[Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?

[Alan Robertson]

Under these conditions, we don't sail alone I.e. with less than 2 adults on the windward side to control heeling. DON"T SHUT ENGINE OFF; YOU MAY NEED POWER TO AVOID BROACHING DUE TO WIND DIRECTION CHANGES.
Importantly, put the engine in neutral and increase idling speed so it doesn't stall.
DON'T LET OUT THE MAIN FIRST; LET OUT HALF THE JIB AND GET THE CORRECT ANGLE OF THE WIND AND SAILING. SECURE JIB SHEET IN JAMB CLEAT. LOCK OR OTHERWISE SECURE THE TILL SO IT DOESN'T WOBBLE, THEN SHUT OFF AND RAISE THE MOTOR IF YOU CAN IMPORTANT SO THAT IT DOESN'T "DROWN" IF SWAMPED BY A FOLLOWING SEA.
THEN WITH THINGS UNDER CONTROL, LET OUT MAIN VERY SLOWLY HALF WAY OR LESS. You should be fine but watch for wind direction changes on the Potomac/
Good Luck

Alan Robertson
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: mputnam1 at aol.com<mailto:mputnam1 at aol.com> 
  To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> 
  Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 3:55 PM
  Subject: [Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?



  Hello everyone,

  I am hoping you can help me learn from my sailing experience today. I know I must have done some things wrong, but maybe I did a few things right because I was able to get back to the harbor safely in the end. Let me describe what happened and then ask a few questions. And let me apologize in advance for not getting all my nautical terms right … I’ll do the best I can.

  My R-22 is kept at the Washington Sailing Marina on the Potomac River, just across the river from DC. The weather this morning was unseasonably warm with winds in the 15-20 knot range with gusts up to 29, according to the coast guard weather report. I knew a cold front was approaching and that it would get windier as the day went on, but it was around 11am and while I was a little uncertain about going out, it was one of those rare weekdays when my lack of work intersected with wind on the water. So I decided to try and see if I could handle it and learn something at the same time. I had thought I’d read enough on this group about how to handle the boat in windier conditions – I wanted to put some of that knowledge to the test.


  I was single-handing the boat and motored out of the marina and down the Potomac to where I usually head for the center of the river before killing the engine, hauling it up and unfurling the main. Before I killed the engine, I noted that the water was choppy, but there were no white caps. I resolved to myself that if I began to see white caps, I'd head home. I pointed into the wind, killed the engine, hauled the engine up and only let out a little less than half of the main (having read so many posts on this group about being conservative in windier weather) and it almost immediately got out of my control.



  The boat swerved into a beam reach and began tipping over, so I let out the main sheet to try and keep the mainsail from tipping me over. Right then I noticed that white caps had appeared (great timing on my part). The clew and the foot of the main sail was thrashing around, with a good amount of airspace between the clew and the boom. 



  As an aside, I’ve never quite understood what is supposed to keep the foot of the sail close to the boom besides just securing the sheet. In these stronger winds, the main was actively pulling away from the boom. Am I perhaps missing some key component to keep the bottom/foot of the main sail in tighter proximity to the boom?



  Because I had let out the main sheet to try and control the heeling, I could not reach the line to furl the mainsail back into the mast. The line was out over the water. So I was having to try and pull the boom back into the cockpit to get a grip on the furling sheet … which, of course, led to more heeling. And when I pulled on the line to furl the main, it wouldn’t furl. 



  And, most disturbingly, with so much wind filling the small amount of the main that was out, I just couldn’t furl the sail. It wouldn’t budge. I also noticed that more of the main seemed to be inching out. I thought I had secured the main so it wouldn’t further unfurl, but I don’t remember if I had and I don’t remember checking it in all the hullabaloo. It never fully unfurled, thank goodness, so maybe I had secured it to some degree.



  Anyway, every time I tried to point the boat into the wind, it didn’t help give me more slack to furl the main. It was noisy as hell, of course, which I expected. But I didn’t get the slackness necessary to furl the main. And the boat didn’t want to stay pointed into the wind, which I found a little surprising. I thought sailboats, when pointed into the wind, stayed there. But I guess I learned otherwise today!



  I eventually put the motor back in the water, cranked it up and powered into the wind. The swells had increased to the point that the engine was coming up out of the water on every swell, but at least I was seeming to make progress. I then somehow pulled hard enough on the furling line to be able to furl the main. I don’t know how I did it, but I did. At this point, I noticed that my tiller to engine linkage was not working. The 8hp Mercury motor I have only has one latch to hold the cowling onto the engine and it was failing with the severe pressure on the cowling, and the cowling was being ripped off the engine. I had to use the engine tiller to point the motor. I tried to disengage the linkage, but in the frenzy of the moment, I wasn’t able to do that. So I just continued steering by using both the boat’s tiller and the engine’s tiller.



  I eventually made it closer to the shore where the wind wasn’t as severe, and was able to disengage the tiller linkage and made it back to the dock.



  So here are my questions:



  1) First, the most basic question -- whenever I go out on 5 knot days, I make little progress on the water. And if 15-20 knot days are too much, it seems a narrow window indeed that I am able to sail in. Is this the case? Is the R-22 a boat that should only go out in 10-12 knot winds in order to best enjoy it?



  2) What should I have done differently when the half unfurled main immediately got out of my control? Should I have steered the boat DOWNwind? Would it have been easier to furl the main if I had done that? Or is steering the boat INTO the wind and the chop the right thing to do? 



  3) Is there something I should be doing differently so that the clew of the mainsail doesn’t get pulled so far away from the boom in windy weather? It seemed very loose and uncontrollable. This was one of the two most disconcerting parts of the experience (the other being the inability to furl the main).



  4) In a worst case scenario where I can’t furl the main (especially if it’s fully unfurled) in strong winds, should I just try to motor to shore with the main flapping away and catching wind? I didn’t know in the situation I was in if the imperative is to a) try and furl the main first or b) to just get myself out of the windy area of the river even if it means motoring with the main unfurled. I was afraid that if I tried to do option b, that the boat could tip over if I was going in a direction that was putting the main into a position to be able to tip the boat. In retrospect, I’m now thinking that it’s possible to motor with the main unfurled, as long as the main sheet is fully out and allowing the main to go wherever it wants to go.



  5) Has anyone else with the tiller/engine linkage had a similar problem in strong wind situations? The cowling only has the one latch on the back of the engine (furthest astern) and this one latch was clearly a weak point in situations of stress on the linkage. If I’m going to be relying on this linkage in bad weather conditions, do any of you have any advice on where and how I can get more latches put on my cowling? OR should I not attempt to use the linkage in stronger winds?



  6) What should be the role of the motor in these situations? Is it the first thing to engage to get the boat pointed in a particular direction? Or is it the last thing to resort to? Should I be able to furl the main without using the engine? 



  I have to tell you, it was very disconcerting to have trouble furling the mainsail. I have loved the innermast furling main up until this point … but pulling with all my might on the line was doing nothing. It just refused to budge. I still don’t know quite how I was able to get it finally furled. It must have had something to do with engaging the motor in the process, but I don’t know for sure.



  For anyone out there who is reading this and considering purchasing the R-22, please know that I think this is a marvelous boat. The inner-furling mast is something that I’ve been very happy with up until today and perhaps it’s all a function of this being too much wind for the boat. Or too much wind for me, a relatively inexperienced sailor.



  I don’t know for sure the best way to learn how to sail in weather like this … especially if I feel I have to go back to the dock as soon as there are white caps. Maybe there is someone out there who is experienced in this sort of weather AND knows the R-22 who can tutor me on-board in just this sort of weather, but finding that person would not be easy. But I am ready for any and all suggestions.



  Thanks for reading this very long email and I look forward to any and all advice … including “stay the hell out of 20 knot wind weather.” Maybe that’s the root of the problem, but it seems easy to imagine that going out in a 10 knot day could easily turn into a 20 knot day with gusts in no time at all.



  Thanks everyone,



  - Mark P.



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