I was sailing back from Oriental, NC, last Thursday after a three day two night trip. It is about 22-23 nautical miles from Oriental to New Bern. The first part was into the wind so I motored sailed to help the tacking angle. When I rounded Minnesott I got a good angle on the wind for a 16 mile tack up to New Bern...great sailing. About 5 miles from the marina about even with Northwest Creek, the wind started picking up so I reefed the mainsail no sooner had I done that than the wind really hit and I had to get the sails down asap. I put it in auto pilot and headed it into the wind, had to throttle up to near full throttle,2500rpm to keep it headed into the wind. By the time I got back up on the foredeck to take down the jib the shackle holding on the jib sheet had flogged enough to undo itself. Wave were picking up.... It is starting to rain. I am thinking what else can go wrong as I was stuffing the jib into the v-berth through the forward hatch. I thought well I could get a line around the prop, looking over the lee side I see a loop of the loose jib sheet trailing about 3 feet behind the stern but about 6 inches from the leeward side of the boat. I carefully finished securing the jib trying not to 'rock the boat' or do anything that would disturb the sheet in the water. then I went aft and secured the jib sheet, meantime the wind had really picked up and it was raining so hard I can no longer see the far shore, about 400 yds. I had to go full stop on the throttle , about 2800 rpm to keep the boat into the wind, still in auto pilot, and get the mail sail the rest of the way down. By that time I had lost two battens that had flogged out of their pockets, while I had more pressing problems. After securing the mainsail I took back the conn from the auto pilot. The wind had whipped up the waves to 2-5 foot with about an 8 foot period. I could no longer hold the boat into the wind so I quartered the wind and waves twords the shore that I could see. I was able to keep a heading but was making no progress. The knot meter which works intermittently was working that day and showing 0-1 knot through the water. Then it really started thankfully still had sunglasses on to protect my eyes.
I am thinking how long can this last and what is next? That would be thunder! I was also worried about the raw water intake for the engine coming out of the water in the waves. Thankfully the engine held up running it as hard as I ever had...something smelled hot but the temp gauge showed just a few degrees above where it normally runs, 180deg. Eventually the wind switched and the waves became more manageable, but it continued raining though not as hard for the next 2 hours (5 nm) that it took to get to the slip. I was a tired wet puppy.
If something would have happened to the engine, I could have anchored although it would have been pretty uncomfortable. It would have been tolerable and doable. Just before I got busy I saw a skiff with a center console towing a 27 foot or so power boat towards Duck Creek, I wonder how that worked out.
It was challenging and I was having fun for awhile but after 30 minutes or so it gets tiresome having your boat beaten, while standing in driving rain in shorts, a T shirt and life jacket.
Good thing that I was close to home.
I am glad that I did not have the extra windage of roller furling. I have been experimenting with different methods of attaching the jib sheets to the jib. Since I change headsails it is more convenient to use the same jib sheets for whatever jib I am using, instead of rigging the sheets each time. I started using bowlines to attach the jib sheets. Got smacked a couple of times by the wet bowlines when on the foredeck so am looking for something with less mass. I tried the pin and loop method that worked for our C-16, it was not strong enough to work for the C-27. It same undone after just a few flaps in the wind. I considered a snap tackle, but think that would really hurt. I tried the smallest U shaped clevis like used for main sail halyards, that I could find that would fit. It worked well but would hang up on the lower shrouds. I was using a U shaped tackle with a captive pin. The type that the pin goes through the other side of the tackle, twists 108 degrees, and locks. I put the bottom part of the U through the jib'c clew and the pin through a bight in the jib sheet. Since it was reversed the smooth U part of the shackle did not catch on the shrouds. I was surprised when it flogged itself open!
Interesting day.
regards charlie
thanks for sharing your experience.. i had to take a couple of deep breaths to relax after reading! It is good to hear how folks manage the unpredictable situations that arise on the water.. Most importantly, it seems like you kept a cool head.. i admire that! I imagine that your brain was racing with trying to anticipate what might happen next and how best to address each situation.. along with a plan B in each case.. looking forward to hearing more stories as the season progresses.. jt
Quite interesting. Did you consider bailing into one of the creeks at all?
I'm interested in what you decide to do re the sheet attachment. I think it's something I'd like to try so I don't have to change out everything to change a jib. I usually enjoy figuring out steps to eliminate in the do-redo category.
Wow, glad to hear you made it ok Charlie. At home in Kinston, an hour away from you, we had 2 inches of rain and the wind. At the South River, NE of Oriental, they said they had 5 inches of rain. I cannot imagine being on the water in that.
Terry
A lot of sailors loose their head and make mistakes in weather like that. Another successful experience to add to the log. Good sailing.
BobK
Thanks for your kind comments.
If I could have predicted how it was going to be, I would have ducked into Upper Broad Creek and anchored. However it pretty well went from good sailing to pretty bad sailing in 15-20 minutes....seemed much faster. There is not any other place north of Upper Broad Creek except Duck Creek. Duck Creek has a shallow entrance and I have personally verified earlier the south side of the Neuse is less than 3.5 feet. Visibility was poor so keeping it in the middle but insight of the south side seemed wise.
I did not see or anticipate the weather coming. Thunderstorms were predicted, but the sky to the north or northwest did not seem to change much until....
We received two inches during the day at New Bern and two inches overnight. The wind & waves are what was most impressive to me.
I'll get my Main back from the sailmaker tomorrow. With be repairing the batten pockets twice with tape and now the second time to the sailmaker, it is time to buy a new mainsail or try out Wes's on a more permanent basis!
Still up for idea on how to attach the jib sheet(s) to the jib so that the jib can be changes without changing the sheet.
regards charlie