Heavy Weather Gear and Strategies #6—Survival Storms
posted by John & Phyllis Web Site
In the last five posts in this series I have been writing about the techniques that have worked well for us on “Morgan’s Cloud” in gales and strong gales at sea. That is up to Beaufort Force 9 (41-47 knots). Next I’m going to write about our thinking on how to handle a storm of Force 10 or above that would threaten our very survival.
I'm happy to say that I did not take this photograph at sea, but rather from the shore after tropical storm Noel.
But before I get to that, I want to make clear that the waves generated by gales and strong gales, particularly if they are apposed to even a low velocity ocean current, can, if she is not properly equipped and handled, roll the average cruising boat completely over and injure or even kill her crew. I say this because I have noticed that many sailors exaggerate the wind speeds of gales that they have experienced and therefore give the impression that a Force 8 gale (34-40 knots) is no big deal. Usually they quote the top gust they registered, which is pretty meaningless, particularly since wind instruments are notoriously inaccurate once the wind gets over 30 knots. What matters when gauging the severity of heavy weather at sea is how strong the sustained wind is and how long it has been blowing for. (For more on this see “Liars, Damned Liars and Sailors”.)
Before I get into writing about survival storms, I have an admission to make: despite about 100,000 miles of offshore sailing experience over nearly 40 years, I have never been in one. On a few occasions I have experienced winds in excess of 50 knots, and on one memorable occasion, what I think was 70 knots or maybe a little more, but these blows did not last long enough to produce truly huge breaking waves. In each case I was on strong well equipped boats with experienced crews and my survival was not at risk unless we did something stupid.
Having said that, let’s all remember that a sustained wind of just 30 knots blowing against the Gulf Stream can turn into a survival storm if you handle it badly. Some years ago I got caught out in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras in an unforecast rapidly intensifying low (bomb). The winds were blowing against the Stream at a steady 40 knots with gusts in squalls of 50 knots or so (verified from ship reports). The waves were huge, steep and starting to break. We rode it out by slowly jogging to windward with storm jib and trysail set. It was not a survival storm for us because I had a very strong and experienced crew of six aboard who were able to carefully steer over every wave for two days. But for a couple without an adequate strategy to manage these conditions without having to steer, it would have been a very dangerous situation. The point is that what constitutes a survival storm is as much about you and your boat as the weather.
Up to now in the series, I have been writing from experience. Now I’m getting into conjecture. But it is important conjecture. Despite the advances in modern weather forecasting, and taking into account the more frequent and intense violent weather we are seeing in recent years, there is a real chance that, if Phyllis and I go on sailing offshore, particularly in the high latitudes, we will get caught in a multi-day storm with sustained winds in excess of 50 knots that will be a survival storm for us. If that happens I want to make damned sure that we have a plan and the best possible gear to execute it.
So what about just staying heaved-to, perhaps with the drogue off the bow, as we have written about in the last three posts in the series? Would that be safe with the sustained winds over 50 knots and 30-40 foot breaking seas with the possibility of a 60 footer around? I don’t know for sure, but I think it might be. And I’m not alone in that surmise: Some months ago I had an interesting email exchange with Lin Pardey. She and Larry firmly believe that heaving-to, with a sea anchor if necessary, is the ultimate heavy weather strategy. She also quoted an interview she did with the late Sir Peter Blake who seemed to believe the same, and backed it up with a story of going through a true survival storm that overwhelmed another boat nearby, while heaved-to. Lin, Larry, and Sir Peter, between them, have wrung more salt water out of their socks than I have sailed over, as the old saying goes, and probably they are right. But, what if they’re not? What if the mast breaks and we can’t set any sail? What if…?
Bottom line, I’m a belt and suspenders kind of guy, and I want an alternative. Next post, we will talk about non-heaving-to storm survival systems: our old one, the new one we replaced it with, and why.
Earlier Posts in the Series
#1 Goals
#2 Heaving-To
#3 When Heaving-to is Dangerous
#4 Options When Heaving-to is Not Working
#5 Stopping Wave Strikes While Heaved-To
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Labels: Seamanship
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