Back to the Mother Ship in Rough Seas

[SayGudday]

Originally Posted by billr

I agree with DeepFrz. I spent over 6 years living in the Marshall Islands; lots of dives. When the seas get big, you need to climb out amidships. The bow goes up and down, so does the stern, but the middle of the boat not so much. But even then,coming up a ladder with an extra 50 lbs of dive gear on lets you know how strong you are, and if your timing is correct. Having help on deck can sure be nice at times.
Billr

Totally agree. Boarding at the bow is impossible under those conditions and attempting to board from the stern is suicide, especially if you have an outboard motor (says he who has tried it many times from a kayak).

[Celestialsailor]

It's a Hudson 51 with tons of freeboard. If a guy sailed it to Pitcairn, he's no slouch. The thing was probably bucking 6 ft. or so.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Timing folks it's all in the timing......

Bow stern or mid-ships, if your timings out breaking your nose and losing a couple of front teeth like a mate did a few years ago is one possible outcome.....

He made the lunge at the stern when dink was going down and the stern was on its way up, with his head doing this on the sugar scoop.....

Yep, time it right and step aboard.
Oh... and... those touting hard dingies... try that in one!

[barnakiel]

In our rubber dink we come alongside midships so the differences may be about 2 feet. After all they both move to the same wave. Our topsides are about 2 feet - say one feet above the dink's tubes. Perfect set-up for any ocean going cruiser.

Generally, stay away from very choppy anchorages - they may be less than perfect places to be with the mother ship.

b.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by SayGudday

Totally agree. Boarding at the bow is impossible under those conditions and attempting to board from the stern is suicide, especially if you have an outboard motor (says he who has tried it many times from a kayak).

Adding… obstructions… outboards/self-steering to the stern or any other scenario that can impale you is not a valid argument for discounting a swimmer boarding from the stern.

If we take these away, and you just have a boat wildly shearing from side to side, with large breaking waves and swells, rolling/crashing down both sides…. it is not going to be easy.

However, a good swimmer and a good ladder (with good timing) is far safer than from a dingy with prop turning.

100% of the time at anchor in normal conditions I am boarding from the stern, where there is less wind and waves.

So I happen to be properly set up on the stern and if I ever got into such a crazy situation that would still be my choice using my strong properly angled swim ladder 4 rungs below the water. Ladder angles out about 10 degrees so not even close to the stern. Only I would be swimming.

In this crazy situation….All about timing.
As a swimmer, you hold back in the water, watch the sets and count how many extra rungs go under. Time your grab when it is at the lowest, to step on and grab with 2 hands a clear rung. Elevator ride up and you quickly climb above the low water mark… hang on then slowly climb on board when relaxed.

On other boats, not set up like mine on the stern and with no ladder…I would have no choice but to do what they did.

Only I would probably have tried to push with dingy bow up against the favored lee side to hold the lee a bit longer and have the guy climb up from the tender bow.

But I would not like it and be mad at myself for getting caught unprepared like that.

[senormechanico]

"Elevator ride up" but what about the near zero G ride back down?

Better to experience that at a Six Flags park !

[DeepFrz]

"Elevator ride up" but what about the near zero G ride back down?

Better to experience that at a Six Flags park !

Once you get one foot and both hands on and are vertical the rest is easy, in my experience. Ride it up and stand up at the top. When you are balanced start climbing. It is all in the timing. When I was younger I could even do it with diving gear on (fins off).

Edit: Flat treads are good, the round ones hurt a lot.

[downunder]

This is not an impossible nor rare occurrence in some waters and as some other posters have indicated it does occur from time to time and more frequently in a work situation.

However it is a situation requiring skilled, cool heads and no place for a newby but managable not taking anything away from the inerent danger involved.

The landing at Pitcairn is also noted as a place for the local experts.

[charliehows]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Boarding from the stern can be very dangerous if the boat is head to the waves. There can be 5' or more excursion of the transom with each passing wave and it slams down with considerable speed and force. Very easy to get impaled by the self steering or anything hanging off the stern, have your head slammed by the transom or lose your teeth as john's friend did. Way better to board from the side which these guys ended up doing.

In this case the boat is lying at an angle to the swell so boat is rolling as much as pitching. The worst of all possible worlds. I had to clear a fishing line from my prop at sea in pretty benign conditions. Boarding from the stern was a challenge which I managed to do but would never want to try with any kind of sea running.

Yeah, Ive had to do that approach from stern a few times in a bit of sea - time it wrong and several tonnes of boat rear end coming down from several metres in the air on your dink/head/whatever could be a once only experience. very scary.

[gjordan]

The comment about what type of anchor held in those conditions is very valid. I read (maybe on CF or maybe on some other forum) that it did major damage to the windlass, so it proves(I think) that they went ashore without a proper snubber set up. A lot of mistakes in the way it was all handled, but they all survived. Sometimes your the windshield, sometimes your the bug._____Grant.

[goboatingnow]

I think its crazy a boat like that was left unattended in such an exposed anchorage, very very bad seamanship. One crew should have been onboard. Had anything happened there , you could have easily lost a crewman. ( or the yacht)

Dave

[montenido]

Hi all,

I for one, was riveted watching those guys attempt to board in those conditions. Perhaps they could have traded off, having the dinghy operator try for a while? I noticed the guy didn't lose his hat until near the end
I am a very strong swimmer and am still reasonably fit, but those conditions looked pretty difficult and scary. Cudos for the guys to wear their PFDs while coming to and attempting to board the boat. Makes me think that I will put out a midship ladder if I leave the boat when things are heating up.

Yikes,Bill

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yep, time it right and step aboard.
Oh... and... those touting hard dingies... try that in one!

Agree.

I went 1.6 miles on my Caribe RIB during the eye of Tropical Storm Issac during which it was still blowing 50mph as the eye was poorly defined.
With the right timing I stepped aboard and checked my lines for chaffing.
I was also able to report to my friends that their boat was holding and for the unfortunate I reported their groundings ashore.
We have never had to wait at the docks for the blow to pass, of course the winds here dont sustain more than 30mph too often. 30mph is just another drive home for us.
You can keep those hard dinks.


btw, Isaac was expected to be a hurricane.