What Would You Have Done ?

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N4061

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The following post is intended to assist others new to boating and have limited experience dealing with challenging situations.

After selling our last trawler and looking for something new and adventurous on the water I decided to take up sailing. After a year of research, I ordered a 15' 6" Cat style day sailor built in Maine and had it shipped to San Diego. After one lesson and a few solo trips I was starting to get the hang of everything involved with sailing which was a little more than I anticipated. Except for my single lesson which took place in Dana Point, CA. (sound familiar - PAE Headquarters) I have been practicing closer to home in Oceanside, CA. which offers a small, protected bay and inlet out to the ocean.

Prior to my first lesson and installing the sails I launched the boat at least four times and motored around using the little Torqueedo electric motor. After about the sixth time out the motor began to show signs of a default. It would suddenly stop before coming back on-line making things a little interesting. I noticed an error code 22 (vibration issue) and wrote down the steps to fix it which I performed during another outing. I told myself if it happens again, I will ship the motor back to the factory in for repair.

It was a sunny afternoon when I decided to go sailing and everything was working fine as I motored towards the inlet. As I got closer, I noticed the incoming ocean swells were larger than normal and entering the bay resulting in a stronger than normal current towards the jetty. I followed my usual course passing the inlet to my port side before turning away and into the wind (dead zone) where I raise the single large sail. Due to the swells and current I gave myself extra room away from the jetty and started my turn to starboard. At the same time the motor stopped and the current quickly began to push me towards the jetty and crashing swells.

I estimated I had less then 3-4 minutes before I would end up on the rocks and likely lose the boat due to the pounding three-foot swells. I thought about calling vessel assist or Harbor Patrol but knew they would never make it out in time. I was less concerned about myself since I was wearing my life vest and could swim to an area without getting crushed by the swells. I had to make a decision a quickly and stick with it, so I considered my three options.
1. attempt to reset the motor (2 minutes) with no guarantee it would work the first time
2. drop the mushroom anchor (first time) and hope it would hold
3. raise the sail and hope the lines were not tangled and the wind was in the right direction

What would you have done?

I decided my best chance was to raise the sail and moved forward to pull on the three halyards. I raised the sail about halfway then quickly move back to the tiller just as the wind caught sail and started to take me towards the rocks. I turned the tiller as hard as I could resulting in the boat leaning about 30 degrees as I watched the swells crashing onto the jetty within a boat length before turning and clearing the jetty. As I sailed to safety I looked back and I thought to myself "I got lucky today". After a lifetime of boating this was definitely the closest, I experienced disaster including the time we lost the throttle on a new N40 during a training session in a busy marina.

A few take aways I believe contributed to avoiding disaster included
1. remaining clam
2. quickly surveying the situation and my limited options
3. making a decision and sticking with it
4. God was looking out for me that day

Since this experience I had the motor repaired (bad circuit card) and have been out twice with no issues. Interesting that a second source of power (sail) saved me even on a little day sailor. Appreciate fellow TF readers thoughts and what they would have done.

John T. - N4050, N4061, N3522, H38E former owner
 
That’s scary. I would’ve tried to sail out too assuming some useful wind.
Your story reminded me of this incident, which was probably posted here when it happened. Never heard the rest of the story - hopefully everyone got ok. It’s sickening.

 
I too would have tried to sail, but that is a huge if and only made with on scene facts....so it is not really a hard and fast choice.

Iffy motor....last choice.... and I would NEVER have a mushroom anchor for a situation like yours. If you are going to boat where wind/wave can ruin your day.... get the best little anchor your guardian angel suggests. Even the best may not stop you from dragging, but dragging may give you a few more minutes to recover.

Also, depending on the wind and inlet situation...I may already have had the sail raised and an escape under sail preplanned.

I used to surf my Laser, most silors tjought I was nuts.
 
Sailing it out was the right call from what you describe. However, with a small sailboat, I view the sails as the main source of power and the motor as the second source, even if I routinely use the motor coming and going. It sounds like you may just need more experience relying on and trusting the sail to move and control the boat whenever there is wind. That the sail filled and heeled way over also means needing to anticipate what is going to happen when you start sheeting it in under different wind and sea conditions. If you were comfortable with the swell and the inlet, you want more experience sailing in tight confines. Learn to tack quickly (easy with a catboat!) but minimize loss of speed.
 
I think you nailed it. Go for the fastest route to the most likely source of propulsion.
 
I've sailed since about age 7 or so and can't put my brain into your situation but:
You did quite well and learned a thing or two. A boat like yours is a good teacher.
Keep going out as often as you can and there will come a point where you may
not even bother with the motor at all. I'll bet she sails away from the trailer fine!
Maybe rig up oarlocks if you don't have them or just carry a long paddle. ;)
 
You made the right call, obviously, but even w/o the benefit of hindsight that would have been my play as well. Glad that you had at least that one sailing lesson, and a cat rig is user friendly.

Because I cut my boating teeth in sailboats, sailing out of harm's way would have been instinctive for me. But as an experienced boater, even if more so under power, your own instinct was certainly in play here, and it served you well, not simply in making the decision to set sail, but also in sticking to your decision and following through.

Of course, your take-away #4 is always helpful!
 
I agree. Of the three options, the sail was the only sure thing (or mostly-sure-thing) you had to get away. In my experience, even in my little open cockpit sailboat on LI Sound, mushroom anchors were completely useless. A cinderblock on a rope would be more effective. And if the motor didn't come to life for you in time, you're screwed.
 
As said above get rid of the mushroom anchor…
 
The mushroom is getting attention. FYI the mantis dingy anchor tests out to hold extremely well. Not heavy but is more awkward to stow. At least it works. The mushroom doesn’t.
 
Uh oh. John should have known, you mention an anchor in the original post, you're only inviting trouble.
 
+1 on sailing, +1 on getting a better anchor AND HUGE +1 that you were wearing your life jacket. You got out of this one without a scratch but you had your life jacket on and were able to abandon ship if needed.

Knowing the wind direction I may have put the rudder hard over and used a couple strokes with a paddle to rotate the bow prior to lifting the sails. This could have put you on the correct tack to sail away from the jetty without tacking. Or not sure if your boat would do this but "pumping" the rudder a few times to try to turn the bow. Forceful thrusts for the direction you want to go then gentle the other way. Some sailboats can be turned with that method if you have a hand controlled tiller. Maybe this is something you could experiment with. Believe it or not some sailboats will back up with the sails up. As you build your sailing skills you could play around with that.

I use to have sailboat(30 footer) and from time to time I would sail it into it's slip and use a stern line to bring it to a stop in the slip. I would do this with friends or alone. It was more fun with friends because someone would add some Fred Flintstone(https://static.carthrottle.com/workspace/uploads/comments/fredflinstonebraking1-54edfdbc0e571.jpg) sounds as we brought the boat to a stop.

Fast forward 20 years and while cruising with my friend this summer on his North Sea 34 trawler we lost reverse. We used the same mention as with my sailboat to stop his trawler this summer when we made in to the marina. Although he probably only came in under sail with me once in the old days it was a memorable experience that he was able to lean on this summer with his boat. All this to say that just screwing around with your sailboat can build some random skills you might need down the road like backing up under sail or pumping the rudder to turn it.
 
Wish we got to go out on the Eagle when I went through USCG OCS back in 1977.

All we had was the USCGC Cuyahoga (110 footer built in 1927) until she got cut in two by an Argentine ore carrier in the Chesapeake.
 
Raising sail was needed, fore or main would depend, had to be there. Regardless of opinions on mushroom, it is what you had and I would have dropped it first, the raised sail. You can always retrieve a dangling anchor, but it may bite if you get too shallow.

Now I need to understand why you pulled on three halyards. Fore, main and spinnaker. Only one sail set, not spinnaker was immediately needed to get you safe.
 
Also not understanding 3 halyards but you could very easily upgrade the halyard
cleating or winch to allow you to raise it from your position at the tiller. Pro tip!
 
Having an unreliable engine, would have stayed berthed or initially sailed with sail hoisted.
 
Typical of a gaff rigged catboat. Throat halyard, peak halyard, topping lift or reefing line. On the Sandpiper, they are led aft to edge of the coaming.
 
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Porgy said:
Typical of a gaff rigged catboat. Throat halyard, peak halyard, topping lift or reefing line. On the Sandpiper, they are led aft to edge of the coaming.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that makes perfect sense now.
I would add a cam cleat to each one so they can be easily run up from the helm.
 
Respectfully, right choice, proved by the happy outcome.
The primary designed power source is sail. You were using the added power source, motor, which failed, in adverse conditions. Understandingly, sail power was not instantly ready to take over. Not sheeted in a sail flaps etc annoyingly, sheeted in it can provide power when you don`t want/expect it etc, so it`s unlikely to be hoisted until you want it. But it seems you had it as ready to hoist. Reading your posts, I`d say staying calm in adversity is an N4061 characteristic.
So yes, "Well played".
 
For those that sail in and out of their slips in small vessels, sails are raised from the slip to the point where you can glide in on return.

Going out an inlet under engine where the possibility of engine failure would be an issue....I sure don't mind a little lufing of the sail if it could be used immediately to get me out of trouble.

If the conditions don't allow for that, maybe it's not the right day or location for a "pleasure" sail.

I used to do it all the time...even through bridges until so many forced to to lower your sail.
 
If it is a Marshall Sandpiper...here's a fleet showing the rigging if you can zoom in.
 

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I taught sailing on J-80 sailboats part time for about 8 years, all classes were run without auxiliary power. Those boats are really responsive, can be sculled with the rudder or rocked for propulsion, so not a fair comparison to a cat boat but we got a lot of practice coaching students through it and all coaches were tested on coming into and out of a busy and tight marina and fairway single handed. There are certainly some tricks you pick up, some can be applied to a cat rig, others not.

Have a bungy cord running amidships in the back of the cockpit with a loop in the middle to fit over the end of the tiller. It should allow a full range of motion when in place but be strong enough to center the tiller, this way you can step forward for a few seconds without the boat tacking or gybing on its own. A tiller extension is an absolute must as well, I tend to assume everyone is using one from my racing background but, it is a bad assumption. They allow better weight control and much better visibility forward.

On a sloop rig, when flying only one sail, use the most downwind sail to increase control, if you are going upwind, use the main, going downwind, use the jib. Not an option/concern on a cat rig.

Have the halyards led to within reach of the helm, this doesn't mean they need to always cleated off there, but the turning blocks should be mounted such that you can pull them up by hand. If this cannot be due to chafing on other rigging or some other obstruction, find another way to mount them. Ideally, they are led through a clutch or cam cleat. I'm not a fan of a bunch of guides and pulley's along the deck back to the cockpit, these resistance and opportunities for kinks, I'm really referring to a turning block at the base of the mast so you can pull from across the deck.

Whenever in a hairy situation, get your bow pointed away from danger immediately. This may involve a gybe rather than a tack, pumping the helm, throwing your weight around, but get yourself pointed towards safety as soon as you can.

Get a feel for how your boat coasts in a variety of sea states, with the sail up and luffing as well as the sail doused. Man overboard manuevers are a great excercise to accomplish this and something you should be doing anyway. Do them under sail as well as under auxiliary power, find what you are most successful with. Your boat's momentum will allow you to glide much further than you expect. Get a feel for what speed your boat loses helm response and practice recovering from a stop.

Keep your eyes outside of the boat, practice situational awareness and ensure that your course changes are clearly interpreted by others. Keep in mind that your duty as the stand on vessel can be a challenge under sail, if you are close hauled in a tight channel, you cannot tack directly in front of an oncoming or overtaking vessel. Keep in mind that slowing down is an option and can be used to adjust the timing a meeting. If you need to change course in close proximity to others, make eye contact and yell what you are doing. A power boater may or may not anticipate what you are doing so tell them, if they are close enough to present a danger of collision, you are likely in speaking distance. Anticipate that when in doubt, powerboats will accelerate and pass ahead of you, this is a reliable as gravity.

I agree with others that you did a great job in giving yourself plenty of leeway (perfect example of word origin) to begin with as well as recovering quickly. I find any mushroom anchor short of 500# to be worthless, aluminum danforth style anchors are great lightweight options for day sailing boats.
 
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You should not have left the pier with an engine which had stranded you before.

pete
 
In a day sailor where the engine is secondary propulsion, many sailors would find that going out with a cranky engine and worrying about it or not going.... amusing.

Many leave the dock with no engine at all.....
 
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Whenever I was motoring in narrow confines I had the sail ready to go with 1 sail tie and halyard positioned. Engine quit once in a very tight spot and I was amazed at how quickly I had the sail up and boat tacked.

Can't predict anchor set so I have never considered it as my first action but it is ready to go.
 
Anchor

Thanks to everyone who posted and offered their thoughts. Alot of talk about the mushroom anchor which I will be the first to admit it's not what I would have on a trawler or most other boat "but". I recognize the mushroom offers less holding power but with my primary sailing areas are protected bays with muddy bottoms and I have two sources of power (sail and power) I selected this anchor based on the boats weight and being coated with a hard plastic to protect the inside of the boat.

I had the opportunity to use it when the motor died the second time, and it took hold within seconds of touching the bottom in an incoming tide. To be honest I was a little surprised it held so fast even with limited rope due to closeness to docked boats.

John
 
The trick about anchors is you want one in an emergency that is guaranteed to catch and hold at the worst possible time....not the best.
 
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