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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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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Who IS Lee Shore, Anyway?

      Or, There is more than one way to sink a boat …

 

For the last few months, every time I crossed the Skyway Bridge traveling north, between the Skyway Bridge and the Meisner Bridge I would see this boat aground on the east side. 

The first time I saw her, she still had both sails. Then about three weeks ago, the sails were gone.

Then two weekends ago, we had a big blow-up of a storm. It formed in the center of the state, and for some reason no sea breeze formed from the west to stop its movement, and it moved right over the greater Tampa Bay area. It was a  big storm with steady winds of over 40 mph and gusts higher.

Because this boat was on the east side of the highway, when the storm came in from the east, the boat was on the lee shore. 

 

 It gets confusing. If I were talking about an uninhabited desert island, the WEST side would have been the lee side of the island, because the weather was coming from the East. But in boating, “lee shore” has a different meaning. It means that your boat is between the wind and land. The lee shore is on the lee side of your boat. The geography of the land no longer matters in this terminology.

So this little boat (about 25’ is my guess) was aground on a lee shore for the storm we had that Sunday. If this boat had been aground on the West side of the highway she would have been somewhat safer.

Earlier in this blog I told about the man who fell asleep on the beach, and when the wind shifted, his boat was anchored on a lee shore. The wind blew his boat to the shallows and then the waves banged it up and down on the sand until the keel finally came through the bottom of the boat.

I was tempted, but I did not wade out to this boat to see if the keel was now inside the boat.  But I did drive by her again after the storm, and found her more severely aground (no surprise). I also found boat parts on the beach (not a surprise either – I’m surprised she held up as well as she did.)

 

The galley sink, now on the beach

What does this have to do with you? It’s bad enough to run aground, but if you run aground on a falling tide, you may want to consider calling a towboat as one of your first strategies. Keep working things and trying to get off the grounding, but the lower the tide gets, the harder it will be to get your boat freed safely. If you have to wait to get her off, you might want to consider staying with her. It can be uncomfortable, but your grounded boat might make a tempting target, an easy wade away for someone with sticky fingers.

Which leads me to my next comment: I drove over the bridge again a couple of days ago, and looked at this boat.  Both the mast and the boom were gone along with all the shrouds and stays. It’s possible that the owner has been coming back to get sails, and the mast, etc. (I hope he finds his sink on the beach), but gone is gone.

This is terrible for the boat, and terrible for the boat owner, who probably did not have towing insurance. He or she is also likely to get a fat bill from whichever county that stretch of land is in – the Skyway Bridge sits in three counties. So how do you keep this from happening to your boat?

First, study a paper chart of the area you will be sailing. Don’t rely only on a chart plotter. Except for very expensive ones, they have small screens, and dangerous shallows could be just off the edge of your screen. Have some idea of where the shallow spots are so you know what to look for. 

 

Second, pay attention to the waters around you. In the photo above, see the light green spot of water apparently near the horizon? The water there is probably less than one foot deep at low tide. You can also see another very shallow spot off to starboard.  A change in color will often tip you off to shallow water. In addition, over shallow water there will sometimes be breaking waves, just as you see on a beach. Neither of these are foolproof, but it should remind you to take another look at where you are.

Third, get towing insurance. There’s a very good chance that a towboat could have gotten this boat off the grounding, and nothing bad would have happened to her. Even if they couldn’t get her off in a low tide, it most likely would have been pretty easy at the next high tide. She’s not a big boat.

Fourth, know several ways to get your boat off a grounding yourself. That’s a huge topic and too much for this blog entry, but you’ll see several approaches very well explained in SAILING FOR DUMMIES.

Fifth, have some creature comforts on your boat. If she doesn’t have a head, get a porta-potty. They work extremely well. Have a flashlight and a good book to read so you have something to do while you stay with your boat. Always carry extra food and water, even if it’s only a can of Dinty Moore Stew. Creative arranging of cushions can make spending the night on a grounded boat fairly comfy. 

I’ll have to tell you how I know on another day.

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OUT OF THE BATHTUB! (Part 3)

     Or, The buck stops here!

______

May 18, 2013

     “The chance of mistakes are about equal to the number of crew squared."

Ted Turner

Tom and I were in a bit of a pickle, in waters way too rough for either our experience or the boat’s size and equipment, and with multiple things going wrong. I had friends who had attempted something extremely dangerous trying to help us. It was time to take definitive action, and I called for Boat US on channel 16 to come and get us (they had us switch to channel 68), which at least ended attempts by crew from other boats to somehow climb onto ours. While a pair of experienced hands might have been helpful, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that we were overpowered for those winds and waves. Our most fundamental problem would still be there. I was also very concerned that if we lost steering, the waves would push us into the shallows, where the boat could get quite damaged.

Boat US recognized that we were potentially in serious trouble, and said they would make us their top priority, and get there as soon as possible. I told them what our new sail plan was. They called us every five minutes for updates of our latitude and longitude, which a handheld GPS provided (two boats from BCYC stayed near us, and if our GPS had malfunctioned, they could have provided that information also –- sailing with another boat can be quite helpful in a variety of ways.) Boat US warned me that because of the conditions, I might have only one chance to catch the tow rope. I looked at the skinny, bouncing bow, not relishing the idea of going back up there for a one-handed catch.

However, Boat US wasn’t the first “Help Boat” to arrive. I looked up to see a boat pounding toward us. It was from EC-SAR –- Eckard College Search and Rescue. Eckard College, a small school in South Pasadena, FL, runs a co-curricular search and rescue program staffed by highly trained, dedicated and brave students. I looked at them in surprise and said, “Boat US is coming for us.”

“We know,” was the reply. “We’re here because we heard them tell you that you would have to go to the bow to catch the tow rope. We’re here to fish you out if you fall in.” Boy, was I glad to hear that!

Well, Boat US did find us; I did catch the tow rope, I didn’t fall into the water, and the team from EC-SAR waved goodbye and scooted away to help someone else in trouble in those messy seas.

When we were under tow and safe, Tom went below to check out what the other two “thumps” were. I think he already had an idea.

The first thump had been his backpack rolling off the V-berth on to the floor. The second thump was the porta-potty, which flipped itself over the bungee cord and spilled its contents –- on to Tom’s back pack!

LESSONS LEARNED:

FIRST: So far I’ve only talked about what I did right that day, but I made several mistakes, one of them a “no excuse” goof: I did not decide for myself whether, when and where I should be sailing my boat. I should have checked the weather reports myself. Twin Dolphin Marina had a computer for guests, and the information was available to me. Instead, I entrusted that decision to “more experienced” sailors in the group. The problem with that is that they made the decision to sail based on their experience and their boats –- not mine.

If I had seen the wind and wave prediction, I would have done two things. First, I would have put Tom on someone else’s boat to go home, as he had to get to work on Monday, and second, I would have stayed at Twin Dolphin until the wind died down and the waves decreased (waves will continue to be riled up for some time after weather has settled down). I didn’t even have to know all that. If I’d asked questions of the other sailors about the next day’s forecast, the answer would have been enough to raise alarm bells in me. The staff at Twin Dolphin could have advised me.

I would have had to bring the boat back by myself (although someone from the club might have been willing to make the half-hour drive to accompany me back), and I could have gone back up the “ditch” along the Skyway Bridge, a much more sheltered sail than along the west coast of Florida.

Another option, had we had a little more experience, would have been to reef at the dock before leaving. However, if we had done that, I might not have realized how inadequate my reefing plan was for a while.

SECOND: As we left to sail south on Saturday, I told Tom we could “co-skipper” the boat, since we had similar levels of experience. But when things get bad, one person has to be the skipper, and typically that would be the owner of the boat (I would have had no problem turning the helm over to an experienced sailor in this situation, but we didn’t have someone like that on board). Our agreement on Saturday made it harder for me to assert myself as skipper on Sunday when most of the trouble occurred. My personal opinion is that if it’s your boat, you have to do the scary stuff. Tom wanted to go up to the bow both times it was necessary, but I felt that I had gotten us into the predicament we were in, and that I was obligated to do the dangerous stuff if I was able to.

THIRD: I let someone with inadequate skills work on my boat. If I had asked around the club, I would have found out that the fellow who “installed” the gas tank and the porta-potty didn’t exactly have the best reputation for quality work.

FOURTH: I did not check the work done on my boat the day before. Even the best, most reliable people can make serious mistakes (see my story, “Your Boat Could Sink! Really!” for an example of that).

FIFTH: I did not double-check information I was given about my boat. If I had asked virtually anyone at the club about my so-called “reefing system,”  each sailor would have pointed out the obvious risk and encouraged me to install a better one, something I did more or less immediately after getting back from this trip.

I DID DO SOME THINGS RIGHT: I studied the chart before sailing. I moved the boat away from the lee shore (over the protests of my crew). I took steps to keep the boat from rounding up so easily. I had a knife tied to my pants, which meant I couldn’t drop it overboard while freeing the headsail. I went forward to the bow prepared to do everything necessary to deal with the sail (bungee cord). I refused to allow a dangerous attempt at boarding my boat. And, importantly, I had towing insurance. While EC-SAR will sometimes tow disabled boats in, they are a search and rescue organization, not a towing service. If someone else had called them with lives on the line, they would have released me, as protecting people is their priority (see tomorrow’s story, “Oh, Dorothy!” for an example of how they do that.)

The major lesson learned was that you are the skipper of your boat –- and that with that comes responsibilities. Study the weather reports yourself. Be prepared to make hard decisions, such as not to sail –- or to not follow the advice of well-meaning crew. Tom, not realizing the danger, was having fun as the boat repeatedly attempted to broach, which is why he did not want to spill the sails. In addition he had not studied a chart of the area, so even if he had realized what the boat was trying to do, he might not have recognized that the “lee shore” shallows at that spot (off Bunce’s Pass) extend far out into the water.

Even more experienced sailors may overlook something you believe to be a significant problem. Or, they may engage in wishful thinking (“Oh, that won’t be a problem!”) These things are not for the crew to decide, although you should listen to what others think when there’s time to do so. But ultimately, it’s your boat and your insurance on the line, and you are responsible for the lives of those on your boat.

By the way, it turned out that the nuts on the bolt holding the tiller to the rudder mechanism were loose. They were easily accessible and easily tightened, but it took two monkey wrenches, and I only had one on board. Sometimes having extra tools is not a bad thing.

In addition, I put netting on the front of the boat after our return. If we had managed to drop the sail from the cockpit, the sail could easily have been blown off that tiny bow into the water – where it would have filled with water and created a true crisis. Make sure you can control your sails when they come down.

EC-SAR is a phenomenal organization. If you live or sail along the central Florida coast or Boca Ciega Bay, you should have their phone number on your boat: (727) 864-8288.  Also see their website at http://www.eckerd.edu/waterfront/ecsar/.  

After EC-SAR has come out to help me, which they have in  a highly skilled way more than once, I always give them a generous donation (whatever cash I have with me). Both times, they helped protect me and my boat from serious harm in a remarkably well-coordinated and efficient way. 



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Do You Want Your Keel Under the Boat or IN the Boat?

     Or, the coast is not always your friend!

In rough water, or in rough weather, you need to move away from the shore. I’m not kidding. This is serious stuff.

I know. It’s counter-intuitive. Most newer sailors want to stay close to shore, and especially in a storm, which is scarier than sailing in calm weather. A lot of newer sailors worry about falling out of the cockpit when the boat heels, and shallow water feels safer. How many times did your mother tell you not to go into the deep end of the swimming pool when you were little?

But you’re not in a swimming pool. You’re on a sailboat. You’re not going to fall out of the cockpit (even in a bad storm there are very good ways to keep that from happening, honest!) And, in your swimming pool, if a storm develops, you just get out of the pool and go inside. It isn’t quite that simple on a sailboat in a storm.

Storms are not static, and they’re not completely predictable. They can pop up on what seemed like a perfect day to sail. They can move or remain stationary. They can expand, contract, and even rotate. They can join other storms. They can develop right over you. The point of this is that you can’t necessarily predict where the wind will come from (unless you are a very unusual beginning sailor with lots of weather forecasting experience), and the fact is that the wind direction can shift on you during that storm.

Why does that matter? It matters because you need to keep your boat in deep water during a storm. You don’t want to be caught near what is called a “lee shore.” That doesn’t mean the storm is on the other side of the island. It means the wind is blowing you toward the shore. The wind is to the windward side, and the shore is to the leeward side, of your boat. The wind is pushing your boat toward shore. Even if you don’t have a lee shore right now, the waves may be pushing you toward the shore, because it takes a while for the water to change direction after a wind change. In other words, the wind may be pushing you in one direction while the waves push you in another (and in shallow water, that situation is a real mess!) Either way, it’s not an ideal situation. And, you can’t assume that the wind direction you have now will remain where it is. A wind shift could suddenly put you next to a lee shore, and you might have a hard time getting out to deeper water. Better to move there sooner rather than later.ß

So then, think about scary things you’ve seen about boats: they can break, and then they sink – or have you not seen the movie “Titanic?” Water doesn’t break boats -- "Poseidon" is a fiction movie. Boats hitting hard things break boats.

Don’t break the boat. You avoid that by staying away from hard things that can break it, like icebergs … and the ocean’s bottom. In deep water, the ocean (or lake) bottom is farther away from your keel. That’s what you want.

Where I live, the danger near the shore is generally shallow water. (It’s even worse in some other places, where the shallow water includes hidden, big, sharp rocks.) When the water gets rough, a number of things happen in shallow water.

·      The waves tend to break. That makes rough water even rougher.

·      The waves tend to come closer together. That makes the water not only rougher, but harder to manage as well. The water can even get very confused, much like a giant, front-loading washing machine. Do you really want to try to pilot your boat through a giant, front-loading washing machine? No, I didn’t think so. The waves will be easier to handle, and you and your crew will be much more comfortable, away from shore.

·      The waves tend to push you toward ever more shallow water. If you have any other problems – and you may well have other problems by this point, because things often go wrong in clusters (see my personal experience story, “Out of the Bathtub!”) – it will be much harder now to move your boat back out to deeper water.

·      Now you’re really in trouble, because the waves have been bouncing your boat up and down, and other things have gone wrong, and now it’s all happening in shallow water. I know someone this happened to, and the breaking waves banged his boat against the bottom in the shallow water, and  drove the keel right through the bottom of his boat. His boat sank in four feet of water. No one was hurt, but the boat was totaled.

·      Many boats have unprotected rudders, and in these circumstances, your rudder may end up broken, and then you won’t be able to steer. Three guesses how I know …

So what do you do? Turn your boat away from the shore – and before all these things start to happen (using at least a 45º angle through the waves – experiment in calmer water to see how she goes through best, and you'll probably find that 45º isn't enough). If you’re scared, tell everyone to put on PFDs (if you’re scared, you should be more scared in shallow water). Employ all your other safety devices – tethers, drag line, etc. It’s very unlikely that you’ll need any of it, but you’ll feel better, and feel more in control. What you don't want is for the waves to hit the side of your boat. That will be the roughest, and the scariest, way to ride it out. If you have to make a big turn, do it between waves so you don't get caught with the waves "abeam," or hitting the side of the boat.

If there is someone on your boat who is highly experienced, don’t be ashamed to turn the helm over to him or her.

LESSON LEARNED: There’s a lot more you need to know about sailing your boat in rough water, even as a newer sailer, and you really do need to know it. Buy yourself a copy of Sailing For Dummies, and do it today. Then read it very carefully. It is an outstanding book for newer sailors, and as you’ll see in my story about the time this happened to me, it really helped me. I did turn the boat out to sea, over the protests of the equally inexperienced person with me, and it’s a good thing, because we did have a cluster of failures. But we didn’t get thrown into the water, no one got hurt, and we didn’t break the boat. That’s a good outcome.

Rough water doesn’t have to be a crisis. If you think there’s any chance of rough water, and any chance that you will get seasick, take something like Bonine in a timely way. Encourage your crew to do so as well. One or more people on the boat incapacitated by sea sickness is one of those things that can contribute to a “cluster of things that go wrong.” If you get caught in a difficult situation, you need everyone able to help out. It sounds trivial, but seasickness can completely incapacitate a person -- and even turn into a true medical emergency from dehydration.

Should you just try to get to safe harbor? Well, I’m assuming you paid enough attention to the weather that you know this is only a thunderstorm, and not a hurricane you thought you could just dodge. But thunderstorms can move at up to 60mph, and I’m pretty sure your sailboat can't go that fast. If you try to get into a safe harbor, there’s a very good chance that you will only succeed in putting yourself close to shore, or even worse, in a channel in very rough water. If your boat has an outboard motor, it’s an even worse choice, because an outboard won’t be any help in confused waters, and in fact you could ruin it as it keeps bobbing out of the water with no access to cooling. 

However, that's all a judgment call. If the storm is just forming and is currently far away, that's the time to head for safe harbor (which could just be a little cove sheltered from the likely direction of the wind). If you do that, put an anchor out -- two, if you have them (and you should have two). The storm might be parallel to you at the moment. I say don't do it, but friends did it in Biscayne Bay when I was on their boat. We headed in the moment the skipper saw signs of a storm forming -- he saw gathering haze and didn't gamble. We got in just before a really big storm hit. 

Riding out a storm may not be fun. You may get wet – but it’s just water. You may get seasick, but you won’t be sick forever. The ride may be rough, but the storm will end. You don’t want to be caught in a pounding surf with a keel under you and crashing waves abeam, with no way to turn the boat. Get your boat into deeper water in a timely way.

---

ß This is where you have to have that “I’m the skipper” attitude, because you cannot allow debates over whether or not to move the boat away.  Moving the boat away from shore may upset or scare someone on your boat. But it is your boat, and your insurance, and you are responsible for the boat and passengers’ safety – not the scared person who doesn’t know about lee shores in a storm yet. STICK TO YOUR GUNS and don’t allow a debate. YOU are skipper; YOU make the crucial decisions for your boat unless you are CERTAIN the other person knows more than you. Even then, I would still move the boat away from shore. It won’t hurt anything to do that.