July edition - What would you do as skipper?

It's very likely that this was a long keeler, so no danger of the keel coming off or getting punched up through the bottom unless the part of the whole boat breaking up. The whole idea was to go up sideways so the boat would lean towards the land, rather than bounce on the keel, which is what must happen if you stay straight.

Not something I'd want to try, personally. The very idea makes golf sound attractive, but I'm guessing that a lot of things went wrong first.

Getting back to the what next question, assuming no rudder, anchor or motor, how would you get yourself sideways in breaking waves?
 
If the waves are breaking where your boat is still afloat, that's fairly big waves. Or a pretty steep beach.
Steep beach, I can see it might work.
Beach with a shallow gradient, I don't see it.
A wave of 2ft from peak to trough is not big.
Drop any boat on its keel, repeatedly from 2ft, not going to do it any good.

From my dinghy sailing experience, it's often very hard to tell much about what the surf will be like until you are in amongst it.
The best bet is usually to let someone else go first, then apply hindsight.

I think I'd still be trying to beat off the beach until that had clearly failed, by which time the only option would be to abandon ship and avoid having the boat land on top of you.
Some of us dinghy sailors regularly beat off the beach not using the rudder. You need to if your rudder is deep and of the non-lifting variety.
 
lw395 said:
From my dinghy sailing experience, it's often very hard to tell much about what the surf will be like until you are in amongst it.
The best bet is usually to let someone else go first, then apply hindsight.

I think I'd still be trying to beat off the beach until that had clearly failed, by which time the only option would be to abandon ship and avoid having the boat land on top of you.
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Click to expand...

All of which reminds me of one of my favourite "crisis management" truisms (applicable in many situations not necessarily or only to do with corporate employee objectives):-

"The objective of all dedicated company employees should be to analyse thoroughly all situations, anticipate all problems prior to their occurrence, have answers for these problems, and move swiftly to solve these problems when called upon.....
………. however, when you are up to your a*se in alligators, it is difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp."
 
Robert Wilson said:
All of which reminds me of one of my favourite "crisis management" truisms (applicable in many situations not necessarily or only to do with corporate employee objectives):-

"The objective of all dedicated company employees should be to analyse thoroughly all situations, anticipate all problems prior to their occurrence, have answers for these problems, and move swiftly to solve these problems when called upon.....
………. however, when you are up to your a*se in alligators, it is difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp."
Click to expand...

'Crisis management' or 'how to be a slightly better failure'.

One of my old bosses could invent management-speak faster than the tutors on the courses.
'We don't have crises, we have intense opportunities'.

https://despair.com/collections/posters/products/consequences

https://despair.com/collections/posters/products/foresight?variant=2457296835
 
The account of the successful beaching of “Tilly Twin given in “Heavy Weather Sailing” states that she had been towing a CQR with other warps as a stern drag; the anchor dug in and held short of the beach but since she was therefore anchored by the stern the cockpit was constantly filling and water was getting below through the saloon hatch and the spare anchor was stowed below.

Nobody wanted to open the forehatch due to the water on deck so warp was cut and she went up the beach
 
The point is that the boat that was your protector in the open sea is now trying to kill you; either by crushing you to death or entangling you in the rigging and drowning you. There is no sense at all in prolonging that situation.

Run her ashore and get clear as fast as you can!
 
That sounds sensible, if I ever had to surf in I might well ' drudge ' my kedge grapnel - probably in folded state but I'd play the warp and regard it as disposable - to try to keep the stern into the waves until the last moment then hopefully step ashore as Tilly Twins' crew did, mind they were very lucky on that nasty beach.
 
In my original post I didn't of course clarify that it would be one of my spare anchors that I would attempt to deploy. I assume we all carry more than one? Certainly Claymore would cover at least another 3 nm each hour if we were to get shot of all the extra gear and spares we carry! Perhaps its time for a "which is the best anchor to get rid of when attempting to reduce the amount of clobber we carry" thread?
 
It’s not just the anchour,it’s the complete anchoring scheme,anchour,chain and rope,met some really whizzed up boat with four alternative anchoring kits!
 
claymore said:
In my original post I didn't of course clarify that it would be one of my spare anchors that I would attempt to deploy. I assume we all carry more than one? Certainly Claymore would cover at least another 3 nm each hour if we were to get shot of all the extra gear and spares we carry! Perhaps its time for a "which is the best anchor to get rid of when attempting to reduce the amount of clobber we carry" thread?
Click to expand...

There's always got to be at least one lateral thinker in a thread!!
;)
 
I may have told this story before.
We bought a Trapper 300, 26 footer, 5'draught, fin keel, the budget did not run to an inboard so for the first few years we carried an 8 hp Yamaha stowed under the cockpit on a layer of bricks. (she was a tender boat and prone to broaching) In winter we took it to Lough Neagh for the Antrim winter series returning to the sea after antifouling in the spring. I had a 4 wheel trailer which we towed with our Ford Sierra, things were less regulated then. It was spring the series was over and three of us went to Antrim where my wife dropped us off before setting off for Lurgan with the trailer, about 20 miles and the only slipway deep enough for recovery. Bright sunny day, fresh N.W. wind, full sail and we were tearing along surfing on the 2' chop that followed us. Lough Neaghis big, shallow and particularly featureless, I knew that there was an island that we could leave to starboard but I chose the wrong one, as we went inside I noticed that the white tops stretched right across in front from the mainland to the island. We tried to beat out but the wind had increased and we were now carrying too much sail. I decided to head for the middle of the channel hoping it would be deeper but she pulled up hard on the gravel long before we got there.We were aground in the middle of nowhere with no tide to ever get us off. Fortunately the wind was still increasing and the waves rolling in were a bit bigger. We had pulled down the sails as we struck and we now but them up again sheeted in hard to reduce the draught. The two crew walked up the sails to the spreaders and I climbed over the lee side about waist high in the water. as each wave struck I heaved on the gunwhale moving her a few inches, it was very tiring and cold so I climbed aboard several times to rest, neither of my crew wanted to get in the water. I jumped over for the last time, only to find no bottom and within seconds she flipped upright and started to sail away, fortunately I had a rope to help me back aboard, the crew had slid down to the deck.
A mile or so to the South my wife had arrived with the trailer, a kind gentleman from the Club invited her upstairs and lent he binoculars to watch our antics.
 
It was a new boat, new sails and gear, barely paid for (called Quandary cos we could not agree on a name for it) and I had visions of it sitting on top of that bank for decades, apparently with a normal southerly wind shifting the water northwards it barely covers. The bank was golf ball sized gravel which helped the transit like ball bearings, the boat was hardly scuffed. The main risk was hypothermia, I could have walked ashore in either direction.
 
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