Heavy Weather Gear and Strategies #4—Options When Heaving-to is Not Working
posted by John & Phyllis Web Site
In the previous post in this series I wrote about an experience we had on “Morgan’s Cloud” when being heaved-to turned out to be dangerous. In this post I’m going to cover the options we considered to stop the breaking wave strikes we were experiencing.
Running Off
I did briefly consider running off towing the Galerider drogue that we have carried for years. However, the significant wave height was running 20-feet (confirmed by weatherfax) with some bigger breaking waves around (like the one that hit us). We had stopped sailing earlier because even our massive autopilot was no longer able to handle the loads and, while the autopilot might have handled steering while dragging the drogue, I had recently heard from two friends that had had Galeriders pull out of a wave face resulting in their boats rapidly accelerating; a very dangerous occurrence that, in the conditions we were experiencing, could have led to a bad broach or even a roll over, particularly if the boat was being steered by the autopilot. All in all, this option failed all five of our goals.
Lying to a Sea Anchor
At the time, we carried a 24-foot diameter PARA-TECH sea anchor that we had bought in case we were dismasted or some other damage made it impossible to heave-to. I considered using it but was loath to do so because the deployment process required setting it on 600-feet of 7/8-inch line as well as a trip line with three fenders on it; way more complicated and fraught with opportunities to get hurt than I was comfortable with in the very rough conditions. I was also skeptical about our ability to retrieve this massive sea anchor and its associated gear, which would weigh several hundred pounds when wet, at the end of the blow. I know you are supposed to just pick up the trip line and pull it in, but the thought of trying to haul the boat upwind to, or motor up to, the trip buoys and snag them with a boat hook in the left-over sea after the blow was an evolution so full of opportunities for disaster that it gave me the horrors.
(We had bought the sea anchor with an awareness of the retrieval problem and were willing to accept that since we felt that it was the best technology at the time. Assuming that it had done its job in a true survival storm, the loss of several thousand dollars worth of gear if we had to cut it away would be an acceptable price to pay. However, in this case, although the wave strike had been violent, we did not feel that the conditions were actually threatening our survival.)
So with the deployment challenges, together with reports that said that lying to a sea anchor in big breaking seas can result in violent yawing and pitching, this option failed two of our goals, at least.
The Pardey Bridle
At the time, we were set up to use the sea anchor discussed above with the “Pardey Bridle”, a method for deploying a sea anchor while remaining heaved-to with sail up, pioneered by Lin and Larry Pardey. I think this technique would have removed the wave strike danger without the yawing and attendant violent motion problem of the sea anchor alone. Also, if I had fully understood their method, I would have bought a much smaller sea anchor than that recommended by the manufacturer and perhaps lighter gear, making deployment and retrieval easier. Having said that, I would guess that Lin and Larry’s boat weighs less than half what “Morgan’s Cloud” does, making the loads a great deal smaller and deployment much easier for them.
Although we did not try it then, because of the deployment and retrieval problem, I think the “Pardey Bridle” technique discussed in Lin and Larry’s Storm Tactics book and video makes a great deal of sense. I would also strongly recommend that anyone who goes, or is planning to go, to sea in sailboats read the section of their book on the dangers of running off in heavy weather. I had long been uncomfortable with running off, but it was Lin and Larry’s book that really clarified and confirmed my thinking on the matter.
Next post we will look at what we did to solve the forereaching and resultant wave strike problem and how this technique has become an integral part of our heavy weather strategy on “Morgan’s Cloud”.
Earlier Posts in the Series
#1 Goals
#2 Heaving-To
#3 When Heaving-to is Dangerous
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Labels: Seamanship
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