Heavy Weather Sailing

[CharlieCobra]

We were carrying a single reef in the main and the staysail while running off at over 10 knots. These were quartering seas so they would try and turn the boat each time. That was the issue...

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by johnshasteen

Charlie, my hat's off to you. When we were fighting a Force 10 storm for 36 hours, about a year ago, we (all guys, all good sailors) couldn't stay on the helm for more that about an hour or so at a time.

John - where were you guys when this one hit?

[johnshasteen]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

John - where were you guys when this one hit?

Hey SmackD, we were about 70-80 miles due south of Port Mansfield - transiting between Port Isabel and Freeport on sort of a diagonal rumb line between the two to stay on a broad reach. In another Force 10 storm back in the early 90's we were about 150 miles south of Galveston headed for Vera Cruz. The Gulf can be an exciting place to sail ;-)
By the way, on another old thread, you asked about good marinas in the Corpus, Port Aransas area. We are moored at Bahia Marina in Ingleside - best little marina on the Texas coast. Check it out at: Bahia Marina & Docks Store - Ingleside, TX- Home Page

[smackdaddy]

Hey John - thanks for the follow up. We're still shopping around for the right boat - but we'll soon have one in the area (most likely 45' range). I looked into House of Boats in Rockport, and like it since they have full yard service - but I like the Bahia more in terms of the price and amenities. Where do you have your boat hauled/serviced?

At some point, I'd sure love to crew for you and have you show me around down there. I've got an awful lot to learn about ocean sailing.

I'll bring the booze!

[johnshasteen]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

Hey John - thanks for the follow up. We're still shopping around for the right boat - but we'll soon have one in the area (most likely 45' range). I looked into House of Boats in Rockport, and like it since they have full yard service - but I like the Bahia more in terms of the price and amenities. Where do you have your boat hauled/serviced?
At some point, I'd sure love to crew for you and have you show me around down there. I've got an awful lot to learn about ocean sailing.
I'll bring the booze!

Yep, Bahia is the best - always something going and when not, you can hang out under the pavilion attached to the marina store and BS with all the other sailors - there's mostly bluewater boats at Bahia. Not sure where a good boat yard is in the Corpus area yet - have only been back up there from Port Isabel (good yard there) for about a year. Before that we were in Freeport and up in Clearlake (of course there's lots of boat yards up there - best there is Southern Yachts inside Watergate Marina).
We need to go sailing somewhere again one of these days, I'll give you a shout. I'll PM you my cell phone number.

[FrancoC]

Originally Posted by johnshasteen

Hey SmackD, we were about 70-80 miles due south of Port Mansfield - transiting between Port Isabel and Freeport on sort of a diagonal rumb line between the two to stay on a broad reach. In another Force 10 storm back in the early 90's we were about 150 miles south of Galveston headed for Vera Cruz. The Gulf can be an exciting place to sail ;-)

John:

What time of the year did you encounter those two storms?

[smackdaddy]

Hey, I'm really digging the GaleRider. It makes a lot of sense to me from a theoretical standpoint. Anyone ever deploy one off the bow Pardy style in the stink? I'm figuring if it slows you down to 3 knots in running seas - it might do well facing them without creating too much shock on the system like a parachute anchor would.

[johnshasteen]

Originally Posted by FrancoC

John:

What time of the year did you encounter those two storms?

The most recent storm was March 6th of last year - a late winter storm that started in Canada and made it all the way down to the Gulf - it hit the Gulf moving 35mph, packing internal winds of 50-60. The earlier storm was in June - not wanted, but somewhat expected as that was early hurricane season.

[FrancoC]

From what I've been reading, plus the heavy weather sailing video by Mark Schrader and the one by Rousmaniere, it seems that passive storm tactics are much more suitable for older style, full-keeled boats, while running with the storm looks like the safest tactic on modern fin-keel boats. Except that running with the storm is terribly tiring. So what is one to do in boat with a small crew, say a couple? What do you do, steer for an hour, then switch, go down below and rest as much as you can for an hour, and so on?

[sailingdog]

Running with the storm also requires a lot of searoom... which isn't always available. This is one reason I highly recommend carrying a Jordan Series Drogue aboard the boat... it reduces the speed and eliminates the need for active steering. The entire crew can get some decent rest....

Don Jordan was fond of saying that the JSD was like an ejection seat for a sailboat... you deployed it and then just sat waiting for the ride to end. It was a fire and forget device... with the exception of inspecting the bridle for chafe... and if the JSD was installed with the proper dedicated chain plates, chafe shouldn't be an issue.

Originally Posted by FrancoC

From what I've been reading, plus the heavy weather sailing video by Mark Schrader and the one by Rousmaniere, it seems that passive storm tactics are much more suitable for older style, full-keeled boats, while running with the storm looks like the safest tactic on modern fin-keel boats. Except that running with the storm is terribly tiring. So what is one to do in boat with a small crew, say a couple? What do you do, steer for an hour, then switch, go down below and rest as much as you can for an hour, and so on?