esingleman
07-13-2008, 11:03 AM
Don't feel so bad Joe, your not alone. Further up the Hudson across from the Capital (Yesterday) I decided to do an evening solo sail. I launched from Rensselaer at about 5:30. Weather.com said the winds were going to be around 10 mph which is perfect for my little boat so I prepare the little skiff to use both the jib and main.
Well I launch and as I am raising the jib, the halyard gets caught on the mainsail, so I take them both down and start over again. I finally get going and it starts to get gusty. Up here were the river is not so wide, the wind changes direction a lot because of the trees and tall buildings, etc. Anyway, I usually have my wife along as a little extra movable balast (notice I said a little!!!), and she usually tends to the jib as well. Because this little lugger doesn't point to wind very well, I do a lot of jib turns.
This time I have the main cleated so I can deal with the jib sheet, and as I am coming around she starts to heel over really good. I try leaning way back, and it is not enough (I also think the centerboard was not down far enough). But as the water is at the shear do I think to release the main sheet, no, I just watch as the water comes over the side and swamps her.
I have not swamped her in the seven years since I built her, so I said, well lets see how this goes. I bring down the sails, stand on the centerboard, and she is then upright. But since there is not internal floatation, the water is right up to the shear. SO I start bailing with my bucket while I am outside the boat, and somehow I manage to get more water out than the waves are bringing in. By now some boaters come by to help. I think I could have bailed it out entirely or close to it, but getting back in would have been a problem.
LESSONS LEARNED... Don't do a jib turn with the main cleated off, make sure the centerboard is all the way down, don't use the jib when the wind is gusty. AND don't trust weather.com
Well I launch and as I am raising the jib, the halyard gets caught on the mainsail, so I take them both down and start over again. I finally get going and it starts to get gusty. Up here were the river is not so wide, the wind changes direction a lot because of the trees and tall buildings, etc. Anyway, I usually have my wife along as a little extra movable balast (notice I said a little!!!), and she usually tends to the jib as well. Because this little lugger doesn't point to wind very well, I do a lot of jib turns.
This time I have the main cleated so I can deal with the jib sheet, and as I am coming around she starts to heel over really good. I try leaning way back, and it is not enough (I also think the centerboard was not down far enough). But as the water is at the shear do I think to release the main sheet, no, I just watch as the water comes over the side and swamps her.
I have not swamped her in the seven years since I built her, so I said, well lets see how this goes. I bring down the sails, stand on the centerboard, and she is then upright. But since there is not internal floatation, the water is right up to the shear. SO I start bailing with my bucket while I am outside the boat, and somehow I manage to get more water out than the waves are bringing in. By now some boaters come by to help. I think I could have bailed it out entirely or close to it, but getting back in would have been a problem.
LESSONS LEARNED... Don't do a jib turn with the main cleated off, make sure the centerboard is all the way down, don't use the jib when the wind is gusty. AND don't trust weather.com