Bare poles?

[merttan]

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.
I was returning to marina and the winds started to blow harder. I lowered the main,put the cover on, rolled up the jib and motored back.
->The boat was heeling about 20-25 degrees without sails. And note the waves breaking onto the deck...
->There was a bigger (I think a 36-40 footer) sailboat in front of me which was sailing. They were disappearing behind every 5 ft. wave and rising again... That guy had fun that day
Should I have tried to sail and gain some experience or I made the right decision by motoring?
Should I have taken the mainsail below deck that day?
Would you sail reefed instead of motor on those conditions? (Consider yourself on my boat, not on yours )

It's a 22 foot sailboat with shoal keel. Displacement:2200lbs.
Winds:15-20knots gusting upto 25knts. Seas: 3-5 fts.

[CapnHand]

You're the best judge of what your boat, your crew and you are capable of. Nobody got hurt, you didn't damage your boat. Considering the safety and comfort of the crew and the safety of the vessel, you will seldom go wrong. Now you have the luxury of re-thinking what you could have done differently.

The superior skipper displays superior judgement so they don't have to display their superior skill. Choosing to take pictures instead of closing your companionway hatch may be questionable, however.

Sometimes staying out is preferable to going in, depending on how the waves are breaking where you intend to come in.

You wrote that you lowered your main and then furled the jib. Have you tried sailing on just the main, how does your boat handle? Do you know how to reef your sails? Have you tried heaving to?

You can practice this any time, it doesn't have to be rough; it's better if it isn't. Practicing in good conditions when you choose to is recommended over trying it for the first time in bad conditions out of neccessity.

[camaraderie]

Once the wind gets up around 20 in that size/displacement boat, it is definitely not a daysail anymore!
Cap'nHand is right about prudence and caution and I would not attempt to second guess your own judgment. Nevertheless, you KNOW that boats like yours can be sailed (and are sailed) in such conditions all the time. There is no rule that says you HAVE to sail in such conditions but your post says to me that you would LIKE to sail in such conditions.
I would suggest that rather than making a snap decision while out on the sound, that you instead PLAN to sail in such conditions. Leave the dock with the mainsail reefed or double reefed and ready to hoist. Stow things properly in anticipation of heeling heavily. Make sure your roller furling is in good working order. Above all think in advance about what possible might happen and what you would do if...the wind picks up more strongly, the boat goes over, you have an unintentional gibe and the mainsail rips, the roller furling jams with the sail out. Knowing the variety of things that might happen in heavier conditions and having a plan to deal with them is the first step to building your confidence.
The other thing I would mention is the cover on your mainsail. If your motor failed what would you do? How much longer would it take to raise your sails to get out of trouble. Is a reef already in place or would you have to take off the cover, rig a reef and then hoist sail?

[Sailormon6]

Those are fairly challenging conditions for a novice and a 22' boat, but you should eventually learn to sail in those conditions.

The key to learning how to sail in those conditions is to learn how to reduce the sail area when the wind increases. As a general rule, the best way to reduce the angle of heel is to reduce sail area. Reducing sail area also reduces the boat's speed. By reducing the boatspeed, the violent bucking and rolling of the boat is greatly reduced. Take down or roll up some of the big jib, and put up a smaller jib. Also, learn how to tuck a reef in the mainsail, not just at the dock, but while underway. As the windspeed increases, you should increasingly reduce the amount of sail area that is exposed to it.

Also, you need to learn how to trim the sails when beating to windward in strong winds. Most novices do not trim their sails flat enough. If you don't trim the sails flat enough in these conditions, the boat won't be able to sail close to the wind, and it will tend to drift more to leeward. Often, you'll see a novice trying to beat to windward in strong winds, and he'll be tacking back and forth, but he won't be gaining any ground to windward. The reason is most likely because he is carrying too much sail area, or he hasn't trimmed his sails flat enough. Helmsmanship is also important in these conditions. You should generally avoid bearing off the wind too much. By feathering the boat to windward, the boat will remain more upright and it will point higher.

Also, you need to learn how to jibe the mainsail in strong winds. Jibing is one of the basic maneuvers of a sailboat, and you need to know how to do it safely under difficult conditions.

To answer your questions of what you should have done, you should always bring your boat back to the marina with no damage, and without injuries to the crew. If you did that, you did exactly what you should have done. I think it's always a big mistake to try to sail in conditions that are beyond your abilities.

Finally, you asked, "Would you sail reefed instead of motor on those conditions?" I would have reefed the sails in those conditions, because the sails are usually more powerful than an outboard motor, and they will usually drive the boat to windward through choppy waves better than the motor. In fact, I have occasionally tried motoring to windward under bare poles, but have not been able to do so, because the boat was brought almost to a stop by choppy waves smacking the bow. (That is even more likely to happen with a smaller, lightweight boat, because the weight of the water hitting the bow has a relatively greater effect than it would on a bigger, heavier boat that weighs 15,000 lbs.) By raising the reefed sails, we were able to drive the boat through that same chop. But, bear in mind that I've been sailing for 30 years.

One last suggestion. If you're on a large body of water, and have plenty of sea room to leeward, you always have the option to turn and run downwind, either under sail, or under bare poles. When the conditions start to become frightening while beating to windward, you will usually find that, by simply turning and sailing downwind, you'll suddenly feel as if the wind has died, and you'll have a delightful sail downwind. You don't always have to reach your intended destination. You can always find a sheltered place to "park" the boat for the night, and wait until tomorrow, or the next day, when the conditions are likely to be more favorable to sail in the direction that you wish.

[merttan]

Originally Posted by CapnHand

Choosing to take pictures instead of closing your companionway hatch may be questionable, however.

The picture was taken by my wife. She sticked her head out of the cabin to take the picture. She was trying to hold the stuff in the cabin as we were going...
I closed the slider but didn't close the plexiglass companion way covers in case of an emergency. You know, so she could get out
I know how to reef the main but I still feel a bit nervous on heeling over 20-25 degrees which we were doing without sails up.

The forecast expected 10-15knots of winds and 1-2ft seas that day. I wasn't trying to be out there for harsher conditions.

[nolatom]

I wouldn't second-guess you. But if you can reef the main, and if that roller-furl jib is actually a roller reef jib too (big distinction), and assuming you're close-reaching or close-hauled to get home, I'd try sailing it first. I usually don't use the motor unless I absolutely have to.

That said, if it's close hauled and you need to make time, you could "motor-sail", at half-throttle with the sails providing some lift, some speed, and some steadying against rolling (this last one greatly increases your comfort level over engine-alone). then, if your motor conks out, you've still got sail, and vice-versa, especially in close quarters. Also, if you're shoal draft, you may not be pointing that well on a beat, so the motor can be a help in getting you home.

If it was reaching, or downwind, I'd definitely sail, but I don't think that was your question.

[merttan]

Originally Posted by nolatom

But if you can reef the main, and if that roller-furl jib is actually a roller reef jib too (big distinction),

What's a roller reef jib? i don't think what I have is just a roller-furler jib. An old one too

[bobmcgov]

Originally Posted by merttan

What's a roller reef jib? i don't think what I have is just a roller-furler jib. An old one too

A roller REEF system employs a tapered foil in the jib's leading edge. The plan is roll in the center of the sail faster than the ends, keeping it flat. If you just roll up a genoa, the middle tends to bag out unless it has this foil in the luff.

So furlers tend to be all-or-nothing, while reefers let you use the headsail at any degree of rolled-up. Accordingly, reefers tend to have heavier-duty control lines, to take the force of sailing with a partly-deployed jib.

[merttan]

I might have reefing furler then... I used it half rolled for faster winds for a couple of times... As far as my method went, I pull the sheet to open the jib half way and secured. The rest of the jib was rolled and didn't open. Did I make any sense?

[Valiente]

20-25 degrees isn't much, although in a 22-footer it would seem so. I think you exercised prudence given your relative inexperience, and I concur that the fact you arrived back safely with nothing other than a good story shows that you didn't do anything wrong.

As for the forecast, around here the weather service always hedges its bets by saying "wind and waves may vary due to shoreline effect", a statement sufficiently meaningless as to throw the entire weight of keeping one's boat together onto the skipper.

Which is as it should be, in my view. You must be prepared as even in the 21st century, the sea is a fickle thing.

My concern with an outboard in heavy seas is that it might be swamped...my preference would be to keep it up on the bracket and to sail under deeply reefed sail. You might wish to consider "outs" locally: harbours that are available to you in the opposite direction from the wind if beating into it is too hard on the crew or the boat. You might also, under these circumstances, consider calling the Coast Guard with a "sail plan" (you have to phone or radio them immediately on arrival). This is simply a way for them to be aware that a boat is out there, is going to try to reach point X, and has inexperienced but not immediately endangered crew. It's not remotely a "pan-pan" or "mayday", but it is prudent. So is a personal EPIRB, but if your waters are heavily travelled, that might be overkill.

I file a sail plan anytime I leave my local waters with my kid onboard.