Ride Out Force 12 at Anchor?

[Zai]

Do not forget to take the sails down and stow them.

[Celestialsailor]

Chafe has been mentioned briefly. I use expired fire hose. I'll use a double lead bridle snubber with 4 ft. each chafe hose on each side through the fairlead. That's another thing I should mention, is a decent snubber to take up the shock load off the ground tackle.

[groundtackle]

joseph, I'll make you an offer;
Take the ferry to Swartz bay. I know we have the appropriate Excel anchor in stock for your boat, right beside the terminal. I give you the anchor. Drive it to the boat. You set it properly, right amount of scope and in a decent spot. I will guide you thru it.
If this anchor drags any unreasonable distance Ground Tackle will give it to you no charge. If holds holds up to the task as I'm confident it will, you just buy it.
Give me a call,
Chris Eldridge
250.516.7888
Ground Tackle Marine

Oh my, did I press submit?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by groundtackle

joseph, I'll make you an offer;
Take the ferry to Swartz bay. I know we have the appropriate Excel anchor in stock for your boat, right beside the terminal. I give you the anchor. Drive it to the boat. You set it properly, right amount of scope and in a decent spot. I will guide you thru it.
If this anchor drags any unreasonable distance Ground Tackle will give it to you no charge. If holds holds up to the task as I'm confident it will, you just buy it.
Give me a call,
Chris Eldridge
250.516.7888
Ground Tackle Marine

Oh my, did I press submit?

That's a terrific offer!

OP, recommend that you accept this. Make lots of photos and post them here.

[Eder]

Marine forecast from Canada government forecast is 30-40 tonite becoming 15 kn Friday morning. Unlike NOAA forecasts the Canadian one usually is higher than actual winds in my experience. You'll be fine there have been several of these this season.

Where your boat is should peak at 25-30 knots.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by seiler.joseph

Hello. Can you ride out a Force 12 (forecast sustained 64kt. winds) at anchor in a harbour? The short of it -- my father recently told me that he does not want his boat, and asked if I would take her off his hands. I have been scouring marina space in Metro Vancouver, and I am in the process of making arrangements to bring her to Point Roberts Marina (those people are lovely) when I found out today about this typhoon-fuelled storm with Cat. 1 force winds about to smash the PNW by Saturday. If I can get on a ferry after work Friday, I am going to try to get to Ladysmith and see if I can board her and check to make sure that the anchor is secure. I have some sailing experience, but absolutely no knowledge about how to ride out a storm of this force at anchor. I have been having nightmares all day about the anchor slipping, and the vessel running aground or colliding with another vessel. Any advice is humbly appreciated.

If secured well, it's doable. I just rode out Matthew in Norfolk Va. Winds were 50 to 60 and I slept thru most of it.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by seiler.joseph

Getting it to that marina is not an option. I would need to leave the protection of the Gulf Islands to cross the Strait exposing the vessel to extreme currents, reefs and winds gusting 50-60kts. as this system continues over the weekend. I was only able to make it down to the marina last Saturday to make sure they had space and figure out the details, and I was planning on trying it this or next weekend depending on the wind and tide charts. This storm surprised me (I doubt I am alone -- how often do you expect a Japanese Typhoon to strike you on the other side of the Pacific?)

Absolutely. Call the harbor at Ladysmith and ask. or just motor down to Maple Bay marina, 15 nm = 3 hours, there's lots of space and it's well protected. Do NOT try to get to Pt. Roberts.

Did I miss what kind of boat?

[seiler.joseph]

Many thanks for all the helpful advice.

We're already getting smashed by the first of these three storms before the grand finale this weekend, but the predictions are already looking 'better'. The two closest weather stations are already showing a drop in wind speed (Force 10) projected to arrive between 8pm Sat. to 5am Sun. PDT. Unless it grows as it hits the jet stream.

They keep updating on this bastard of a typhoon that refuses die (it's the remnant of Songda which is now caught in the jet stream and headed west to smash us this weekend). It could swing high, hit northern Vancouver Island and Queen Charlottes; it could swing low and smash into the Washington Coast (ideal since there are no marinas outside the Juan de Fuca Strait).

I should have time to arrive from the mainland on Friday night (we have notoriously unreliable ferry service even without storms), and secure the boat either further inside the harbour or tie her to the marina if they have space before Sat. evening. The wind direction is actually blowing everything straight at this harbour from the SE before it dramatically swings from the SW halfway through the system.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by seiler.joseph

Many thanks for all the helpful advice.



1. it could swing low and smash into the Washington Coast (ideal since there are no marinas outside the Juan de Fuca Strait).

2. I should have time to arrive from the mainland on Friday night (we have notoriously unreliable ferry service even without storms),

3. and secure the boat either further inside the harbour or tie her to the marina if they have space before Sat. evening. The wind direction is actually blowing everything straight at this harbour from the SE before it dramatically swings from the SW halfway through the system.

1. Not true. I was in Grays Harbor and Lapush just last month.

2. Ferry service from the mainland to Swartz Bay is very reliable. Not on schedule due to weather is a completely different thing. You also should check weatherunderground.com. They switched their wind chart from 0-15 km to 0-100 with 50 km winds in Cowichan Bay for Saturday!!! Those folks in the roadstead there are gonna get clobbered.

3. Why not leave a day earlier? Saturday seems to be the worst of it from the latest forecast (also subject to change).

Good luck.

[Nanamuk]

There will be temporary moorage in Ladysmith - get on the phone - try the Ladysmith Community Marina 250-245-1146. If no luck and the boat is mobile Dodd Narrows turns to a flood at 10:10 AM on Sat. and there is room at the Nanaimo marina - though 4 big seiners came in last night so they are expecting a blow!! Problem with riding at anchor in Ladysmith is all the junk boats and people living aboard who are not sailors so don't know how or care to anchor responsibly.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Nanamuk

There will be temporary moorage in Ladysmith - get on the phone - try the Ladysmith Community Marina 250-245-1146. If no luck and the boat is mobile Dodd Narrows turns to a flood at 10:10 AM on Sat. and there is room at the Nanaimo marina - though 4 big seiners came in last night so they are expecting a blow!! Problem with riding at anchor in Ladysmith is all the junk boats and people living aboard who are not sailors so don't know how or care to anchor responsibly.

Good advice, but if he's gonna have to move the boat, and it's new to him, and we don't know his abilities, then Dodd Narrows could be a handful. Easier to motor down Stuart Channel to Maple Bay which is completely protected from the south, east and west. 5 nm shorter trip, too.

[AZUS]

I agree with Dockhead. In your situation, I'd be lookto hire a locally-based delivery captain or other very-well-experienced sailor to check out the set up. Ask at local charter companies. Small changes (proper deployment of chafe guards and spare anchor, proper scope, etc.) can make a big difference, and experience can suggest lots of small changes.

[TrentePieds]

Whoa, whoa!

Ladysmith is up a little fjord that basically runs northwest to southeast - crossways to the way this wind is gonna blow. This blow is gonna have a lot of west in it. The width of Ladysmith harbour is something like 1/4 mile, less than half a mile anyway. The surrounding hills are quite high. The holding ground is quite good up at the top end. The fetch facing the harbour opening is negligible, and while you might get some wind driven wave, I doubt that you'll get a significant swell. Neither time nor fetch for that. There is an excellent marina up near the top end, and there are all kindsa log booms you can hide behind. Out near the mouth of the harbour there's all kindsa log booms that break up any swell that might be coming in.

TrentePied lies in Eagle Harbour in quite a exposed slip were the swell comes straight in from norwest. A far less desirable position.

In Ladysmith, if you ask nicely, I'm sure that the marina will take you in overnight.

Go there, by all means. It'll make you feel better. But don't go having a panic just because that's a fashionable thing for "the media" to do. Stay aboard. If you find it necessary, do what real ships do. Crank her up. Use your engine to alleviate the strain on the rode. Just hold her position, and you'll be okay. I'd be very surprised if this blow lasts for more than a few hours. No reason you couldn't stay awake during the blow. Particularly if you've wet your knickers ;-0)!

Force 12 Beaufort is five and sixty knots, about 120Km/hr. Ain't gonna happen at sea level in Ladysmith Harbour. Maybe over the tops of the hills, but not in the harbour. In the harbour, if it really wants to blow, you night top out at Force 7, call it 30 knots or 60 km/hr. That's not much more than a good sailing wind.

TrentePieds

[desodave]

You've already had some good advice about finding a marina close at hand. The winds in Georgia Strait South are forecast for 35 knots, probably a little less inside the Gulf Islands around Ladysmith. Everybody should have transient moorage available at this time of year in your vicinity and 2 other options in Ladysmith are Ladysmith Marina 250-245-2318 and Page Point 250-245-2318. I've been riding BC Ferries for 50 years and they are very reliable - but don't run at the peak of gales in the Strait. Some risk of cancelled runs this evening and later tomorrow with 35kts forecast. There was a much heavier blow ( it hit 60kts in the central strait ) about 2-3 weeks ago - did the boat survive that at anchor? And it was blowing in the 30's last night - is the boat still there?

[eheffa]

Here is the most recent Marine Forecast for Strait of Georgia -South of Nanaimo:


Issued 04:00 AM PDT 13 October 2016
Today Tonight and Friday
Gale warning in effect.
Wind east 20 to 30 knots diminishing to east 15 to 20 this morning then increasing to southeast 25 to 35 this evening. Wind diminishing to southwest 15 to 25 overnight then becoming southwest 15 Friday afternoon.

Periods of rain.

Extended Forecast
Issued 04:00 AM PDT 13 October 2016
Saturday
Wind southeast 15 to 25 knots increasing to southeast 25 to 35 in the afternoon.
Sunday
Wind southeast 10 to 20 knots.
Monday
Wind northwest 5 to 15 knots becoming southeast 5 to 15.



Ladysmith is really pretty protected so taking sensible precautions & staying put should suffice.

- evan