A thought from a different discussion board

Posted By: Tom H.
Date: 9/30/07 1:43p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Be careful on a light catamaran, heaving-to in survival conditions (Tom T. House)

This is a thought on the subject from an different message board: A long thread, but a few thoughts to add: (Drew Frye, who sails a Stiletto 27) Heaving to in a thunderstorm with fast-changing wind direction sounds dubious. With the potential for a 70 mile an hour gust and a quick 90° shift, even tall ships have benn knocked flat by squalls. I sail in heavy winds, but only under bare poles with a real thunderstorms. If sails were my only choice, feathering with a tight name is Ron described sounds the best choice; you can react to shifts. Many people have done it that way, including myself, and it's nerve-racking but works. I have two experiences worth relating. Caught in a heavy thunderstorm off Ocean City, Maryland I was surprised to find the wind suddenly switched to east - unusual for Maryland thunderstorms. I had no sails up since it was flat calm and I had been motoring for 40 miles. I was only 300 or 400 yards offshore, with 40 to 50 mile an hour winds on-shore, and gusts over 70 miles that are being reported nearby. Not what I expected, no room to run, and water too deep to anchor. I elected to motor into it under bare poles, and just wait for it to pass - the VHF made it clear it would be brutal but brief. However, the waves quichly got so large that at low speed I could not keep my desired 45° angle into the wind, and though I had enough motor to push into the waves at higher speed and get my steerage back, I would've been airborne off the crests, catching air under the tramp - not an acceptable alternative. At low speed the bows kept getting blown off, and I being was pushed towards the beach. However, when I pushed the motor tiller to leeward I found I could easily "heave to" using just the motor at idle, holding just about still and not flying off the waves any more than necessary. For the next 15 minutes we got thoroughly pounded, caught about a dozen mullet in on deck as they washed across the trampoline and into the cockpit, which was more fun than scary by that point. Very effective, and a strategy would certainly use again. Another time I was caught in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay with 20 miles of room to leeward, but no desire to go that far of my path or to get soaked. I put out a 6 foot diameter sea anchor I got off e-Bay for $50 (surplus cargo chute). Rigged on a bridle it held us with about 0.3 kn. drift while we went below told tall tales. We lifted the centerboard and the rudders, and she lay just as quietly as she does at anchor, except for the flying up and down part. The wind shrieked; at one point reached out with a handheld anemometer and found it pegged at 50 miles an hour. www.seaanchor.com will tell you all you need to know about sea anchors and rigging them. The rigging tips are sound. However, their sizing wisdom is based on experience in big storms at sea, and following Ron's advice, that should never happen. For short thunderstorm, a much smaller chute will do, even some cheap surplus thing. For 50 bucks and less than the weight of the normal anchor, I find it very calming when passing long expose runs in thunderstorm weather. It is also popular with easily frightened crew.