Things You Didn't Know You Need on Your Boat

There are a number of things I have on my boat that I wouldn't want to be without. I never would have guessed when I started out I would make use of these things. Here are some of those things, and if it isn't obvious, how I use them.

ELECTRIC CARVING KNIFE: (HUH???) Yeah. You can get "Memory Foam" pretty cheaply (right now, $100 for twin-sized at Wal-Mart). A layer of memory foam makes most berths markedly more comfortable. However, you will have to cut it to fit, and electric carving knives cut all kinds of foam very well.

DREMEL: Probably not a surprise to see that, but I didn't realize how much I would use it when I first started sailing. Among other things, it cuts PVC pipe extremely well, and PVC pipe can be handy for all sorts of things (not boat plumbing, however -- boats flex too much for rigid plumbing).

BARKEEPER'S FRIEND: (in the dry form and the spray form, but not the liquid). This product gets up all kinds of stains.

FORMULA 4-0-9: Does a great job of cleaning many things, but it won't get rust stains up (however, Barkeeper's Friend will).

SNATCH BLOCKS: Snatch blocks open to clasp the line it will be working, and can then be attached to all sorts of things, including any spot on a perforated toe rail and the base of stanchions (be careful about how much strain you put on your stanchions). Many people recommend keeping them out of sight when they're not being used as they are a tempting target. New ones cost around $170 and up, but I have gotten mine at marine flea markets for $20 - 30. They can be used for all sorts of things and can be incredibly useful in an emergency.

CONCENTRATED LIQUID BOULLON: It comes in several forms, including foil packs and small jars. You *can* use real boullon when cooking without having to store the leftovers in your finite refrigerated space.

MAYONNAISE: It enhances many dishes and sandwiches. It does not have to be refrigerated (read the label -- it even says that!) Mayonnaise actually has a high acid content and is inhospitable to salmonella. It isn't the mayonnaise that grows food poisoning bacteria -- it's the food it's mixed with. So *always* use a clean knife or spoon to scoop it out. By the way, refrigerate any left over pasta or rice -- or feed the crabs with it. Pasta grows salmonella very easily. But keep your jar of mayonnaise free of contamination and you can use it for months. The one I'm using now has been open for five months (including hot summer months). I learned this from my mother-in-law, who kept her mayonnaise, opened, in a cabinet. She was French, and when I questioned her about this, informed me rather archly that the French had invented mayonnaise and that she knew a bit about it (she did -- she studied cooking at the Cordon Bleu in Paris). 'Nuff said for me!

P-TOUCH LABEL MAKER: I label all my storage boxes. My top companionway step is actually a small storage box. Everything that goes in there has a "1" on it (made by the P-Touch, because those labels stick so well and last forever). 95% of the time, whatever tool I need is in that little box. I also have everything labeled that goes in my cockpit box. It makes it much easier to put things away. P-TOUCH labels are impervious to weather. I know someone who has had his headsail train track labeled for years with where the track should be for close-hauled, broad reach, etc. All the lines on my boom are labeled: topping lift, top reef, bottom reef, etc. My line clutches are labeled: spinnaker, headsail halyard, mainsail halyard, etc. This makes things much easier for people new to my boat. 

KNEE PADS: Once you have them, you'll keep them handy.

SAILING GLOVES: Don't give me that macho attitude that real sailors don't wear gloves! If "macho man" cuts his hand or gets a serious friction burn out of pride, he's still a handicapped crew member. Get gloves and wear them. I keep them in my "skipper's cockpit box" -- I'll write about that shortly -- so they're always handy. That way I always put them on. 

I would love to hear from other posters regarding things they have found useful enough on their boat to let them take up some of their finite storage space. I know this board can be hard to respond to. If you can't do that, just email me at

Rakuflames@gmail.com

I'll be glad to post it and give you the credit. I know I have lots to learn from you guys. Bring it on!

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Do you REALLY have towing insurance?

A couple of days ago I wrote about some friends who ran aground while trying to solve a roller furler problem. I wish that the roller furler, followed by running aground, had been the end of their grief, but unfortunately it was not.

I won't name their insurance company because it isn't my goal here to promote one insurance company over another. But it is a lesson in reading the fine print.

My friends couldn't get their boat off the grounding, but their insurance covered towing by the standard towing companies, so they called Boat US, who had no trouble getting them off.

However, the bill was $1,000, which they had to pay upfront and then get reimbursed by their insurance company. They knew that and were not upset by that.

However, that "towing coverage" includes a $500 deductible, so they're only going to get $500 back. That they're not quite so thrilled about.

My car has similar towing insurance -- only worse, really. It covers eight miles, or to the closest Subaru dealership (the brand of my car) -- which ever is shorter. Fortunately, if I want to be towed a little farther the cost doesn't nearly approach the $500 my friends will have to swallow for their boat tow.

Read your insurance policy carefully. My personal recommendation is that you not only get Boat US towing insurance but that you get their best package. I had to be towed about ten days ago because of dead batteries. They towed me to the club, where I had the boat looked at. The great thing about Boat US's best package, which I have, is that if the boat couldn't have been fixed at the club, they would have towed me again, either to my home slip or to a boat yard where they could have fixed the boat. (I was lucky, by the way. I was afraid the alternator had gone bad since all three batteries had died within a couple of days even though the engine had been used a lot, but it turned out to just be coincidence. The alternator is fine.)

Anyone can run aground. If you have a sailboat in waters like Florida, it's not if -- it's when. You will run aground.

My friends now have Boat US towing insurance, and I urge all sailors to do so. Any number of things can happen that could disable your boat even if groundings aren't common where you are. This advice isn't just for beginners, either, but then I have no sympathy for the macho idea that one should never, ever turn the engine on. If I can't use my motor to get back into my slip, I'm not going to try to sail it in through a blind entrance, a narrow entry way, and a long fairway, counting on being able to use the wind in four different directions without hitting anytbing. I'm going to call Boat US. Then if they hit something it's their fault, and I do like that.

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Your Autopilot Could Throw you in the Drink -- Really!

I'm a big fan of autopilots. Some people call them their "invisible crew member" or some other crew nickname that shows just how valuable they can be. If you're single-handing, for instance, the autopilot can keep your bow pointed into the wind while you raise the sails. No one ever told me what I'm going to tell you now, though. I heard "You should have an autopilot" over and over, but not one person said, "However, it can throw you in the water" -- until I said it. Then others agreed with me. I think it's just a good rule of thumb that anything you put on your boat will bring risks as well as benefits.

There's a saying about sailing that the number of errors equals the number of crew members -- squared. This includes your autopilot, because they can malfunction, and they can do so unpredictably and at just the wrong time -- just like humans.

An untended autopilot caused another boat to hit mine once. My helmsman had turned the helm over and was on my cabintop photographing the boat that ended up hitting me at the time, so we know exactly what happened. The "skipper" of the other boat 1) had his boat on autopilot, and 2) wasn't at the helm. The photos very clearly show him sitting on a side bench next to his cabin top, nowhere near the helm.

Sorry, but autopilots aren't really crew members, and a human has to be at the helm at all times. If common sense didn't tell you that, maritime law does.

Why is this important? His boat was sailing very fast, at least seven knots. He was only about ten feet away from us, silly really since we weren't racing and there was plenty of room.

So when his autopilot suddenly hiccuped and turned his boat 90º to port, at his speed even if he had known what was going on, he wouldn't have had time to steer away. His boat went right across the stern of my boat, leaving his bottom paint behind. His anchor hit my split back stay. It probably would have pulled the whole rig down except that the stay had a plastic PVC cover on it. The anchor, thankfully, rolled off the stay, damaging only the cover.

Autopilots can do that. They can be steering the boat dependably for quite some time. Then a wave hits the rudder wrong, or the power hiccups, or -- you won't always know why, but the boat suddenly makes a hard, lurching, and completely unpredictable turn.

If this happens to your boat and you're on deck somewhere instead of in the cockpit, and you're moving at 6 - 7 knots, that sudden turn can throw you into the water.

So what do you do? Because we all know we're not going to give up our autopilots.

First of all, any time you're relying on autopilot while you move around the boat, slow the boat down to the minimum speed you need to maintain steerage. That's whether you're going on deck or below decks, because you don't want to be thrown around in the cabin either. I suggest that you slow down  even if you have someone at the helm, because humans can control for things like errant waves in ways that electronic gadgets cannot. It's all about keeping the person who is out of the cockpit safe.

Second of all, always remember the old rule, "One hand for the boat, and one for yourself." Don't be up on deck doing something with both hands, and nothing to hold on to. If you have to use both hands, then you should be tethered. For instance, if you're reefing the boat, clip the tether to your PFD, wrap it twice around the mast if it's long, and then clip it to your PFD again. I know someone who did that as a storm approached. The wind hit before he was done reefing, and his boat heeled over nearly 90º. He was knocked off the cabintop but stayed on the boat, which saved his life.

Autopilots are terrific. They let you go down to the head, or grab a sandwich, or get that CD you want. Used intelligently in open waters (not near other boats, for instance -- please, I don't want to be hit again, and you really don't want to hit another boat), they are a tremendous asset. Just remember that they introduce a new element of risk along with all that tremendous convenience.

Beyond this, ALWAYS ask yourself when you get a new piece of equipment: "OK, I know the good it can do -- what can it do that's bad?" A preventer can keep you from a dangerous jybe when you're sailing downwind. I don't know how many times I've heard that. However, only one person ever pointed out that if you attach it to the boom in the wrong place, it can bend (destroy) your boom.

We're all newer sailors here, but I know for a fact that people who have been sailing for more than 60 years are still learning things. Complicating this process is the fact that we don't know what we don't know. So we don't know that the autopilot can send us for a swim, or that the preventer can bend the boom. Take all the things you have on the boat and make sure you know the downsides as well as the upsides. The internet can be a great help, but use it with caution, as the internet is packed with misinformation, some of it dangerous. As you keep poking around, you'll start to get a sense for what is and isn't likely to be true.

This one is true: your autopilot can pitch you in the drink. Turn it off if you have crew and put someone on the helm before you leave the cockpit. If you're by yourself, slow it down to steerage speed.

And have fun out there!

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Oops -- What Do We Do Now?

I have some sailing friends who, like me, are newer sailors. They're working hard to improve their skills and split their time between improving their boat and sailing it.

They were out a couple of weeks ago when they suddenly had trouble with their roller furler. They were jybing, and I suspect the headsail wrapped around the furler. Jybes can be easy, but you have to keep control of the lines. Of course, a sheet can slip out of anyone's hands (gloves help, but ... stuff happens.)

So they did the logical thing. One stayed on the helm, and one went forward to straighten out the sail.

While they were doing that, they ran aground. Oops. Things tend to cascade like that.

What could they have done to avoid it?

Sometimes there's nothing you can do. One time as I was leaving a marina, my outboard died. It was a lowering tide, and I knew there was a shallow area just to starboard. Unfortunately there was a strong wind from the east. When the engine died, that wind had us solidly aground within five seconds. There was nothing we could have done.

However, in retrospect, my friends had some choices. Here's what I and others recommended to them for next time:

1) quickly check for lines in the water (a real possibility when the headsail is out of control)

2) start the engine

3) notice where you are before deciding what to do.

If they'd stopped to think about where they were, they would have known they were near shallow spots. A better option probably would have been to turn around and move to a place with room to work. The sail would flap around a bit, but that's not the end of the world. Engine power would keep the boat from "sailing crazy" while the headsail was tangled (the time this happened to me, the boat sailed in circles until I got it untangled).

What if you have a different problem, and you don't have power, or you can't steer? I told a story a week or so ago where someone ended up with a line wrapped around both the rudder and the propeller. They were in very deep water, but if you aren't, put the anchor down.

Your goal should be to prevent things from getting worse as well as solving the original problem. If you're lucky you may prevent one thing from leading to another and another and another ...

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Bugs!

It's a fact. Boats are havens for bugs. You know, the awful ones. The ones we whisper "roach" when we see them, right before we run around screaming.

I've had reason to do a little research on them, unfortunately. It turns out that they can live inside or outside. They're opportunistic. Now, anyone with any sense can look at a boat and see that with its dark, damp corners, it would be a haven for bugs. If you don't keep your food in bug-proof containers it's really just a matter of time. But I had done that. I grew up with that as a child and continued the practice all my life. I never even thought about it.

Several of my neighbors had also mentioned seeing them as well, and the timing was suspicious. The marina had just had to re-plumb the entire dock, and I think it disturbed some outdoor-living beasties. At least one male and female (or a female with eggs) decided my boat was a great place to move to.

Well, I'm nearly 68. I know it's Florida, but I grew up in Florida, and I've lived here since 2005, and I've never, ever had bugs ... until a couple of months ago. Here's the problem with bugs and boats -- there are many, many places for them to hide. You may not realize they're there as quickly as you might in a house.

Complicating things, I have a pet. We moved out and bombed the place. That has gotten rid of the occasional palmetto bug (who really don't want to be in your home or on your boat, and who do not eat things like the little crumbs you didn't see and didn't sweep up), but it did not faze these critters.

Plus, then I had to wash down the entire interior of the boat. Even if I hadn't felt that was necessary for me, cats rub up against everything and then lick their fur.

Naturally, when the first bomb didn't work, I did it again. Apparently I like difficult, repetitive chores.

I talked to an exterminator who said that spraying might keep them from coming aboard, but especially in a boat, with all its hiding places, it would not solve the problem. He suggested a paste that he places, exposed, in places the little critters are likely to go. I wasn't really comfortable with that. My cat rubs against every new thing to put her scent on it. I didn't want exposed poison on the boat.

So before doing that, I went to the store and I found RAID "large roach baits." this is a paste poison but in a container that would protect the cat. I put lots down in every conceivable place.

That solved the problem quite rapidly and effectively, I'm happy to report.

So here's the

LESSON LEARNED:

Be proactive. Get something like RAID's "Large baits," and put them out *before* you have a problem. I wish I had, but this boat will be protected from now on. There are a couple of brands of this type of bait, and switching them occasionally might be a good idea. Just assume the beasties are out there, looking to make your boat their home ... because they are!

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Your Chart is Probably Out of Date--Updated

PS: I just spent the weekend with club friends in a little cove off the Manatee River. There's a very high spot shown on both paper and electronic charts that's supposed to only be 3.3' deep at mean low tide.

I had difficulty getting the anchor up, and in the process, according to my chart plotter my boat drifted all over that spot, but the chart plotter, which I checked frequently because I knew about that supposed bump, showed I never had less than 9..4' water to work in. There's another example of how wrong charts can be. Someone had told me with great confidence that this "bump" wouldn't change because there was no current in there, but of course, since it's on the south side of the river, a lot of storms will stir that water up. In any event, the bump seems to be gone. This is actually the most dramatic case of change I've come across so far.


I've shown pictures of floating buoys in a major channel in the Tampa Bay area before:

 

This photo faces east. This is Channel Marker #10 in the Sunshine Skyway Channel. You can see exposed sand beyond. Channel Markers #8 and #12 are significantly farther east than this one is. The Channel is shoaling, or filling in with loose sand, at this spot. I took this picture some months ago. Since then I've seen a sailboat aground, in the channel, north of this spot. In addition, to the south, another piling has been taken down and another floating buoy moved significantly west. The eastern edge of this channel is starting to get a bit zig-zaggy!

I ran lightly aground between markers 2 and 4 a couple of weeks ago. We had a lower than average low tide, partly influenced by the 25 mph north wind that apparently blew a fair amount of Tampa Bay's water to Venezuela. I got off fairly easily; sand that has just moved hasn't had a chance to compact yet and gives way fairly easily. I've also "skipped bottom" at other spots in the channel.

I don't know when the powers that be will get around to redredging this channel, but probably it takes a while. Meanwhile, what do I have to go by? One thing is for sure: my chart still shows both channel markers in their old places. So does my chart plotter.

Meanwhile, we've had a run of unusually low tides here. The lowest point doesn't typically go below mean low tide (except for that one very windy day), but we're not having full high tides. Since the typical distance from low to high tide around here is only two feet, when the tide only rises one foot "high tide" isn't a lot of help in very shallow places.

But the problem with charts and chart plotters lagging behind real life is more complicated than just where the channel markers are. At the southern end of the Skyway Bridge Channel, it appears that there is deeper water -- 8' - 10' -- just to the west of Channel Marker 2. So it would *appear* that one could just bypass the southern entrance by going west of it, and then enter the channel past that shoaling spot.

However, if the channel is filling in to that degree, perhaps the area to the west of it is filling in as well.

When faced with such situations, local knowledge can be a great help. Local fishermen may know, or local dockmasters, charter captains, etc. You can get on the radio and see if you can raise someone. or put someone, preferably someone with experience in shallow water, on the bow. Proceed very slowly, so if you do run aground, your boat's speed doesn't make it worse. 

For now, I'm just avoiding that patch of water at low tide. I'm not going to go through there at night by myself unless I have a full-out high tide, and even then it wouldn't be my first choice, because being aground in a narrow channel at night is not exactly an ideal situation. 

So don't trust your chart plotter 100%. Don't completely trust the routes you've plotted on it unless it's all through known deep water. Keep your eyes open, and reduce your speed at night. Keep a log of such instances so you're not left scratching your head next time, thinking, "Now where was that high spot?" You don't want it under your keel!

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Really Bad Joke and a Small Amount of Information

So, a rope goes into a bar and sits down.

The bartender comes over and says, "You're a rope."

"Yes, I am," says the rope.

The bartender says, "We don't serve ropes in here. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave."

So the rope gets up and goes outside. He ties himself up and fluffs out his ends. He goes back into the bar and sits down again on the same stool he was on before.

The bartender comes over to him and says suspiciously, "Say ... aren't you the rope I just threw out of here?"

Comes the answer: "I'm a frayed knot!"

Corny!!

A friend who has been sailing for over sixty years passed this tip on to us. He's amazed that he didn't learn it until he'd been sailing for more than 20 years.

When you coil a rope, do it clockwise, not counter-clockwise. The rope is twisted when it's made in a way that will cause it to want to knot all up if you coil it counter-clockwise.

He also had a tip about the "geezer halyard" I wrote about yesterday, in fact any halyard. He recommends against hanking the halyard and hanging it from its winch. You may need to use it very quickly. He recommends coiling it in a circle (clockwise, of course). He suggests stowing it in a bag. It will be much easier to use in a hurry if stowed that way.

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The Coolest Halyard on the Planet

The other day a club member proudly showed me a very clever modification he has made to his boat, and it's worth passing on. He calls it his "geezer halyard." This sailor is in his early 70's, not ready to give up sailing, but ready for some of the harder physical tasks to be a little easier.

Meanwhile I had heard from an old friend -- my long-lost first husband, actually, the man who introduced me to sailing and got me so hooked on it that I spent nearly 40 years daydreaming about returning to the sport some day. While he is generally in good health, he had to have rotater cuff surgery not that long ago, and was looking for easier ways to handle his boat. However, this adaptation isn't just for "senior citizens." I have a thirty-year-old daughter who has also had rotater cuff surgery. The truth is that any of us can have some sort of injury at any time that could make sailing harder for us.

If you look at the picture below, you'll actually see a couple of things this clever inventor has done to make his boat easier to manage. If you see the triangular thing sticking off the mast, that's one of a series of mast steps. With those mast steps, he can still climb his own mast.

Which he did. At the top, he used a pop rivet gun to attach a piece of hardware at the *very top* of the side of the mast. He attached an extra long halyard to that hardware. before leading that halyard through its sheave at the top of the mast, he first dropped it to near the bottom, and fed it through a block attached to a snapshackle. Then he took the halyard back to the top of the mast, through the sheave, back down the mast and through turn blocks to run it back to the cabin top and cockpit. (You don't have to run your halyards back to the cockpit, but it will make the boat much easier and safer to sail single-handed.)

In the picture below, the snapshackle for his halyard is run back to a loop on the top of his StackPack. If you're going to attach your halyard to a lifeline, that will require a little more length as well, so measure appropriately.

The "Geezer Halyard." You can see the extended halyard dropping

from the top of the mast, through a block, and back up again.

When he's ready to sail, he moves the snapshackle from his StackPack to the head of his sail. Because of the block attached to the snapshackle, he now has 2:1 purchase on his halyard. I tried it. His halyard is remarkably easy to raise. It certainly would make the task easier not only for those with shoulder injuries, but those with bad backs or arthritis in their hands.

This sailor put his block and snapshackle together from hardware he already had, but he's going to make a few changes.

First of all, the snapshackle he used is the type that swivels. This allows the two lengths of halyard going up to the sheave to twist, so it has introduced one more thing that can go wrong while raising the sail. Below are pictures of hardware I found at West Marine, a single block, and a non-swiveling snapshackle to attach to the becket.

Hardware used to connect your 2:1 halyard to the head of your sail

 It's still possible to get the two lengths of halyard twisted, but it's a good practice to eyeball the entire length of your halyard to look for things it might be hung up on anyway. The block costs about $36 at West Marine, and the snapshackle about $22. It's crucial that you use stainless steel hardware. You do not want your hardware to break at the top of the mast.

Besides the extra (but avoidable) chance of a fouled halyard, there are two other downsides to this adaptation. First, you'll have a lot of extra line in the cockpit after the sail is raised. Once your halyard is raised, you're going to have extra halyard in the cockpit. One option is to take a moment and hank the dangling halyard. If your halyard has a dedicated winch, you can put a loop over the winch, and the halyard will be stowed neatly. You can also find "line bags" on line you can hang near the bottom of your mast or in your cockpit to catch that line.

Second, you will have increased the number of turns your halyard has to make as you drop it. You may find that you have to go to the mast and help encourage the sail to drop when you're ready to take the sails down.

There's one more thing you might want to note about the hardware shown above: the sheave in the block I photographed is black. It seems counter-intuitive, but black plastic is more resistant to damage from UV rays than white. A block with a black sheave in it will last longer than one with a white sheave.

Finally, make sure your halyard size runs freely through the block, and that the snapshackle is large enough to attach easily to the head of your sail. If you choose a piece of hardware with a pin in it, make sure it's of a type where the pin can't be completely removed. The halyard hardware on my first boat used a pin that could fall out, and it did within five days. Then, of course, it bounced on the cabin top and into the marina. If a crucial piece of hardware can free itself it will, laughing all the way to the bottom.

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Docking by Yourself at a T-Dock -- with new and improved photos

At many marinas they have what is called a "transient" dock, or T-dock. Often it is literally shaped like a T, in that your boat comes along side the top of the T. The boat is only secured on one side.

You might be by yourself, or we can use the example we used before that your sailing companion has injured himself and is sitting with ice on his ankle. You're going to have to secure the boat yourself.

As you glide up to the dock in neutral, make note of the wind direction. If you're coming up on the starboard side of your boat but the wind is coming across the starboard side, you have to get the bow and stern secured rapidly. It doesn't have to be beautiful on first pass.

An easy way to do this is to attach a long line (at least twice as long as your boat) to your stern cleat. Have the boat in neutral but still gliding slowly forward. As you glide up to the dock, just throw the line over and behind what will be, temporarily at least, your stern piling. Keep hold of the bitter end as you do this. Don't tie any kind of knot -- just let it lie behind the piling.

Walk to the bow and throw the line over and behind another piling near the bow, again hanging on to the bitter end, and lash it off at the bow cleat.

Clearly your boat is not permanently tied up now, but the wind can no longer blow it away from the dock. With the boat temporarily somewhat secure, it's now easy to tie the boat up properly, taking your time.

Since I often bring my boat up to a one-sided dock, I have a long line (120') permanently fastened with a baggage tie knot  (sometimes called a cow hitch) to my toe rail, about amidships. A stanchion will work well if you don't have a stout perforated toe rail.

Baggage tie, also sometimes called a "cow hitch"

I keep the line divided in half with each half separately hanked, hanging from the life lines.

Total length of this line is 120', attached to toe rail with a baggage tie at the middle of the line,
with each loose end separately hanked.

Take one end of your very long line (the one attached to your boat with a baggage tie), and attach it to a piling between midships and bow with a clove hitch.

Clove hitch used around a piling allows one line to be used both as spring line and as bow or stern line.

The bitter end of that line goes up to your bow cleat. Undo your temporary line from that cleat, throw it on the dock, and cleat off the new line. You have now used half of that baggage tie line as both spring and bow line.

You'll repeat this process with the other half of your very long line: first use it as a spring line with a clove hitch at a piling between amidships and the stern, and then take the bitter end to the stern and attach it with a cleat hitch. Gather up your temporary dock line, re-hank it and stow it. You'll need it again when you leave this dock if you don't have someone helping on the dock.

Now you can see exactly where to put your fenders and fender boards to keep your boat off the dock. I do recommend that you set the boat so you don't have any stanchions pressing up against pilings.

So what if you have to get away from the dock by yourself? Once again, study the wind direction. If, for instance, your bow is pointing to the west, if the wind is from the north it is possible that if you just put a temporary line around the rear piling and your rear cleat, the wind will blow your bow in the direction it needs to go while you keep the boat near the dock with that stern line. Or it may be best to just pull forward, turn into a fairway and turn the boat around. It will vary according to wind, current, and your boat's characteristics. You want this line to just be a single loop around the piling so you can remove it easily as you leave the dock.

One thing is for sure, though, you won't want to be wrestling with 120' of line, tied to pilings with clove hitches, as you try to exit. Keeping line out of the water has to be of paramount importance. Let that line get wrapped around your rudder or propeller and you'll be at the dock longer than you expected!

So just reverse the process. One cleat at a time, replace your very long line with a line just laid behind the pilings and latched on to your cleats (just as you did when you first came alongside the dock). This time, you can use a "half cleat hitch" on your stern and bow cleats. (If this knot has another name I would love to hear of it). 

It's easily made. You lead your line to the cleat, but the only part of the cleat hitch you use is the very last turn of the line, when you make a loop and twist it before hooking it over the horn of the cleat.

 Step 1, with the red and white line laid around the cleat.

Step 2. You'll make a loop with the right end,

pull it around the cleat, twist it, and slip it over the left horn

of the cleat. Your half-hitch on a cleat is complete.

This makes a working knot that will hold well but that can be undone rapidly and easily. 

Standard cleat hitch

 Just for reference, compare that quick, temporary half-cleat to the full cleat hitch below. You should use the full cleat hitch when the boat is fully secured at the dock.

Hank your very long line and re-hang both ends from the lifelines. You don't need to be tripping over it as you move along the side of the boat -- or worse, have a long line trailing in the water when you know the propeller wants to get to know it better!

When you're ready to release that temporary line, use the wind to judge which end to undo first. We'll say it's the bow, and that the wind is going to catch the bow, and spin the boat slowly around until the bow is pointing toward the east instead of the west.

Put the engine in neutral, release the half-cleat hitch on the bow, and throw it on the dock near the stern. Get back to the cockpit, and start pulling the line in around the stern piling, holding on to and working both ends so the extra line goes onto your boat and not into the water. When the boat is turned, pull the remaining line in (keeping it out of the water, very important since it's near the stern), put the boat in forward and drive away from the dock with the wind at your stern.

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Change Your Impeller!

I was sailing on a friend's boat one weekend for one of BCYC's monthly cruises. I use the word "sailing" loosely. My friend had sails up on principle, but since the winds were only about 2 mph, the engine was running.

He had put me at the helm and was giving me a variety of useful tips, so I wasn't surprised when he periodically walked by the helm on his center cockpit boat.

I didn't notice that his engine temperature gauge was installed on the side of the binnacle (the pedestal that holds the wheel), but one of the things he was doing was checking the engine temperature.

On one pass, he said, "The engine's overheating. Shut her down, and you'll have to sail her while my friend and I go below to see what's going on. Can you do that?"

His boat was 37' while mine was 25', but I assured him that I could sail the boat and that I would come get him if there was a problem. He and his friend went below.

Forty-five minutes later, he and his friend came back up. His friend looked as if he didn't feel at all well -- in the US we have s saying, "a bit green around the gills," for feeling nauseous. Well, he'd had his head in an engine for 45 minutes, smelling all those engine smells, while the boat gently rolled, so I wasn't surprised.

My friend held out his hand. There was his old impeller, broken into eight pieces.

My friend had been smart. He put down a paper towel on the cabin floor, and put the broken pieces of impeller on the paper. Then the two of them put it back together like a puzzle. That's how they knew there was still one piece of impeller somewhere in the cooling system, and they hunted until they found it.

Well, that was a bit of bother, wasn't it? What if he had been the only person on the boat? He still could have done it, but he would have had to put the anchor down, get to work on the engine, come up periodically to make sure the anchor wasn't dragging, etc.

Your engine manufacturer probably tells you right in the manual to replace the impeller once a year. Most sailors will tell you to "carry a spare in case it breaks."

That's two different pieces of advice, and it's the manufacturer's recommendation you should follow. It was hard to be that diligent on my old engine. You had to do a bit of engine dismantling to change the impeller, including taking the water pump off.

That makes it all the more important to replace that impeller *before* it breaks.

This happened to my friend's boat on a calm day. He didn't need the engine to get him away from a lee shore, or to fight a strong current, or to get through a bridge safely. There was no one injured we needed to get to shore. We were in open water. I had to tack the boat once to get it away from the shore, but that wasn't a crisis.

But it could have been.

Follow your engine manufacturer's recommendations on this kind of thing, because a simple thing like an impeller can contribute to a "cascade event" of things going wrong. Even if you have another person with you, he or she may not have the skills to maneuver your boat safely through a storm while you change the impeller you should have changed three months before.

Here's a good article from BOAT US on how to do it:

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/replacing-impeller.asp

If it breaks unexpectedly, do what my friend did. Lay down a paper towel, put every piece on that towel, and make sure you got every bit of it.

Go through your manual, and make a time table for all these basic maintenance issues. We tend to think of our engines as something to get you out of the marina and on to the water -- but do you really want your boat adrift in a crowded marina?

No, I didn't think so.

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Why Sailing is not Like Driving a Car, No. 2

In yesterday's entry I wrote about how important it is to train your crew well, teaching even total newcomers some useful skill that you can count on in a pinch.

For how to teach, I used the example of how one club instructor put her hands over her mouth to force her to not give too many prompts when her students should have been performing independently.

While teaching sail school, she had realized that her students couldn't dock a sailboat unless they could do it without her giving them a single prompt, and she had her hands over her mouth as they approached the safety boat to dock next to it.

Last night I happened to speak with the father of this instructor. Her father said that she had been steering their tiller sailboat for 10 years when she signed up for driver's ed at school. Neither she nor her parents expected any problems. She was a straight-A student, and many students took "Driver's Ed" for the easy A of it.

Not this young lady. She was flunking driver's ed. HUH? NOBODY flunks driver's ed!

So her dad took her to a large, empty parking lot one Sunday, one without parking bumpers or other barriers, to see what was going on.

She started out driving straight, just fine. He didn't see a problem. Then he told her to turn left -- and she turned the car right!

She was handling the steering wheel like a tiller!

So if you have a crew member struggling with some basic skill, isolate that skill and watch carefully what is going on. Several months ago, I did this with a sailor I knew. He had been sailing the Catalinas for five years but his movement across the water was often erratic and unpredictable. He obviously struggled with tacking to the point that he would know he was going to run aground on a known high point, but seemed unable to turn the boat in time to get out of the way.

So I went out with him, and discovered that he really didn't have any solid idea of how to tack the boat. He just tried something new each time, hoping he would figure it out and get it right (it turned out that someone had told him to do this -- see my many references about people who give one bad advice!)

I wrote a very detailed, 15-step method for tacking and gave it to him. He said he would read it and study it, and agreed to go out with me on one of the little 16.5' Catalinas to sort it out.

After reading the list, he politely canceled the sailing date.

He canceled s similar date with someone else.

Finally he said to me one day, "I just want to be the best sailor I can." I said, "Then go out with me and let's sort this out."

So we did, and I and my list of things to do were driving him crazy. Finally he said, "Just let me do it my way," and I said "OK."

Turned out he was doing everything right -- except for one thing: he didn't know where to start the tack. Somewhere in sail school he had not learned that (probably because instructors always prompted  him -- too much "help"). So he would, say, have the wind nearly astern when he started the tack. Of course the boat would make a broad, slow turn, and it might end anywhere, including moving in a complete circle, ending where he had been before.  If you don't tack with a plan, how will you know when to end it? Or he might not have had enough speed by the time he got to the "no-go" zone, and the boat would swing back over to starboard.

All I had to do was remind him of the "no go" zone, and explain that he should sail along, say, the starboard side, build up speed, spot where he wanted to end, move through the "no go" zone -- and stop the tack.

He did it perfectly the first time -- with no prompts. Then he did it perfectly three more times.

So then we expanded the concept to a controlled jybe, keeping the boom close to center so there wouldn't be a huge snap when the sail picked up the wind on the other side. Then he did THAT perfectly with no prompts.

So then we just sailed around, and he started calling all the moves very well: "prepare to tack," and I had to hustle to keep up with him, because he now knew exactly what he was doing. Acting as skipper and calling all the shots, sometimes he tacked and sometimes he jybed, getting it all right every single time.

Meanwhile, the wind shifted to northerly. Uh-oh! When the wind is from the north, to get into the marina you have to sail up a narrow north-south canal to get to the entrance. It certainly isn't impossible, but unless you have a motor, you have to make a series of short, quick tacks -- or run aground at a place where this man had been notorious for running aground.

No problem this time!. He took charge as skipper, executed the tacks crisply and accurately, turned into the club's basin, and expertly sailed the little boat into its slip. He told me what to do, when to do it, and used one sail, expertly managed, to get the boat home -- just as he had been doing most of the afternoon.

Give too many prompts, and you keep your crew member from learning. This person's problem with tacking is the most concrete and perfect example I can think of to demonstrate just how important it is to let anyone you're teaching to perform completely independently, even if you see them making a mistake.

If they make a mistake, discuss it *afterwards.* Give them a chance to practice it, and when they get to that point on the next attempt, put your hands over your mouth if you have to, but DO NOT PROMPT THEM OR GIVE THE CLUES. Just don't. Discuss it afterwards.

Even then, don't tell them what they did wrong. ASK them if they know what mistake they made. Give them time to think. Give them a chance to learn.

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Why Sailing is not Like Driving a Car, No. 1

Two days ago I wrote about how a sailor and his two friends ended up in a lot of trouble, going way too fast to be able to control the boat in winds and waves much too big for the sails they had up (which included a giant asymmetrical spinnaker). The title of it is "Too Much Sail Up!"

Nothing like that ever happens in a car. Cars aren't moved around by wind, waves, and current. This is why we get speeding tickets -- because we have such effective ways to slow our cars down. In the article named above, Dick ended up in a very dangerous situation because sailboats don't have brakes -- and because no one else on the boat knew how to steer her well.

The problem is that most of the people who read this blog are going to end up in a situation somewhat like Dick's some day -- unless it's happened already. Even then, something just as dangerous could happen to us again. And, like Dick, as our enthusiasm and confidence grows, we'll start inviting other people to sail with us, including some people who perhaps have never sailed before or who have very litttle experience. We'll think "I know everything I need to know to get my boat and friends in safely," but it doesn't always work out that way. All the adults on your boat should learn some skill that can help in a pinch, even if it's just "tailing" the sheets as you change a tack, or steering for short distances.

I'm going to list some reasons sailing a boat is different than driving a car, and explain a few things I feel are important about those differences. This is important because people new to sailing will tend to think about sailing as they think about driving. It's important that they know the differences.  I invite *anyone* who has a similar example comparing driving to sailing to send me an email at

Rakuflames@gmail.com

I know it can be hard to participate on this board and I want to fix that.

For now, please send only things you've noticed have to be done very differently on a sailboat than in a car. If it works well, we will open the blog up to other topics later. I have always wanted this board to be more interactive, and this may be one way to do it.

So here's some big difference between driving and sailing that occurred to me this morning. I hadn't really thought about this first one one before:

WHEN WE DRIVE, we drive in two dimensions. We're driving on what geometry calls a two-dimensional plane. No matter where we go, unless the car becomes airborne in an accident, we only have to deal with flat surfaces. We don't have to worry about whether the keel is going to catch on something. We don't have to worry about whether a mast is going to hit something. Length ("Are we there yet, Daddy? Are we there?") is an issue. Width (is that oncoming truck crossing the center line?) is an issue. But we don't have to worry about what is under or over us.

BUT WHEN WE SAIL, we sail in three dimensions. We have to pay attention to what is above and below us as well as what is all around us. Driving is like moving over a long piece of paper. Sailing is like moving through a very large tube.

WHEN WE DRIVE, it's very clear where our car is supposed to be. This makes both our car and other people's cars much more predictable than boats.

BUT WHEN WE SAIL, except in rare circumstances, there are no "lanes" on the water when sailing. Even when in a channel, often there's no hard and fast rule about which side of the channel to be on. I try to stay to the starboard side of the channel when I can, but if a section of channel is "shoaling," or starting to fill up with sand, I may have to move more to center or even port side of the channel so my keel won't play tag with the bottom.

WHEN WE DRIVE, we have brakes.

BUT WHEN WE SAIL, the closest thing we have to brakes is to put the boat in reverse. This takes several seconds. First you have to slow down in forward to a dead crawl. Then you have to shift into neutral, and then into reverse. The time we're most likely to do this is while docking, and timing can be critical. Tricky judgments have to be made at that point, so we don't give the boat too much throttle in reverse, but enough to keep from hitting that big cement pier that's coming closer and closer to our bow. (Of course if you are bringing your boat in stern first, that's all changed. You're in reverse, and now you have to move your gear shift from reverse, to neutral, to forward.)

WHEN WE DRIVE, steering is simpler. Unless we're driving on a very slippery surface such as ice, steering is easy.  There's a direct relationship between how much you turn the steering wheel on a car and exactly how far that car turns. That's why we can change lanes safely as well as parallel park without causing a traffic jam. It's very clear when to stop a turn, and the car straightens out immediately. That's because the car has traction.

BUT WHEN WE SAIL, we don't want traction. We want the boat to glide as effortlessly through the water as possible. The things that can give us traction in the water, such as barnacles and other crud on the hull, are bad, and we work hard to get rid of them.

In addition, because of lack of traction on a sailboat, deciding when to end a turn is trickier. We may spot a point on the land that we want to be the end of our turn, but we have to stop turning the wheel or pushing the tiller before we get to that point because the boat glides with no traction. It will continue to turn after we have "centered up" the wheel or tiller.


That's a very short and incomplete list of some of the important differences. Why waste blog space on it? If you're going to sail with beginners, you have to lead them past that stage where they're clueless to a point where they can seamlessly step up to their assignment and know how to do the job. If you have to go up to the bow to do something difficult like changing a sail, the boat has to be under control by a helmsman who understands the differences between driving a car and piloting a boat.

And unless you train them well, beginners will look to their driving skills to help them out. While there's some overlap, the differences are important and have to be acknowledged.

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Too Much Sail Up!

I heard about a sailor the other day who, as they say, ended "up to his neck in alligators." I'll call him "Dick."

Dick had taken a several-day sailing trip with a couple of friends who had sailed some with him before but who didn't have a lot of experience yet.

Dick was the person at the helm. they were sailing with an asymmetrical spinnaker out. An asymmetrical spinnaker flies to either the port or starboard side of the boat, not out in front while running downwind, as a symmetrical spinnaker is used.

Asymmetrical spinnaker deployed on port side
Source for photo: http://www.yagersails.com/spinnaker.html

As you can see, that's a lot of sail. Now, there are some basic rules about sails.

• The heavier the weather for which the sail is designed, the heavier and stiffer the fabric will be. My ATN Gale Sail is only tricky to attach to the roller furler because the fabric is so stiff. But because it is stiff, I can make that sail completely flat, something you want in higher winds. 
• The higher the wind, the smaller you want your sails to be. This is why mainsails can be reefed. 
• The higher the wind, the stronger you want that sail fabric to be, so it can take the extra wind pressure without ripping.
• The higher the wind, the flatter you want the sail to be. A big belly in a sail catches a lot more wind than a hard, flat sail. Look at the belly in that picture above -- wowsa!

A spinnaker sail fails on all four points. Spinnaker cloth is just about the lightest-weight sail cloth made. When the winds pick up significantly, at some point it's time to take the spinnaker down, or "douse" it.

Well, Dick didn't pay full attention to what we call "rising conditions." Both the winds and the waves were picking up. All of a sudden his boat took off, racing on the overpowered spinnaker. The boat was out of control.

So now he had some decisions to make -- who does what? (Remember my article "Ten Minutes to Prepare?") Part of deciding who will do what is making sure that the person will know how to execute his or her designated task. Unfortunately, Dick is an optimist and did not anticipate this change in conditions. He also didn't assign tasks ahead of time, and he didn't train those people for their assignments.

But I know what the BIG thing is that went wrong for Dick -- he's a helm hog. He doesn't want to share the helm. Because of that, he did not have a skilled backup helmsman.

When he found himself overpowered, he had to go up to the bow in rough seas and douse that great big sail, keeping it under control and out of the water (having that sail go into the water would have been extremely dangerous. It could have pulled the boat over and then under like a submarine.) He had two relatively inexperienced people back in the cockpit, one of them on the helm. The person on the helm couldn't hold a steady course with the increased wind and waves, and who could blame him? You need to have someone else who can take the helm, but you have to teach that person and give him or her time to practice. Otherwise your backup helmsman is going to have a hard time. You have to share the helm if you're going to have an adequate backup helmsman in a pinch.

Dick called out instructions, but the new helmsman either didn't understand the instructions or couldn't execute them. It could have been a combination of both. In any case, they ended up with a line in the water AND wrapped around the rudder. When the people in the cockpit realized they couldn't steer, they started the engine. That is only a good choice if the helmsman and crew are certain that there are ... no lines in the water. The line then very efficiently wrapped itself around the propeller as well.

Again, this is a problem resulting from poor crew training and lack of time doing important things on the boat, what a friend of mine calls "time over water" (and not just as a passenger). There are extremely directive skippers out there, who give so many detailed instructions that the crewmember is just an extension of the skipper, doing no thinking for himself (picking a sex). The more prompts you give as a skipper, the less your crew member will actually learn.

Your crew has to practice these things under calm conditions, and "checking for lines in the water" needs to be drilled into everyone's head before they go *anywhere* near that engine -- in fact, all the time. That line wrapped itself around the rudder without any help from the engine. If you're going to take beginners out on your boat, you have a responsibility to teach them those basic things. If something happens, starting the engine is a very reasonable thing to do. They need to know how to do it safely.

He had to cut the spinnaker lines and let it drift away, but all's well that ends well. The skipper also had to go over the side to untangle that line from the rudder and propeller. That's not so good; he had to leave his boat for the water with crew on board who were already struggling. Again, all's well that ends well.

BUT:

You can avoid a lot of this by discouraging a casual attitude toward sailing on your boat. Make sure that your crew knows that it can be a little dangerous. Make sure they truly know how to perform the tasks you're going to assign them. Teach them patiently and give them a chance to practice.

I was on the sail school's safety boat one day when the students were learning to dock (those of us on the safety boat call that "target practice.") Each student boat made pass after pass, and we could hear the instructors giving tips and encouragement to their students. If the students were doing the docking, they should have been giving the directions to the teacher and other student, but each time, it was the teacher speaking.

Then one of the boats approached. I looked at the instructor, and she had her hands over her mouth! One student was in charge of the docking with the other student crewing. The student did a great job. Then they made another pass, and the other student executed the "mock dock." He did a great job too, and the teacher still had her hands over her mouth.

Hats off to her. She knows that unless those students can dock the boat without any prompting from her, they can't dock the boat. That's what you should do, too. If you want your crew to be able to tack the boat without your help, put one of them on the helm and one of them on the sheets -- and then zip your lips.

And for heaven's sake, don't be a helm hog. One day it could be your life on the line.

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Freighters are the Big Boys and They Can Smash You Up

Correction: I said below that the sailboat was not found to be at fault. That has not been decided yet. The decision reported here was made by the Washington State Department of Transportation. They looked only at what their ferry captain and crew did. The Coast Guard will look at both boats' actions, and probably assign fault to both, since the sailor acknowledged paying too much attention to his radar at the time.

Some time ago I put up a short-term entry about how I was booted off of Cruisers and Sailing Forum because I said things others didn’t agree with. Those other posters got rude and snarky,

Over and over since then it’s turned out that the things I said that were sneered at – turned out to be true.

When the incident linked a little below (second link), that of a Washington State Ferry sinking a sailboat, was first reported, I suggested that the ferry captain might be at fault. Well, there are several professional ship’s captains on that forum, all of whom took my comment personally. I was told what excellent watches all commercial ships always keep.

Well, maybe not, because then there’s the example below. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe this particular freighter kept an adequate watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-RIM...e_gdata_player

(I hope there were no live-aboards in that marina, and no pets aboard ...)

Then I had the temerity to say that no matter what the COLREGS say, sailboats would be smart to steer clear of big freighters and cruise ships. Then EVERYONE got in an uproar. It was yet another deliberately provoking poke at commercial captains (in their view), and it gave horrible advice to sailors (in their view). Nothing but chaos would follow (in their view).

Well, now the Washington ferry/sailboat collision has been investigated, and the ferry captain and crew have been found to be at fault. They must all go through retraining on keeping a good watch. I didn't see any mention of attributing any blame to the sailboat, which almost always happens -- almost always, both boats are found to be at fault to one degree or another.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/11/Hyak_111313.htm

The powers that be on The Forum seemed to think I said the things I said in order to be confrontational, but the truth is that we are all responsible for our responses to what we perceive as provocations. We’re also responsible for our perceptions.

Your common sense, and that still small voice in the pit of your stomach hollering “Don’t do that!!!” are your FRIENDS. Meanwhile, strangers can give you really bad advice for all sorts of reasons. The more invested they are in being "the one who is right," the further they may go and the harder they may work to convince you that their misinformation is the best sailing advice you'll ever be given.

As for the sailor in the Washington collision, thankfully, he survived. He also apparently had the right of way, but his boat is at the bottom of the channel, and he didn’t have to survive that collision. He was very lucky.

Here’s a video of a collision I’ve put up before, one where the sailboat was at fault. I’m going to point out something I didn’t mention the last time I put this video up: pay close attention to the sails on the sailboat (it has a shocking pink spinnaker). You’ll see that they lose their shape. In all likelihood, that sailboat slowed down as it crossed the freighter’s path. Maybe the freighter blocked the wind, but an experienced racer would have spotted that coming. More likely, the freighter distorted wind flow in some way the helmsman on the sailboat didn’t anticipate. (This can happen under bridges, also.) Either way, the result was devastating for the sailboat. You can hear three of the five warning horn blasts the freighter gave:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tUoUxzt9sI

Give way to freighters. Just stay out of their way. Do it early, and make it as obvious as possible (in other words, make a big turn, not a small course correction). They move fast, and you’ll soon be on your intended course again.

Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it’s going to be bad for the pitcher. Don’t play “chicken” with freighters.

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A Tale of Two Sailors

“Abilities wither under faultfinding, and blossom under encouragement.”
— Donald A. Laird

The other day, I spoke with two different sailors about two different issues. Neither of them are close friends of mine.

Person A greeted me cordially and then went about his business. Later on I ran into him, and we chatted about several things. This ended with a discussion about the very clever way he has rigged his mainsail halyard to make it easier to pull, using blocks. He calls it his "geezer halyard." He showed me exactly how he made it. He made sure I got safely on and off his boat, showed me how it was all set up, and let me try the halyard myself (easy with one hand -- I hope to have an article about it shortly, because it's not only "geezers" who have bad shoulders or backs). 

Then there was Person B. I had sought out this person's advice because I respected his expertise. I did not know him well.

To my surprise, every single sentence I started got cut off in mid-stream without being finished. The conversation was immediately derailed to some thought that what I had said had triggered in his mind. The observations were always negative, and the comments always condescending.  I was there to gather information, while he was there to prove that he knew more (uh -- no contest -- could we please move on?). This person still has no idea of what I know and do not know, what I have and have not done, and, I am quite certain, thinks he knows a great deal more about me as a sailor than he actually does. In fact the interchange ended with some really bad advice, that "with the kind of sailing I do" (something we didn't discuss) I "don't even need a chart plotter. Just use your cell phone."

Really? I should cross Florida Bay using a cell phone to navigate? I don't think so! There really isn't any cell phone reception out there. But we didn't discuss my intention to sail to the Tortugas one day.

So what was going on?

Well, both people wanted validation for their knowledge and expertise. Don't we all? One person has my renewed respect. He talked to me in a friendly and encouraging way. He has in fact done this since I first started sailing. We have never socialized outside the club, but he has been unfailingly supportive. He's never blown smoke up my skirt, and I came out of this exchange feeling validated as well. This very experienced man thought I was worth his finite time. He was patient and waited to see whether I understood. We both participated in that discussion and demonstration. Hopefully all of you will soon benefit from his generosity of spirit and have great pictures of his "geezer halyard," too. He got his validation from helping out someone with less experience than him.

In my opinion, the second person was so interested in getting validation that he lost track of the conversation. I would say something and he would actually say virtually the same thing not five minutes later, presenting it as something he was sure I didn't know. For instance, I pointed out that celestial navigation will not be a lot of use if caught in a hurricane. Not two minutes later he explained to me that one can't use celestial navigation in a hurricane. He simply was not hearing anything I had to say. He has walked away from our "conversation" remembering only what he thought up, because the only reason he listened to me was to find a new tangent to redirect the conversation to. Those new conversations always included assumptions (big assumptions) that I didn't know very basic things, followed by condescension. He got his validation by looking down his nose at someone else.

I'm not passing that cell phone "advice" on to you. Do NOT rely on a cell phone for navigation. It can be a backup, but you can't count on getting a signal. For instance, I know as a fact that I will get no cell phone signal off the coast of Venice, but the entrance into Venice Inlet is tricky and you need accurate information, and you may need it rapidly.

And there's the "smoke up your skirt" test: I don't know another sailor who would recommend a cell phone over a chart plotter. But it was a great put-down. The more important the advice you're being given is, the more necessary it is to double-check it. 

Standard disclaimer applies: I'm not disparaging charts here, and I encourage people to use both charts and chart plotters. I encourage people to do things like put Navionics on their cell phones. Just don't *count* on it to be there when you have to make a five-second decision about where the sand bar is, because that might be exactly when you "drop carrier."

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My Current Storm Strategy

"Climbing (sailing) is like fun, only different."
     Tom Pattey, Scottish ice climber

When I first started sailing, I had a storm strategy. That’s good; everyone who sails should have a storm strategy.

My first plan (just avoid storms) was completely unrealistic (in two ways). That’s bad. See my three-part entry, “Out of the Bathtub!” That wasn’t even a storm – just more wind and waves than typical. We were in 5’ waves, and I was completely unprepared. I noticed on the news tonight that 8’ waves are predicted on the Gulf tonight. There’s nothing in the visible observation of local weather to suggest this. Locally, it’s cloudy with occasional light drizzle. However, to the north of us a cold front is moving south. I’m guessing now, but wondering if maybe north of here, weather is just pushing waves southward. The weather report didn’t give wave direction, and I haven’t checked yet.

It doesn’t really matter, because both weather and weather-related events, such as waves, can’t always be predicted (see my entry “Storm!”, where a significant storm seemingly came out of nowhere.)

In my first wind-and-wave event, I was woefully unprepared, particularly because of my reefing system that was so inadequate and dangerous that it couldn’t be safely used. That led to a cascade of ever-worsening events.

My second storm strategy was “just drop all the sails and motor.” That is also a significantly flawed strategy in my opinion.

First, my first sailboat had an outboard engine. In the waves we had it would have been impossible to run the engine because the engine would have kept coming out of the water, denying it cooling. On my next boat, the engine proved to be completely undependable. Now, with a dependable engine, I need to protect it. I don’t want to operate it if the boat heels more than 10º, because after 10º the oil pump cannot adequately pump oil through the engine.

The reality is that a sail plan in a really significant storm can’t and won’t be that simple, and it partly depends on your individual boat as well as your experience, and your experience with that boat.

For instance, my boat is particularly sensitive to being in balance -- that is, having the size of the headsail and the size of the mainsail matched so they work well together without allowing the boat to become overpowered (too much sail up for the conditions). I discussed this today with someone who has the same boat I do but vastly more experience, and he agrees.

For my boat, the hull shape is important. Its fat stern tapering to skinny bow makes the boat “bow tender.” In other words, the bow is particularly sensitive to wind and waves compared to some other boats.

Now, my friend already knows what I’m going to mention next. I’m still sorting it out because I haven’t been in a storm in this boat in some time and have learned a lot about how she handles since then. The first step for me would be to see where the coast is. If it’s close (I’m largely a coastal cruiser), getting away from or staying away from the coast has to be a top priority. You have to look at the chart closely and account for all possible obstacles, not just the shore itself.

The next concern will be how the hull goes through the biggest and most common waves. Unfortunately, waves don’t march like well-disciplined little sailors. While most may come from one direction, there will be contrary ones, and size will also vary. They are the concern of the helmsman. Right now, the current trend should be studied. In shallower water, the waves will be more confused and harder or impossible to predict. But you’re going to get out of shallow water as fast as you can.  :)

Once a tentative point of sail has been chosen (based on conditions, not destination – destination sailing is over for now) – it’s time to set the sails to help the boat through those waves as smoothly as possible. Wind direction has to be considered. You should have a good idea of where to put your sails, but try tweaking them for best result. “Harden them up” – that is, do things to take as much belly out as possible, such as tightening your outhaul (pulls the sail back toward the end of the boom) and the leech line (tightens the leech of the sail and helps take curve out of it). Why do that? Because a curved sail catches more wind than a flat one.

If you have a traveler, check its position. You probably won’t want to be on a close reach (often called “beating” with good reason), but you probably don’t want to be broadside to the winds either. Someplace in between will probably be best for the winds, but it may have to be a compromise between the wind and the hull, as the waves may not be from the same direction as the wind. You may want your traveler halfway between center and the end of the lee side. That gives you the option of using the traveler to quickly spill wind out of the mainsail in a gust. Simply release the upwind traveler line and let the traveler move all the way to the end. The sail will instantly become less efficient, and that’s exactly what you want.

Tweak your headsail as well. If this sail has height to it (my ATN Gale Sail is fairly short), you might want to use the position of the sheet leads to “twist” the top of the headsail. While sometimes undesirable, it is one strategy for depowering the headsail, because wind will spill ineffectively out of that twisted top.

The headsail can also be hardened up, by pulling the working sheet as tightly as possible. Many headsails have leech lines. Try to get forward to tighten that before any significant wind hits your boat.

All of this is a matter of judgment and balance. You will have your hardest time with it in your first storm, because you will have to test everything as you go, and make a number of adjustments. In subsequent storms you’ll know much more about what works on your boat. 

Is this my final storm strategy? Of course not.

Should you copy it? Don't be silly -- I haven't tried it yet. I'm absolutely certain it won't all work equally well. I have done all these things, but not all at the same time in a storm.

I'll post when I've done that. It's Florida. Inevitably, it will be tested. 

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