The Cruise The good and the bad

[Bob V]

Thanks for sharing Nice & Easy

That's a great story. I won't bother to try to add any advice but Joe Shirley had some excellent points. You did great to get back in one piece (sort of). Just think, if things like this did not ever happen and all of your boat rides were routine and uneventfull, how would you ever learn anything.I am reminded of something I read on this forum a while back "You start out with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience, the trick is to fill up the bag of experience before you run out of luck."

 

[Ken]

You did good ...

given the limit resources onboard. Your mast didn't come down so you must have been doing the right things right. You come away with all your limbs intact that counts for alot. Cool Breeze stayed with you through your ordeal, that's good friend you have there. Learning From Incidence will enrich you. You started with a basket fill with Luck and some experience and comes away filled with experience. Nice n Easy thanks for sharing.

 

[BrianW]

Not Too Shabby, Phil

Phil, you never cease to amaze me! For a too-tall, scrawney-assed Louisianna septuagenerian you done good! Most of all, I commend you for sharing this and other past experiences you have. I learn a lot for you! Sorry I wasn't in town for your Big Lagoon anchorage. Thanks, BrianW

 

[Swandriver]

The Arena

Hi N&ETeddy Roosevelt once said: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,.......if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." Like a number of responses mentioned - good job. You have the boat in its slip and all your own parts. As a pilot, like "Dave from Mi" said, any landing you walk away from is a good landing.But, really, I think I would rather sail with a few others posters that check every screw, every wire, every connection, every part of their engine, every cotter pin and every shackle, every inch of their various wires, ropes and lines, every inch of the deck, above and below, and every square inch of their sail, and get a rectal exam before each sail!!!!!!.........Give me a break.Phil, I'd "fly your wing" any time.S/V Zydeco II

 

[MoonSailer]

Marina for Repairs???

Phil was there a reason that you did not go in for repairs at a marina??? Several good marinas around Pensacola. Even at Destin Harbor you might have been able to get some help. Sure it would be expensive but so are sails and if you had lost the mast!!!! I guess that you are too tall to go into Choctawhatchee bay but maybe someone could have helped you at Destin Harbor. Even when you made it back to Pensacola you kept on going when stopping at Bayou Chico for repairs would have seemed reasonable to me. To me it seems you had a bad case of get homeitiss when it would have been prudent to stop for repairs. Glad that you made it safely and I acknowledge that it is easy to judge while sitting in my recliner.

 

[Ross]

I think Phil that you did an excellant job of keeping a bad

situation from getting much worse. Now from a safe port you can critique the things you did right and the things that you would do differently should it happen again. A Parish Priest I know says of any event, nothin got broke and nobody got hurt so we had a great time. You have provided us with as scene of a potential dismasting and how you were able to save the rig. My hat is off to you. You did well.

 

[sailaway78]

Thanks

Thanks for all the comments, good and not so good. Main Sail and Joseph, you are both correct in several things. First, I did not inspect enough before sailing. Second, I did have most things needed onboard, with the exception of the shackle, which was bent beyond repair. Ross, the problem was not with lashing the foil down. I had virtually miles of extra line of all sizes. The problem was the chafe from the foil and drum flailing around. The foredeck looked like a war zone with all the crap I had up there. As far as getting some one to fix the damn thing in Destin Harbor or Pensacola, I personally just won't accept that. I am about as stubborn, and hard headed as anyone who ever wore shoes. Also there is a matter of pride involved. I don't want anyone else working on my boat, and I am going to get myself out of any jam I get myself into. If it involves losing the boat, or endangering life, then it's a different story. But as far as what happened, once I had the mast sort of secured, in my mind it was up to me. Like everyone my hindsight is always 20/20. But this is for me a first time deal. Never had anything even close to this happen to me before. And I had no idea how difficult it is to control that much sail. When I got it wrapped around the foil, and had run a line up on the main halyard and wrapped the sail, thought I was good to go. Lasted about three hours. As for the final halyard parting, I now see that the jib halyard, which wouldn't budge to get the sail down and I ended up cutting, then moved. The end of it, which was of course like a knife, was at the very top of the mast, and I couldn't see it, and it made short work of the halyard. One thing more. Russel and Barbara aboard Cool Breeze are truly top drawer. They stayed close all the way back, and gave us the final tow back to home. If you ever run into them, buy a round and send me the bill.

 

[SEADANCE]

hey

sorry we missed your call this weekend Phil. Hope you are okay out there. We have not been out on the water these last two weekends..too hot for even me. We"ll try and get a hold of you. Be well and safe and celebrate your Birthday well!!

 

[MoonSailer]

Cotter Keys!!!!

I had a sobbering experience at the top of my mast a few months after I bought the boat. There was no cotter key!!!!! I put one in and was thankfull. Phil I was not trying to be critical. But as a once active private pilot at every safety seminar they stressed that many accidents occur because a pilot pushes on to a destination for no good reason. Often this is weather related where a pilot trys to beat a storm etc. But they stressed that accidents are usually multifactorial and that if you stop somewhere along the way to remove some factors then an accident is much less likely. The thought occurred to me when you wrapped a line around your prop. You couldn't sail but continued on and then couldn't motor. If a couple of other things had happened it could have resulted in loss of your boat....BTW your boat looks great!!!!