Heaving To on a Cutter Rig?

[Capt Phil]

Hove to aboard a cutter rigged CT 41 off Point Conception in 1983 hurricane that came up the coast from the Baja in January. (that was the one that tore my favorite bar, the Blue Moon Saloon, off the end of the Redondo Beach pier.) Lashed down the main and put up a storm sail on separate track, took the jib (yankee) off and stored it below and barber hauled boom on the staysail across. Tied the wheel down so the rig was balanced as much as I could in a very confused sea about 40 miles offshore, headed for Japan and went below for about 18 hours.
Survived the ordeal but when the seas began to moderate, by tying down the helm, I had put too much pressure on the rudder (not tied down hard over) and snapped the steering cable between one of the sheaves and the quadrant. Bit of drama replacing the steering cable which you have to do lying on your back under the cockpit deck... thank goodness I had a roll of plastic over cable clothesline aboard which served well until we made port although the steering was pretty sloppy. The emergency tiller wouldn't fit in to the fitting for some reason... rusted up, I recall. Looked like I had gone 5 rounds with Mike Tyson when I finally finished the gerry rigged steering cable.
Best to practice the procedure first in gradual seas with at least force 6-8 winds to try out how your boat behaves... my guess is each vessel will peform differently.
Great thread... hope my mistakes help someone. Capt Phil

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

"One caution to any inexperienced small boat sailor sailor: DO NOT, repeat DO NOT heave to in any small craft in high, steep seas or after the storm develops to the force that you see walls of white water rolling towards you...

And do not ask me how I know.

Love, peace and flowers,
barnie"

Barnie has a good point. I have been out in storms with fifteen foot seas, 35 to 40 knots sustained, gusting to fifty or sixty knots. The seas eventually started to break. The difference in my case was that we had a parachute sea anchor. We we generally using it as suggested by Lin and Larry Pardee (sp?) and I must say it worked very well. The parachute sea anchor, combined with the vessel, created a slick effect on the windward side that actually caused the seas to not break on the boat. It was quite amazing to watch. The seas would build and start to break however the slick caused the sea to break on either side of the boat (a Saber 34) but not on us. I watched this over and over over the course of two and a half days.

My experience may be different from others and some have wisely suggested practice first. I did that many times in controlled conditions. On several occasions it was on the Hudson with 25 knots gusting to 40 but the seas were fairly calm due to being on the river. In other cases it was on the open sea but in more calm winds. Practice makes perfect. Good luck with whatever combination you choose.

Yep. I chuckle to myself when people talk about heaving to in most cruising boats sold today. Without a significant forefoot on the keel, (Dreadnaught?) it just doesnt work with heavy seas. Even the Pardeys go into long instruction using a bridle etc with their boat which I believe has a significant forefoot to the keel. All the boats I've had hove to fine in 15-20 knots and small water... not the case in 12 foot+ seas though. Far better running ....

[marlers]

Hi Rob,
Your CT34 will heave to easily using the method suggested earlier (rigging a line and barberhauling) . I changed the staysail on our CT34 to loose sheets for better sail control, heaving to is easily done and will work great in almost any wind condition to park the boat quickly this is a sailing skill easily mastered and will allow you to step away from the helm without worry.
Steve

[Curmudgeon]

There are lots of ways to do it-- depends on the boat. On the full-keeled cutter I previously owned, I could heave to with the staysail only, with the main only, or with the staysail backed. I would never heave to in heavy weather unless the genoa (or yankee, depending on what you are flying) were coimpletely furled.