Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamLein
Do you lock the helm to leeward or amidships? Do mean that you heave-to? Care to describe your experience a bit more?
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Other peoples experiences wont help on the day - different weather/boat proximity to ships/lee shores.
If the time comes and it is not a given that you will get stuck in a nasty piece of water and wind, but if so you will feel very much alone and have to remain as cool as a cucumber especially if there are others on the boat - they will look at you as the skipper - you cant lose it.
I was on and only have as seaworthy a yacht as can be. Then a Van de Stadt, now a Peterson. Again, my experiences are very minimal in comparison to many on SN.
On one occasion, I locked the wheel slightly leeward to amidships. I left a small storm jib just in front of the mast (about a 4' foot). On this boat this was 'heaving to' We went below, keeping a watch every 15 minutes and then lying back on the cockpit floor. This lasted 2 days.
Another time I locked the wheel amidships and we ran with the breeze (a 65kn breeze). We adjusted the storm jib (this time forward for CE reasons) until she sailed herself. This storm lasted for about 18hrs before it abated to a what appeared to be a mild 40kn.
Both these times I let the boat run on a coarse for searoom - away from reefs and in the general direction I wanted to go.
Now, we are confident in the boat and ourselves - and ensure our safety - after all we are all doing this because we LIKE cruising! I better blog a lot as in a short time, we are off again. I expect I have learnt from my experiences and probably will make different stupid mistakes (but have a great time in between) We do plan a lot and always have plan B if weather etc no good. At the moment I am a marina bound liveaboard - tied to a dock and a job.