Lee Shore

[senormechanico]

We had a big westerly the other day. We saw about 35 to 40 knots on central Whidbey. The boat in the video is being towed into a SW breeze.
My guess is inexperience, and good luck being rescued from INSIDE the mooring buoy line.
There is a person standing around in the cockpit.

[osirissail]

Looking closely at the linked video it appears that the boat's mainsail jammed about 1/4th the way up the mast. He also has a "hanked on" jib which appears shredded/blown-out. The type of keel appears to be "shoal draft" or very shallow which is not good for trying to beat to windward. The boat goes more sideways than forward.
- - The sea state has minimal white caps which puts the wind speeds at 15-20 kts but the seas look short, steep and confused which is not good for trying to manually raise sails or fix a jammed sail. If he was a single hander with manual sails, he was probably overwhelmed and needed two or three more arms and hands. Although it is possible that after the tow hooked up, the mainsail was lowered and jammed at the 1/4 mark - there are sail ties on the main sail holding it to the boom.
- - More than likely human error on the part of the master of the sailboat as he was on a lee shore and could not "claw" his way off with the type boat and sails he had. And others mentioned engine failure due to sloshing fuel tank and dirt clogging the fuel filter. That is a very common occurrence that most cruiser/sailors never think about until it is too late.
- - The foresail is not an upwind sail. The main sail is your primary upwind sail and the foresail is trimmed to maximize the air flow over the mainsail.
- - We all learn from our mistakes hopefully and an "experience" is an expression that means you survived your mistake(s). Live and learn.
- - The USCG boat doing to towing is definitely rigged for such jobs witness it size and permanently mounted towing drum/cable. This must be a common enough occurrence in that area that the USCG has boats specifically for that purpose. I would hazard more for protecting the coastline and beaches from pollution from wrecked ships than simply rescuing inexperienced masters. Private Towing services, in my experiences with them - have been less skilled and more dangerous than the USCG in trying to get a tow-line attached and a tow initiated.

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Doug, you dont need a story, Its the northwest in March, why in hell is he even out in his boat.. in March in that area, **** happens fast and if you cant handle it, you get your butt back on the porch..

It's easy to say someone should get thier butt on the porch when you're sitting safe and sound on the porch. But you have no idea the circumstances.

Maybe he's just come in from a month cruise across the Pacific? Maybe he's not from around there and just passing through and doesn't have a nice cozy marina slip like you where you can wait until the wind is just right for a sail? Maybe the rudder broke off, or the steering jammed, or who knows what all else could have happened. Anyone with any experience knows that sometimes sh*t happens. And it can be crazy, random sh*t. Maybe the rudder broke the day before so he was anchored trying to fix it and his anchor line gave way on this day? Or maybe he was anchored and he raised it just before the video began? I definitely wouldn't want to be anchored that close to a lee shore in a gale. But nobody knows yet.

This guy might be a complete idiot. But how can any of us even begin to draw conclusions just from watching a boat be towed away from a lee shore?

Lucky for him too, because it looks like they got to him just in time

[bluzzin]

Originally Posted by osirissail

- - The USCG boat doing to towing is definitely rigged for such jobs witness it size and permanently mounted towing drum/cable. This must be a common enough occurrence in that area that the USCG has boats specifically for that purpose. I would hazard more for protecting the coastline and beaches from pollution from wrecked ships than simply rescuing inexperienced masters. Private Towing services, in my experiences with them - have been less skilled and more dangerous than the USCG in trying to get a tow-line attached and a tow initiated.

The local tow service for Boat US / Vessel Assist is run by the wizard of local towing. He was towing when the young men on the CG boats were yet to be a twinkle in their papas eye. Most everyone raves about his skill and gentle handling of the boat in tow. Nice tow boat the CG has in video to be sure, they must keep it well hid, its not a regular sight on the local waters.

michael

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by DaveC

It's easy to say someone should get thier butt on the porch when you're sitting safe and sound on the porch. But you have no idea the circumstances.

Maybe he's just come in from a month cruise across the Pacific? Maybe he's not from around there and just passing through and doesn't have a nice cozy marina slip like you where you can wait until the wind is just right for a sail? Maybe the rudder broke off, or the steering jammed, or who knows what all else could have happened. Anyone with any experience knows that sometimes sh*t happens. And it can be crazy, random sh*t. Maybe the rudder broke the day before so he was anchored trying to fix it and his anchor line gave way on this day? Or maybe he was anchored and he raised it just before the video began? I definitely wouldn't want to be anchored that close to a lee shore in a gale. But nobody knows yet.

This guy might be a complete idiot. But how can any of us even begin to draw conclusions just from watching a boat be towed away from a lee shore?

Lucky for him too, because it looks like they got to him just in time

Dave,
I can see you dont know much about the north west. and this is NOT the time of year to make a crossing in the north pacific..
My point was, if you have any knowledge of the north west and the conditions that creep up on you, you wouldnt put yourself or your boat in any possible situation that might go sour..
And the reason I'm setting safe here in the California sun,
Until the pacific High sets in, weather conditions can change from day to day and hour to hour.. and your morning sail in calm weather can change into Gale forces winds by noon..
The north coast is no place to play for the inexperanced..

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Dave,
I can see you dont know much about the north west. and this is NOT the time of year to make a crossing in the north pacific..
My point was, if you have any knowledge of the north west and the conditions that creep up on you, you wouldnt put yourself or your boat in any possible situation that might go sour..
And the reason I'm setting safe here in the California sun,
Until the pacific High sets in, weather conditions can change from day to day and hour to hour.. and your morning sail in calm weather can change into Gale forces winds by noon..
The north coast is no place to play for the inexperanced..

You're correct, I don't know much about the northwest or the Pacific in general since I have always been over on the Atlantic side. I also presume that what you say is probably correct about the weather and season. I wouldn't argue with someone such as you who lives over there and understands the climate there because I certainly don't understand it.

I'm just saying it's a little premature to judge a guy just from watching him get towed off a lee shore without understanding what happened, that's all.

Fair winds and calm seas!

-David