"DSK" wrote in message
...
Bart Senior wrote:
It was one of the worse days I've seen here today
in Connecticut. The forecast winds were much
stronger than predicted, and it was cold as hell. I
decided not to go out and run any errands today.


Sounds like a good day to stay indoors with a hot cup of something.


************************************

Funny thing, 25 knot winds aren't (or shouldn't be) too difficult to cope
with, but cold air is much more dense and that makes a given wind speed
more powerful. And then of course, being cold weakens the body on top of
that.

Good point Doug! Cold air does pack more punch!

It has to have been gusting much higher, also the fetch was
right down LIS--100 miles--the waves must have been like
the ocean.

Putting the rail in shouldn't be bad. Why the trouble controlling course?
That is an indication of something either going wrong or about to go
wrong.

Must have been steering too high couple with gusts.

That was a mistake. The furling line should always be snubbed or stopped
to prevent this happening, especially when singlehanding.
... The pressure on it was so great I couldn't roll
it up fully.

Well, you're not supposed to take a furling line a winch to avoid the risk
of breaking the forestay, but this is one circumstance where it might be
justified.

I'm sure he tried to furl it going upwind. Huge mistake!
See below...it led to other bigger problems!

... So I headed back to my home port with it flogging in the
wind. It was a seasaw trip into the building waves, but I was making
2.5 knots headway and confident I could get home. Then the genoa
sheet pulled out of the clew and made a dive overboard for the prop,
promptly shutting down the motor -- within a stone's throw of the
harbor!

Yes there is. Use of wrong terminology is stupid. I bet part of this is
due to creeping hypothermia. When the body is chilled the brain doesn't
function as well.

He is an older fellow, and I'm told had trouble last year in
the warm weather also. His body can't regulate temperature
well.

Damage to the boat: (1) one seriously blown out genoa, (2) a line
wrapped around the prop I'll have to assess tomorrow in SCUBA
gear, and (3) one of the shrouds (wire standing rigging) has pulled
loose (indicating how close I came to losing the mast).

IMHO the boat was in danger of dismasting with an unrolled and
uncontrollably flogging genoa.

All probably caused by the poor furling job--likely done into
the wind. Three strikes and you are out--or dead in this case.
That flogging sail impulse loads certainly damaged the shroud.

Very much so, but I disagree with entering a strange harbor under duress
just because it's closer. If it's a difficult entry then a mistake would
be very costly. If it's an easy entry with clear marks then that would be
better. A seaworthy vessel is safer standing off from shore than running
for shelter though.

It was one of my harbors. I can tell you it would have been
an easy approach if he had studied the charts. Even so, he
should not have turned back upwind. I can think of several
places downwind he could have gone and easily gotten into
a lee.

(2) Even when you are in overload, you still better notice the clues.
The way circumstances creep up on you is a little like the trainers'
urban legend: put a frog in warm water and heat it up slowly and
the frog won't notice the change until it's too late (MIT tried and
failed to replicate this, but the story lives not for its accuracy but
because it makes a good point.

I use the three strikes rule. If three things go wrong, bail
out--but you MUST have a good bail out plan.

This is a good point and one reason why I say that foresight is the most
important characteristic of a good skipper.

I also think that hypothermia played a part in the decision making (or
lack of it) process here.

Interesting story and some challenging situations that bear thinking
about. Thanks for posting this, Bart.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King