Rough couple of days almost didn't make it

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

It sounds like if you unfurled half your jib and sailed on a beam reach, you could have finished the trip in a few minutes. In rough water you can make much better progress under sail than motor, especially with an outboard. Sure some rough situations sailing is a doesnt-fit solution, but in yours, it sure sounds like the hands down way to go.

Certainly a good idea. The problem is that the channel is only about 15 yards wide with a rock breakwater on the downwind side.

I suppose what I could have done is to have gone a 10th of a mile beyond the channel and then line up for the channel and see if the boat would track down the lay line with the jib.
There is no way I would experiment like that in the the channel because if something went wrong I would have only seconds before being on the rocks.

I'll try it next time and let you know how it went unless you get to read about it on the news.

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by Bene505

Yes, but that can be tough to do solo when in confined quarters about to dock.

I expect David was being cautions. He's one of the most careful people I've met, from reading accident reports and books (e.g. the Fastnet race gone bad), to preparing ahead of time.

Regards,
Brad

Thanks Brad.
I do tend to push it a little more when I'm solo than when I have crew. The theory is that if something goes wrong and I'm by myself I'm usually only endangering property.

[AdamLein]

Trying to picture this channel. Is it high on either side? If so, and there's enough depth, hugging the windward shore will shelter your boat from the wind somewhat. Might mean you can head in a straight line. My last marina had high rocky jetties on either side of the channel. You could definitely feel the difference in the force of the wind at high tide and low tide (14 foot tidal exchange).

I've had similar problems motoring in waves with a 9.9 on my C-27. I will never try that again; way safer to sail. However, how were you getting waves in a 15-yard-wide channel with the wind perpendicular to the channel? Were they refracting around a corner or something? In my experience in a narrow channel, even with wind, the water is usually pretty flat.

Got a lat/lon of this channel?

[davidpm]

Here is the channel. It is Westbrook in CT.
As you can see there is a lot of open (shallow) water on the right where the wind was coming from.
On the left is a stone man-made breakwater.

I was alone with a tiller with no lock.
I think the sailing on furled jib might have worked. If I can duplicate the situation I'll try it for a couple hundred yards before red 2 so I still have room to bail if It don't work.

[AdamLein]

Interesting topography. I can really see how exposed the channel is to the southeast.

Have you considered anchoring inside the Duck Island breakwater?