oh go on then... one last YM question.....

[Phoenix of Hamble]

You have had a long and pleasant passage in your 1960's engineless long keeled boat, with a pleasant 15kts of wind on the beam for most of the afternoon.... its only 16h00, loads of daylight left and you are approaching your home port.... which is a small west country estuary/river.... and enjoying the largish atlantic swell as it sweeps under your keel. This boat was made for these kinds of conditions.

Being very familiar with the waters, you approach the entrance close under the cliffs that hang over the river entrance, where there is still plenty of water..... a quick glance at the sounders shows that while you are only 200 metres off a lee shore, there is still 21metres of depth....

Gradually you feel the boat slow and the wind head, so that soon you have the sails pinned in, and speed is dropping dramatically.... you quickly realise that the wind has all but vanished, and you are making no headway, just 200metres off the lee shore where you can see waves crashing onto the rocks....

Only 300m further out, you can see the breeze on the water... you are stuck in the lull under the cliffs on a lee shore....

Whats your next action?

 

[stevebrassett]

If I didn't have an engine, then I would have some other means of propulsion, such as a sweep or oars. If I didn't have those, then I would drop the anchor quick, and have a think.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I wouldn't rely on an anchor 200 metres from a lee shore in a decent swell in 21m of water........ maybe as a last resort..... but there's other things i'd try first!

 

[stevebrassett]

And, of course, if there's no wind, are you strictly speaking on a lee shore?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

a fair point..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif but there is some wind, just not a lot......and the fact that we are so hard on the wind makes it difficult to make headway

 

[stevebrassett]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't rely on an anchor 200 metres from a lee shore in a decent swell in 21m of water........ maybe as a last resort..... but there's other things i'd try first!

[/ QUOTE ]
Of course, I'd be doing my best to get out where the wind is, but the anchor would give me more time to get the tender out, and row out with my kedge.

 

[StugeronSteve]

Now, let me think..... did I bring the tender and outboard?

 

[stevebrassett]

[ QUOTE ]
a fair point..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif but there is some wind, just not a lot......and the fact that we are so hard on the wind makes it difficult to make headway

[/ QUOTE ]
OK, then I wouldn't worry about heading back to the estuary for now, but concentrate on getting where the wind is, even if it means turning around and putting a spinny or gennaker out.

 

[fireball]

If still enough momentum to tack then tack otherwise look to gybe round and head away from the cliffs!! With little wind it should be possible to pump the sails a little although the effect is not nearly as good as in the racing dinghy we stupidly left ashore.... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

With the wind on the water just 300m away I'd want to get to it asap....

If I had a tender and outboard then I'd be considering using that if the tack/gybe wasn't going to work.

Oh - and I'd probably have the kettle on for a cuppa! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Sea_dreamer]

You beat me to it... tack! Then pick out the zephyrs to work your way up the river.

 

[Csail]

get a tow then buy an engine.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Its a long keeled 1960s boat, so its safe to assume shes a heavy old girl, and we know from the question she's lost most of her momentum.....

So in contrast with the previous two YM questions, one of which was about heavy weather actions, the other about colregs, this one is more about boat handling under sail, and understanding your boats abilities or otherwise...

she's unlikely to make a tack in those conditions, and would probably miss stays and fall back, even closer to a lee shore and with no momentum at all....

IMHO, the only safe option is to gybe, which means pointing the bows towards the lee shore...... an uncomfortable option, but probably IMHO the right one....

An anchor would be dangerous in this situation in my opinion.... if it didn't hold, then you'd be really stuffed.... no way of tacking or gybing with the hook in the water, and with enough gear out for 21m depth, you'd take a while in recovering it, as well as lose even more momentum......

 

[michael_w]

Swear and curse for getting too close to the cliffs. Work out to sea on a close reach, seeking the breeze.

Main problem as she's a MAB, she'll probably have crap sails.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Tack (or gybe) towards the breeze immediately. Get the anchor ready. Make hitch-hiking signs at passing boats.

What's the tide doing? Probably not setting into the rocks.

 

[stevebrassett]

One last go. I don't own a 1960's engineless boat, so I must have borrowed it. I wouldn't go out on a boat without either a liferaft or a tender, so it must have one of those. The sort of people who would lend me a boat don't have expensive things such as liferafts, so it must be a tender. So, I'd anchor the boat the best I could, row in with the tender, and telephone the owner. I'd tell him where his boat was, and tell him that if he hadn't been such a tight g*t, then he would have bought an engine for it, and it would now be safely moored up.

How's that answer?

 

[Twister_Ken]

"she's unlikely to make a tack in those conditions, and would probably miss stays and fall back, "

So it's not a Twister, then.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Call up a mobo, RIB or jet ski to tow you off? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MarkGrubb]

Didn't Tilman lose one of his Pilot cutters in a similar scenario?

Launch the dinghy and tow her off, or kedge her off.

Where is the tide taking you?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Oh no Ken,

No Twister owner would ever make a mistake like that.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Woodlouse]

If it were my 1960's engineless boat then I would still have a secondary means of propulsion. So, I'd get out the oars and paddle over to where the wind was and be on my way.