Tony Farrington - Rescue in the Pacific:

[sealegs 0]

Im busy reading this book by Tony Farrington - Rescue in the Pacific: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in a Force 12 Storm which took place in June 1994 off the NZ coast.

The book was loaned to me at work by one of the sailors who was actually participating in the regatta and got caught in the storm as well.

 

http://www.epinions.com/review/Rescue_i ... 2995463812

 

As a new sailor I am in awe of the fury of the sea described in the book, the courage displayed by those involved.I cannot even begin to imagine the absolute terror those yachties felt out there facing those big seas in all its fury. WOW!

Anybody on this forum remember this event? was involved in it as a victim / rescuer?

Just curious to hear about your experiences on this type of event.

What are your priorities as skipper when faced with this type of developing threat in the open sea etc. please share your thoughts for the benefit of my limited experience .

[Guest]

What are your priorities as skipper when faced with this type of developing threat in the open sea etc. please share your thoughts for the benefit of my limited experience .

 

Keeping the crew alive.

 

I wasn't in this one, we were on a mate's boat in Whg listening on SSB. But I have been in such conditions.

 

IMHO - Prepare the boat early, no sail, drogue, as watertight as possible. Try to get hot food and drink into you before it gets too nasty. Go below. Climb into a bunk and wrap yourself in soft stuff like pillows. Nothing below should be allowed to move. So before you leave port go over your stowage plan. Imagine the boat being turned upside down and dropped 20 ft, then make sure NOTHING will break loose. Only go on deck in an emergency.

 

Next.

[Murky 1]

Outstanding book - another good one (assuming you want to continue to terrify yourself) is the one on the Sydney-Hobart race by Rob Mundle.

 

Can't do better than Squid's advice. In my view, worth having the question in your mind as you go through the book: "what got broken first here, the boat or the people?". It all gets a lot harder when you have the additional responsibility of trying to care for an injured crew member (or get them to medical attention).

[Guest]

What Squid said. The key thing being 'get prepared before, knot during'.

 

Give the boat a once over for anything loose or drifting around on deck.

Double check shutters if you have them.

Double tie down dingys, kayaks and things like that on deck if you have them.

Double check any chutes or drogues are set to go if knot out already.

Make sure all emergency stuff isn't buried under other staff and is ready to go.

Washboards for companionway are on hand.

Get food into the crew and have some ready to go that doesn't need cooking. Cold pasta is good I've found but keep well clear of any stinky type cheeses.

Pull out that jumbo tin of Milo for power packed 'Mud' making. 3/5th milo, 1/5th sugar, 1/5th water or milk. Energy food of champions.

Secure anything likely to fly around the cabin. Even small things can hurt.

Make sure all crew have their safety gear on hand and use it, including a sharp knife.

Change into the kevlar undies.

Hang on tight.

 

If you are the skipper NEVER show signs of panic or large stress even if you are leaking brown matter into your tidy whities at the time, it spreads like wildfire and is damn hard to stop. Be all business, as in this is what we have to do and if we do we should be fine, come on team chop chop.

 

Personally I don't mind being on deck at times, it is quite a buzz weather like that.

[Guest]

[quote name="Knot Me

 

Personally I don't mind being on deck at times' date=' it is quite a buzz weather like that.[/quote]

 

 

 

have to agree with you on that one, going chathams toward chile in a 40' steely we were bare poles and running, didn't have enough grunt/way on to climb out the other side so the one we rode smashed us scared the crap out of us at first however as time went by timing kicked in and you see the water squiting through the hatch, immediately it stopped you'd fling it back and point with a loud raucous teehee at whoever was on helm then slam it shut........ the only bits above water were the rig and the dodger...........oh and the helmsman........and yes, we hand steered (tiller) the whole f**king way

[Guest]

Way back when Crew.org.nz was brand new I posted this about a trip I did a few years back, there are some new people around now who may enjoy it, if not, call me an egotistical schmuck and move on to the next post.

 

I had just got back from the Noumea race, was unemployed (sacked from Lidgard Rudling), and wanted to get across to Oz to visit a certain young lady. I met this guy who had just bought a Pacific 38, his first boat, knew next to nothing. There was one other on board who had experience (ex crew from Buccaneer), so I offered to sail up and do the nav if he would fly me to Sydney after.

At the time I was sure I knew everything as I had done a few ocean passages by then ( I was 22).

First few days were OK then it went NE and got up to about 40-45 with higher gusts. The boat handled that no problems, no sail and we all went below to wait it out. A few hours later a wall of water hit us and we were upside down and back up before you even had time to think about it.

As it happens a secondary front had gone over us with a ninety degree wind shift and much higher wind speed. As it was way more than I had seen at the time I’m reluctant to guess at wind speed but at the Cape they reported a max gust of 104kn, I would say we had consistent 70’s with gusts. The real problem was the effect the wind shift had on the sea state, two large wave sets at right angles throwing pyramids of water that would collapse under their own weight, I’m fairly sure it was one of these that hit us.

After we came up though I still hadn’t clicked that conditions were much worse, so looking at the mess below I offered to go run off and steer while the others cleaned up. My first inkling of real trouble was when I pulled the hatch back, the air going past sucked pressure out of the cabin and my ears popped as in a plane.

I turned her downwind and this heavy old displacement boat took off at about 17kn under bare poles, got to the trough and spun out into a ninety degree knockdown. That was pretty much the story for the next few hours. The rudder would let go when a breaking wave with 5-6 feet of foam got under her and the rudder had no bite. The air/sea interface was very indistinct and at times it felt almost as if we were sinking, with so much air in the water we were down almost to the toerail.

Anyway, after a while the other guy came on deck, we had a quick parley and decided to slow her down. He tied a bucket to a line and tossed it over- it lasted 1.2 nanoseconds. After some trial and error we ended with the #2 genoa and an anchor and chain out the back and things improved considerably. Enough that after watching for maybe half an hour I went below (also the seas were adjusting to the new wind direction).

Down below was a sh!tfight. The stove/oven had jumped the gimbals when we were upside down and was banging around inside the boat. We threw it overboard. The owner had been in a pilot berth, rolled across the overhead and fell on his back across the table as we righted, he was passing blood for a few days. The water was about knee deep and littered with eggs, flour, all sorts of unidentifiable stuff and my nav tables. Most had to be got rid of by hand as it was too thick for the bilge pumps.

By morning it had eased to about 35kn (seemed like a flat calm) and we very carefully started sailing back to Russell, arriving two days later.

The owner never covered my airfare to Sydney saying I hadn’t got his boat to Fiji. And he stole my favourite beanie.

I hitched to Auckland, went to the bar at Akarana and got tanked.

Points of interest:

The liferaft and dinghy were never seen having been ripped from the deck. I would never have faith in a raft stowed above deck.

A gimballed stove needs a pin so it won’t fall out if you are upside down.

The dinghy took the pulpit and port lifelines with it, making the return trip more difficult than it would have been otherwise.

Serious problem below with gear flying around, this episode stood me in good stead as I encountered similar conditions some years later on the mighty Cav and suffered zero damage, I had learnt about stowing things below. If people ask me now what I do in bad weather the answer is go below and get in my bunk and it’s not a joke. On deck is dangerous. Unless you have a full and skilful crew you must be able set your boat up to look after herself and get below.

On a lighter note later that evening I was getting hungry and remembered we had deep sixed the stove, had a look around and saw that the only food that had survived that we could eat was some liquorice and cans of cold beans. We sh*t and farted our way to Russell.

[shanson 0]

SO quick question....

 

If you go below and tuck up your just leaving the boat to it's own devices? Doesn't that raise the risk of being rolled, i.e' you'll end up side on to the wind and waves?

 

Of do you run down hill with a drogue leaving the boat to run as it will?

 

SHANE

[sealegs 0]

Points of interest:

The liferaft and dinghy were never seen having been ripped from the deck. I would never have faith in a raft stowed above deck.

Serious problem below with gear flying around, this episode stood me in good stead as I encountered similar conditions some years later on the mighty Cav and suffered zero damage, I had learnt about stowing things below. If people ask me now what I do in bad weather the answer is go below and get in my bunk and it’s not a joke. On deck is dangerous. Unless you have a full and skilful crew you must be able set your boat up to look after herself and get below.

.

 

That's a hell of a story including the others posted.I appreciate the stowing of all gear. thats good advice Ive noted.

Question:

1) to set up the boat to take care of herself, do you mean heave to or just lower a drogue (off the bow or stern ?? ) and then go below?

Explain how to heave to and 2) when would you do that.

 

3)Did you heave to in your event or did you just leave the tiller to swing free and go below. details please.

 

4) At which point do you decide to go on deck to steer?

[Guest]

Lots of discussion about tactics for extreme weather and no general concensus. If your course is upwind start by heaving to (every boat is different - practice, I find a modern fin keeled boat works if you drop the headsail altogether, strap in the right amount of sail behind the mast and lash the helm so the boat keeps trying to tack). Eventually wind and sea will become too much and you need to drop all sail and revert to either a drogue or sea anchor, I prefer a drogue, but i know others who prefer a sea anchor (drogue out back, boat still moving slowly, sea anchor off the bow - boat stopped dead) - there simply isn't a lrge evnough body of knowledge to pick one over another. Once hove to there is no need to go on deck except to change to the drogue/sea anchor.

WIth adrogue you shouldn't spin out at the bottom of a wave, the drogue should pull you out of the surf just as you start to accelerate, if not you need more drag. Boat should stay aligned to wind and wave, even possible to keep storm jib and drogue , then there's no way she'll spin out.

Stay off the deck as much as possible, your chances of drowning go way up when you pass through the hatch.

Dinner time

[sealegs 0]

Lots of discussion about tactics for extreme weather and no general concensus. If your course is upwind start by heaving to (every boat is different - practice, I find a modern fin keeled boat works if you drop the headsail altogether, strap in the right amount of sail behind the mast and lash the helm so the boat keeps trying to tack). Eventually wind and sea will become too much and you need to drop all sail and revert to either a drogue or sea anchor, I prefer a drogue, but i know others who prefer a sea anchor (drogue out back, boat still moving slowly, sea anchor off the bow - boat stopped dead) - there simply isn't a lrge evnough body of knowledge to pick one over another. Once hove to there is no need to go on deck except to change to the drogue/sea anchor.

WIth adrogue you shouldn't spin out at the bottom of a wave, the drogue should pull you out of the surf just as you start to accelerate, if not you need more drag. Boat should stay aligned to wind and wave, even possible to keep storm jib and drogue , then there's no way she'll spin out.

Stay off the deck as much as possible, your chances of drowning go way up when you pass through the hatch.

Dinner time

 

The bad experiences Im reading about in this book shows most of the yachties were battling with the drogue method & following seas, their boats were threatening to drift sideways as they plummeted down the next wall of water and one (the Sofia I think) pitch-poled as they fell forward bow first from an enormously high wave. Others suffered massive damage & injuries and loss of steerage as they hurtled down the other side of a high wave.My colleague who loaned the book to me said he was on bare poles and 2 drogues but still hurtled along at 14 knots in a boat with a hull speed of 7kn. He survived with all in tact.

question:

1) Do you think the outcome would have been less traumatic / tragic if they used a sea anchor method instead of a drogue and then just waited down below for it to pass as you recommend? Most were on deck trying to fight the elements and got injured in the process.

2) what would happen if you hove too as you describe AND drop a sea anchor? is that good practice or should one only do one at a time and never both at the same time?

I accept every boat is different as you say so...

I have a H28 with full keel.What would your actions be under those circumstances if you were in a H28?

[Guest]

Lots of discussion about tactics for extreme weather and no general concensus. If your course is upwind start by heaving to (every boat is different - practice, I find a modern fin keeled boat works if you drop the headsail altogether, strap in the right amount of sail behind the mast and lash the helm so the boat keeps trying to tack). Eventually wind and sea will become too much and you need to drop all sail and revert to either a drogue or sea anchor, I prefer a drogue, but i know others who prefer a sea anchor (drogue out back, boat still moving slowly, sea anchor off the bow - boat stopped dead) - there simply isn't a lrge evnough body of knowledge to pick one over another. Once hove to there is no need to go on deck except to change to the drogue/sea anchor.

WIth adrogue you shouldn't spin out at the bottom of a wave, the drogue should pull you out of the surf just as you start to accelerate, if not you need more drag. Boat should stay aligned to wind and wave, even possible to keep storm jib and drogue , then there's no way she'll spin out.

Stay off the deck as much as possible, your chances of drowning go way up when you pass through the hatch.

Dinner time

 

The bad experiences Im reading about in this book shows most of the yachties were battling with the drogue method & following seas, their boats were threatening to drift sideways as they plummeted down the next wall of water and one (the Sofia I think) pitch-poled as they fell forward bow first from an enormously high wave. Others suffered massive damage & injuries and loss of steerage as they hurtled down the other side of a high wave.My colleague who loaned the book to me said he was on bare poles and 2 drogues but still hurtled along at 14 knots in a boat with a hull speed of 7kn. He survived with all in tact.

 

There's your answer, probably needed more drag still, remember in this storm tthe sea conditons were horrendous, sometimes there is no answer other than "you are screwed".

 

 

question:

1) Do you think the outcome would have been less traumatic / tragic if they used a sea anchor method instead of a drogue and then just waited down below for it to pass as you recommend? Most were on deck trying to fight the elements and got injured in the process.

 

I prefer a drogue still, I think more people have had issues launching a sea anchor than a drogue. Others will disagree. With a drogue out and working, lash the helm and get below. Can't emphasize that enough, get off the deck.

 

 

2) what would happen if you hove too as you describe AND drop a sea anchor? is that good practice or should one only do one at a time and never both at the same time?

 

When hove to you are slowly forereaching and at an angle to the wind and waves, lying to a sea anchor the idea is to get head to wind and stay there. So the two do not seem compatible. The Pardeys suggest using the sea anchor with a bridle to get the correct attitude to the waves but can't remember if they suggest keeping sail at the same time. I'm of the opinion that as the weather deteriorates eventually you HAVE to get rid of all sail. Still prefer a good drogue (Jordan Series Drogue is supposed to be the bees knees).

 

 

I accept every boat is different as you say so...

I have a H28 with full keel.What would your actions be under those circumstances if you were in a H28?

 

The H28 should heave to nicely, but that just means you can hang on a bit longer before going to sea anchor/drogue, so I'm back to the grogue. Nice buoyant stern should work OK, make sure your hatchboards are really strong and as watertight a you can manage.

[Guest]

Somebody else want to chime in here, I feel like I'm pontificating and I know there are other opinions.

 

BTW - all the above assumes a short handed cruising boat, with a full crew and lots of experience the picture may change a bit.

 

 

As above all boats and all storms are different, but as a general rule a boat that can't sail through 50kn with no more than minor damage shouldn't be out there. At 60 kn it is a heap worse and some may not come home, that's a risk we all live with, at 70kn you are in a different world and no matter what boat you are on it can be rolled, broken, swamped - whatever, all you have left is your preparation, coz there ain't a lot you can do when it gets to that stage.

 

That 1978 storm scared me, and there isn't a time I leave now without being a little scared of what I know can happen. This could well be a good thing, but I know, particularly as Skipper, I never relax and enjoy the moment as much as I'd like to, instead I fret over what might be about to happen.

[wheels 543]

As above all boats and all storms are different,

What Squid said.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't have an Inth of experience that many here have in this sort of stuff and i am not going to try and suggest anything to anyone. But I have learn'tmany things over our short 7 yrs of Big Boat sailing and open water adventures.

Preparing the boat for the unexpected is No1. I how I have learn't that lesson. Being in Huge sea's in the Karori Rip and having a 60lb CQR slding down the deck toward the Pilot house Window and stopping just short of it as we then free fell over the back of the wave and watch it slide back to the bow and have this happen wave after wave expecting it to "come in out of the weather" on the next wave and the Sea's so huge and ruff that I was holding on to the wheel with everything and it was simply impossible to consider getting out and tieing it down, sure teaches you a lesson or two. Or on another trip, Listening to glass breaking below and not even bothering to take a look because you know what a mess it must be and that there is nothing you can do about it, teaches you lessons about preparing everything below. All lesson learn't after leaving on beautiful Days expecting the best of trips and finding the worst and once you are in those worst, it is often more dangerous to turn around. You just press on.

Having experienced 70+kts in the relative shelter of the sounds and feeling the bow lifting a couple of feet up in the air and knowing you are 20+ tonnes, you get a real feeling for the power of the wind.

Rounding an increadibly ruff and dangerous area and then having a couple of miles of wild reef with breaking seas with tide and wind making it all the Leeward side of your boat and praying that the Engine does not faulter because you can not sail away from it, teaches you about keeping the engine well serviced and fuel clean and most importantly, having a Plan B should it all go wrong, or understanding the possible dangers in the first place and simply not allowing yourself to get into that situation.

And plus many other stories that if anything, have taught me that out there, stuff happens. But the "stuff" is not the problem. It is the logical fasion in how you deal with it. You can panic and if you make it through, as many do, say that's it, boating is not for me. Or you can deal with the situation Calmly and Logicaly and think about ways through. Yep it can often be scary, but while the boat is still seaworthy, you are OK. Preparing is the key. Making sure the Boat is ready for anything, anytime, no matter how nice the day or short the passage. And I could never express the importance of thinking through scenario's and how you deal and solve that scenario. Think of things that could go wrong, and plan B or solving that situation. This is where experience can teach you, But it is better if you can gain that experience from others. But even then, listening to a story is not the same as doing. For instance, if your enigine cooling fails how could you dury rig as way of cooling the engine. If you lose a Rig, how can you go about making something that will get you home and so on and so on. Knowing how to do any of those things does not make it any less scary at the time, but it can stop you from putting your head between your kness and kissing your Butt good bye.

[darkside 61]

Yes your H28 should heave to OK but you have to practice.

Don't expect to do much in a storm that you haven't tried first.

Also you have to have really sturdy sails and rudder/tiller to heave to in a blow.

 

I hove to off North Cape on the way back from Fiji in a Cav 32. The noise and vibration from the rig was incredible.

We ended up surfing backwards on a big one and snaping the tiller in two. After that it was bare poles which was much quieter and seemed to strees the boat less. No idea if it was safer though.

 

You do hear the Americans on their heavy, full keeled yachts, talking calmly on the radio, hove to in heavy weather. But then they do it a lot, know how to do it properly on their boat. Next time you are really getting beaten up on a coastal trip, hove to and make a hot drink.

[Guest]

A few years ago we got caught 1/2 way to Tonga in similar sea conditions as Squid but with much less wind (around 50 knots). The 90 deg sea patterns were starting to make things a bit dodgy for our wee boat so we deployed the drogue with chain & warp and made fast forward of the rudder and left a small amount of headsail up to steady her.

Apart from a tomato in my seaboot, a rather large cookbook landing on the admiral's head and a couple of rope grooves in the teak we came through without any problems.

[Bimini Babe 0]

If you want the crap scared out of you, read Nick Ward's 'Left for Dead' about the Fastnet disaster. I personally felt that he comes across as a bit of a whinging pom, but it's still an incredibly harrowing tale - more so than the Sydney Hobart stories I read in 'The Proving Ground'.

 

Then if you want to feel hunky dory about heading offshore for the first time, read the Pardeys' 'Storm Tactics', or whatever it's called. Their calm, matter-of-fact approach to dealing with storm conditions at sea is very reassuring and probably more valuable even than the tactics they emplore you to use.

 

And then when all's said and done, you simply have to decide whether you will actually do the things you want to do, or sit at home watching Deadliest Catch on TV, eating pizza and thinking "thank f*ck I'm not one of those idiots". Personally, I wouldn't have a clue how I'd cope in those conditions. I have a very strong suspicion that I'd curl up in a ball, cry lots and wish it would all go away. But you never know until you try.

[Grinna 2]

The most important thing to remember is that even in the worst of conditions, things will change.

 

I've been preached at by a friend quoting chapter and verse from the Pardey's book on storm tactics about how to handle heavy weather (coming from a bloke who's never sailed offshore in his life) yet, been on a boat where we simply shortened sail and carried on when others might be considering heaving to (40-45 knots in big seas about 200 miles north east of north cape). There was never any discussion about anything other than carrying on, though if the wind had built much more I'm sure the mode would have changed.

 

The thing is, different boats and situations call for different approaches. With a drogue you don't run the risk of rudder damage as you may with a sea anchor (might be important if you've got a big spade rudder), but you'll need more sea room to be able to safely employ your drogue. Heaving to might be the best answer in some conditions, but I think that there is no "one size fits all" solution. I think its a good idea to have several tools in your toolbox and be able to switch between as the conditions dictate.

 

Personally I'd be using a drogue on our boat (fin keel, large spade rudder without skeg) over a sea anchor to avoid potential rudder damage and because the loads on a drogue are likely to be less than on a sea anchor, deploying and retrieving a drogue is likely to be less hazardous (no trips to the bow) and checking on chafing is easier. Personal choice .... YMMV.