Strong Wind Tactics on Your Small Boat

Strong Wind Tactics on Your Small Boat

For most of us, sailing is mainly day-sailing or weekend sailing where we sail from and back to our home marina… or sail to a destination for overnight on Saturday evening and return to our home marina on Sunday.  The best (and often most fun) winds for this are breezes between four and sixteen knots.  There is enough wind to propel the boat nicely… but not too much to make sailing difficult for a single hander or family.

With winds of seventeen knots or more though, things get tougher for a single hander or short-handed family.  Often the skipper has to do all of the sail changing jobs while someone in the crew steers the boat.  The person steering is often the skipper’s wife and she is very worried that something might happen to her husband (he falls overboard) and she won’t be able to rescue him.  She ends up watching the skipper and loses track of the wind.  An accidental tack or jibe happens.  The skipper raises his voice (because he’s just been surprised or scared); and the whole situation deteriorates……

Of course, practicing the various sail handling moves in lighter breezes is the answer; so that everyone knows their job and the jobs of others too.  But all too often, practice doesn’t happen in lighter breezes because it is so much fun sailing and no one thinks to practice. 

What are the sail handling and boat handling jobs?  Here are a few – although not necessarily an all-encompassing list - -

Changing from a large genoa jib to a working jib, or to a storm jib.  Don’t forget to move the sheet leads…

Tucking in a flattening reef in the mainsail.

Tucking in a full reef in the mainsail.

Shaking out a reef in the mainsail.

Taking in all sail and then sailing under bare poles (standing rigging only)

Steering the boat, tacking and jibing when that isn’t normally “your job”…

Securing lines so that they don’t get blown overboard.

Rigging jacklines so that the safety harness’ tether can be clipped on and you can move 

Remember that the sail-plan needs to be kept in balance.  The boat’s designer drew the lines so that the Center of Effort (CE) from the sales was slightly ahead of the boat’s Center of Lateral Plane (CLP).  If you make the jib sail smaller, the CE moves aft - - resulting in more weather helm and the tendency for the boat to round up suddenly and uncontrollably – possibly inadvertently tacking the boat.  When this happens, the jib is backwinded and pushes the bow strongly and quickly downwind to the point where an inadvertent jibe occurs.  This scares the daylights out of just about everyone on board.

If the mainsail area is shortened the CE moves farther forward, creating a lee helm situation, and the boat becomes almost impossible to keep close hauled or on a close reach.  In a strong gust, the bow may get pushed by the wind downwind - - again leading to an inadvertent jibe… scaring everyone aboard.

The answer – of course – is to shorten both the mainsail and the jib sail so as to maintain the balance between the two sail areas.

On Snickerdoodle, I have several options to choose between as the wind comes up.  The mainsail has a Cunningham and clew outhaul that are easily adjusted from the cockpit.  The mainsail also has three reefing options – a flattening reef, a first full reef, and a second full reef.  There are also six jib sails aboard – a 150% drifter made of 1.5 oz spinnaker nylon; a 150% genoa made of 3.5 oz Dacron; a 135% genoa made of 5 oz Dacron; a 105% working jib made of 5.5 oz Dacron; a 97% blade jib made of 6 oz Dacron; and a storm jib made of 7 oz Dacron.  I also have a cruising (asymmetrical) spinnaker… but I don’t use that sail in anything stronger than 9 or 10 knots of breeze.  Here’s how I configure the sail-plan as the breeze increases.

1 to 7 knots of breeze = full main and drifter

8 to 10 knots of breeze = full main and 150% genoa

11 knots of breeze = main with flattening reef and 150% genoa

12 to 17 knots of breeze = main with flattening reef and 135% genoa

18 knots of breeze = main with first full reef and 135% genoa

19 to 24 knots of breeze = main with first full reef and either the 105% working jib or the 97% blade (working jib for reaching and running; blade for close hauled and close reaching)

25 to 30 knots of breeze = main with second full reef and either the working jib or the blade jib.

31 to 36 knots of breeze = main with second full reef and storm jib.

Above 37 knots of breeze = Take in all sails and head for shelter as fast as I can. 

The above wind ranges are for steady breeze velocities.  There will almost always be puffs and gusts that are stronger than the steady breeze.  Playing the traveler control line or the mainsheet – or feathering up in the gust – helps keep the boat under control.

Make sure that you keep a “weather eye” out.  This means to watch the weather and the wind for changes.  I remember once in a race that the wind went from around 6 or 7 knots from the NE to 15 to 20 knots from the SW almost without warning.  We were broad reaching under full main and spinnaker when I noticed one of the lead boats suddenly be thrown aback with her spinnaker wrapped around the rigging - - and then she was broached hard over with side decks awash.  Seconds later the second place boat experienced the same thing.  We quickly doused the spinnaker and hoisted the 110% working jib.  Less than fifteen seconds after the sail change, the wind switched 180 degrees and went from ~7 to +20.  We were ready and surged around the boats in front of us to a first place finish.

Sailing in strengthening winds shouldn’t be a problem… but you do need to practice and be prepared.  If you want to read more, pick up a copy of “The Annapolis Book of Sailing” by John Rousemaniere.  There is a fount of knowledge in that book.  Maybe a copy should be on your presents list……  Enjoy!!!

barnaclebillholcomb@gmail.com

 

Beaufort	Description of Wind		What You Would Sea	Wind
Number			or Experience	Speed Kts
0	Calm		Calm - Smoke rises vertically	Less than 1
1	Light air		Direction of the wind can be seen	1 to 3
			by smoke drifting; but wind vanes
			don't work well; sail with full main
			and large light weight genoa
2	Light breeze		Wind fills the sails; boats sail at one	4 to 6
			or two knots; wind is felt on one's
			face; wind vanes move by the wind;
			sail with full main and large light
			weight genoa
3	Gentle breeze		Boat begins to heel and move nicely	7 to 10
			through the water;  wind extends
			light flags;  change jib to a large
			medium weight (3.5 oz) genoa
4	Moderate breeze		Excellent sailing; boat may heel to	11 to 16
			20+ degrees;  a flattening reef for
			the mainsail may be advised; maybe
			shift down to a 135 genoa
5	Fresh breeze		Time to reef the mainsail and maybe	17 to 21
			shift down to a working jib; frequent
			white capped waves
6	Strong breeze		Whistling heard by wind in the rigging;	22 to 27
			There are many white caps and the
			waves are building in size; single reef
			in the main and a small working sail
			(smaller than 100% likely)
7	Moderate gale		Sailing becomes difficult; the boat	28 to 33
			heels far over and may often wash
			the decks; time to tuck in the second
			reef in the mainsail and shift down to
			a small working jib or storm jib
8	Fresh gale		Why are you out in this???  Double	34 to 40
			reefed mainsail or storm trysail and
			storm jib are warrented.  Waves are
			becoming large; there is a lot of spray
			in the air; steering is difficult.  Heaving
			to may be a good choice; or running
			before the wind under bare poles.
9	Strong gale		Running before the wind under bare	41 to 47
			poles and a sea anchor to control
			boatspeed and surging
10	Whole gale			48 to 55
11	Storm			56 to 65
12	Hurricane		Typhoon in Western Pacific	66 +
			Cyclone in Indian Ocean

Winterizing Your Boat Checklist

Winterize Your Boat Checklist

All of us who live in the inland Pacific Northwest must be aware of potential dangers that freezing weather may bring to our sailboats and prevent potential damage by winterizing our boats.  Whether your boat spends the winter on a trailer or in the water, you must winterize.  There are too many horror stories about boats sinking while in the slip …… or sinking when first launched in the spring.  Sinking is nearly the worst thing that can happen on your boat.

Water (freezing water) will do considerable damage. Freezing water can break thru hull valves, raw water strainers, engine blocks, fresh water systems, marine heads and porta-potties, and anything else that has water in it during the winter.

So, here is a typical check list of things to do aboard your boat to make sure that she’s ready for winter.

The first thing to do is to check the owner’s manuals for equipment aboard your boat.  Are there specific recommendations for winter conditions?

Next prepare a written checklist so that you will cover all the “bases”……  Here are some of the “bases”…

Clean out the boat.

Remove all electronic equipment and store it in a warm dry place.  Check your owner’s manual for info on how to store this gear.

Remove all sails, lines, anchors, fenders, pfd’s, bunk cushions, flares, fire extinguishers, carpets, etc.  Check and repair these over the winter.

Empty all lockers, especially food lockers.  Take all loose gear off the boat.

Securely prop open all locker doors, access hatches, bilge access and anything else that will improve air circulation.

Open and clean the ice box and/or refrigerator.

Drain all the water from the fresh water system.

For a fairly simple system, drain all the hoses and drain and clean the tanks.  Leave everything empty.

For more complicated systems with heaters and electric pumps you’ll need to empty all water, header and heater tanks, making sure that no water remains in the tanks below the outlet level.  Clean the tanks and wipe internally with a chlorine solution.

Make sure you disconnect the electrical supply to the heater tank before you drain it.

Drain all the water from the hoses and pumps – you may need to disconnect hoses at both ends to do this.

Reconnect the hoses ad bypass the water tank.  Pump pink, eco-friendly anti-freeze into the hoses and pumps to protect them from any residual water.

Check shower sump for water.  Sponge dry if necessary.

Drain and winterize the head.

Pump out the holding tank.  Flush the head with fresh water several times while emptying the holding tank.

Close the head intake seacock and romove the hose.  Sit the hose in a bucket of 50-50 eco-friendly (pink) anti-freeze and water.

Pump the head until all water in the bowl and hoses has been replaced by anti-freeze.  Replace the hose on the seacock.

Don’t open the seacock until next spring.

Winterize the batteries.

Remove the batteries to a warm dry place.  Keep them off the ground.

Fully charge the batteries before storage and recharge every month in storage.

Don’t leave the batteries connected to the charger.

Winterize your diesel inboard engine.

Fuel system

Add stabilizer/biocide to your fuel tank and fill the tank.  Read the instructions on the stabilizer container.

Change all fuel filters and drain the water separator.

Run the engine for 15 minutes to get stabilized fuel into all lines and injectors.

If already on the hard, run a water hose to the raw water intake to get anti-freeze into the engine.

The oil system

Drain the oil while the engine is still hot from the fuel circulation above.

Change the oil filters

Fill engine with clean oil

Drain the oil in the transmission if separate from the engine.  Refill with clean oil

The fresh water cooling system

Drain the fresh water cooling and heat exchanger system and replace the coolant with 50-50 pink anti-freeze

Winterize the raw water side as detailed below

Flush the raw water cooling system

Close the raw water seacock

Disconnect the hose on the outlet side of the raw water pump

Place the end of this hose into a large bucket.  Have a second bucket handy.

On the exhaust riser or muffler, disconnect the cooling water hose

Connect this hose to a water supply and back flush the raw water system

Collect the flushing water in the buckets and dispose of properly

Reconnect both hoses.

Replace the raw water with anti-freeze

Close the raw water seacock

Disconnect the hose from the seacock

Place the hose in a bucket of 50-50 mixture of pink anti-freeze and water

Start the engine and run it until pink anti-freeze is discharged from the exhaust

Turn off the engine and reconnect the hose to the seacock

Do not open the raw water seacock until next spring

Drain the anti-freeze from the muffler if you have a drain plug.  Reinstall this plug immediately

Remove the raw water impeller and store.  Tag the engine so you remember the impeller is not installed next spring

If you are already on the hard you can leave the seacock open and run a hose from the raw water intake to a bucket of anti-freeze mixture and proceed as above

Close the seacock afterwards

Sundry work

Spray fogging oil into the intake manifold and turn the engine over by hand.  Don’t use the starter motor.

Spray the inside of the ignition switch with WD-40 or CRC

Cover the engine with a waterproof cover to protect from any leaks above the engine (deck, cockpit, etc.)

Seal all air intakes, breather pipes, tank vents ad exhaust outlet with duct tape or plastic seals.

Winterize your gasoline inboard engine.

Follow the steps above regarding; The oil system, The fresh water cooling system, Flush the raw water cooling system, and Replace the raw water with anti-freeze

The fuel system

Start the engine and shut off the fuel supply

Spray fogging oil into the air intake while the engine is running

Run engine until it stops

Drain the gasoline tank and all gasoline lines.  Ethanol in modern fuel absorbs moisture, separates, and damages gaskets and rubber fittings.

Put the fuel into your car’s fuel tank

Sundry work

Spray the inside of the ignition switch with WD-40 or CRC

Cover the engine with a waterproof cover to protect for any leaks from above

Seal all air intakes, breather pipes, tank vents, and exhaust outlet with duct tape or plastic seals

Inspect fuel tanks, lines, pump and filters for leaks

Winterize your gasoline outboard engine.

Start the engine

Disconnect the fuel line at the engine and spray fogging oil into the carburetor air intake

Run the engine until it stops

Change the lower unit gear grease

Drain the gasoline tank and all gasoline lines.  Ethanol in modern fuel absorbs moisture, separates, and damages gaskets and rubber fittings.

Put the gasoline into your car’s fuel tank

Clean and inspect your boat

Internal clean

Remove all loose gear from the boat

Wash down all surfaces to remove any dirt or grease that will allow mold to grow

Scrub the ice box and/or refrigerator with a mild bleach solution

Clean out the interior lockers

Clean the bilge.  Scrub with soap and hot water.  Add pink anti-freeze to the bilge to stop any remaining water from freezing

External clean

Scrub or pressure wash the hull and deck

Clean hardware, mast and rigging to remove salt, dirt, and grime

Touch up any damaged varnish or paintwork

Lightly wax all fiberglass surfaces to protect over the winter

Inspect the hull

Inspect the hull for cracks, blisters or any stress cracks.  Repair as necessary

Inspect the deck for cracks.  Check for delamination at cracks and repair if required.

Install backing plates to hardware or stanchions showing signs of stress cracking before repairing

Inspect lifelines for signs of corrosion.  Replace if necessary

Inspect sundry systems

Inspect propane lines for damage.  Make sure they are well supported.

Close propane bottle and light the stove.  Allow the stove to go out.  Close off the supply at the stove.

Remove propane bottles from the boat  Seal the end of the propane line

Inspect all fuel supply lines for softness, brittleness or cracking

Inspect fuel fill line and fuel vents.  Check all joints for leaks.

Ensure all lines are well supported with clips or straps

Inspect and service all winches, mainsheet system, turning blocks and rope clutches

Lubricate the roller furling system if fitted

Inspect and service all seacocks

Inspect all hoses and hose clamps.  All hoses should be double clamped.  Replace hoses and/or clamps as necessary

Inspect all electrical connections.  Clean and reconnect if required.

Since I have shore power

Connect the 110 VAC dehumidifier

Connect the 40 Watt heat strip

Fill the two Dry-Z-Air dehumidifiers and place one in the galley and one in the head

I also fully tarp the cockpit and foredeck with blue tarps to keep the snow and rain off.

No doubt that this is an incomplete list……  add to or delete from this list for your own boat.  Remember that freezing water is the most dangerous winter hazard to your boat!!!

BarnacleBillHolcomb@gmail.com

Hatchboard Precautions

One of the dangers of sailing in stronger winds is the chance that a really strong gust will overpower your boat and knock you over so far that water pours over the cockpit coamings and into the cockpit.  If your hatchboards are not in the companionway, water can them pour through the open companionway and into the cabin of the boat - - potentially sinking the boat.

 

An easy precaution to prevent this is to install quarter-inch barrel bolts on the lower two hatchboards.  Then drill a quarter-inch hole in the companionway molding so that the hatchboards can effectively be “locked in”.  With the hatchboards locked in, the chance of a knockdown sinking your boat is greatly reduced.

Try it - - this is an easy and effective modification.

Your Tired Old Mainsail

Your Tired Old Mainsail

One topic of discussion that I hear about all the time around the marina has to do with skippers having their boats overpowered to the point where the boat is no longer under control.  Frequently these discussions include graphic descriptions of water washing the ports (windows), rounding up violently, and so on.  As often as not, the skipper relating the story has an older 22 to 27-footer that is still sailing with a twenty or thirty year-old main sail.  The sail works okay on light wind days… but when the wind pipes up, the sail is so blown out and round that the sail develops too much sideways thrust instead of forward thrust and the boat tips excessively.  What are some options???

One option of course would be to buy a new mainsail.  And, that is probably the most efficient “fix” - - and this one will last longest.  Other options might be to significantly increase Cunningham and clew outhaul tension.  This tends to flatten the sail – but the older and more blown out the sail is, the less effective this second option becomes.

A third option might be to “pre-bend” the mast.  You do this by tightening the forward lower shrouds or by increasing tension on the backstay… or both.  If your boat has a pair of lower shrouds that angle forward to chainplates ahead of the upper shroud chainplates, it should be fairly easy to increase the tension on the forward shroud by simply turning the turnbuckle at the bottom of the shroud.  Do this evenly until the mast is bent in the middle about three or so inches.  The pre-bend will flatten the middle half of the sail and make the sail less powerful in the gusts.  If there are aft angled lower shrouds too, you will need to loosen those turnbuckles.  And, on many boats, if you increase the tension on the backstay, the mast will also bend in the middle and depower the mainsail.

Increasing the tension on the backstay also increases the tension on the forestay and helps the jib to keep it’s shape - - and not sag off to leeward in the gust - - again creating sideways instead of forward energy.

So, if you are not quite ready to buy a new mainsail, pre-bending the mast may help in the short run.

barnaclebillholcomb@gmail.com

Your Compass vs. Your Chart's Compass Rose

How accurate is the compass rose on your chart relative to the real world?  When was the last time that you checked your compass and verified this?

Toward the end of August this year, Kathy and I were motor-sailing Snickerdoodle from Sandpoint back to Bayview on Lake Pend Oreille, ID.  It is a "straight shot" from the Elliott Point light to the Granite Point light.  As we motored on a course of 188M (shown on my GPS chart plotter), I began to wonder how accurate the compass rose on the chart for Lake Pend Oreille  was (NOAA 18554) .  This chart was last updated in 1982.  

I drew my course on the chart and then walked my parallel rule from the course line to the chart's compass rose.  The compass rose indicated that I was on a course of 192M.  So, the chart indicated that I was on a course 4 degrees west of my actual heading.  How important is that???  Well, a four degree error amounts to 2/5 of a nm or 800 yards after an hour and a half of sailing at 5 nm/hr.  During daylight hours on a lake or other body of water that you are familiar with -- it's probably not a big deal.  But at night or on an unfamiliar body of water. 800 yards might be a critical error.  On Lake Pend Oreille, an 800 yard error to the east would be the difference between fetching up at the Granite Point light as planned or crashing ashore in Kilroy Bay.  I hate loud crunching sounds......

Next time you  are out, maybe it's time to verify the accuracy of your chart's compass rose as compared to what your compass or GPS are telling you about the course you are on.

barnaclebillholcomb@gmail.com