Calm the Savage Seas with Oil

[Capt.Don]

I believe the theory is the wind air movement over the water creates waves. By spreading oil on the surface, lessens the friction of air movement over water and in effect calms the seas.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Maybe we could convince Raymarine to come out with an electronically metered, remote control operated, environmentally safe oil dispenser system. They could call it an OSIB -OhS***ItsBreaking. It would be the atest in must have saftey gear on your vessel.


Paul L
http://svjeorgia.blogspot.com

Nice idea!! Furling or non furling? And would I be able to carry a gun with it. And will it work as well on Cats and Hunters?

hehe

Cheers
Oz

[centesimal]

Since my sharpish learning curve a while back i have fitted my present little yacht with a 3.6m parachute and bridle to make her sit head to the sea and carry it always with 100m of 8 strand 14mm nylon warp and that i reckon is a much less problematic way of dealing with inclement weather not forseen by skipper!

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Capt.Don

I believe the theory is the wind air movement over the water creates waves. By spreading oil on the surface, lessens the friction of air movement over water and in effect calms the seas.

I believe it is actually related to surface tension.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Bullsh*t.

Sailors (of all people) should be part of the solution, not part of the problem. This old-school attitude that "environmentalism is bad" is backward and antiquated and should be rejected.

Easy does it, lets just take a step back now, and count to 10. No one had said taking care of the environment is bad, but enviromentalism doesn't always do that well.

For one We all know the continental shelf is is loaded with oil deposits....What do you think happens when an earthquake shifts one of those billion barrel deposits??? Oil seeps often occur on the ocean floor in areas too deep to drill, thats how we knew it was there in the first place. Second The Ocean has 343,423,668,428,484,681,262 gallons of water, all of the oil on board all of the ships in the world couldn't raise the concentration of oil in the ocean even 1 part per trillion. Third there are a variety of bacteria in nature that consume mineral oils, plus they tend to break down into simple carbons when exposed to sunlight, and absorbed by plankton.

Back to the subject. I have read several early sailing stories where oil was used to calm a storm. I had always thought the effect was more superstition, (wanting to do something, anything, Belief if a lot of oil works, maybe some is better than none, etc...). BUt if a wave was on the edge of breaking, a little change in surface tension may be just enough to tip the balance.

[s/v Beth]

I have had a few oil spills during stormy weather, and I haven't noticed the waves calming a bit-though I am usually in the engine room trying to find what broke. I think I will place a drogue set in the place for extra oil, and maybe even an extra warp nicely coiled.
As for oil slicks helping- I think its chief effect on the crew is giving them something to do and keep their mind off the nausea.

[Astrid]

I believe the theory is the wind air movement over the water creates waves. By spreading oil on the surface, lessens the friction of air movement over water and in effect calms the seas.

Benjamen Franklin concluded the same thing in 1774 in a paper he wrote about his experiments of pouring oil onto troubled waters in an effort to confirm or deny mariners claims.

[GeorgeDog]

Originally Posted by Bash

using oil to calm seas in a storm is the nautical equivalent of bleeding a sick person to restore health.

I had to sign up to respond to this analogy. My great-grandfather lost the use of his legs to polio. He went to the Kellogg Sanitarium where every day they used suction cups on his ankles to draw blood through his veins. He died an old, spry man. I still have the cherry box that held the medical instruments that he used to continue treatments back on the farm.

Perhaps oil is a practical treatment that our modern sensibilities get in the way of. If I thought I was going to lose the boat you can be sure I'd be willing to try it.

Hello Cruisers Forum. -Chris

[atoll]

british petroleum tried this one recently.....................

[Bash]

Originally Posted by GeorgeDog

I had to sign up to respond to this analogy.

Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to have played a role in finally getting you to sign up.

Regarding the Kellog Sanitarium, there's an excellent book by T. C. Boyle I recommend, if you're the type who enjoys a good read: The Road to Wellville. An excellent, well-researched, highly entertaining historical novel about the excesses of that moment in history. It may shed new light on your own family's history.

[GeorgeDog]

Originally Posted by Bash

Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to have played a role in finally getting you to sign up.

Regarding the Kellog Sanitarium, there's an excellent book by T. C. Boyle I recommend, if you're the type who enjoys a good read: The Road to Wellville. An excellent, well-researched, highly entertaining historical novel about the excesses of that moment in history. It may shed new light on your own family's history.

I avoid facts that might get in the way of my preconceptions.

I can't say if the bleeding did it (a bit before my time) but he believed that it did. In the end something up in Michigan got him out of the wheelchair.

I'm off to a good start on this forum. Two posts that have contributed nothing to sailing. I guess there is only up from here...

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Benjamen Franklin concluded the same thing in 1774 in a paper he wrote about his experiments of pouring oil onto troubled waters in an effort to confirm or deny mariners claims.

I'm glad Franklin was brought into this. He published the results of his experiment in a letter to Mr. Browrigg. While his initial experiment spreading oil on calm waters found that there was indeed a smoothing effect, when he finally went to sea to determine whether oil could keep breakers from breaking, he found the effect of oil to be "disappointing."

Here's an excerpt from the letter: "Now waves once raised, whether by the wind or any other power, have the same mechanical operation, by which they continue to rise and fall, as a pendulum will continue to swing a long time after the force ceases to act by which the motion was first produced; that motion will, however, cease in time; but time is necessary. Therefore, though oil spread on an agitated sea may weaken the push of the wind on the waves whose surfaces are covered by it, and so, by less fresh impulse, they may gradually subside; yet a considerable time, or a distance through which they will take time to move, may be necessary to make the effect sensible on any shore in the diminunition of the surf; for we know that when wind ceases suddenly, the waves it has raised do not as suddenly subside, but settle gradually, and are not quite down until after the wind has ceased."

But the old myths persist, don't they? Franklin published the results of his experiments in 1773, and here we are still talking as if spreading an oil slick might still be a viable storm tactic for a cruising vessel.

[Zednotzee]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

Its not that environmentalism is bad. Thats why I asked about non mineral oils. If its the life of my crew and myself at stake, the environment will come 2nd. Sorry if you dont like it.

Cheers
Oz

Who says the environment is coming second? If you're at risk of losing the boat, a few litres of oil in the water has got to be better than 80 litres of diesel leaking out of your fuel tank on the sea floor, n'est pas?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by GeorgeDog

I avoid facts that might get in the way of my preconceptions.

Well, if you avoid facts that may get in the way of preconceptions, you'll fit in well here. (Written with a chuckle--we're all sailors, after all.)

Once again, welcome to the forum.

[beau]

I have not tried it but I have read that it works extremely well to calm seas, the problem has been getting the oil, where it is needed and keeping it there.