Capsizing!

pmagowan

pmagowan

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How well prepared is your boat for a capsize or a roll in bad weather. I looked at the YM crash boat test on YouTube and it appears that the average boat is not prepared at all. Most stuff is stowed in such a way as it becomes a missile in a roll. The cabin sole is generally not fixed down either. Why are boats not designed with this in mind or is it simply a matter of most people being fair weather sailors and not likely to care much. It wouldn't be that difficult to make everything fixed or enclosed.
 
Most people being fair weather sailors, I should think, and I count myself among them.
My cabin sole can be fixed, but I removed most of the screws for ease of cleaning under them. If I were to undertake a longer crossing, eg Biscay, I would screw the floor boards down again.
So far I have never had such a bad roll that cupboards emptied themselves, and I make a point of stowing things properly so they do not go wandering around in a seaway
 
Ariam's not particularly well-prepared; I'm aware of this but don't consider it an urgent need for the sailing we do.

Our sole boards are screwed down, the cooker is secured in its gimbals, and the engine, fuel, and water tanks should stay put. The batteries would not be able to escape from their locker and hurt someone, but they would probably move in their box which might damage the wiring. They're AGMs so at least won't leak. Securing the batteries properly is on my list, didn't quite get round to it when installing them, but otherwise I'm happy enough with loose plywood lids on under-bunk bins, gin bottles under a loose cover in the middle of the table, dividers in a hole by the chart table, etc. We only sail in the Channel and don't expect to have to weather a severe storm at sea.

Pete
 
I think that the answer to the question lies in the fact that capsizes, even in heavy weather, are rare events. So what? Well, for most folks things are stowed so as to prevent them launching themselves across the cabin as the boat heals from one tack to the other. Lockers and cupboards are shut, batteries fixed in place and most loose items are stowed behind fiddles or in racks that will prevent movement at angles of heal up to 95 degrees or so.
Having been knocked down in the Channel such that the on watch crew were only saved by their lifelines, the only thing of consequence that went walkabout below were the domestic batteries. This event has left me convinced of the need to stow things properly but the likelihood of a capsize is so low that I have not, for example, gone to the extent of putting restraints over the top of the books in the book case.
If I were to head off on transoceanic crossings, then I would re-examine the requirements. I would the look to restraints for the books, bolts on the underseat locker lids, netting across the galley fiddle (to keep the coffee, tea, sugar, cooking implements in place) and so on. But given our current sailing habits (no more than four or five day passages and time to wait for a decent weather window) I am content with our current arrangements.
 
We normally keep everyday items on non-slip mats on the cabin table and chart table. This would include camera, phones, pencils and puzzle books. A knock-down would scatter them but not be a hazard. It might get messy if there were washing-up in the sink. Most of the books should be OK but the scatter cushions would live up to their name.

Our cabin sole is screwed down and the fixed carpet would contain the removable sections. Batteries are well secured. I suppose the chart table might open and a few charts fall out, but I think the boat would be pretty OK, which is more than I can say for the crew.
 
I think there's quite a lot of sailing ground between being a fair weather sailor and being prepared for a roll, but the question is an interesting one. My floorboards are all screwed down save for a small hatch, the cooker, tanks and batteries are all secure too. Most of the nav equipment is in a secure (you'd hope) locker. But there are no bolts on the under-bunk lockers, although almost everything in them is stored in locking plastic boxes so the Stanley knife should not get loose. Same for kitchen utensils in locking plastic container in under-sink locker. Mugs and cups and some bottles stowed behind the cooker would get loose. But I wonder how effective precautions are anyway. If you read e.g Chichester, Lewis it seems a capsize results in instant chaos no matter what the preparations. And in any case my first concern would be the likely loss of the spars and the immediate possibility of being holes in consequence. I'll happily fish the champagne out of the bilges later
 
johnalison said:
We normally keep everyday items on non-slip mats on the cabin table and chart table. This would include camera, phones, pencils and puzzle books. A knock-down would scatter them but not be a hazard. It might get messy if there were washing-up in the sink. Most of the books should be OK but the scatter cushions would live up to their name.

Our cabin sole is screwed down and the fixed carpet would contain the removable sections. Batteries are well secured. I suppose the chart table might open and a few charts fall out, but I think the boat would be pretty OK, which is more than I can say for the crew.
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I think that is the issue. Most boats survive a roll relatively unscathed. The crew, however, are knocked about and any items internally become dangerous missiles. I guess it really isn't that much of a problem, I am simply thinking from the point of view of design that more could be done for little cost. I suppose you just have to have the mindset that in normal cruising it doesn't matter much and in adventurous cruising you could have a battle stations methodology of reducing the risk.
 
When fitting stuff I always do the mental "inversion" test. "What would happen if I turned this area upside down", hence in my new domestic battery box the batteries are strapped down

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Bit alarmed at my new cooker gimbles though, not sure what is supposed to hold the cooker in! Fitting this weekend, so we shall see....

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bitbaltic said:
I'll happily fish the champagne out of the bilges later
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The problem comes when it's embedded in the side of somebody's head instead of being in the bilge. Plenty of stories of people being knocked unconscious by flying tins etc.

I don't think it would be too hard to make a cabin secure against rolling if one wanted to. Especially if starting from scratch like the OP will be. Conventional lockers and drawers with catches get most of the way there, it just needs a little thought and a few more fittings here and there. Perhaps in one or two places where it might be inconvenient to have a catch in normal conditions, there could be a strap or hook that comes out in preparation for rough weather.

On Stavros there was a colour code for closing the various hull openings in increasingly severe weather - so the captain might order all blue openings to be closed, and there was a defined list of air vents and doors to be shut. As it got worse it might be time for the next colour (can't remember what it was) and a known set of tank breathers and the like would be shut down, then finally red openings might be ordered and the whole ship was sealed behind metal except for the door from the open bridge to the chartroom. I could imagine a similar pre-planned list for an ocean-going yacht, not just for hull openings but for switching off, stowing, and securing all kinds of things in preparation for heavy weather.

(For what it's worth we didn't need even the first level of formal closing-up even in a Biscay force 10 in Stavros, just shut the forepeak hatch, a few breezy vents on the weather side, and a door that was underwater to leeward. So I dread to think of the conditions that would require full red-level submarine mode :) )

Pete
 
Batteries have been mentioned quite a few times and quite rightly so; unrestrained they quite simply become indiscriminate killers. MagicalArmchair's (jeez some of the names!) pics depict best practice in this regard.
 
For your underbunk locker lids you might look at the system used in the latest Bavarias which ensure that the lids stay secure but are easy to lift out when needed. Easy to make if you have a CNC to machine the necessary interlocking parts but not easy to do by hand.
 
I'm lucky in 2 ways;

A, having been a dinghy sailor so am used to / almost expect things turning upside down

B, I read and digested the lessons in ' Heavy Weather Sailing ' so if my boat inverts the battery, cooker, loo, gas bottles, engine & fuel tanks, anchor/s, toolboxes should all stay in place.

Can't say the same for any humans onboard unless they can be arsed to use the leecloths...

' Prepare for the worst, Hope for the best '.
 
Tranona said:
For your underbunk locker lids you might look at the system used in the latest Bavarias
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Can you describe it (or even better a picture)?

If I was wanting to retrofit some kind of fixing to Ariam's bunk bins, I think I'd just fix a webbing strap at the outboard side of the bunk base, with a bar type fitting at the inboard side for the strap to pass through and velcro back onto itself. Pairs of them for the larger lids. Then most of the time the strap can be stuffed away under the back of the cushion, but when needed it's quite simple to thread through the fitting and secure. But I'm sure Bavaria from-scratch system is neater and cleverer :)

Pete
 
Not easy to described (which is why I did not try!). Will take some photos when next on the boat. Yes it is neat and clever and zero cost to them.

Just remembered there are good shots in the YM test video of the boat. Youtube Bavaria 33 will get it.
 
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Tranona said:
For your underbunk locker lids you might look at the system used in the latest Bavarias which ensure that the lids stay secure but are easy to lift out when needed. Easy to make if you have a CNC to machine the necessary interlocking parts but not easy to do by hand.
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Sounds good: as a matter of interest are Bavaria's "floorboards" now fastened down somehow?
 
I was inverted 35 years ago off Iceland in a 34-footer, but on present boat of similar size, and for current coastal cruising with current weather data availability, I am happy not to worry. Inversion is pretty much just not going to happen given this usage. I worry more about tripping on a marina pontoon.
 
dom said:
Sounds good: as a matter of interest are Bavaria's "floorboards" now fastened down somehow?
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Yes. With beautifully neat cut out inspection hatches over each set of keel bolts, bilge where the pump pick ups are and bottle stowage at the galley. Further benefits of CNC machining of components.
 
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