I had a somewhat scary situation recently entering Boston's busy inner harbor.
Sometimes I
motor into and out of the inner harbor, but we had about 10-15 knots of breeze in a nice direction for sailing close-hauled (without tacking) most of the way back.
I was getting close to feeling overpowered, but not there yet. I had started looking around for a traffic-free spot to put a little sail area away. (Furling main/genoa, so pretty easy. But still takes away focus from watching traffic.)
Inexperienced crew.
A
ferry was passing my windward side at what I felt was a very safe distance. Then it altered course and would be passing to windward at a distance I felt was still safe, but not quite as comfortable.
Then I got a big gust and too much
weather helm to avoid rounding up into what seemed like the ferry's path.
For a few seconds, I fought the gust with the
wheel, and then asked my crew to ease the main. As soon as I finished that sentence (maybe sooner), I decided I wanted action faster than my crew could respond, so I quickly stepped over to the
winch that's just forward of the
cockpit, removed the main sheet from the
winch, and let it fly out. The main quickly eased, and luffed, and the
boat bore off out of the path of the
ferry.
Based on reviewing my
GPS tracks, I was off course for about 10 seconds.
Here are the lessons I'm taking from this. I'd be happy for others' thoughts as well:
1. Reef sooner than you think you need to. (Yes, this one seems to need a lot of repeating...)
2. I should generally
motor into and out of the inner harbor. This is for enjoyment as well as
safety: The harbor is somewhat narrow, and continually watching all of the traffic just isn't that fun. But it can be made safe, so I'd still happily do it if I'm sailing a
boat without a motor. And this lesson depends a bit on personal preference. I dislike motoring, but even so, I will be safer/happier if I use that option more often in the inner harbor.
3. I'm really happy I had the main sheet
clutch open. Even if it had been closed I'd have gotten it open in time to avoid a serious issue, but it would have been closer. This has been my standard practice anyway, but going forward I plan to enforce it more rigorously: always keep the main sheet on the winch with the cam cleat open.