On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 20:14:03 GMT, (Mic) wrote:

http://cruisersforum.com/showthread....5&pagenumber=1

Mayday off coast of Mexico

Sounds a lot like my reply to our intrepid C&C 33 passagemaker on
December 30th:

On 30 Dec 2005 09:26:04 -0800, wrote:

What would likely be the points of failure on the C&C 33
were it to encounter boarding seas and squalls. I need to know what
systems will require the most attention.

=========================================

Rob, all kidding aside, the first point of failure on most small boats
in those conditions are the skipper or crew. Someone becomes seasick,
injured or terminally frightened. Seriously. Knock downs causing a
man overboard situation or injury are fairly common, as are serious
waves coming onboard. After that you've got all the usual gear
failure possibilities: dismasting, ripped sails, broken boom/goose
neck, engine failure, line/prop entanglement, fouled/failed bilge
pumps, clogged cockpit drains, hatch and deck leaks, rudder failure,
steering cable failure, hose/seacock failure, engine mounts,
batteries, autopilot, etc. None of those are hypothetical, having
either experienced them myself at one time or another, or know people
who have.

Picture your boat being picked up by a 15 foot breaking wave and
thrown down into the trough a few times. Imagine the possibility of
things breaking or coming adrift from the impact. It happens, and
steep 15 foot waves are not uncommon in a storm. Imagine someone
spraying you with a cold fire hose while all of this is going on.
Imagine what happens if these conditions persist for a day or two or
three.

Offshore, any one of these events can snowball into something more
serious, and eventually crew fatigue or hypothermia begins to set in.
That's about the time someone calls the coast guard for a rescue. A
lot of those boats are eventually found floating or washed up on a
beach somewhere, indicating that the rescue could have been avoided if
the captain/crew had been stronger or better prepared.