They say if you can survive sailing on SF Bay you can sail anywhere in the world. Or at least Id heard something to that affect before taking my first flat knock down on SF Bay 35 years ago. Since then my skills have improved dramatically.
Here are some of my rules as a skipper. 1st Off theres no special treatment on lifejackets, when they go on for one they go on for everyone. (And other than weather or drills I never explain why.) 2nd If the wind reaches 15 knots lifejackets go on and the companionway gets sealed. Deck hatches are also latched. 3rd If theres a child or a non-sailor on board, then it is lifejackets that are properly fitted before we leave the dock. A young child gets one before the dock. 4th We do at least one reefing drill on every outing (this drill requires lifejackets.) 5th No polarized sun glasses at the helm. (If theyre not impacting how you perceive wind lines they are not polarized.) Oh, and if you are pulling out of Cabo San Lucas heading up the coat at 3AM and the seas in front of the boat begin to flash green, that means the seas are high enough and steep enough that you submerging the bow light as you begin the attack on the next wave. It didnt mind the high seas and strong winds but it took me three waves to realize just what I was seeing. I figure that nav light was about 12 ft off the water. San Francisco Bay will surprise you over and over again until you become hyper vigilant and comfortable with constant change. 6th If I havent plotted our sail plan the night before (making note of all adjoining hazards) along the way then were not heading out. I also have offshore approaches programmed for entering all the safe harbors in the vicinity. Besides sailing to the wind on her own, Wing Tip, is equipped to sail a route controlled by the chart plotter and the auto helm. My first mate proved she I capable of rescuing my sorry a** when I left a perfectly good boat in favor of some 48°f water with no lifejacket. But what if I or she was injured? Then we can tend to each other and the boat, with only one eye standing watch, can bring herself into a safe harbor. Phil Agur <http://www.catalina27.org/public_pages/profile270.htm> s/v Wing Tip C270 LE #184 MMSI 366901790 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of spkaldor Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [IC27A] Re: Judy - C27 CE Those are EXCELLENT pictures. Thank you for posting them. I'm very thankful everyone appears to be Ok, and for all the help provided by those nearby. My next thought was about everything I would do to avoid getting into that situation. But I know that I too make my share of mistakes. So when I saw these pictures, I also tried to take away some lessons from the pictures of the roll, damage and aftermath. Here are a few... >Always wearing life jackets. Like I need another reminder. >It looks like the passenger's automatic inflatable PFD did not inflate (pic 39/40/41)? Not 100% sure. But I need to inspect mine frequently, make sure to replace the cartridge annually (a good time to test the inflation and for damage), and if conditions are at all dangerous, I should switch to a traditional PFD to eliminate one failure point. >Having a planned place to "hold on" should the boat suddenly go over. Even in fair weather, where to crouch and grab on in the event of a sudden mast failure, or roll, or ? Grabbing a tiller or backstay is the first instinct, but probably isn't such a good idea. >She survives the first wave & roll, but is swamped by a subsequent wave or waves. How quickly could I start the motor and get her heading into the wind/waves? How quickly could I get the hatchboards in? Would those be my first instincts? >At pic 49, there are plenty of people to help, so having the right tools to dewater the boat would be critical. I'm sure the boat was only salvagable for a few minutes at this stage. Pumps, buckets, etc. If I could get my boat bow to the waves with the engine started to keep me off shore, could I get that much water out of my boat? >By pic 53 and 54, she is lost. Everyone gets away from the boat, which makes total sense in this environment. But her bow seems to be afloat much later, after all the emergency responders have left. It seems the air trapped inside is keeping her up for a bit. I see that as a lesson for situations farther from shore - about staying safely close enough for as long as possible until rescue arrives. Of course, there are safety issues, but staying close or holding a line to the boat could be considered. Just some thoughts. --- In ic...@yahoogroups. <mailto:IC27A%40yahoogroups.com> com, "Judith Blumhorst, DC" <drju...@...> wrote: > > On a differrent note: The Santana that got rolled off Fort Point was captured on some hi-res photo. A professional photographer shooting the surfers was on the beach and saw him sailing too close to the wave break. The photos are quite amazing. > > http://photos. <http://photos.sfsurvey.com/sailH/imagepages/image1.asp> sfsurvey.com/sailH/imagepages/image1.asp
