knocked down 3 times

[Kelly Hanson East]

Rich's point is the takehome here

PFDs belong ON at all times, not in lockers where you can "get to them if needed

I bought an autoinflator lastyear on sale at WM , they are very comfortable and much cheaper than recovering your body.

i dinghied past the Coast Guard Academy boat with pfd on, motor kill lanyard attached and got a nice round ofcompliments from the Officer ondeck

[Gerry the fish]

After we discussed what we did right and what we did wrong... life jackets need to be at hand at all times, we realized that our boat had performed really well, it kept us safe, despite the foolishness of putting up a tarp.

Thanks for posting your experience - we can all learn. I am going to put up a tarp and this is a good lesson to have it easily removable with hooks - maybe evan slipknots that will self release.

Gerry

[Kelly Hanson East]

"real sailors" at sea always have a sharp knife at hand - this may have been one of the times when cutting the tarp loose was the right thing to do..I do carry one in the pocket of my PFD (

[adrenaud]

A Sailor type knife is another thing you need to have close at hand, I agree.

Andre
Just Relaxing
Montreal, Canada

[bubba]

I installed coat hooks just inside the hatch on both sides to hang our big life jackets. We always wear our belt inflatiable life jackets unless the breeze is over 15 mph then we wear the big life jackets, this works great for us. I guess having a biminy that folds back is much better than tieing a tent on. Maybe bungies would work better for the tent next time.

[TAW02]

I wear a custom life jacket with survival pockets sewn in and plenty of brass clips to hang a small bottle of oxygen and one hook inside the vest to secure a fire extinguisher. I carry a deluxe swiss army knife of the marine variety. Very expensive and exclusive to just sailing types like me ... it has a marlin spike in case I need to rip a few stubborn knots and such. Plus I have a hidden pocket for a flask. I fill mine with 'Grand Salute' brand whiskey. Best scotch you can buy. Gotta coupla those instant ***** capsules in collar pocket just in case I'm stranded on an island all by myself. Gosh I wonder if they work with salt water ... DRATS!!!



Big T (Feeling like a smartazzz)

Anyone got a pair of those X ray glasses?

!	kmclemore:
	Guys, let's please do remember that there *are* ladies present on this board, and conduct ourselves accordingly. Thanks.

[Waterbear]

You asked the question and expected different answer/ The last thing your wife wants to do
do is be on a boat. Why don.t you know the worst thing to have on a boat is a women who
does not own it.

[TAW02]

Cruising tales of adventure and near-misses are synomonous it seems. Of course nothing happens to anyone who doesn't do anything; less those barflies whou've 'experienced it all' and can darn one helluva yarn.

The 'ol cli'che, "Wasn't funny at the time" seems to apply to some adventures, but not this one.

The fact that you kept your wits about you and reacted appropriately is a plus. If at all you have to work with is a toothpick and a soggy book of matches, it is how you carry yourself through it all, that counts.

A word of confidence and an admission of 'poor judgement' perhaps is all that is necessary in the case of discussion with the wife. As with mine, she is ready for our next cruise.

And let me tellya everyone here has a tale to tell. My log reads like a tale written my Capt Ron!

I have fewer instances than I had when I was new to sailing, but then that goes with learning your boat and what she'll do and how she reacts to certain forces placed apon her. For instance, I did not, nor could not believe that the stock headsail could heel the boat beyond a few degrees with a reefed main. I tend to haul in the headsail close and then just play the main sheet alone.

Yes. Relaxing, secure in the thought that I was the configlator of my domain. THEN WHAMMMO, a near blow-down. I steer around it (rounded up) to recover before getting worse. Let out my mainsheet a bit more and go back in. WHAMMO again I nearly swamp the portside gunnells. I recover and less not to bore you with another ... a third time as well I again find myself rounding up. This time I realize that my mainsheet is out all the way .... hmmm.

I let out the jib (headsail) sheet. PROBLEM SOLVED! So you see, learning what to do and learning how your ship sails is pretty important. Other important thing is to never let your guests see fear on your face. Keep composed and in control.

Welcome aboard Mr. Andre

Big T

[jjan]

Hi,
I am both curious and a little worried that your boat was knocked over without raised sails, do you think this would have happened without the tarp and how much of a factor did the tarp play a part in the knock down? The reason I ask is that I like many, power around at a sensible speed with no ballast and and sails down and I am now curious to know the the possibility of being knocked down by wind on the beam in these circumstances. I am fully aware of the arguments regarding ballast vs no ballast but would still like to know as I am sure many others would also like to know.


Thanks
J

[Big Poppa]

Most of us watch the weather and do not like to think a storm can come up that fast. A few weeks ago we were sailing our Mac in Pueblo Lake, Colorado and had been in a slip about 20minitues when out of no where (meaning non of the usual warnings) a tremendous wind hit the lake. I measured repeated 46mph gusts on my hand held. I learned later 3 boats went down (non were sail boats) but all the folks were picked up.
It can happen, but I honestly feel we are in boats that will take care of us if we give them half a chance.

[bscott]

I have been sailing on Colorado lakes/reservoirs since 1972 and have chartered blue waters as well. Lake sailing is the most treacherous as you cannot see or feel wind shears because of close proximity to warm land mass.

This year I replaced the single hatch board with three sections. I keep the bottom section in place which will limit the amount of water that can get into the cabin in the event of a knock down. I nearly swamped a Capri 25 a few yeas ago when we were hit by a shear putting the top of the mast into the water. The cockpit flooded and a lazzaret opened. Fortunately the boat righted itself dumping a cascading of water off the main and into the open hatch. This was a calm sunny day with 3-4 knot winds before and after the shear.

Lesson learned: Keep the sliding hatch closed, keep the hatch board in place, ballast tank full. I have total confidence that the will self right-I proved that again last week

If you dump your ballast to pull toys I'd only do it in a protected bay.

Bob

[opie]

Excuse me if I missed this detail in the post, but on those knockdowns described above, was the centerboard or daggerboard down all the way? I was wondering how much resistance-to-knockdown the big board would provide? If a graybeard here says it would help, then maybe a plan of action, if given a few minutes warning, would be to drop board before a wind hits.

[adrenaud]

The centerboard was not down, I had wanted to put it down but I had my hands full, the ballast was full, and the tarp was the main culprit of being knocked down. Thanks for all the advice.

[bscott]

While motoring I have about 5-6" of CB line out. I don't think lowering the CB or the DB has much effect on righting moments as less board down will let the hull side slip to leeward and have less resistance to righting when the boat stands back up. While sailing in heavy winds there is less tendency to round up with the boards mostly up. It is important to know that the boards need to free up before they can be lowered which takes too much time in an emergency.

BTW, my beard is silver

Bob

[delevi]

I'm also surprised that the boat got knocked down without sails up. How big was the tarp? I don't think I experienced 50 mph winds (I have but was tied to the dock,) however I've been out in 40+knot gusts with sails up, granted deeply reefed, but nothing close to a knockdown. The one time I was knocked down was my second day out on the boat when it was new and didn't really know what I was doing. Had way too much sail up and probably oversheeted and suddenly hit with a mega-gust. By the way, having the board down probably wouldn't have made a difference. Anyhow, glad to hear you and your admiral are OK (despite the bruises.)

Leon