The Sunk Boat Info

[Sean Herron...]

Thats funny...

Heh Ho,Sounds like a good drunken spew, good to see the old self defense still bucking...Thing is, this is not the local 'fill up' station is it, out in this grand online void you can be assured of every freakin' I just fixed my Briggs and Stratton lawnmower, cum armchair, flip thru my Chapmans guru...My point was, and perhaps you took offense, or perhaps I was just to camp fire bluthering, is that you came thru, and made good, and thats that...I have yet to read the whole tale...my eyes fail after three good ones...The person who judges you the most will most likely be the one who can relate the most, 'cause they got caught up in a same stunt or came too close for their comfort, or are to scared to see how far over it will go...It's all fine and dandy, we all know the grey areas and we do our best, you just got caught out by good old, can't put a real science to it 'Mother Nature'...I am not a programmed robot, and I am sure that you are not either, I think the word remains for us all, just bloody Human...I still remember the pain of falling out of the tree I was told to stay out of and seperating my wrist...sometimes I miss that discomfort...Best of...don't sweat it...SH>

 

[Jerome]

Sean, i didnt get upset with you,

in fact i was entertained by your writing, at one point i started laughing, you are a very entertaining writer,the story is still on here, it reads "my boat sunk"the second follow up reads the sunk boat info.

 

[George B., s/v Freya]

Sail Trim, Weight Trim, & Righting Moments (long)

Jerome,Let's get this thread back to sailing. I'm guessing that you experienced a sustained gust and had some weight shifting in the boat at an inopportune time which caused the accident. You are right, your boat is designed to sleep four people. Unlike planning motorboats, I've rarely seen a "max capacity" plate on a displacement sailboat. However, four people are going to weigh in the neighborhood of 600 pounds, which is about how much your keel weighs. So, two people sitting on each side of the cockpit will cancel each other out in terms of trim - they will merely add displacement which will slow down your righting moment or your boat's ability to get back on it's feet. And, if someone on the high side goes to the low (or falls off!), well, you know the rest. It's hard to get most crew to "hike out" when there are no life lines. On our C22 we used to sit two on the coaming deck and then the others would sit on the windward seats between the other's legs (very cozy and not bad if there are a lot of girls on board). This will put your movable ballast well windward of the center line and a great help in trimming the boat.Sailing rail down is pretty exhilarating, we all do it on occasion and besides, it looks cool like the photos in the sailing calendars. Unfortunately, it puts you on the edge of going over (with no safety margin) and it robs a considerable amount of speed from you. Rudder angles greater than ten degrees creates turbulence that more than offsets any gain in speed from your sails. Mark the ten degrees max rudder angle on your transom or cockpit and sail between the marks. Adjust mainsheet or traveller to maintain trim. You will notice then that your boat will never heel more than 15-20 degrees. You'll also discover that you are a lot faster.Let's face it, your 1000 pound boat is going to react a lot quicker to gusts than something weighing six tons or more. Head up into gusts. Gusts drive the apparent wind aft which allows you to point higher without a loss of speed. Holding the line induces heel and slows the boat down. On my C22, it was easier for the helmsman to control both the tiller and mainsheet. Your brain can make the decision to either head up, release the main, or both a lot faster than two people trying to coordinate.What to do when you go over? (I knocked down my C22 once and also had a severe overpowering.) Immediately blow the mainsheet. If your boat goes past 60 degrees heel, the main should already be uncleated and you should be reaching to release the jib sheet. At those angles, your boat stops sailing and windage on your hull takes over. Boats designed to AYBA standards are designed to right themselves but not if they're swamped or sails held underwater. Water weighs 62 pounds per cubic foot so if your sail area is as little as 60 square feet, you will have close to a ton of water on your sails if they are six inches under water. Most boats who "roll" don't come up with their rigs intact. The longer you stay on your side, the more swamped you'll get. Releasing the sheets will spill the water from the sails and everybody on the high side will help the righting moment. Stay on the boat. If that jib isn't uncleated, the boat is going to start sailing again if it makes it to it's feet intact. Don't turn a knock down into a MOB exercise. If it is windy or choppy, keep the companionway doors and slide closed. It might be inconvenient, but they will keep most of the water out of the cabin. After my knockdown, I always snap shackled the cockpit lockers closed. Your keel is too heavy to fold up into the centerboard trunk, but those seat hatches on the other hand…I guess you know now that safety gear should be kept close. Put your life vests, flares, extinguishers etc. in a seat locker where they are easy to get to. If you encounter an emergency, chances are you'll be in the cockpit, not in the cabin. The orange horse collar type life vests are a fashion disaster and uncomfortable to wear. Over the years, we been changing over to the inflatable type. People don't mind wearing even the vest type as long as skipper is wearing his. We always wear ours on San Francisco Bay. I figure that without a life vest, I would get hypothermia and drown in the 15-20 minutes it takes to execute a MOB in rough water. It's like seatbelts, I rather be safe than sorry. Handheld radios have gotten cheaper and it is best to call for help. The coasties might not be the first to get you. But someone else might. Twice in my boating career, I've been diverted by a call by the USCG to render aid. Unless you have been operating under the influence, you have nothing to fear from them. Now, bail out that boat, dry the cushions and take that boat out and have some fun, sailor!

 

[Sean Herron]

Thats even 'more funnier'...

Hello,I am socked in hoping for a break in it tommorow 'cause I got a whole day off to work on the boat if not raining...Is it not nice to see how simple physics class could have been if you had had a direct application for it at the time vs. an allowance increase if you made a D+...Sailing is like a carburetted four stroke engine in many ways, well in my mind, well never mind...once you get it, you get it...the balance and response becomes natural rather than practised...like riding a motorcycle while clutching and shifting and braking...or flying an aeroplane by feel...daunting at first...basic understanding and then direct application a must and then presto, it's a life long skill...I did what you did but on a safer scale...just read a few books, put an overpowered boat in a lake and played with it...not entirely bright...but warm fresh water and I could swim and the boat was unsinkable...I had that thing turtled so many times but always got it up by practising what I had read about or watched...what the hell...still though it is an example of practising theory which any learning curve embodies...however I did this alone until I felt comfortable enough to take someone out who might freeze on one side in fear when I needed to come about...I learned to sail in a damned Parker 505 Dinghy on an inland man made lake with three valleys channeling varying winds...Feck, that can make you bleed with no crew for ballast...my Oday 22 is my first 100% ownership keel boat and I feel very fuzzy about it...same physics but with a bit of lead and beam to help...I also sailed an old Finn...god I was stupid...and to do so I had to wear a water vest of a few pounds to keep the beast upright...nuetral if your pitched out of course...Get your friends together for another sail and see if you can convince them to wear same, on the 'high' side, this being a joke...Right...hatch hinges...O/B bracket...compression post...balance rig tension...spreader boots...pray for one sunny Saturday....PS...I am not really a funny guy...more of a stupid guy who does not care... vs. a really stupid guy who is at least smart enough to be paranoid about it...burp...Cheers...SH.

 

[Allan]

What happens in a microburst article posted

In view of the interest in the loss of boats due to sudden winds, I posted an article I wrote on microbursts under "general interest" through the photo forum. It was published in Sail in 1988. It concerns recognizing a micoburst situation and handling it. My thanks to Phil for converting it into posting format after I scanned it in.Allan