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with three dogs on board. This was before they had their RuffWear PFDs. It was very bad. One swam around until near exhaustion, while the two smaller ones stood on the centerboard trunk--until the boat turtled. Then they, too were in the drink.
When the boat went over (btw, from a broken centerboard cleat letting the board back up when I wasn't watching), I was standing on the gun'ls to keep it from happening. No luck, and when I finally fell, I broke some ribs crashing into the mainsheet cleat. I wasn't wearing a pfd either.
First thing I did was reach under the seat for my jacket and got into it. Try it sometime in reasonably big waves and wind from in the water with broken ribs. Very, very hard to do. Then I tried to secure the dogs, which is how two ended on the c-board trunk. Then, I tried in vain to get the boat righted, but I couldn't get the mess of tangled sheets free. A jet ski happened by and took Grommet, the chocolate lab back to shore. While he was gone a boat pulled up and rescued the other two (Peanut, a Brittany and Buddha, a black lab). I asked him to stay put as I needed more help to right the boat, and he did.
The centerboard downhaul is CRITICAL when righting the boat. Without it, I couldn't get the centerboard to stay OUT so that I could stand on it. I had the guy helping catch it when I pulled the line from under the boat. When the boat turtled, I found out how deep the water was--about 20 feet. So, I had to get out of my pfd and swim down the mast and push off the muck on the bottom to get it free. With him standing on the c-board and me pulling up on the stuck mast, 20 feet down. Talk about sore ribs! I had to climb up on the motor boat's swim platform and from there back into the Harpoon. No way in hell I was going to climb right into the boat. I now have an emergency rope ladder handy in case this happens again. Also, I always check my hardware before sailing.
If you haven't yet, I recommend taking your boat out on a nice warm day, and find a quiet beach and tip her over. Then shove it out over your head deep and right the boat and get back in. You might be surprised once, but then you'll know what you're facing.
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Boston Whaler Harpoon Forum
Question On Spinnaker -- Durango Dave -- 11/12/06 8:01p.m.
Spinnaker -- WAYNE, '79 5.2, OCALA, FL -- 11/13/06 5:08p.m.
-- Gene Bragalone - #485/5.2 -- 11/14/06 9:15a.m.
-- Jenny, Harpoon 5.2 -- 11/15/06 5:54a.m.
I've capsized my Harpoon way out on a big lake in a squall... -- Sean McGrew--Catalina 22/Harpoon 5.2--Montana -- 11/17/06 6:11p.m.
-- Jay Levy - Indianapolis, IN 5.2 #35 -- 11/23/06 7:47a.m.
