Post your story of sails saving the day

[LoudMusic]

Motoring into the wind for quite a while, the engine overheated at sea. Raised the sails, changed course, and cruised into port for repairs. Could have been towed in, but it would have been an unpleasant time waiting for someone to come get us and rough ride in being towed.

[Rising Tide]

This is a great thread. I feel good seamanship means you need to be ready. As mentioned previously, sails should be ready to go. Before departing the slip, once engine warmed up, etc., Sail cover comes off, main halyard goes on, and leave 2-3 sail ties on. Sails are ready if emergency departing marina. After all, you have to do these tasks later before you can sail anyway.

When returning, halyard stays on, with a few sail ties. Sail is still ready to go. Like the engine, which should not be shut off before vessel secured in slip, sails should still available.

There are many who do not do this. Also, believe in stern anchors for emergency.

[dfelsent]

I feel anxious motoring a sailboat without a halyard on the main. I’ve had too many engine and transmission failures over the years.
Spent Weeks sailing to and from anchor.
Had gas dripping from carb to bilge and been unwilling to start engine. Busted transmissions. All the usual disasters.
Learn to sail to and from anchor, mooring, and dock. It’s a super satisfying and comfortable set of boat handling skills to have.

[Windcall]

Way back when I sailed other people's boats ( much cheaper) on a club members new old boat, leaving 3 mile Harbor Ny's narrow channel the engine dies. It's blowing 15 knots on the beam. Ahhh! I get the furling main out enough to sail into Gardner's Bay. He was out of fuel got 5 gallons bleeding injectors the battery bank fails. Connectors loose and gauled cut one batt out of bank reconnect start engine. Had a great weekend and sail back to Groton.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Coming into Masonboro inlet, just inside the entrance, the engine quits. I had the genoa out, so I just sailed through onto the ICW, and sailed a good ways south before anchoring at a likely spot. I always come into inlets with some sail if possible, and have an anchor ready to deploy.

[Cpt Pat]

Does towing fishing boats back into harbor under sail count? I have six of those "saves."

I learned to fly before I learned to sail. As with most student pilots, I started with single-engine airplanes. One lesson that was repeatedly drilled into my student mind was: "Never trust your life to an engine!" While flying en route, that lesson: "engines do fail," was constantly reinforced by the question: "Were would you land now if the engine quit?" Half my student landings were made with the engine idled upon entering the traffic pattern. Touching the throttle constituted a botched landing and a mandatory go around. By the time I had my Private Pilot cert., I'd made over a hundred power-off landings. Since then, I've had three complete engine failures: one when the engine swallowed a valve followed by "dynamic disassembly" of the engine, another when the fuel mixture adjustment failed at altitude with a lean setting, and a third from a leaky intake valve (while towing a glider). Each was a non-event because of all that early foundational practice.

The same lesson should be stressed with student sailors (and we're all students to some extent): engines do fail. Even engines that are maintained by federally licensed professional mechanics.

Visit any busy general aviation airport on a Saturday, and you'll see pilots practicing landings, over and over again. How many sailors do that? How many accidents happen during docking and undocking? How many sailors routinely practice docking without using the engine? How many even know how to take in their mainsail without using their engine to power into the wind? (Hint: try heaving to, but your experience might not be optimal if you have a mast-furled main.)

Other parts of the power train fail too. Just a few moths ago, at Pillar Point Harbor, the skipper of a Boston Whaler powered in fast to his slip (his usual practice) and then shifted to reverse to effect a power stop. Oops. No reverse. Only neutral. He and his vessel went up over the dock into a slip on the other side (amazingly, it was empty). In 2013, racers ran aground on San Clemente Island (Southern California), with one fatality, when their rudder failed. Their engine was running and they only needed to steer in any direction other than downwind toward the rocks alee. They tried everything to attain steerage: dragging bilge covers, etc. -- except dousing their jib, centering their boom, and hauling their main in tight amidships so it could act as an "air rudder" in the moderate wind. I used that technique once to motor upwind 200 miles when my autopilot failed. Use the traveler for fine steering commands.

And then there's the anchor. The sailor's emergency brake. Can you deploy it, in an engine-out emergency, in a crowded harbor, before hitting something? I have one in my stern locker, and I have crew who can attest that I can fling it over the side in less than 30 seconds when my engine quits. I've had to. There are no swells to contend with in my harbor - so anchoring by the stern is perfectly acceptable. Most sailboats I've sailed naturally align themselves stern-to-the-wind, so anchoring by the bow entails a boat-length swing after the anchor sets. That might be too much swing to avoid a collision.

I'm sure the Coast Guard here must become rather exasperated having to repeatedly ask: "Do you have an anchor?" in response to distress calls in the S.F. Bay. Here's an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUrwv3CzmH8

[Frank 101]

Have just finished reading about Slocum’s circumnavigation. A great read even if you’re not a sailor! Anyway, apart from when he was towed into and out of some ports, he just used sail power. I wonder if we rely too much on “modern” tech to get us where we are going.

[JPA Cate]

One time, we came in and anchored in the westernmost cove in Baie Boise, in New Caledonia. Jim got in the dinghy with the handheld depth sounder, to check our swinging perimeter to be sure it was clear, and while he was gone, the engine oil pressure alarm went off, so I killed the engine.

There is a mud bank astern, and not far away, a coral reef to the north. The exit from the bay to return to Noumea, is at the juncture of the East and Southeastern sides of the reef, with the gap between there and the Southern reef.

What had failed was the hose for the oil pressure gauge had chafed through, and we had no oil to re-fill it. The oil was safely in the bilge, and would have to be dealt with later.

The next morning, it was blowing a healthy 25 kn (lovely trade wind) from the SE. The boat had a high aspect main, and huge genoas, but we used the staysail, for quick tacking. It was get the main up, not sheeted, then fall off on port tack, and sheet it in quickly. Get the staysail pulling, then tack, before we hit the reef. It was one of those times when having a boat that could sail close to the wind was a real good deal!
The next tack came soon after, and then another, and another, and eventually, we sailed out the entrance and back to Noumea, where we also anchored under sail. It was good that we'd practiced this, so it was easy to make the plan, and ever after, we've always carried enough oil for at least one oil change.

So many mistakes to learn from, so little time......

Ann

[belizesailor]

Many times...early on I worked for a small charter company/sailing school with a fleet of aging and poorly maintained boats. Stuff broke every time I took them out. Frustrating at the time, but a great experience builder. Sailing these boats back onto the fuel dock for repairs became a routine event.

[Jammer]

Last weekend I was out with a friend in his Montgomery 17 (They're a Lyle Hess design, a scaled down version of the Montgomery 23 pocket cruiser, ballasted, swing keel, his has a fractional rig and no winches).



He'd purchased it a couple of years ago and only had it in the water once, last year, himself, having never sailed anything more than a training dinghy. He had motor problems, couldn't get the centerboard down, and ended up on a lee shore.


I offered to take him out it in, and brought along a different outboard. Arrived at his house to find him running his outboard in a barrel and swearing up and down that it was operating perfectly despite having had no maintenance or repairs since last time aside from a new choke lever. Well, his boat, his show.


The outboard quit due to fuel system problems shortly after we got out of the harbor with the wind on our nose, and so we made sail without delay. The centerboard was still stuck but I got her to sail upwind anyway (they so often make less difference than people think), and after a little bit of sailing around the lake and further fussing with the motor we sailed into the harbor on the jib alone, and to the dock, with some quick work with the paddle so we didn't have to tack right at the harbor entrance.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Last weekend I was out with a friend in his Montgomery 17 (They're a Lyle Hess design, a scaled down version of the Montgomery 23 pocket cruiser, ballasted, swing keel, his has a fractional rig and no winches).



He'd purchased it a couple of years ago and only had it in the water once, last year, himself, having never sailed anything more than a training dinghy. He had motor problems, couldn't get the centerboard down, and ended up on a lee shore.


I offered to take him out it in, and brought along a different outboard. Arrived at his house to find him running his outboard in a barrel and swearing up and down that it was operating perfectly despite having had no maintenance or repairs since last time aside from a new choke lever. Well, his boat, his show.


The outboard quit due to fuel system problems shortly after we got out of the harbor with the wind on our nose, and so we made sail without delay. The centerboard was still stuck but I got her to sail upwind anyway (they so often make less difference than people think), and after a little bit of sailing around the lake and further fussing with the motor we sailed into the harbor on the jib alone, and to the dock, with some quick work with the paddle so we didn't have to tack right at the harbor entrance.

Nice, but try using the main and jib next time and it will point even better than with jib alone. With the centerboard down even better than that with both sails

You wouldn't need to paddle either unless the wind drop off .....

This is why racing one design is so important for a beginning sailor. If you'd had 10 other Montgomery 17's out there with you with the same problems, the leaders would be sailing both main and jib then many other adjustments would affect who go back in the fastest including mast rake, body /weight distribution, battens, sail age, sheeting, current, water depth, and so on

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Nice, but try using the main and jib next time and it will point even better than with jib alone. With the centerboard down even better than that with both sails

You wouldn't need to paddle either unless the wind drop off .....

This is why racing one design is so important for a beginning sailor. If you'd had 10 other Montgomery 17's out there with you with the same problems, the leaders would be sailing both main and jib then many other adjustments would affect who go back in the fastest including mast rake, body /weight distribution, battens, sail age, sheeting, current, water depth, and so on

We had both the main and the jib up until entering the harbor. The harbor was very, very small, and we dropped the main because we would not have time to do so between the mouth of the harbor and the dock, which was less than 10 boat lengths.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Jammer

We had both the main and the jib up until entering the harbor. The harbor was very, very small, and we dropped the main because we would not have time to do so between the mouth of the harbor and the dock, which was less than 10 boat lengths.

Yeah, that goes back to most being used to motoring in tight situations rather than
sailing.

Someone that was used to sailing in close quarters near other boats and obstacles like at the start of a race would have sailed in on main and jib then feathered and dropped the main a few boat lengths from the dock and drifted in but having a motor (or being used to having one) sometimes decreases sailing skill

The Sail Time instructor here does that sometimes with his students. He will have them sail up the fairway to their slip and direct them when to drop the main etc do dock without the engine. The boat is a Capri 22.

[Group9]

We were sailing from Chub Cay to Nassau in a twenty knot north wind. Great sail, but a little of a rage going at the entrance of Nassau Harbor. Cranked the motor up, but left the sails up. Right by the lighthouse point, engine died. Just sailed on in, turned the corner and sailed to just west of the cruise ships, and dropped sails and anchor.

Without the sails already up, it would have been real exciting.

[charliehows]

not exactly 'saving the day' but when i first acquired this boat the clutch was gone, so only a bit of forward movement as long as the wind and tide were dead slack. I'd like to say the sails were my saviour but the initial delivery voyage under sail-only 100 miles down the coast through a horrible storm and a couple of really difficult harbour entries/exits were made even more execrable by the fact that the previous owner knew almost nothing about how to sail the damn boat and had neglected the rig to the point that the mizzen was missing, the furling genoa was only just functional and the main was rotten enough to be torn in half in a sudden wind change. Bloody nightmare, but the boat eventually made it under sail alone.
as far as 'sails saving the day' goes - whats your question? Who doesnt know that for most of the last 3000 years we have been navigating the entire world under sail alone?