Glass on a Sailboat

[Hudson Force]

Now that is funny! I laughed long at the row of paddled carcasses under my post!

[roverhi]

I can't remember a boat I've seen that was set up to survive a serious knockdown without any breakage, hatches flying, etc including mine.. Are your floorboards screwed down or otherwise secured?? Will the finger latches not be unlatched when the contents get flung around?? Is everything in the galley when the boat goes over 90 degrees?? Will your dinette table stay in place?? What about those batteries??

Most people don't take the time and considerable effort needed to knockdown proof their boat.

[o_q]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I can't remember a boat I've seen that was set up to survive a serious knockdown without any breakage, hatches flying, etc including mine..

Doesn't matter! You need to assume that your boat can be knocked down at ANY moment at ANY place, even in protected waters!

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by o_q

Doesn't matter! You need to assume that your boat can be knocked down at ANY moment at ANY place, even in protected waters!

Now just who is this "you" that your addressing that has this need to assume? Are these the same people that are driving on the highways that are killed in numbers of tens of thousands each year? On my boat in protected waters on the East US Coast am I with a need to assume a requirement to protect myself from tsunamis, tornados and meteor strikes? Stastistical evaluation of a risk management plan aboard a cruising sailboat never starts with, "Doesn't matter" or a "need to assume".

[muskoka]

Never glass! Only crystal, my good man.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by o_q

Doesn't matter! You need to assume that your boat can be knocked down at ANY moment at ANY place, even in protected waters!

wow! The voice of experience echoes over the web!!

Are you really convinced of this, mate? Seems a bit conservative to me, for I assume that my boat will NOT be knocked down for the vast majority of my time on board. At the time we did suffer a knock down we were not surprised, for the conditions were horrible, and we thought we were well prepared... and we almost were!

Cheers,

Jim

[o_q]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

wow! The voice of experience echoes over the web!!

Are you really convinced of this, mate? Seems a bit conservative to me, for I assume that my boat will NOT be knocked down for the vast majority of my time on board. At the time we did suffer a knock down we were not surprised, for the conditions were horrible, and we thought we were well prepared... and we almost were!

Cheers,

Jim

The only person convinced is Wrong.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by o_q

Doesn't matter! You need to assume that your boat can be knocked down at ANY moment at ANY place, even in protected waters!

LOL


You need to go cruising

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

LOL


You need to go cruising

true dat

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by o_q

The only person convinced is Wrong.

How so, mate?

I agree it is good practice to prepare for a broach or knock down. In some places there is low probability such an event is going to occur. Like when your boat is moored in a slip or to a mooring ball. But, even on lakes in some parts of the world, unexpected wind gusts can knock your boat down if too much sail is up. There's a possibility this can happen when sailing in the Caribbean, provided you're not just motoring like most folks seem to do there...

Offshore the chances increase dramatically. Some prominent land masses can produce big seas and strong wind in short order, with a possibility of being broached or knocked down if you're unprepared.

Preparing for the possibility is the prudent thing to do.

[zeehag]

prepare for possibility but live for today.
be safe but do not stress on it.
live comfortably and have a great time.
live like in a tent and hate the hell out of it.
this is a life experience, not an isolated knock down.
packing a boat for cruising , one takes into account this stuff...
if one is driving a desk and saying he is someplace else, that isnt cruising. that is trolling..
there seems to be a shortage in knocked down boats this season....mebbe wrong would come out and show us the correct way to knock down, as he is so obsessed with that phenomenon.
or mebbe wrong just needs to truly sail something other than a desk farther than merely out of the harbor and back into it again..
in all my years in a windy mooring area with seas and winds, and my sailing thru chubascos and other fun windy days, and sailing, er drifting downhill in pacific, i have yet to meet anyone who knocked down in this pacific within the last 5 yrs. is kinda like a runaway diesel---not frequently happening.
when i was in caribean, we almost knocked down because the owner kept too much sail up in a good stiff breeze....but that was a miss, not actual danger.
in gom, we didnt come anywhere near close to knockdown, despite sailing thru many severe lightning storms with too much canvas up.
the sailor is who keeps the boat upright. smart sailors reef early. the others knock down.

and glass on board isnt gonna be in anyones way when done well. stash in sox and stash those sock filled goodies in tight place. it works, as many who have been cruising many years already know......
i have resided on board boats since 1990 and i have suffered only one broken glass item, and that was the lightbulb on someone elses boat in gulf of mexico....
i think i am doing well.

and i believe even wrong has yen for rum after his sailing and keeps that glass container in a good safe place.


next ........

[Wrong]

"mebbe wrong would come out and show us the correct way to knock down, as he is so obsessed with that phenomenon.
or mebbe wrong just needs to truly sail something other than a desk farther than merely out of the harbor and back into it again.."

Zeehag! Love a sense of humour. It is definitely useful when your in recovery mode after a knock down or caught in any kind of challenging situation.

You'll do well if you ever leave the dock...

Hey, you use that program sometimes that makes what you're saying indecipherable?

Very funny.

[Jim Cate]

Look, guys,

"Knockdowns" in cruising boats don't happen from wind gusts. They happen from sea conditions. Sea conditions severe enough to promote a knockdown (approaching 90 degrees of heel angle) do not just pop up suddenly. Wind waves can develop in a few minutes, but wind waves don't cause knockdowns... it takes developed seas and usually unusual conditions like rapidly swinging wind directions, a big ground swell, shoaling or such to generate knockdown conditions.

For instance, the time we suffered a knockdown we were caught in a rapidly developing "East Coast Low" about 50 miles north of Lord Howe island. Storm force NE winds backing fairly quickly, a big S'ly swell from a storm in the Southern Ocean, and a number of seamounts in the nearby ocean floor. Chaotic seas were generated, and eventually one caught us wrong and down we went.

We had known for hours that this was a possibility and thought we were prepared... the results were as described earlier.

Such conditions do not sneak up on you, and being prepared for a knockdown 24/7/365 is not required for prudent seamanship IMO.

Cheers,

Jim

[Hudson Force]

On the right boat, "wrong" could be right. Things could quickly go wrong and not upright on some of those tender featherdusters. Your choices depend on where you sail, how you sail and what you sail.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Look, guys,

"Knockdowns" in cruising boats don't happen from wind gusts. They happen from sea conditions. Sea conditions severe enough to promote a knockdown (approaching 90 degrees of heel angle) do not just pop up suddenly. Wind waves can develop in a few minutes, but wind waves don't cause knockdowns... it takes developed seas and usually unusual conditions like rapidly swinging wind directions, a big ground swell, shoaling or such to generate knockdown conditions.

For instance, the time we suffered a knockdown we were caught in a rapidly developing "East Coast Low" about 50 miles north of Lord Howe island. Storm force NE winds backing fairly quickly, a big S'ly swell from a storm in the Southern Ocean, and a number of seamounts in the nearby ocean floor. Chaotic seas were generated, and eventually one caught us wrong and down we went.

We had known for hours that this was a possibility and thought we were prepared... the results were as described earlier.

Such conditions do not sneak up on you, and being prepared for a knockdown 24/7/365 is not required for prudent seamanship IMO.

Cheers,

Jim

Not sure what you are describing wasn't a broach. But, not having been there I'll accept your description of the event as a "knock down".

From: knockdown: definition of knockdown in Oxford dictionary - American English (US)

"Sailing an instance of a vessel being knocked on its side by the force of the wind."

Waves are not a factor.

Boats with hatches open when knocked down sometimes sink...