Mystic 10-3 weathers white squall & lessons learnt
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sylve...@gmail.com
Jul 30, 2010, 12:58:13 PM7/30/10
to Mystic 10-3 Sailboats
Hi Peter (Jenkins) & All,
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and getting to do a lot of
sailing.
Spoke to Cpt. Carol Cuddyer yesterday and she said that'd she'd met
you at the Trawler Show. She's been a good friend for years and I'd
called her to sort of debrief after my encounter with the weather this
last Sunday. I used to do a lot of off-shore deliveries with her and
other people in her network, and have been caught in a lot of intense
weather off shore - but I've never experienced anything like this.
It was hot, Sunday afternoon, the wind had died down and we were
trying to catch the slightest puff just to keep moving. We were
eating lunch, and could see whitish/greysih clouds over New Rochelle
that looked like rain (they'd predicted some rain - but nothing else)
so I decided to bring everything below...and as soon as my foot
touched the cabin sole the boat went right over. Everything went
flying, I dropped the tray into the sink and struggled to get back up
top.
My friend (not a sailor) knew enough to let the jib fly but the
stopper knot caught in the block and it was still drawing. I tried to
reef and of course it was jammed (later found that the reefing line,
though drawn in tight, had snagged on the shackle from the anchor).
The main was grazing the waves, and water was pouring in over the
cockpit combing, filling the starboard side of the boat. Not the
railing - the combing - and that's something I never want to see
again. I was frustrated to realize that I'd tucked away the
companionway hatch-boards under the salon settee cushions - and didn't
feel like I could safely leave the boat to go down....but as I watched
the water pour in I just prayed that it would not go over the
bridgedeck. Thank you Peter Legnos for that bridgedeck - as well as
the overall sturdy design. I'd popped the mainsheet completely but
we were screaming along - faster than I've ever gone on this boat - it
was as if we were close hauled and almost 90 degrees to the water. I
knew I had to get the main down. I'd put on the engine on try to get
some steerage, and gave my friend the tiller and I know this was a no-
no but after releasing the main halyard climbed up onto the cabin top
without a pdf (they were in the starboard cockpit locker - which was
covered with water) and dragged the main down by hand. The boat began
to right, and I was able to put her into the wind and get the rest and
then lash it down.
Life was wet and cold, but it was wonderful to be going into the wind
instead of pinned down by it.
Also during the worst of it, as we were racing along - I couldn't see
even a few feet in front of the boat. I hoped we wouldn't hit
anything. As the worst of the storm moved, and visibility returned a
police boat raced to us - and asked if we were the boat with the man
overboard...we weren't - and joined in the search. It was
heartbreaking to know that someone was out there in the water - and
probably not alive anymore.
Below is an article about the events.
The boat weathered everything remarkably well. My jib is very old, and
couldn't withstand the wind and the whipping...so I'm in the market
for a new Yankee - has anyone bought a new jib lately and have any
thoughts to share?
About 15" of the mainsail track ripped out - at the aft end of the
boom. I don't know when that happened - maybe in the minutes before I
completely released the main?
And the portside cockpit locker hatch came away.
I'm going back up today to look at everything and maybe start repairs.
But....I wanted to ask where does everyone else - or does anyone have
any good ideas of where to stow the hatchboards when underway - so
that they're easily accessible in an unexpected situation like this?
And I've learnt my lesson. No matter how benign the weather the pdfs
stay within reach. I had a life-sling up top - which we did take out
- but I'd rather have something strapped around me in that situation!
Sylvia
(Nutmeg)
http://www.lohud.com/article/201007252005/NEWS02/7250412
LARCHMONT — A boater is missing after a fierce squall tore across Long
Island Sound this afternoon.
The U.S. Coast Guard Station New York issued an emergency alert to
mariners shortly after 3 p.m. as the storm approached, and received
mayday calls from nine vessels afterward.
"When we alerted to the storm we sent notice to mariners telling them
to immediately seek safe haven," said Charles Rowe, a public affairs
officer for the Coast Guard, said as police, marine units, helicopters
and Coast Guard rescue boats were still searching last night.
"That's an indication that the squall over the water was significant."
A meteorologist for Accuweather.com said that gusts reached as high as
70 mph during the squall and that a burst of heavy, torrential rains
and high winds reduced conditions to zero visibility.
The missing boater is a 20-year-old who was not identified. He was on
a sailboat a mile or more off Larchmont. A Westchester County police
helicopter was assisting in the search in the Larchmont Harbor.
Emergency workers spent much of the day searching for a second missing
boater in the area where the Sound meets the East River. But Rowe said
later that it was determined that only one person was missing.
"We have four Coast Guard rescue boats actively conducting a search,"
Rowe said Sunday evening.
Two men from the sailboat from which one person was missing were
brought ashore at the New Rochelle Municipal Harbor around 6 p.m.
"We will search throughout the night and into (Monday)," Rowe said.
Firefighters gathered at the Larchmont Yacht Club to assist in the
search for a person believed to have fallen from a sailboat during the
storm. That boat did not depart from the Larchmont Yacht Club even
thought firefighters used it as their base.
Charles Cummings, 56, of New Rochelle was on a friend's 24-foot
sailboat, the Tiller Instinct, off City Island when the squall hit and
tipped the vessel.
"I could tell when it came, someone's going to lose their life in this
storm," he said. "It's too ferocious — people are going to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time."
(2 of 2)
He said the rain and winds didn't build slowly to a crescendo .
"It literally was like someone had turned on a machine, everyone was
trying to deal with whatever they could," he said.
One person ended up in the water and Cummings assisted them.
"I've been sailing around here since 1965, that came quicker and as
bad as anything I've ever seen. Nobody was prepared."
Cummings said he heard a woman watching the weather from the
Whitestone area of the Bronx reported seeing two waterspouts.
White Plains resident Eric Muller, who runs the launch at the Orienta
Yacht Club in Mamaroneck, spoke with several sailors who were out on
the sound during the squall.
"They were saying it was a complete whiteout with the rain falling in
sheets. You couldn't see 5 feet in front of you," said Muller, 26.
"They were saying that the smaller sailboats were having the most
trouble."
Robert Berg of Scardale got his power boat back to harbor two minutes
before the violent weather.
"It just opened up instantaneously," he said. "It went from two drops
to sheets of rain. A white squall."
Andy Mussoline, a meteorologist with Accuweather.com, said the storm
had winds of 60 to 70 mph as it moved from the northwest to southeast.
One gust in Yonkers was 64 mph, he said.
The storm came as a cold front moved into the area about 3 p.m., he
said.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and getting to do a lot of
sailing.
Spoke to Cpt. Carol Cuddyer yesterday and she said that'd she'd met
you at the Trawler Show. She's been a good friend for years and I'd
called her to sort of debrief after my encounter with the weather this
last Sunday. I used to do a lot of off-shore deliveries with her and
other people in her network, and have been caught in a lot of intense
weather off shore - but I've never experienced anything like this.
It was hot, Sunday afternoon, the wind had died down and we were
trying to catch the slightest puff just to keep moving. We were
eating lunch, and could see whitish/greysih clouds over New Rochelle
that looked like rain (they'd predicted some rain - but nothing else)
so I decided to bring everything below...and as soon as my foot
touched the cabin sole the boat went right over. Everything went
flying, I dropped the tray into the sink and struggled to get back up
top.
My friend (not a sailor) knew enough to let the jib fly but the
stopper knot caught in the block and it was still drawing. I tried to
reef and of course it was jammed (later found that the reefing line,
though drawn in tight, had snagged on the shackle from the anchor).
The main was grazing the waves, and water was pouring in over the
cockpit combing, filling the starboard side of the boat. Not the
railing - the combing - and that's something I never want to see
again. I was frustrated to realize that I'd tucked away the
companionway hatch-boards under the salon settee cushions - and didn't
feel like I could safely leave the boat to go down....but as I watched
the water pour in I just prayed that it would not go over the
bridgedeck. Thank you Peter Legnos for that bridgedeck - as well as
the overall sturdy design. I'd popped the mainsheet completely but
we were screaming along - faster than I've ever gone on this boat - it
was as if we were close hauled and almost 90 degrees to the water. I
knew I had to get the main down. I'd put on the engine on try to get
some steerage, and gave my friend the tiller and I know this was a no-
no but after releasing the main halyard climbed up onto the cabin top
without a pdf (they were in the starboard cockpit locker - which was
covered with water) and dragged the main down by hand. The boat began
to right, and I was able to put her into the wind and get the rest and
then lash it down.
Life was wet and cold, but it was wonderful to be going into the wind
instead of pinned down by it.
Also during the worst of it, as we were racing along - I couldn't see
even a few feet in front of the boat. I hoped we wouldn't hit
anything. As the worst of the storm moved, and visibility returned a
police boat raced to us - and asked if we were the boat with the man
overboard...we weren't - and joined in the search. It was
heartbreaking to know that someone was out there in the water - and
probably not alive anymore.
Below is an article about the events.
The boat weathered everything remarkably well. My jib is very old, and
couldn't withstand the wind and the whipping...so I'm in the market
for a new Yankee - has anyone bought a new jib lately and have any
thoughts to share?
About 15" of the mainsail track ripped out - at the aft end of the
boom. I don't know when that happened - maybe in the minutes before I
completely released the main?
And the portside cockpit locker hatch came away.
I'm going back up today to look at everything and maybe start repairs.
But....I wanted to ask where does everyone else - or does anyone have
any good ideas of where to stow the hatchboards when underway - so
that they're easily accessible in an unexpected situation like this?
And I've learnt my lesson. No matter how benign the weather the pdfs
stay within reach. I had a life-sling up top - which we did take out
- but I'd rather have something strapped around me in that situation!
Sylvia
(Nutmeg)
http://www.lohud.com/article/201007252005/NEWS02/7250412
LARCHMONT — A boater is missing after a fierce squall tore across Long
Island Sound this afternoon.
The U.S. Coast Guard Station New York issued an emergency alert to
mariners shortly after 3 p.m. as the storm approached, and received
mayday calls from nine vessels afterward.
"When we alerted to the storm we sent notice to mariners telling them
to immediately seek safe haven," said Charles Rowe, a public affairs
officer for the Coast Guard, said as police, marine units, helicopters
and Coast Guard rescue boats were still searching last night.
"That's an indication that the squall over the water was significant."
A meteorologist for Accuweather.com said that gusts reached as high as
70 mph during the squall and that a burst of heavy, torrential rains
and high winds reduced conditions to zero visibility.
The missing boater is a 20-year-old who was not identified. He was on
a sailboat a mile or more off Larchmont. A Westchester County police
helicopter was assisting in the search in the Larchmont Harbor.
Emergency workers spent much of the day searching for a second missing
boater in the area where the Sound meets the East River. But Rowe said
later that it was determined that only one person was missing.
"We have four Coast Guard rescue boats actively conducting a search,"
Rowe said Sunday evening.
Two men from the sailboat from which one person was missing were
brought ashore at the New Rochelle Municipal Harbor around 6 p.m.
"We will search throughout the night and into (Monday)," Rowe said.
Firefighters gathered at the Larchmont Yacht Club to assist in the
search for a person believed to have fallen from a sailboat during the
storm. That boat did not depart from the Larchmont Yacht Club even
thought firefighters used it as their base.
Charles Cummings, 56, of New Rochelle was on a friend's 24-foot
sailboat, the Tiller Instinct, off City Island when the squall hit and
tipped the vessel.
"I could tell when it came, someone's going to lose their life in this
storm," he said. "It's too ferocious — people are going to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time."
(2 of 2)
He said the rain and winds didn't build slowly to a crescendo .
"It literally was like someone had turned on a machine, everyone was
trying to deal with whatever they could," he said.
One person ended up in the water and Cummings assisted them.
"I've been sailing around here since 1965, that came quicker and as
bad as anything I've ever seen. Nobody was prepared."
Cummings said he heard a woman watching the weather from the
Whitestone area of the Bronx reported seeing two waterspouts.
White Plains resident Eric Muller, who runs the launch at the Orienta
Yacht Club in Mamaroneck, spoke with several sailors who were out on
the sound during the squall.
"They were saying it was a complete whiteout with the rain falling in
sheets. You couldn't see 5 feet in front of you," said Muller, 26.
"They were saying that the smaller sailboats were having the most
trouble."
Robert Berg of Scardale got his power boat back to harbor two minutes
before the violent weather.
"It just opened up instantaneously," he said. "It went from two drops
to sheets of rain. A white squall."
Andy Mussoline, a meteorologist with Accuweather.com, said the storm
had winds of 60 to 70 mph as it moved from the northwest to southeast.
One gust in Yonkers was 64 mph, he said.
The storm came as a cold front moved into the area about 3 p.m., he
said.
Peter Jenkin
Jul 30, 2010, 3:42:05 PM7/30/10
to mystic-10-...@googlegroups.com
Sylvia,
What an adventure! I've always believed that these were great, and safe, sea boats. Sounds like you put it to the test. As luck would have it, we were caught in the same squall when we were transiting Plum Gut later that afternoon. No problems, we saw it coming, and since we were going dead to windward anyway, were under power alone. We store the hatch boards in the head. Not too handy, as you noticed. I have my old yankee that you can have gratis, but it may not be the right size for your boat. Since we are gaff rigged, I think it's a bit shorter in the luff. However, it could get you by until you get a new one made.
Peter
What an adventure! I've always believed that these were great, and safe, sea boats. Sounds like you put it to the test. As luck would have it, we were caught in the same squall when we were transiting Plum Gut later that afternoon. No problems, we saw it coming, and since we were going dead to windward anyway, were under power alone. We store the hatch boards in the head. Not too handy, as you noticed. I have my old yankee that you can have gratis, but it may not be the right size for your boat. Since we are gaff rigged, I think it's a bit shorter in the luff. However, it could get you by until you get a new one made.
Peter
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Jim Breashears
Jul 30, 2010, 4:07:11 PM7/30/10
to mystic-10-...@googlegroups.com
Wow Sylvia & Peter!
I can't wait for Dana to see your emails!
We were also knocked down (twice), but on a bluebird day in the middle of May this year. No clouds 12 knots wind. We popped right back up and the gusts were only seconds apart so we did not have to endure what Sylvia went through. Our little event was over before you knew it.
I went down below to dog down the forward ports, Dana was on the helm. When I was abreast of the table getting ready to go into the v-berth, it hit. I saw green water over the portside fixed salon ports with only a couple of bubbles. When I looked out into the cockpit Dana was hanging onto the top of the wheel to keep from falling overboard. I yelled to her to get off the wheel so the boat would go upwind and I jumped through the bulkhead opening and started closing the two forward ports when the second one hit. Even the forward fixed port was totally under with only green water showing!
When I got back to the cockpit, Dana was shaking like a leaf and said the water covered the base of the winches but did not come into the cockpit. We had an uneventful sail after that.
Like Sylvia, it really makes me think about
Jim
PS We had just rebedded all deck hardware a few weeks before. The fixed ports nor hull/deck joint leaked, we did not rebed those.
--
Jim Breashears, G.R.I.
Beach Realty & Construction
252.256.0818 (cell)
206.333.1813 (fax)
Email: obxre...@mac.com
Web: www.JimAndDana.com
Real Estate Workflow Software
for Outer Banks Agents;
We're looking for more homes to sell, do you know of anyone looking to sell or buy that could use my help?
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