STORM SURVIVAL (tips & techniques)

Have to agree with Safewalrus. 1st best strat is avoid the storms.
2nd Come into the wind/swells
3. Remember boats are designed for wind and waves, but not rocks.
4. Stay away from lee shores

K9

 

Unless the rock is big enough so you can hide behind, like an island. Better than fighting the water.

 

Cling to a gum tree, the best advice I can give to any sailor.

It avoids both seasickness and the worry about "the perfect storm".

 

Oh, I should mention that I do not follow my own advice, I am a sucker for punishment!

 

I have news for you. When your out in it, every storm, is perfect.

K9

 

Yeah Kay9, love that. They are fun eh!

 

Since one may not always be in a situation to go and sit on the land when the weather pics up, how about some of your expert advice to what one should do when one of the many possible disasters loom ?

 

Once disaster looms its too late. My key to dealing with disaster at sea (fire, flood, collision) is to pre drill myself, my ship and my crew on thier jobs the WQSB, prior to any disaster happening. If you hold weekly (at least) fire drills on your ship and you and your crew take them seriously, you will find that when you do have a fire on your boat/ship it will generally be out and under constroll long before it can become a disaster. The same is very true of flooding. The lessons can be used by pleasure boats as well. Before you leave the dock, assign everyone a job in the event of fire or flooding or MOB. Spend a couple of minuets explaining the job, and where the equipment is and how to use it. If you go out regularly with the same group, then actually run a few drills. This is the basics of GOOD SEAMANSHIP. We prepare for years for the bad that can happen. Our job as mariners is not to put a fire out, but to prevent the fire in the first place. Once the fire/storm/flooding starts, its not a job anymore, its survival.

As for stroms. Take my 4 rules above and add:
5. Secure all lose equipment.
6. Secure all watertight hatches.
7. Prepare your MOB and Abandon ship gear.
8. Remind yourself and your crew that the storm WILL pass.
(a note on 8. I have a seen a lot of people make bad mistakes, during storms because they were so scared of the storm they tried to come in when it would have been much much safer to sit offshore and ride the storm out.)

There are no tricks that we as Merchant Mariners have that you guys cant use. Our biggest trick is to allways allways be aware of the weather and try to follow rule 1. Stay out of the storm.

K9

 

K9, - Well said and well put, Bugger, Please accept "token points - still not allowed??? ::::: ::::: :::::

 

You're right of course K9. The reaction after your point 8 is what I'm more concerned with. After you've convinced yourself and the crew that the storm will pass and the time the storm actually passed is where the fun of it will be in.

Since one does not always have an option to sit it out in some protected area or go around a storm, it is what one is going to do in this duration that may result in a don't worry we're ok, or K9 K9 K9 come fetch me

I'm really not asking these things because I have bandwidth to spare, but I have seen some stormy weather pushing up waves, and then the wind shifts and the water turns into a boiling pot. I still have no solution what to do then. Just waves are ok, for most of the time, I think.

 

Last time I saw this I was actually on the shore and thankfully not in it, but off-shore was a boat that had a hard time. It popped up and down, disappearing from sight and then re-appeared. Didn't look like much fun to me. Also being close to shore I think made it more dramatic. The waves was very steep and had no seeming pattern and the boat would not be able to beach due to some rocks along the shore. It was also in the afternoon.

We walked out to a fishing spot about 5km the same day. On our way back that night our route got cut off by the high tide and we had to sit it out on a dune. An offshore vessel fired a red flare which meant they were in trouble, and there wasn't anything we could do. We couldn't even phone and report it. Only thing I could think of doing was to shine with a torch over the water so the vessel at least could get an idea which way land was and how far offshore they were - for what that would be worth. In the torch light the waves was white foam and spray and black as far as you could see. And it is a fairly powerfull torch.

We haven't heard of any incident afterwards, so hopefully the guys did get out ok, but during the wait for the tide to go out so we could get back I was thinking about being on a boat in those waters.

 

Fanie, theres an old saying. "you cant run from the wind". Here on the Oregon coast we have to regularly deal with 15-20' Seas. ( 5-8 meter)

Now one of the things I have noticed is that if you stay out in at least 120+ feet of water the waves dont seem to get as steep, and dont break as often. I dont worry about large waves as much as I worry about Steep (pointy) waves. Then down here we have many terms for the diffrent "break" a wave can make. A Sloughing break, (pronounced slofing) is where the top of the wave just kind of turns into a light foam. The foam dosnt make it all the way to the trough. These waves are not too bad and often if you aim for the break you will find the wave is a bit smaller there after it has broken. Our next term is a simple "breaking" wave. This is a bit more pronounced of a break, where the foam will make it all the way to the trough. This wave is pretty safe to head into, but can start to cause problems on your stearn , as the break is moving faster then the wave and will likely turn a boat sideways in following seas. Our final term is a "plunging" break. This is where the top of the wave comes in front of the actuall wave causing a curl, the curl then falls in front of the wave, often violently. This is death to all before it. The amount of water in a 5 foot plunging wave is measured in 100s of tons of force.

We often have to come across our bars here in Oregon in the first 2 types of conditions. If you find yourself heading for a beach or attempting a bar, or running before the seas, here is the best advice I can give. Get on the back of a wave. Keep your bow roughly 2-5 feet below the crest. You wont be able to see anything in this position so make sure you know where the wave is going before you try this. Likely you wont be able to stay on the back of a single wave for more then 2-3 mins. As you enter the trough get as square to the next wave as you can and 0 your rudder. As the next wave starts to pick you up, go to reverse engines to keep from surfing. As your stearn comes through the top of the wave put you engines back to ahead in your attempt to get on the next wave.

As allways your vessels will be diffrent from mine so your technique will likely vary. However when your have 3-4' swells on your ocean go out and practice. Dont let the first time you try this technique, to be the one time you need it to save your life.

K9

 

I knew it ! Deeper water bigger fish eh ! Better waves.

Seems I have two sets of practices to practice, doing it with the motors and doing it with the sails. I think doing it sailing would be best, since it can be sustained for a longer period of time.

The long waves is not a bother, I have run on the back of a wave and depending on your rig it's usually not a problem - it is those big breaking waves that will be a problem. I think anything would be better than to land in those seas, especially if you get pushed towards land you don't want to end up at. Besides, I hear the US guys shoot first then ask

If I have it right you can either run with the wind, use a sea anchor to restrict speed, or if you're under way towards the wind you heave to at about 2 kn using storm jib.

 

Im not a Salining sailor. So I can really comment about specfic tactics in heavy weather on a sailboat. I would think bow into the waves with a sea anchor would be the best method.

K9

 

To back up what Kay9 says - preperation, preperation, preperation!!! Work out what you will do and practice until you can do it in your sleep! All that stuff about puting everything away is called preparing for sea! DO IT EVERY TIME YOU SAIL! You don't get caught out that way! Make sure your crew knows this too - if they don't want to do it they don't go!!

If you've missed RULE ONE and didn't get the weather forecast, don't go!

A missed train is better than a dead brain!!

But IF you still get caught short, grab seaway, no matter how, get out from land - tis true that the further out the less the effect (just as rough and just as nasty and uncomfortable)!

And ensure that all un-necessary personnel go to bed! (take a bucket by all means) That way they are out of the way, as comfortable as possible and can't see the 5h1t coming at them - no worries

and you? you'll be working so bloody hard you won't have time to panic!!

But above all remember RULE ONE!! Weather forcast and be somewhere else if possible!!