Sinking of the Trashman

[pirateman54]

I think for the most part blue water sailors do plan for the worst. The trashman show is a hard one towatch but a must for us all. My first blue water cruise I made sure I stored 20 gallons of water in my walkerbay rid. I also had a ditch bag with flares, food , hand held vhf( fully charged with a battery backup) and packed foam in the bag so it would float. The way I was taught was to reduce sail before the excrement hits the aircondtioner. Also boat prep is essential. I crawed over every square inch of SELENE before any of my trips. Ive had plenty of stuff go wrong sailing but anticipation and the dumb luck of the novice saved my bacon. I carry spare fuuel filters, coolant, belts and a good tool bag. Here in florida the weather is hard on batteries. I know they cost bucks but good batteries have saved me also. Aside from almost being run down by the occasional columbian dope frieghter running 14 knots at 2 am with no lights, I have been pretty lucky. If your new to this game watch the trashman show. Also I dont want topreach morality here but a sailboat in blue water is no place to be high as a kite. There are just too many things going on to not be sober especially if your the captain.

[smackdaddy]

+1 pirate. Welcome to SN dude.

[Stillraining]

Dang...another show I have to make sure my wife never sees....will you all make a big list of these for me..

Just title it "For your eyes only" and PM it to me OK.

[SpcAlan1]

[QUOTE=johnshasteen;448453]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

That's why I like to crank up "Flight of the Valkyries" when the wind hits 35 knots.

Wagner is great up to about 40 knots or so. At 50 knots, the wind is shreiking so loud through the shrouds you can't hear the stereo - at 60 knots, you can barely hear yourself think - and maybe that's good.

2nd for Wagner.....

[wind_magic]

I'm with Pirate on this ... by the way, welcome Pirate!

I think the way to go about it is to pretend that you are going to have to go across the ocean on whatever life raft you have, and prepare for that. That means a ditch bag, that means a way to fish without ripping holes in your life raft (if it is inflatable), enough water to survive, etc. Plan on being able to make it to the next continent on your life raft and then hope you never actually have to. Then load all that on the boat and drill and practice so you have a hope that it is going to work if you ever need it.

How many people put to sea with a life raft they have never even used ? How many go out thinking they'll casually get everything together at the last minute if/when the time comes ? Many of these sinkings that happen go very fast, one minute you're fine, five minutes later your boat is sinking under the waves, how much time do we really have to get it all together ? I think all of this needs to be well practiced before you ever leave port, you have to be really prepared, because off shore even if you have an EPIRB that doesn't mean you will get picked up anytime soon, you might be out there for days, or a week, and if the EPIRB fails you could be out there a lot longer than that ...

[L124C]

Originally Posted by wind_magic

I'm with Pirate on this ... by the way, welcome Pirate!

I think the way to go about it is to pretend that you are going to have to go across the ocean on whatever life raft you have, and prepare for that. That means a ditch bag, that means a way to fish without ripping holes in your life raft (if it is inflatable), enough water to survive, etc. Plan on being able to make it to the next continent on your life raft and then hope you never actually have to. Then load all that on the boat and drill and practice so you have a hope that it is going to work if you ever need it.
...

And lastly, make sure you have a line attached to the raft when you throw it overboard (unlike "Trashman")! We all make mistakes, especially under stress, but all the planning and preparation in the world won't help you if you pull a bone headed move like that!!

[blt2ski]

The pic of folks going into the LR IIRC were "real" shots from the Sydney-hobart race a few yrs back. Not sure that they were from the "wicked one" but a more recent one. The blue boat did sink, or thought it would and later was found afloat.

BUT, back to it, yes folks were stepping "up" to the LR as that pic in Sailing World was showing at the time.

As far as trashman........know nuthing about it!

marty

[johnshasteen]

My theory is that you only step UP into a life raft - as your previously floating boat heaves her final sigh and disappears below the waves. Any time up until that moment your boat is your best haven.

[pirateman54]

When I first started sailing a friend told me "its your boat your the captain". In the years since I have made every boneheaded mistake one can make including drinking and sailing. There is too much going on on a sailboat to be impaired. Also I always looked at blue water trips like capt ron. If its gonna happen its gonna happen out there. Preparation is the key to any successful trip. I keep 20 gallons of water in my rid and have an abandon ship bag next to the chart table. The captain is ultimately responsible for this tragedy. All sailboats shoud also have a pair of big bolt cutters to cut away a mast. Plan for the worst. I always figure when it goes wrong it will be two in the morning and storming.s.v. selene C&C 35 MKII

[drobarge]

And for pete's sake don't lock your bolt cutters up! I've found them alot more useful for locks when you lose the keys than for casting off a broken mast.