Coastal cruising, strong winds and anchoring

[GILow]

Hi all,

The last few days in Adelaide have been blowing a bit. Enough for me to move the boat from her usual pen to a more sheltered pen for a few days, last time we had weather like this we broke a number of lines, and were it not for the quick actions of a neighbouring live-aboard yachtie I would still be making repairs.

Anyway, as I baby-sat the boat in the pen last night and listened to the wind whistling in the rigging, I started to wonder what I would do if I had seen the same forecast winds while coastal cruising as we should be doing in a few years.

Having the luxury of a nice pen to tie up in, the decision was easy, but what if we had been half way up the East Coast of Australia and had seen the same winds forecast a few days out? (35 - 40 knots, I was seeing the odd 50 + knots reading from the top of the mast at about 4 am.)

By some people's standards, I accept these are not very strong winds, but my gut feel is that anchoring a boat like ours in such conditions would be very difficult. We have high topsides and lots of "stuff" above deck to add to our wind profile. Also, the winds swung through an arc of around 135 degrees over about 12 hours, so finding a sheltered spot with cover across that range of angles seems unlikely. Such winds are clearly not uncommon here (twice here in the last month) so it seems I should have a strategy.

What do people usually do in such situations? Head for deeper water? Head for a yacht club and book a pen for a few nights? Find a bay that is likely to shelter you from the worst of the forecast wind angles?

Matt

[Mr B]

Port Phillp Bay, Vic, today,

[Snowpetrel]

It really depends on were you are. But a good anchor (or two..) set in decent holding with a bit of shelter from any big waves should hold fine in this sort of stuff, even on a big boat like yours.

Sometimes you have to shift anchorages to have decent shelter as the wind shifts. But given decent forcasts you have time to find reasonable protection from a big system like this one.

Of course a good solid marina berth if availible can be a nice place to be, while it blows through. Otherwise you end up stuck aboard for a few days at anchor, as its wise to bring the dinghy aboard and ready the boat for sea just incase.

[Stumble]

If your anchor won't handle the loads then you need a bigger anchor.

The worst place to be is trying to enter somewhere in winds like that. Inside or at sea is fine, but you never want to try and dock in those conditions once they arrive. So the tactics depend on where you are and when you find out it's coming for you.

Personally I worry more about waves than wind speed. Reefing down is always an option so if the wind is coming from on shore I would just keep going. If the breeze is coming from offshore with big waves in the mix I would be more likely to duck for cover.

[Tayana42]

Originally Posted by GILow

What do people usually do in such situations? Head for deeper water? Head for a yacht club and book a pen for a few nights? Find a bay that is likely to shelter you from the worst of the forecast wind angles?

Matt

Any or all of the above. With a good holding sub-straight, some shelter and good ground tackle anchoring can be great. Sometimes taking a slip (pen) is a more comfortable choice. Sometimes heading out for deeper water and sea room is your safest bet.

I've done all of these as the circumstances dictated. Don't be afraid to used your own discretion and seek shelter early. If you are caught in deteriorating conditions in a bay with no shelter get out to sea. Keep yourself, your crew and your boat safe and comfortable.


S/V B'Shert

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by GILow

d had seen the same winds forecast a few days out? (35 - 40 knots, I was seeing the odd 50 + knots reading from the top of the mast at about 4 am.)



What do people usually do in such situations? Head for deeper water? Head for a yacht club and book a pen for a few nights? Find a bay that is likely to shelter you from the worst of the forecast wind angles?

Matt

Oh, goody! I can answer this question because i jus done it! GET OFF THE FRICKIN WATER!

I just did a 2 day diversion (ie 220 miles) to get to a safe harbour when bad weather was forecast a few days forward.

I think , as you rightly point out, its dependant on what notice you are given. No notice, you do what you need to keep/get sea room and hove to. With time you have more options. But getting the boat into a nice safe anchorage or save marina is the best for lots of reasons:
Better for the boat, equipment
Better for crew moral
Safer for crew
Enforced stop in a place with tourism potential you would not have stopped in.

Btw, it must have been friggin cold in SA in the middle of winter in 50 knots!! I grew up in Glenelg...


Mark

[gjordan]

As has been said, get to a safe harbor. Going offshore is an option, but if it is your first time overnight in gale strength winds the fatigue factor will probably be overwhelming. Fatigue, sea-sickness and plain old fear lead to very dangerous decision making. If you say that your docklines snapped, but neighbors rescued the boat, then double or triple the dock lines and stay tied up. If a less than great anchorage is your only option, then make sure you dont anchor too shallow and put down your biggest and best hook and make sure the whole anchor system is good. There is no such thing as too big of an anchor once it is off of the bow. I used to carry a 90# Northhill as a storm hook. I never had to use it, but it stowed well and was cheep insurance. And remember, no boat is worth drowning for. _____Grant.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Port Phillp Bay, Vic, today,

Hells Bells!

[GILow]

Hmmm... well thank you all. A good diverse range of opinions lends weight to the "it depends" answer I suppose.


At least there does not seem to be any hard and fast rule. I am inclined to head for a marina as MarkJ suggests, if safe to do so, given that we plan to be in no rush, but it is a good point made by Greg that it has to be safe to do so. I am assuming at this stage that, given we will be coastal cruising, we will have a pretty good forecast window with time to alter course and plans so that we would make landfall before the winds hit.


Maybe I need to find a way of testing our anchors in strong winds as soon as it is safe to do so. Our Sarca is a little small I suspect, but the stockless is well, well oversized. Plus I still have the very heavy old CQR ripoff, maybe that could be useful?


FWIW, I have been out in 45 plus knots in our boat a couple of times now, and my impression (I could be very wrong) is that it would be reasonably safe and not particularly tiring to stay out in those conditions and a bit more, provided we had sea room. The heavy old canoe stern hull is not fast but it is very forgiving and comfortable.


Matt

[Hydra]

Some marinas are known to be exposed to the swell in severe conditions. There are at least 2 in my area where I don't want to be in a gale. A good sheltered anchorage in a river is better than an exposed marina.

Alain

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Hydra

Some marinas are known to be exposed to the swell in severe conditions. There are at least 2 in my area where I don't want to be in a gale. A good sheltered anchorage in a river is better than an exposed marina.

Alain

Yeah, that is a good point, not least because we would not know which marinas had that problem in advance... I suppose local boat net gossip would be your friend in those circumstances.

I have one of only 10 pens at our club that are susceptible to wave conditions (not swell) and only in a very strong NW wind. But anyone looking at an aerial view would never think there could be a problem.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Hydra

Some marinas are known to be exposed to the swell in severe conditions. There are at least 2 in my area where I don't want to be in a gale. A good sheltered anchorage in a river is better than an exposed marina.

Alain

+1! Coff's harbour is terrible in strong northerlies, much better to be anchored somewhere like Laurieton or even Port Macquarie.

In Aus there's usually lots of notice of really bad weather, we've always had plenty of time to go to a suitable anchorage.

[El Pinguino]

Stuff is normally well forecast on the east coast... however.....
I've been caught once off Gabo northbound and found myself living in 'interesting times' but that was some years ago... hopefully with good wx info from multiple sources these days you will see stuff coming.

Rule #1 If in doubt stay put.
Rule #2 Never second guess yourself and go into ' she'll be right' mode.
Rule #3 Refer rules 1 and 2.

The experience of one of the Pingmobile's sister ships here https://yachtcamomile.co.uk/2013/02/

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

+1! Coff's harbour is terrible in strong northerlies, much better to be anchored somewhere like Laurieton or even Port Macquarie.

In Aus there's usually lots of notice of really bad weather, we've always had plenty of time to go to a suitable anchorage.

Actually, I believe that Coffs was pretty well wrecked by the last NE storm a month or so ago... but it was teetering for years before that! Not a safe option IMO, and the anchorage in the harbour is pretty iffy. But it's only a daysail to the Clarence and Iluka is well protected...

And I agree: on the east coast of mainland Oz, you are never more than a day or so away from a decent anchorage, and the f/c are damn good at giving you more warning than that... at least for major system storms. Thunderstorms are a different matter, but are generally short lived.

Matt, you will gradually become used to anchoring in nasty wx. With good tackle and some forethought, the hazards are not overwhelming. Gaining the confidence to face the hazards without excess anxiety can only be achieved with experience. Accumulating that experience can be stressful... and I don't know how one can avoid that portion of the learning curve.

Jim

[GILow]

Jim,

Gaining that experience is the interesting bit. I am increasingly tempted to go out in more and more adverse conditions here at home to test myself and the boat systems and to learn to manage under pressure. But against that is the thought that exposing myself and the boat to unneeded risk is a silly idea. Not to mention the risk to anyone who tries to save me if it all goes pear shaped.

Matt


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