I strongly disagree with Ilnert that heaving-to is always the best solution. Kitty and I were caught in a hurricane in July 1974 midway between Cape Hatteras and Bermuda. In those days we did not have an
SSB nor a
VHF (They weren't available) so we had no warning. We originally hove to; but when the wind got over 70 kts it was just too much for our little 30 foot Seawind Ketch so we took the storm
jib and storm try-sail down and proceeded to lie ahull. It was deceptively comfortable as we were just blown over on our side at about a 30-40 degree list, and
rode up and down on the waves as they passed under us. However, at about 2 AM we went up on one wave and for an instant I knew we were not coming back. We fell off the wave and landed in the trough with such an explosion that the main
hatch was blown off and a wall of water was coming down the companion way. When we finally righted (maybe 30 seconds) the water below was up to the level of the bunks. I jumped up into knee deep water and looked out the companionway
hatch. The wind vane was gone, the grab rails on the cabin top were gone and all that was left was the through bolts sticking up and the boom was bent in a U. Luckily we had the most efficient bilge
pump in the world....a frightened woman with a bucket. I immediately threw warps over the side to try and get us to run off with the wind; but, we kept broaching. I left the boat to fend for itself while I took a piece of plywood and fastened it over the companionway
hatch to keep anymore water from coming in. 12 hours later the wind was back down to 30 kts and we had survived. No I wouldn't heave-to or lie ahull in ALL conditions. That said we normally do heave-to when it gets too uncomfortable and wait for the weather to pass by.
The following pictures were taken the next day
