Who needs a "bluewater" boat?
- Thread starter Kings Gambit
- Start date
Perhaps; and personally, I'd love to hear from anyone who has had to adopt tactics to ride out a storm or stong gale. Kretschmer actually prefers forereaching with staysail and triple reefed main, as I recalled. Heaving-to is not highly preferred these days in modern boats [i.e., those with high-aspect ratio fin keels and spade rudders]. In any event, development of heavy weather tactics has a long history. Somebody caught in a storm or strong gale will likely not have the option of trying out each of them to ultimately discover which keeps the boat floating upright (e.g., running with warps or drogues, heaving-to, lying a-hull, making speed (race boats), forereaching, or deploying a sea anchor). Luck comes to the prepared mind even if acquired via arm-chair sailing. Most of the fine points of the discussion are probably lost anyway on folks buying their first boat who have never been to sea, but "plan" to sail it around the world or even across the Atlantic.
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Like if you just have a custom 65' steel-hulled ketch you are bullet-proof for the ocean blue. And then some dude named Matt circumnavigates the Americas in an ancient 27' Albin Vega! It's about the crew.
The First 285 has a wing keel and drafts a total of 4.5 ft. Whats the take on a wing keel as apposed to a fin keel? shallow draft seams cool for skirting the Bahamas but will this heave to proper in heavy seas? Also is this ever a problem if run aground hard and catches something that could rip the bottom out? Thanks, Forest
The wing keel draws 3.8 feet, not 4.5.
The wing keel will not point as well as the fin, but frankly most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Its designed so it acts like the fin in most regards. Hitting the bottom is never good and any keel/boat can suffer damage. Wings do have more edges to catch when trying to get off mud or sand that's true, but I've never known a person to make a buying decision based on that fact. 99.999% of the time you're floating.
Back when dirt was new I had to read a book, any book, to satisfy a school requirement. I found a copy of Kon-Tiki and spent many days reading it. A bunch of balsa logs tied together and off across the ocean. Today not many people would buy a Blue Water raft to set across the ocean. The design for boats generally comes from the racing community so its hard to find those slow, heavy, stable boats. I like hearing about a book someone has read because it keeps my ideas fresh. If anyone finds the book about the old couple that decides they better sail before they can no longer remember how, I'd buy it.
BTW Heyerdahl made a modification to the original rafts and it nearly cost him in the end.
All U Get
BTW Heyerdahl made a modification to the original rafts and it nearly cost him in the end.
All U Get
I find the attitude that one can outrun the weather rather interesting. I've been in a number of cyclonic storms, fronts and gales traveling in excess of 20 knots and even if a vessel were able to sustain speeds like that for an extended period, without a professional crew onboard, I find it unlikely that your average cruising crew could.
In a cyclonic storm, the only route to safety is into the wind and I can assure you that days and days of beating in 40+ knots of wind is not a pleasure cruise.
Personally, I've run through the whole ball of wax, starting out a circumnavigation with a traditional sea anchor, chucking that for a drogue and chucking that for just taking the helm and sailing the boat through the storm as the situation dictates. Heaving to works well if one needs sleep, but at a certain point you are going to take a horrible beating if seas of 50'+ are breaking on the boat. You need to be moving, literally surfing, and under control, when the weather gets to that point or above, IMO.
When I began sailing, there was only one sort of boat out there; a heavy displacement long keel vessel with the rudder hung on the back of the keel. They were slow, heavy and safe in almost every condition, capable of taking a knock down in stride.
Now, there are so many choices and depending on one's experience, what one has heard, and the research they've done, someone might be sailing a boat I wouldn't take out beyond the jetties, on a circumnavigation. Who's to say they made the wrong choice?
As a delivery skipper I've sailed a more diverse number of boats than most, but still haven't found a modern monohull (in the price range) I prefer over my 80's vintage Pearson. And I'd chuck that in a heartbeat for a Searunner 37 or 40 as the ultimate, SAFE, cheap and easy to sail, cruising boat. Go figure.
In a cyclonic storm, the only route to safety is into the wind and I can assure you that days and days of beating in 40+ knots of wind is not a pleasure cruise.
Personally, I've run through the whole ball of wax, starting out a circumnavigation with a traditional sea anchor, chucking that for a drogue and chucking that for just taking the helm and sailing the boat through the storm as the situation dictates. Heaving to works well if one needs sleep, but at a certain point you are going to take a horrible beating if seas of 50'+ are breaking on the boat. You need to be moving, literally surfing, and under control, when the weather gets to that point or above, IMO.
When I began sailing, there was only one sort of boat out there; a heavy displacement long keel vessel with the rudder hung on the back of the keel. They were slow, heavy and safe in almost every condition, capable of taking a knock down in stride.
Now, there are so many choices and depending on one's experience, what one has heard, and the research they've done, someone might be sailing a boat I wouldn't take out beyond the jetties, on a circumnavigation. Who's to say they made the wrong choice?
As a delivery skipper I've sailed a more diverse number of boats than most, but still haven't found a modern monohull (in the price range) I prefer over my 80's vintage Pearson. And I'd chuck that in a heartbeat for a Searunner 37 or 40 as the ultimate, SAFE, cheap and easy to sail, cruising boat. Go figure.