef the main). What is it like sailing on the jib alone, 100% jib on a masthead rig going upwind? My sailmaker once suggested I try that, I guess I will give it a try next time. I always think back to our sailing lessons - the classroom part - where they always talked about the two sails balancing each other out.

It's good that you are thinking about things, whether on the water, or playing "what if" on land. You should try the jib alone, to see how the boat responds.

The first time we took our H31 out in higher winds, we started with the headsail only. It's a big one, though I can't tell you how big as I've not measured LP. The boat stayed on her feet, and moved well, but... there were times sailing on a close reach when a gust would make her fall off, and she would not come back up when I wanted her to, as COE and CLR did not remotely match up. It was an interesting experience, and a bit unsettling as we were not yet used to the boat. The admiral wondered if we had suddenly developed a rudder problem.

It's good to know what you boat will do under headsail alone, but have some maneuvering room to sort things out in case there is a minor hiccup.

 

[Daveinet]

Along the lines of what LuzSD, not only do you become smarter, but having been through a situation, you learn what you can trust. Previously I had fears of sailing my boat in high winds, and just wondered what would happen. I had the chance to take the boat out in 30 mph winds, and found the boat did just fine. That builds confidence. 2 weeks ago, I got caught in a squall. While the situation was serious, I never feared for my personal safety or for that of my family. I have no idea what the peak wind speed was, but there where times when the wind was carrying the tops of the waves straight sideways. Sure, we scrambled to get the sails down, but no real fear of capsizing, because I know how the boat responds to wind. Now I know how it responds to waves as well. When you survive something, it is confidence building, both in being smarter, but also in how much you trust the boat.

 

[Daveinet]

Something else worth stating. I read a blog a few years ago that someone had written about their experience on the Mac race the same night that Wingnuts capsized. The skipper wrote in fairly good detail of what they experienced and how they dealt with it. Once thing that he mentioned is that there comes a point when you don't fight the wind. You just turn down wind and go with it. He stated that when it first hit, after he got the sails down, he was "sailing" at 9 knots just on the poles. Sometimes you have to let go of your original plan, and just get the boat under control. Once under control, you then figure out what your options are.

 

[marke14]

I did end up furling the jib a little bit - perhaps the top four feet wound up - and it made it easier to handle the boat - less heeling. Druid, I fitted a new Harken ESP 0 for my jib furler - love it a lot more than the really old CDI flexi furler it came with.

My halyards both come back to the cockpit but the reefing line does not. At any rate I would have to mount another block at the base of the mast, for a downhaul, as simply releasing the halyard doesn't generally result in the main dropping down on its own. My topping lift also terminates and is cleated at the mast.

I was and remain humbled and I know that it was good experience. More than anything I was concerned about the rig itself. I had professional riggers (Sea Tec) install the Harken furler and new lifelines earlier this year. I asked about my standing rigging and was prepared to replace it (budget wise) but they told me it was not necessary yet. I also had an in water survey conducted two weeks ago, as required by our new marina, and he thought it was still ok. But, you never know until you get out there in bigger winds. I do wonder if I should tension the top shrouds a bit more ... They were quite slack on the leeward side as I drove upwind.

 

[Gunni]

Turn downwind to make the bouncing stop is not a solution unless you have more tools in your skill kit and lots of leeway. At some point you need to get nose to the wind and the right sail trim, so you might as well do it early and right.

One of my slip neighbors went out a few weeks ago in 25-30 knot winds, a heavy full-keel cruiser, he had the right gear for the conditions. However he made a bad decision, he decided that it would "be easier" to just roll out some of his genoa and take off on a beam reach. Hoisting and reefing his main was a hassle. Eventually that reach became a run as looked for less bounce in the quartering swell. Finally the fun had to end as he ran out of water and the genoa sheet was eased to furl and immediately wiped itself into a knot around one of the sheet blocks. Turning to wind to take the load off the sheet the 30 knot winds took his flogging genoa apart. He was now down a head sail, had no mainsail up to power him, and the crew was traumatized. Luckily their engine started and they hobby-horsed their way back to the marina under bare poles.

 

[marke14]

Gunni, that sounds even less enjoyable than my day.

 

[Rick D]

Here is a slab single line reefing kit available through this site. The ones I made up were no where nearly as elegant; I'm sure this is well worth the extra money: http://shop.hunterowners.com/prod.php?11684

 

[kimelmore]

I have sailed many times on jib alone when I felt too lazy to take off the main sail cover, or just didn't have a lot of time to take and get ready to hoist the main. Its not perfect but it's also good practice since I know I can do it. I sailed a couple of miles back from Catalina recently when I had a problem with the main halyard, on jib alone. I did finally fix the problem and hoist the main but in the meantime I was still putting miles under the keel.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I told my wife when we bought this boat, 9 ft longer and nearly twice the heft of our P-30, that when it got to the point that I became too lazy to hoist the mainsail on a fair wind--we should think about trading back down, or.... (I'm sure you know what that "or...." means). A bit of a facetious remark b/c, as kimelmore noted, we've also sailed many miles on the genoa alone, sometimes power sailing (genny + diesel) as well. In fact, I've done a lot of that to avoid tacking when I did not wish to (e.g., to avoid sailing too low of the rhumb line). I'm not a fan of furling the genoa with it flagging out ahead of a boat heading downwind or on a broad reach but I do it if that's consistent w/my course (e.g., heading into the harbor fairway and wishing to slow down). I'm thankful for the No 2 furling genoa that we have now as our "regular" headsail---so much easier to bring under control than the 135 we had earlier. It's better IMHO to furl as the boat is rounding up into the wind, which is what we normally do. If the mainsail is down and you need to hoist it--you're going to have to do that (head up) anyway.

 

[marke14]

Thank God I had our new sails up. The main is about the same as the original - though it is loose-footed and with full battens and is, of course 30+ years newer - but our original genoa was, I was told by the sailmaker ... a 170! Imagine dealing with a genoa that size in these conditions. Our new jib is a bit high footed because we lack inboard tracks (and the will to install them), and it's a lot smaller, but oh man is it easier to handle.

I do furl as I come around into the wind, generally. It's easier (and sometimes, just possible). Hear you on heading up to hoist the main, that is what I do as well.

Regarding the Harken reefing kit, I will have to pass. I did shell out for the Harken lazy jack kit and was subsequently instructed on how I could assemble such a thing from components for much, much less. I will take those lessons and possibly have a go at making a reefing kit of my own. I've only got the first reef rigged, my thinking being that I would not knowingly go out into conditions requiring the second reef. I suppose I should rig it anyway just in case.

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[Stu Jackson]

and the crew was traumatized. Luckily their engine started and they hobby-horsed their way back to the marina under bare poles.

Sorry to hear of his story, but...

Crew? They should have been tending the sheets. I can furl my 110 jib in 25 knots by myself. With crew it should be a piece of cake.

Luck engine start? Lucky? It should start every time it is needed or wanted.

I guess your friend isn't too happy about his cruise, and maybe it's the way you put it, but if that's the way HE feels, tell him from me...^^^

 

[marke14]

Another trick I learned on the Cal 25 was to twist out the main: ease the vang (if you have one), pull the main traveller way upwind, ease the sheet. That way the top of the sail is feathered while the bottom is still driving.

Now that sounds interesting. I was traveler-down on either tack, quite immediately during the tack, to stay more upright. I was looking at the vang, which was eased, but the leach was closed and fairly straight up as I sighted it from below. I couldn't figure out how to get the vang involved - that is to say, the mainsheet was holding the boom, and the vang was slacked. We have a rope vang on blocks down to near the base of the mast. I've got mid-boom sheeting on a traveler directly in front of the companionway entrance ...

 

[Gunni]

Sorry to hear of his story, but...

Crew? They should have been tending the sheets. I can furl my 110 jib in 25 knots by myself. With crew it should be a piece of cake.

This is a pretty common thing - the crew was a wife new to sailing, and a couple of friends who had never sailed the boat. There was a pervasive lack of understanding of the forces at play...much like the subject of this thread. The captain took Easy Street rather than instruct them on getting up a reefed mainsail. At some point Easy Street ended with a 130 genoa exploding in their faces. Sailing in small-craft warning conditions with an unbalanced sail plan like that means your engine is Plan B. Let's go there...

Luck engine start? Lucky? It should start every time it is needed or wanted.

Well of course it should, but the fact is there are a bunch of these aging global cruisers still in use with 120 gallons of stale diesel rusting inside iron fuel tanks built deep into their bilges. The owners sail with a bag full of fuel filters and know that at some point their filter will come up clogged and the diesel will die. Usually on those boisterous days when the conditions stir up the thick layer of gunk on the bottom of their fuel tank.

I see this play out time after time - sailors locking on to one cruise plan, one sail strategy and not thinking out the contingencies for 'what-ifs'. Like that guy that got himself and his kids killed down in Florida a few weeks ago. The best sailors I know are always thinking 6 contingencies ahead and integrating weather, boat, crew, sea-conditions and equipment. No rigid plan, adaptive, open to change and improvisation and always willing to look it all over and say, "hey, guys I think we need a new plan", and be ready to defend it in the face of disappointment and second-guessing.