Clear deck when crossing ?

[rockDAWG]

How necessary is to clear all the junk hanging on the deck when crossing the ocean?

I mean the anchor, dingy, jerry can, bimini and etc. When the wind rips up, the last thing you will pay attention are the stuff were permanently anchored on the deck for months.

[Ilenart]

If you read some of the findings from the really bad storms (ie the 1994 Pacific storm) lots of skippers concluded that you had to "clear the decks" otherwise it was going to blow off and rip out lifeline, etc on the way. However we are talking really really bad conditions (60 knot +) which is probably less than 2-5% chance of hitting if you are sticking to "milk run" type passages and favourable times of year. So it partly depends on what oceans you are thinking of crossing. Most of the long term cruising yachts I see comming out of the southern ocean have "clear decks" / no biminis. Yachts doing trade wind passages have biminis, jerry fuel cans tied to safety rails, dinghies on deck or hanging from the stern, etc.

Ilenart

[SVAuspicious]

Originally Posted by rockDAWG

How necessary is to clear all the junk hanging on the deck when crossing the ocean?

I mean the anchor, dingy, jerry can, bimini and etc. When the wind rips up, the last thing you will pay attention are the stuff were permanently anchored on the deck for months.

I keep one anchor in the roller lashed down. My secondary is in the sail locker under the sails not in use, which hold it down.

Dinghy is upside down, fully inflated, on the foredeck. I've been through a number of lashing approaches. What I use now is a couple of stainless racheting devices from Bo'suns Supply and trucker's tow straps. Works great.

My bimini folds down forward of the dodger and has a vinyl cover. The whole bit ties down nicely. My dodger reaches far enough aft to provide good protection from sun and sea for the watchstander without the bimini.

I carried jerry cans on the aft deck from Azores to Annapolis. I'm not crazy about jerry cans on deck but I'd rather lose one over the side than have fuel below. YMMV.

In the last five years, with lots of sea miles, I've lost one sail tie and one fender over the side. Tie things down.

[rockDAWG]

Well.... we are heading to Bermuda from Norfolk this Thursday (got delayed one week). The current weather forecast is that we will hit the edge of 20 to 30 kts wind for 6 hours. After that, it should be smooth sailing under 5 to 10 kn southerly wind to Bermuda.

I remember last year off Hyannis Port, MA in a 6 foot sea, 30 kn wind with an air temp of 35 degree F, I needed to go out to the bow to secure the swimming ladder and later to retreat the anchor with a 200 ft rope and chain. I was so pissed that I wanted to cut it loose. . Good thing that I didn't because we lost engine just before we entered Hell Gate in NYC. hahahah.

[jackdale]

If you are carrying fuel on deck, lash a 2X4 to the stanchions and lash the jerry cans to that. Use pieces of garden hose to prevent chafe.



I lost a sail overboard one night because it was not secured properly.

[rockDAWG]

Note to self: Bring 2x4 6 ft 2 pieces Thanks

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by rockDAWG

Note to self: Bring 2x4 6 ft 2 pieces Thanks

And some garden hose and cheap line. Use a truckers hitch for securing the jerry cans. Set it up so one jerry can at a time can be used.

[sidney777]

Anchor can slip over side and if tied to a short leash it will bang on side of boat and possibly knock a hole in hull. (storm forces). Also, I lost a gerry can of diesel over side in Gulf. **Can't go forward to tie "better" in storm !
" A place for everything" and everthing in its place " as the saying goes, and if not, a sinking can take place.
A guy had teak oil container on deck that broke in bad weather. Slippin an a slidin.
The on deck generator broke one line & almost over the side. Front hatch not secured; water came in & destroyed computer & wet the bed ! (on 52ft
steel boat). Boat dived under waves .. and water came front hatch, as story he told me....

[Omatako]

If I leave an anchor on the roller it has a 10mm bolt through the cheeks of the roller and through the anchor so that it cannot come loose. That said, when the boat noses into waves the anchor can bang and crash in a really nerve-wracking fashion even if it isn't doing damage. I prefer to stow them for a voyage.

And I'm sorry to always sound contrary Jack but I have never found a way, no matter how tightly I lash them, to stop jerry cans from chafing marks into the deck. I will never have stuff like that on deck for a cross-ocean voyage.

The only thing I will have on deck is a fully inflated RIB (nowhere else for it) and the liferaft in a proper rack. Everything else either goes down below or ashore.

JMHO

[WanderingStar]

When I brought WS home from Florida, we left the bimini in place, brought the anchor inboard, ratchet strapped the liferaft onto the main hatch. The worst we saw was 40 knots. We were glad to have that bimini up in blinding rain. We could have folded and secured it if necessary.