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What to do in a sudden storm?

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Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/31/2006 : 21:43:32

Yesterday afternoon a squall line went through Chicago and a dozen sailers on various boats had to be pulled from the Lake Michigan by the coast guard after the boats turned over. I'm assuming they were sailing training dinghy's since they were close to shore and I dont think a keel boat would have a real problem short term? They described 5-10 knot winds going to over 50 knots and waves going from 1 ft to 7ft in a little over 7 minutes.
So being a relatively new sailor (1 full year as of August 1st!) and a Catalina 25 owner that just so happened not to be out yesterday afternoon this is my question: I assume the 1st thing to do with 7 minutes of warning would be to drop the sails quickly but what next? What is the best way to deal with the building waves? How do I stay pointed in them? Would it make sense to drop the anchor assuming I could do it safely and if I know the storm is going to pass quickly to keep me pointed? Is it better to stay in the cockpit and try to tie myself off or go in the cabin and close the hatch boards with the anchor down to ride it out? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edited by - on

atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 07/31/2006 : 23:36:25

There is no magic formula for dealing with storms. I think it is best to consider the options and then take the LEAST risky. Anchoring is nice provided the wave action is not too big. Motoring into heavy winds is good but is limited by the prop staying in the water. Regardless of what you choose, there are steps to take that increase the odds.

1. Keep a SHARP knife in the cockpit.
2. Keep a safety latch on the Lazarette cover.
3. Keep a big anchor at the ready.
4. Batten down the hatches when it gets ugly.
5. Do not have GET-HOME-ITIS! Stay out to sea till things calm down.

Consider exposing yourself to rough conditions at your pace and go sail when it is blustery.

Edited by - on

Ombra
Deckhand

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USA
5 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 00:14:39

After having two lightning strikes just miss me in a ten minute span years ago, I'm a firm believer in safety first...
Check the weather the night before sailing, the morning before you go, and if "anything" coming, keep weather channel on and an eye to the sky.
That storm yesterday showed up clearly as coming on the doppler radar. I was back in port an hour before.
If you don't have to gamble.....don't...

And sometimes the biggest danger comes from some clown running blind.... get your lights on...

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 00:20:32

We got hit by a storm Sunday afternoon. Wind went from 25 KM/Hr to 88KM/Hr and the temp dropped 12degrees celsius instantly.
Two boats in our sail club were also out. One had a torn sail and the other lost 5 sail slugs and some other hardware issues. several boats hit lee shores and several dingies were overturned.
We were more fortunate and had just lowered our sails. We got thrown around but kept control by keeping the nose into the wind with the OB. We're on a small lake, so waves built up fast and we soon had water coming over the bow. We got lazerettes locked, forced the dog down below and put the hatch boards in. We had our secondary anchor ready. We identified the best locations on the lee shore to hit. We motored into an area with the fewest boats to ride out the storm. After listening to the radio, we learned that the storm was not going to subside, so we made a dash to the mooring ball. The C25 was easier to handle than our tender was in our 100 meter row to the dock. We were unable to make any head way and got blown over to a beach.
This is the second unpredicted storm we've been hit with. Both have been exciting and have had happy endings. I credit my admiral for the happy endings because she is calm and capable in all aspects of the boat. So, if I had to make any suggestions, I'd say make sure your crew is either capable or out of the way (down below).

Edited by - on

Don B
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 07:31:46

All good information here.

Check several weather information sources just prior to heading out. Once on the water, keep a weather eye look out. Also, some of the local towboat or seatow outfits are able to provide some weather info. Hopefully, just prior to the squall hitting, you'll have the motor on, the sails down, everything battened down, and check your surroundings. I like atgep's term..."GET-HOME-ITIS"...How very true...your first reaction is to want to get back to the safety of the marina. Weigh your decision about entering the marina very carefully. It's amazing the damage that can be caused to both boat and slip...in many cases, if they had waited 30 minutes outside the marina, the storm would have passed.

Edited by - on

atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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1009 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 08:16:03

GET-HOME-ITIS is a problem in the aviation field. After a long deployment, it is common for military aviators to take aircraft that have no business flying, to get home on time. It is a dangerous perception that "somewhere else" is better than where you are at. The solution is knowledge and patience. It is the patient sailor who bobs around during a nasty storm.

Tom.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 08:23:29

As a singlehanded sailor, if conditions even start to look iffy, I drop the main and secure it to the boom. That way if a sudden sqaull hits, I can furl in my genoa and run under bare poles. This has saved my bacon on at least two occasions. On one occasion, I dropped sails when the wind was around 1-2knts and the lake was like a sheet of glass, but the sky started lookin' real eerie. Five minutes later, I was battling 50mph winds and 7 foot seas. I was lucky I didn't have any sails up.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 13:19:04

This all sounds like the adventures we live for. Or am I a little nuts? Cheers.

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 13:38:03

I've checked with the authorities Dennis...you're definitely nuts.

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 14:56:58

Damn, I knew it. Cheers.

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 15:24:45

I’ve been out in some pretty nasty stuff on both the C25 and other boats. One thing that the ocean guys don’t realize, nor do some of the inland lake guys is that stuff can occur in a matter of minutes on the Great Lakes. Most inland guys get the same storms, just not the same swells and crazy wave action. And I don’t mean to belittle ocean going bad weather, I’ve been in that too. I’m probably partial to my home storms but these things can just arise out of nowhere – and quick.

Step One – and always step one is get your life jacket on and order any crew onboard to do the same. We have a personal singlehand rule of wearing ours. Although we’ve never gotten around to it, we’ve discussed running a jackline for singlehanding. If you are inexperienced Step two should be to connect yourself via harness to that line.

Step 3 Lash the snot out of your Main to the boom. You probably won’t have time for the cover.

Step 4 – If there is time, get your headsails down below and off the deck.

Step 5 – Get back to the cockpit.
Step 6 – Lock your lazarettes and put in your hatchboards

Step 7 – get your rain hat.

There are things you can do for point. If you have a storm trysail – now is the time for it. Deploying drogues or drogue lines might also be of benefit. Minor storms might require a reefed main and nothing else. You want something to keep headway, most of our outboards won’t cut it.

On the great lakes, heading in is not always an option, wave angle, wind and currents might prohibit getting past the breakwall. If that is the case, weather it.

From an old Chicago tribune article:
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> A few big ocean-racers have made their mark on the Mac. Larry Ellison's Sayonara finished first in 1998 and 2000. Roy Disney's Pyewacket holds the current monohull record of 23 hours and 30 minutes, set in 2002. Ted Turner, though, left a mark of a different kind: In 1970 he reportedly referred to Lake Michigan as a "millpond" and said of it sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm really scared." That weekend his American Eagle was caught in a storm with real winds that reached 60 knots. As one of his crew later wrote, Turner didn't have a storm jib (a kind of sail) on board and at one point thought his mast had snapped. Sailors here, who have never forgotten Turner's insults, enjoy describing his comeuppance. Cried Ted amidst the billows: "I publicly retract anything and everything I have ever said about inland sailing!" Though he finished first, he departed humbled. (Turner, reached for comment, says he cannot imagine ever having made the "millpond" crack: "I have always known it is a major body of water.")<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 16:32:18

The bottom line is: check the weather before going out; keep checking the weather while your out; make sure you and your boat are prepared to handle emergency situations like storms.

There is little one can do when faced with a sudden squal except react the best you can. You and your boat have to be prepared in advance to cope with the situation. Asking questions and visualizing is a good way to start equipping your boat with safety equipment for your sailing area. Roller furling, reefable main sail with as many as two reefs, jack lines, personal harnesses with tethers and attachment points, even a rigid boom vang are costly but necessary but neede safety enhancements depending on your sailing area and habits. I have and use them all on Lake Superior.

Edited by - on

Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 18:27:29

Thanks for some really good advice on this subject from everyone. It never even occurred to me to safety latch or lock the lazarettes but it makes perfect sense.
The methodical approach to problem solving always works well for me so Duanes and Atgeps organized and rational thoughts are much appreciated.
When I'm sailing I'm always thinking about the boat design, the weather, how to do what I'm doing better and always come away having learned something new. In a situation where I dont have the luxury of time to think it through I want to be able to fall back on preparedeness and traing.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 21:02:52

Lots of good information... here's how it was put to me a long time ago.

A sailboat is basically a submarine with masts. In a sound vessel, you have only a few real threats.

1) Breaking/boarding seas that may damage the boat's structure.
2) Waves steep and large enough to roll/pitchpole the boat and damage it.
3) Waves large and steep enough to swamp the cockpit.
4) Being forced onto hard, pointy stuff.

All of these threats can increase with proximity to shore. Sometimes it's better to stay in deeper water and tough-out a short-lived storm than head into greater danger near shore.

Being able to manage the heading and attitude of the vessel is a key here. Having a storm sail and a drogue are a couple things to consider having on board if you are subject to sudden storm conditions.

One of the bigger worries I have about the C25 in rough weather is the weakness of the anchor locker hatch & latch. If that were to fail, I think the anchor locker pan would fail also and the boat could start taking serious water pretty quickly. Doubling or tripling the latches is a happy thought.

The second area of concern is the pop-top. A prudent upgrade for 'semi-blue water' use would be to add another pair (or two) of fittings to secure it in place.

The third area to worry about would be the cockpit drains. Converting to through-transom scupper drains is probably the ticket there.

Every C25 need these mods? Nope. But if I was making overnight passages on the Great Lakes or other venues subject to sudden, severe weather I'd seriously consider them. The first 2 modifications are really pretty darn cheap and easy.

IMHO: Beyond correcting these (few) weak points the C25 really can't be made into a sea boat without some serious structural modifications. In a nutshell, not worth doing, better to get a different boat at that point.

Edited by - on

Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Response Posted - 08/01/2006 : 21:40:42

More good points to consider. Thanks Bruce.

Edited by - on

Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2006 : 06:55:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ClamBeach
 
....A sailboat is basically a submarine with masts.....
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

There's a perspective I have not heard before. Interesting.

Steve

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5908 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2006 : 11:28:45

If the wind is blowing offshore or parallel to the shore, and you're on a big body of water, you're in the best situation. In that case, the waves will be much smaller and you won't be in danger of being blown ashore. Also, you'll probably have more sea room, to drift downwind until the storm abates. In that case, you should probably take down all sails, and run before the wind under bare poles. The motion of the boat will settle down considerably, along with the sound and the spray, and that will increase your confidence that the boat can ride it out. If the wind is so strong that the boat is going downwind too fast, then you should start to think about how you can slow her down, such as by fashioning a drogue out of an anchor and line and an old sail or cabin cushions.

The worst situation is if the wind is blowing onshore. In that case, the waves will be bigger and steeper, and you'll have to reef your sails, but keep them up as long as you can, so you can try to claw off the lee shore. That will be cold, wet, noisy, scary sailing. A C25 with a storm jib and either a double-reefed mainsail or a storm trisail should be able to claw herself off a lee shore until the waves get so big and steep that they knock her bow off downwind. If you can't get her to sail to windward, then she'll eventually be blown ashore. If that happens, stay with her as long as you can, but wear a pfd and get clear of her before she gets into the breakers near shore.

If you can find an island or a point of land jutting out from shore, you should get into it's lee and anchor. It's amazing how quickly the conditions abate in the lee of an island.

If you get caught in a serious storm, abandon all concerns other than to survive. If you're racing, abandon the race. If you're sailing to a destination, forget about it. Time is on your side. All storms eventually abate. Your only job is to keep the boat above the water until that happens.

Edited by - Steve Milby on 08/02/2006 11:32:15

saribella
Captain

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USA
286 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2006 : 22:57:08

How about heaving to with a sturdy sea anchor? Of course the case being that you can make it far enough out to a safe distance to deploy it in time.

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/03/2006 : 07:15:19

Heaving to and deploying a sea anchor are opposite techniques. When heaved to, the boat is still moving very slowly to windward but with reduced wind and sea effects on the boat. It also allows you to leave the tiller since it is tied off. This is the preferred method of negotiating severe wind and sea conditions.

A sea anchor (a drogue) or the use of "warps" (single or multiple lines streaming in an arc from the boat) is deployed off the bow and allows the boat to slowly drift downwind, again with reduced weather effects on the boat. The tiller can be left unattended but the technique requires lots of down wind sea room to be effective.

I have been wanting to get a sea anchor for many years but they are very expensive, even for a boat our size. In that time I have not run into a situation I couldn't handle with the safety equipment I have installed on board. I've heaved to once in moderate winds to eat lunch and it works great. It is a storm tactic everyone should learn.

Edited by - on

Don B
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 08/03/2006 : 07:20:50

Matthew (saribella) brings up an interesting point...why not heave to with an anchor set? Is there a point where the wind speed is so extreme that this wouldn't be a good idea? Is this not a good idea if being blown toward a lee shore?

I've practiced the heave to during 15-20 kt winds just to see what it is like...how very cool when everything immediately around you calms down.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 08/03/2006 : 09:17:57

"... get a sea anchor for many years but they are very expensive"

Sailrite offeres a pre-cut series drogue 'kit'. If you have time and a heavy duty sewing machine it might be the ticket. Looks like you could make a set sized appropriately for a C25 for $200 or so. Still not cheap, but not out of the ballpark either.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 08/03/2006 : 19:55:08

(Long winded)
One of the lessons I learned the hard way a few years back was this: If the captain of the boat doesn't know what to do, it's imperative to take charge sooner rather than later. We were sailing on a Capri 25, I boat I wasn't overly familiar with, just outside of San Diego harbor. My friends owned the boat but rarely used it, and neither knew how to sail very well. It was a gorgeous day, a nice breeze to sail by, as we headed out of the bay into the open swell of the Pacific just off the coast. We were chatting, drinking beverages and generally paying little attention to our surroundings, other than watching out for other boats. Way-way off to the south, I saw what looked like a storm brewing over Tijuana, Mexico (about 15 miles or so south). A few minutes later, I looked up and noticed that the cloud line of the storm was visibly closer, and blacker than before, which surprised me. It looked like a long, low line of very black, tubular cloud. As we watched, it was obvious that it was moving very fast, and headed straight at us. We only had a couple of minutes to do whatever we were going to do. Dennis, the captain, wondered if we should "do something with the sails". Looking at the cloud now as it approached, it looked like a mile long, black tornado, on it's side, and that's no exageration. Up till that time, I hadn't worried too much about Dennis' ability, as it was such a nice day, and there didn't seem too much to worry about. However, watching this cloud bear down on us, I decided that it was time to take action, and had him go forward to drop the jib, while I dropped the main and his wife Kelli took the helm with instructions to keep her nose pointed directly at the side of the approaching tube. I got the main down just seconds before the roll cloud (http://weathersavvy.com/Q-Shelf_Roll_Clouds1.html) hit us. Dennis wasn't so fortunate, the jib hung up on the way down, and he ended up dangling over the port side hanging onto the jib while the roll cloud spun us through 540° or so. We ended up pointing nearly exactly the opposite direction we'd been headed, and it only took maybe thirty seconds for this to occur. Inside the cloud it was like being inside a horizontal thunderstorm, rain came at you from the sides, and you could see the interior structure of the tube. I'd have loved to get pictures of it, but that thought never even occured to me as I helped Kelli try to keep the boat on some sort of course. It was over as quickly as it had happened, and somehow Dennis had hung on to the jib and ended up back on the foredeck instead of in the water. We were fortunate to not have any injuries and were able to simply motor back to their mooring.

What we did wrong:
None of us had a life vest on, I didn't even know where they were on the boat. Had Dennis gone over the side, we'd have had a hard time getting to him. The only saving grace was that we were less than a mile from a beach, that he might have been able to swim to.

We waited far to long to take action. Had we been under bare poles and on the engine, it would have still been an unpleasant experience, but Dennis wouldn't have been on his E-ticket ride over the side.

We weren't paying enough attention, it was quite obvious that this thing was going to run us down after a few minutes watching it, but we did nothing for far too long.

What we did right...
I'm not sure we could have done much worse, so I'm having a hard time coming up with something we did right. We got the main down just barely in time, but still had the jib half way up, which gave the storm plenty of sail area to spin us like a top, and give Dennis a ride he'll never forget. We did manage to take the storm almost perfectly on the bow, but with the jib right there, that only lasted about two seconds before we were spinning.

Now I keep my WM auto-inflator on whenever I'm single handing and close at hand at all times. Rita wears hers all the time since she's not a strong swimmer (fortunately, she wasn't in the picture at the time of this adventure). I sail with people who's skills I know and am confident of.

David

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