July edition - What would you do as skipper?

claymore

claymore

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Jun 2001
Messages
10,650
Location
In the far North
Visit site
Or whatever its called.
Well - James Stevens prepares to run a boat up the beach in this months edition, with all other options seemingly exhausted, things having gone from bad to worse.
I think I might have tried to lower the anchor whilst approaching in the hope that it might catch and hold - surely better than just resigning to beaching? Admittedly it may not have held but worth a shot anyway, I think.
I suppose the counter argument is that if it turned you head to wind and then didn't hold, the rudder would be taking the full impact of the beaching?
 
In his scenario he had the anchor rope come out of the bow locker and wrap round the prop, so no anchor and no engine.
Seemed to rule out concept of having a second (or third) anchor available.
One would hope that broken rig, broken engine and broken only anchor, whilst embayed in a near gale is not a common situation many will experience.
 
I haven't seen the article but I would run her up the beach as fast as possible so she sticks hard, then jump off and run clear before she fell on top of me! (the boat I mean, not my crew.)

I can't see any point in hanging about under those circumstances.

If it was in the West Country I'd arm myself with something to protect against wreckers :D
 
Cut the mast away and deploy as sea anchour,make small single chine dinghy from handy wood found in Lanzarote,puncture oil bags and run them out on lines to ends of floating mast.......
 
dunedin said:
In his scenario he had the anchor rope come out of the bow locker and wrap round the prop, so no anchor and no engine.
Seemed to rule out concept of having a second (or third) anchor available.
One would hope that broken rig, broken engine and broken only anchor, whilst embayed in a near gale is not a common situation many will experience.
Click to expand...

Broken rig, broken engine, broken only anchor... so... no control of the vessel outside maybe 20 degrees of dead downwind.

It may be that the writer is referencing what happened to the offshore racer “Tilly Twin” in the 1956 Channel gale. See “Heavy Weather Sailing”, earlier editions, page 132 in the second edition.. She was a deep fin keel yacht and she slid sideways up the beach until her crew could step off into two or three feet of water. The hull was undamaged.
 
claymore said:
Well - James Stevens prepares to run a boat up the beach in this months edition
Click to expand...

Remind me, please, not to sail with an RYA Instructor/Examiner-Examiner.

I've known two, and they seemed to compete in creating ever-more implausible disasters. I think they got bored.....

:rolleyes:


Edit: To try to answer the question, I'd try to telephone the insurers, ask for their urgent advice, then do that.
 
Last edited:
Minn said:
Broken rig, broken engine, broken only anchor... so... no control of the vessel outside maybe 20 degrees of dead downwind.

It may be that the writer is referencing what happened to the offshore racer “Tilly Twin” in the 1956 Channel gale. See “Heavy Weather Sailing”, earlier editions, page 132 in the second edition.. She was a deep fin keel yacht and she slid sideways up the beach until her crew could step off into two or three feet of water. The hull was undamaged.
Click to expand...

And there I was thinking that if you've broken most of the expensive bits, and the boat is just plain unlucky, you might as well total the @@@er and claim on the the insurance.
 
zoidberg said:
Remind me, please, not to sail with an RYA Instructor/Examiner-Examiner.

I've known two, and they seemed to compete in creating ever-more implausible disasters. I think they got bored.....

:rolleyes:


Edit: To try to answer the question, I'd try to telephone the insurers, ask for their urgent advice, then do that.
Click to expand...

See here:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19911029-0

On a training flight, the instructor shut down both engines on one side and shut off the rudder boost, putting the plane into an unrecoverable spin. The last words on the cockpit voice recorder were “You bastard, you’ve killed us all!”
 
Last edited:
Robert Wilson said:
Strikes dread into me. Poor people.
Click to expand...

I have an early edition of Adlard Cole's Heavy Weather Sailing where they spoke of the great channel storm (1951..??) where a boat could not make a heading into Cherbourg and so ran off before the wind and beached somewhere on the Hampshire coast. IIRC crew and boat were unscathed. I haven't read it in years and so some details are a bit hazy.
 
steve yates said:
dear god, that was grim viewing, what was the story behind it?
Click to expand...
We ( https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/ ) sold the (highly competent) owner another boat to replace that Contessa 32. There had been earlier problems and damage offshore from the Biscay coast. This is the final inshore bit. He was not keen on going into details. First time I've seen the video.
 
Last edited:
Minn said:
Broken rig, broken engine, broken only anchor... so... no control of the vessel outside maybe 20 degrees of dead downwind.

It may be that the writer is referencing what happened to the offshore racer “Tilly Twin” in the 1956 Channel gale. See “Heavy Weather Sailing”, earlier editions, page 132 in the second edition.. She was a deep fin keel yacht and she slid sideways up the beach until her crew could step off into two or three feet of water. The hull was undamaged.
Click to expand...

Minn,

that was my immediate thought !

Not usually a great idea to surf in, unless one really knows the place / beach, as Tilly Twins' helmsman clearly did.
 
Sybarite said:
I have an early edition of Adlard Cole's Heavy Weather Sailing where they spoke of the great channel storm (1951..??) where a boat could not make a heading into Cherbourg and so ran off before the wind and beached somewhere on the Hampshire coast. IIRC crew and boat were unscathed. I haven't read it in years and so some details are a bit hazy.
Click to expand...

IIRC, he managed to turn the boat beam on as they went aground so the waves carried it up the beach and the keel acted as a ratchet, preventing it being washed back out. When the boat stopped, they walked ashore. I believe that damage to the boat was minimal.

I wouldn't want to try that with a skinny fin, but even one of those would have a better chance than my bilge keeler
 
Sybarite said:
I have an early edition of Adlard Cole's Heavy Weather Sailing where they spoke of the great channel storm (1951..??) where a boat could not make a heading into Cherbourg and so ran off before the wind and beached somewhere on the Hampshire coast. IIRC crew and boat were unscathed. I haven't read it in years and so some details are a bit hazy.
Click to expand...
I probably have the same edition. I'll dig it out and re-read.
Thanks.
 
Stemar said:
IIRC, he managed to turn the boat beam on as they went aground so the waves carried it up the beach and the keel acted as a ratchet, preventing it being washed back out. When the boat stopped, they walked ashore. I believe that damage to the boat was minimal.

I wouldn't want to try that with a skinny fin, but even one of those would have a better chance than my bilge keeler
Click to expand...

OTOH, I've seen a small boat get totally wrecked in very small surf.
Keel smashed up through the floor.
It's likely that was partially made worse by the attempts to tow it off, which kept the bow pointing seawards. Trying to anchor might have the same effect.
Many variables, steep beach, shelving beach, size and direction of waves.

A boat is generally just a lump of plastic.
WACF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top