Mayday Radio for Help.

[DogWatch]

I do think that too many people expect their boat to perform like their car. Boats break all the time, even the best most professionally run sailing boat always has a list of failures and problems as long as your arm. The culture of fixing these 'on the run' seems to be vanishing. I used to aim to end a voyage with the boat in better condition than when I set out.

I thought that was just me, I find making running repairs passes the time.

 

[DogWatch]

The Trimaran "Great American" was capsized and then flipped the right way up again in waves 400 miles WEST of Cape Horn. The crew were picked up by a cargo vessel, and the trimaran abandoned. The Great American was finally wrecked ( apparently more or less in one piece) on South Georgia - about 1000 miles EAST of Cape Horn. I don't blame the crew for abandoning - the vessel was uninhabitable, full of water and without motive power - but she would certainly have been a better bet than a life-raft, in the absence of a cargo vessel being able to take the crew off.

While I am here as pilot of the good ship Hewlett Packard, in the warm waters of Lake Study...

If I was skipper of the 'Great American' I would have done the same. He had no way of knowing that his boat would not have been in spin cycle for the following 24/48 hours. Even if he thought the boat might make it, maybe he had already considered the prospect of how to begin lashing the bodies to the rails... Flipping a dinghy off the beach is exciting, I am sure like most normal adults (I say adults as I was invincible when I was a teen), what these chaps went through that day, made them all consider their faith and mortality.

I am not suggesting that you have remarked negatively upon his decision, I too will give a wry smile when reading certain reports. But in this case you give, I will stand 100% behind the old man, he made a good call.

 

[SAWDOC]

Excellent responses to an excellent post.


I do think that too many people expect their boat to perform like their car. Boats break all the time, even the best most professionally run sailing boat always has a list of failures and problems as long as your arm. The culture of fixing these 'on the run' seems to be vanishing. I used to aim to end a voyage with the boat in better condition than when I set out.

I agree. Some people invest so much money in their boats that every repair is a job for the yard lest it take from the resale value - how can you be expected to get stuck into an emergency repair at sea if you haven't acquainted yourself thoroughly with your boat systems on land? I'm sure this also limits where you bring your boat (will I go alongside that pier/trawler, dare I dry out?) and how you sail.
In order to be brave and confident when the situation demands it seems to me that you need to know your boat and your boat systems inside out so that you can spot trouble early and possibly take preventative action or alternatively be able to carry out some kind of running repair. In my opinion the more you rely on gadgets on board the more things can let you down by breakage and the less mentally prepared you are for when the going gets tough. It isn't just about calling or not calling a mayday - your ability to survive is helped or hindered by you knowledge and ability to carry out repairs. The more of this you do yourself the better equipped you will be down the line.

 

[OGITD]

PC Marine-Epoxy

I also have a GRP Yacht, and as part of my emgy kit I carry:

http://www.ackosdiydecorative.com/pc-marineepoxy-390-p.asp

For cracks and small holes once braced and then cured it should work quite well.

Not that I ever want to put it to the test.

 

[mcframe]

Boats break all the time, even the best most professionally run sailing boat always has a list of failures and problems as long as your arm. The culture of fixing these 'on the run' seems to be vanishing. I used to aim to end a voyage with the boat in better condition than when I set out.

I thought that was just me, I find making running repairs passes the time.

What's that line about on a long voyage? (Hi Dylan! ;-):
"Something breaks every day for the first fortnight - after that you get a chance to make your first bodges permanent"

Sending wife&kids to the beach at Priory Bay while I replace heads pump at anchor doesn't really count as a running repair.

 

[silver-fox]

I agree. Some people invest so much money in their boats that every repair is a job for the yard lest it take from the resale value - how can you be expected to get stuck into an emergency repair at sea if you haven't acquainted yourself thoroughly with your boat systems on land? I'm sure this also limits where you bring your boat (will I go alongside that pier/trawler, dare I dry out?) and how you sail.
In order to be brave and confident when the situation demands it seems to me that you need to know your boat and your boat systems inside out so that you can spot trouble early and possibly take preventative action or alternatively be able to carry out some kind of running repair. In my opinion the more you rely on gadgets on board the more things can let you down by breakage and the less mentally prepared you are for when the going gets tough. It isn't just about calling or not calling a mayday - your ability to survive is helped or hindered by you knowledge and ability to carry out repairs. The more of this you do yourself the better equipped you will be down the line.

Totally agree!

I would also add that this mentality is also required so that you are confident to continue sailing when systems go down. To give an example of how easy it is to become emotionally reliant on systems I recount a recent experience.

I have two GPS sytems which are completely independent of one another. One failed before I started my last trip and the other whilst underway. I also have a third hand held GPS in a tin (an improvised Faraday's cage) in case of a lightening strike or the other systems failing. However it was a bit boisterous at the time and I didn't feel like going down below and keying in way points.


At the time I was maybe 80 miles clear of land and my destination and in no danger. I was recording my position in the log hourly, so I knew where I was, and was well able to either revert to my handheld GPS or alternatively traditional paper charts.

Yet despite this, I had mild feelings of panic which I had to suppress because my comfort blanket of chart-plotter and GPS had been removed! Ridiculous really when I consider that in 40 years of sailing I have only used these devices for the last 4/5years and hence most of my sailing experience has been without them.

Which, (f anybody is still awake,) brings be to my point. Sailors who have always used GPS systems and only used charts as a training exercise must find such a experience doubly frightening and may not have the skills, or confidence to get themselves home in one piece and hence be more likely to call for assistance.

Similarly on another occasion I had engine failure and sailed all but the last 3 mile of my 48 hour leg without it. With the marina in sight on the horizon the wind deserted us completely and we can to drift towards shallower water at which point I anchored and went to bed.

In the morning we raised the Marina on the VHF, told them we were coming in under sail and why. We then sailed alongside the waiting quay where I was able to diagnose and fix the engine. Completely unremarkable as far as I was concerned.

What did surprise me was that word went around the marina that we had come in under sail and this was considered a feat of seamanship by some! I was asked, by more than one neighbour, why I had not radioed for assistance and a tow in the night before.

As has been said on this post already, there is a growing group of sailors that have the car/ AA/RAC mentality and I suspect that these will become the majority in years to come, so sadly the number of Maydays can be expected to rise with them.