The Gulf Stream in a Hurricaine

[Zach]

Thats a vivid story! Glad everyone made it out still kicking...

[sailorgal]

Hi Denim

When I first read this story, the name of the boat sounded familiar so I checked it out, and sure enough, we looked at the boat Archipelago II that is listed on Yachtworld over a year ago when we were in Annapolis. While we liked the Tayanas in general, this one needed some work, if I remember correctly. Since it's been well over a year since we saw her, some upgrades may have alredy been done. I do remember that the teak decks needed some work. At that time I think the asking price was around $125,000 or so. It needed a little more work than we were willing to put into a boat at the time, so we passed on her. We looked at several other boats at the time that we liked better.

We've since decided to go with a catamaran --- but that's another story.

Anyway, I'm glad the crew was OK after that ordeal.

Cheers
Iris

[Denim]

I, too, am glad that the captain and crew were safe. I have yet to hit my storm yet....but I`m sure it`s coming. I checked into the vessel Archipelago II, and was speaking to the Broker, who also kindly emailed me the survey. He described it as a "project" boat. After reading the survey, I reckon I`ll be dead before the project got off the hard.

I know, I just KNOW, there`s a Vagabond coming on the market soon that`s gonna fit me like a glass slipper.

Thanks Lisa for your response, and like another author wrote.....black mould is never a good thing.

Jean

[bearphish]

Originally Posted by clsailor

Gord, I sent this story to all of the major boating magazines but none wanted to publish because there was no rescue involved. Ron

GOD rescued you guys, for sure. And what of the goldfinches? What an incredible adventure, i do not envy your experience in this one.

7 major hurricanes, all ashore. Boy am I lucky!

[SurfNRG]

Pretty heavy story. Guess it could have been avoided if there was more attention being made to the weather conditions - namely that upper low that turned into the Hurricane. But good effort guys keeping things together. Definitely a delivery you'll never forget. Seems like delivery schedules could make you more aggressive to getting out to sea and getting the job done. Like the crew on the catamaran that were lost off Oregon last winter during a huge winter swell. That was plain stupid. The boat ended up floating up on a beach with no signs of crew. Sad story.

[clsailor]

Thanks for all the kind words. It was a trip from hell, but most of the heads involved keep their wits about them and figured out how to get out of the storm. A little more of the story has been published on www.crusingcompass.co/issue47. I was lucky to have a very good blue water sailor in the name of John McConnico who was the captain and keep us clam under some very tense times. I am glad that I survive this encounter as it taught me a lot about how I would handle a major storm, but also taught me that I would never like to go through another one. Thanks, Ron

[Aquah0lic]

I'm sure this is a completly stupid question, but on the idea of those birds trying to ride it out in the eye,

Lets say the storm had strengthed much more. Could you (and the birds) have stayed in the eye and traveled with the storm until it weakened?

I know hurricanes are often faster than sailboats, but being that you said it was stalled, maybe you could keep up?

[clsailor]

Aquaholic, I wish that we could have, but it would not happen. Think of a hurricane as a circle with wind swirling around. As we were in the Northeast quadrant the wind and Gulf Stream were moving us in the direction of the storm. When we sailed into the eye there was no wind, but current from the Gulf Stream that was moving us north/northeast at 2 knots but the storm was still moving at nine or better Northeast( in the Northeast quadrant we were moving 9 knots with the storm under bare poles). We had to repair the motor enough to get us motoring through the eye until we got into the Southwest Quadrant. Ron

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Aquah0lic

... Could you (and the birds) have stayed in the eye and traveled with the storm until it weakened? ...

Normally, I wouldn’t recommend trying to ride out a hurricane, within it’s relatively calm eye.
To enter the eye of a hurricane, you’d have to pass through the surrounding eyewall; where the cyclone’s most severe conditions prevail.
To stay within the eye you’d have to accurately track, and keep up with the storm.
Should the hurricane come ashore, you’d have to (once again) pass through the severe eyewall (or go ashore with the storm).

Having inadvertently become centered in a stalled cyclone, you might try to remain within the eye (usually 15 - 30 nm in diameter), hoping the storm dissipates (at least somewhat) before other measures are required.

[mickmul]

Inspirational story - nerves were held and skipper John is obviously a solid leader. A lot of people go offshore without having practiced a "heave-to" in rough conditions - it should be a familiar manoever for anybody with offshore plans, as well as those other important items, shooting bolts for the washboards!

[Fishspearit]

Exciting story! Lest any new sailors think that hurricanes are an inevitable part of coastal sailing, it should be noted that you sort of made light of your failure to check the weather. You headed out of Canaveral at 1600 but at 1400 Tropical Depression one(soon to become Alex) had been formed 200 miles east of Jacksonville. Turn on the VHF! I find it quite distressing that someone would sail into the Gulf Stream during hurricane season with a known low right in front of them without checking the weather every 12 hours. This doesn't take anything away from the ordeal you suffered or brave sailing that it took to get through the situation. But with our modern weather forecasting this is not an inevitable part of cruising or even deliveries. It's a great story that should never have happened.