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Old 14-08-2011, 10:56   #31
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

12.6 knots on just the main! Were you on a Cat?
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Old 14-08-2011, 14:43   #32
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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I use a grinders full face helmet. Its clear plastic and doesnt fog up plus you can look down and see instruments, you can tilt the screen up a bit; acousticly singing in a storm sounds better than you've ever heard yourself!

Best advice - However, I have put in a hard-ish dodger. [a more expensive option]
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Old 03-10-2011, 11:54   #33
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Any advice on heaving too in catamaran? Should inget a para anchor? And how would you set it? Any other advice other than try not to get caught as that is the most obvious advice.
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Old 03-10-2011, 12:38   #34
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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Any advice on heaving too in catamaran? Should inget a para anchor? And how would you set it? Any other advice other than try not to get caught as that is the most obvious advice.

If you want to be REALLY safe, just don't leave the dock.

"Someone" told me that in a pinch you can actually use a five gallon bucket as a drogue. I plan on testing that before I count on it in bad weather.

Do you have a good reefing system on your cat?
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Old 03-10-2011, 13:03   #35
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

5 gal bucket! You'll rip the handle off in the first 5 min. But its a good idea in a pinch for a small boat, I should think. You just need to find away to reinforce the handle.
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Old 03-10-2011, 13:07   #36
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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5 gal bucket! You'll rip the handle off in the first 5 min. But its a good idea in a pinch for a small boat, I should think. You just need to find away to reinforce the handle.
Oh you don't do it with a handle. You drill two holes big enough to hold the line below the lip, which is quite sturdy. You use a couple of big washers. The handle wouldn't hold much strain at all.

I don't know how long those reinforced holes would last but it has to be better than the handle.
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Old 03-10-2011, 13:38   #37
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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If you want to be REALLY safe, just don't leave the dock.

"Someone" told me that in a pinch you can actually use a five gallon bucket as a drogue. I plan on testing that before I count on it in bad weather.
Yes, it is quite true that you can use a bucket as a drogue.

Unfortunately, it won't slow your boat down measurably,

That's why folks spend considerable money to buy real drogues that are designed with that use in mind. However, not many of the drogues can be used as buckets. Pity, that!

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Old 03-10-2011, 14:19   #38
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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Yes, it is quite true that you can use a bucket as a drogue.

Unfortunately, it won't slow your boat down measurably,

That's why folks spend considerable money to buy real drogues that are designed with that use in mind. However, not many of the drogues can be used as buckets. Pity, that!

Jim
Kinda depends on the size of the boat, doesn't it, along with how many buckets you put out? Haven't tried it yet but I will report back. Of course, that will be in moderate wind, but I will put one bucket on each rear cleat so the effect is balanced on both sides. I'll experiment a little with how much line to put out, also.
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Old 03-10-2011, 14:49   #39
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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Kinda depends on the size of the boat, doesn't it, along with how many buckets you put out? Haven't tried it yet but I will report back. Of course, that will be in moderate wind, but I will put one bucket on each rear cleat so the effect is balanced on both sides. I'll experiment a little with how much line to put out, also.
RAku, the biggest reason for using a drogue is to avoid broaching when sailing downwind in overpowering conditions. I don't think that testing buckets under moderate conditions will accurately simulate actual use in anger.

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Old 21-10-2011, 22:50   #40
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So when a squall line is heading your direction and you feel that first wisp of ' really cold air' (I know you all know what I mean) what sail comes down first...the mainsail or the jib? And why?
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Old 22-10-2011, 00:23   #41
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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So when a squall line is heading your direction and you feel that first wisp of ' really cold air' (I know you all know what I mean) what sail comes down first...the mainsail or the jib? And why?
Depends.
As a singlehandler, I do everything in my power to avoid large squalls. I've tracked them on radar and I alter direction to miss the heavy stuff. By the time I'm overtaking by "really cold air" I already have my boat battened down for heavy weather. The goal is to balance the boat around the mast, leaveing the jib up with the main down screws up this balance.
The first step is to reef the main, double reef if it looks like the winds will increase above 25 knots, I also roll the jib in and am using the staysail for my foresail, sometimes even that is taken down. Sometimes I have the engine on.
I once discovered a waterspout on the backside of a heavy squall and when it came within 30 feet and I promised myself to never let that happen again.

"Really cold air" in a squall is a microburst or a down draft (wind shear if around airports). These can be the sum valocity of the surface winds and the lower winds. A microburst can increase wind speed from 25 to 50 mph for a brief time.
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Old 22-10-2011, 01:18   #42
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

Any form of drogue for steadying the ship rather depends on its size in relation to your boat. If you are talking in tons and you can haul it in, it's useless. If you can't, better have a means of spilling the resistance so that you can haul it in. If you don't, you might not live to regret it.
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Old 22-10-2011, 02:02   #43
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pirate Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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So when a squall line is heading your direction and you feel that first wisp of ' really cold air' (I know you all know what I mean) what sail comes down first...the mainsail or the jib? And why?
Mainsail.... down to full reef.... its the only sail I have to go forward to manage... the jib I can work from the cockpit...
To be honest... if those are the prevailing conditions thats what I'd have up long before they hit... the jib is the driving power on my boat.
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Old 22-10-2011, 06:04   #44
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Thank you Boatman! That's exactly the way I see it. But our instructor said jib first. But like you said, we can handle the jib (and the driving force) without being on the deck trying to tie down a sail. And my hubby and I did practice sailing with just the jib to learn how. When we got caught on the edge of a squall line we couldn't outrun, a gust of wind came from the opposite direction that the winds had been all day, and pushed on our main hard because we already had our jib down. Tipped us pretty good and frightened me! We did have to batten down for about a half hour, but I would have liked to save myself the scare and I think if we'd had the main down it wouldn't have happened that way.
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Old 22-10-2011, 06:17   #45
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Re: Sailing in HEAVY Wind and Rain

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So when a squall line is heading your direction and you feel that first wisp of ' really cold air' (I know you all know what I mean) what sail comes down first...the mainsail or the jib? And why?
I do pretty much what JohnA does...I start the engine..furl the genoa all the way in and then double reef the main, and sheet it in tight. The goal ( my goal, at least) is to be able to keep the bow headed directly into the wind. If it's a typical summer afternoon squall, they usually don't have time to build seas, keeping head to wind is my primary concern.
So, I'm powering into it and pinching the mainsail until I see how much wind it's packing.

Once, while racing on someone elses boat we doused everthing and motored into it, worked fine. I like having the mainsail up, if for some reason my engine quits, I have some drive.
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