| I own a Hunter 33 whch I consider to be fine for cruising in bays and to
local spots like Marthas Vineyard or Block Island. I would be concerned
however, with making a passage down the coast as you want. They are not
quite as stable as I would like in rough weather and the engine
(a Yanmar 16hp) needs to be cranked up to about 3 grand plus to take you
through any sizable chop. I like the boat, but then I'm realistic about
it.
Rick
** Having just come back from vacation at Block Island in August, I laid
over at Point Judith until morning. The next day I would have the tide
with me, calm seas and a 5 to 10 knot SW wind for a leisurely ride back.
Instead about a half hour out, the wind kicked up to 15 kts, the seas
4-5 ft and the sky clouded up. Before I knew it, Bonnie and I were
in the harnesses and surfing like hell. It was *fun* trying to keep
her from broaching until we got in Narragansett bay and relative calm.
My knotmeter was reading off 10 1/2 knots but when I went back against
my log and buoy times it figured out at 12+!!!! Quite a ride. When we
got into East Greenwich it was a gale with wind speed about 30 knots,
and 2 reefs in the main giving way to the "iron topsail". I would *NOT*
have wanted to test the boat in open ocean and those conditions.
|
| I decided to help my friend move his boat, at least as far as Norfolk, and
I thought I'd put in a reply to say how it went. The actual impetus comes from
Note 372 (stormy Bermuda trip) and my feeling that a comparison of the two
experiences might be worthwhile.
First, let me thank those who replied, both here in Notes and directly by E-
mail. The majority of what was said proved to be accurate, in particular the
comments on the boat not being an offshore boat and the cautions about the
weather.
Let me state first my reasons for going, then what we encountered, and finally
lessons learned.
The cost of trucking the boat from Portland, Maine to Charleston, South
Carolina was quoted at $2400. Add to this the costs on both ends of unrigging,
rerigging, launching, and other etcs and it was going to be a pretty hefty
bill. The gear added to the basically stock boat was an Apelco Loran and a
Navco Autopilot, plus a few incidentals...total costs about $1500. These of
course did not make it an offshore boat, but did up the safety factor by some
amount. (More on what we really needed later.)
Having sailed with the skipper before, I had complete confidence in both his
navigational abilities and his ability to keep cool under pressure. (We had
previously sailed down Penobscot Bay from Belfast to Owls Head in the fog w/o
seeing any land for 6hrs on DR only, hitting every buoy.)
The two other crew members had no ocean experience, but one races Lightnings
and the other was a Navy pilot and I thought they would be good crew.
A look at the pilot chart for April and the one for May (they ARE for
individual months) showed wind directions all around the clock (good chance
they would not be on the nose) and not too heavy. Percentage of gales was
low, etc.
So I decided to go. We left Sunday, May 4th bound for the Cape Cod Canal,
a 24hr run. (We thought.)
Six hours out we ran into 20-25kts on the nose and spent a large part of the
night tacking off of Cape Ann making little progress south. The lack of a
small headsail hindered our ability to point, particularly in the short, steep
seas (6-8').
Anchored off Plymouth Monday night to get a few ZZZ's and modified our plan
slightly to go to Newport. A nice fair weather run. It was like a ghost town
in Newport.
Left there Wed. noon under an ideal forecast...5-15kt NE winds for the next two
days. By nightfall, south of Block Is. it was already up to the 15 kts. but
the forecasts hadn't changed. During the night we gradually reduced sail as the
wind continued to build. With just a double reefed main it was becoming
difficult to hold the boat down to almost a run, with the danger of jibing if you
went too far down and the problem of rounding up and being broadside to the
waves if it got up at all. At about midnight, after one bad jibe and a couple
of roundups, we got the offwatch to help with getting the remaining sail off.
This slowed the boat from 7+kts to about 6 1/2 kts.
Now running before the wind under bare poles we were still going much too
fast (the waves had built to about 10-12') and the skipper called up the spare
anchor rode. We paid off the 300' of 1/2" in a loop off the stern and this
cut our speed to about 6kts. The boat seemed more manageable and I think the
loop of line helped keep the following seas out of our cockpit.
By morning we estimated the winds to be a steady 30-35kts with higher gusts and
the waves to be 12-14' in long regular sets. We had only one very large wave
come aboard over the stern, knocking the helmsperson off his seat and filling
the cockpit. Dropboards had been in place all night, so no water got below.
As the course we were on downwind was only a few degrees west of our rhumb line,
and the wind was not abating we sailing in this fashion all day Thursday and
through Thursday night. During this time the NYC and Atlantic City NOAA
stations had upgraded there forecasts from 5-15kts to 5-20kts.
The worst incident was Thursday night when we were about 50mi E of Atlantic
City, when white lights ahead changed to first one sidelight and then both.
I attempted to raise the vessel on VHF (16 and 13) to no avail. He gradually
drifted off to our right. Although it was a clear night, it was extremely
difficult to track other shipping as we descended into the big troughs.
Shortly after that I raised Cape May CG to advise them of our Lat/Long, "just
in case". (They seemed to appreciate this.)
Friday morning NOAA finally mentioned that there was a gale centered 200mi
SE of us. We decided to forgo another night on the sea, what with a lee
shore (DelMarVa peninsula) coming up and us still with no sail on the boat
going nearly 6kts and all. We motored to the mouth of Deleware Bay, entered
the CapeMay Canal and were at the dock by dinner time.
Saturday we talked over our experience, exchanged crew, and I returned home
while the boat continued south without further major incident.
Some thoughts on it all:
the boat held up fine, no leaks, no gear failures, etc (this was
my biggest fear, until we had the near head-on in the night)
the crew began to get exhausted from lack of sleep and lack of food;
it was too hard to eat even sandwiches
it was numbingly cold; we expected it N of Cape Cod, but not off NJ;
multi-layers of turtlenecks, sweaters, hooded sweats, foulies, wool caps and
mitts didn't do a thing
the hull form did not give a gentle motion, but rather a slamming one
we did not have sails to enable us to sail into more than a 25kt wind,
which greatly increased our risks
the engine is too small to power the boat in strong winds and seas
during the storm any man overboard would have been unrecoverable
the Navco autopilot was working great until the control unit got wet,
then it packed it in; the owner plans to have the replacement unit mounted
inside his cockpit locker
NOAA weather is NOT to be trusted; if it seems like it's getting bad,
it probably is
the LORAN was a great help because it freed us up from having to worry
about our position (we did have RDF and celestial as backups but using them
and keeping a DR plot would have been a real chore in the storm)
running off seemed an appropriate storm tactic for this boat under those
conditions
attention to the helm was critical and we limited each person to 30min
shifts during the 3hr watches; we were fortunate that all were able to pull
their share
It was an experience that I am glad I have had, but would not try to go out and
get and do not wish to repeat.
|
| The following comments are based on my (mainly inshore) experience
with racer/cruiser (light weight cruising) boats. I think that
if one is inclined to sail offshore extensively, it would be prudent
to choose a robust boat (both strength and displacement) for comfort
and safety (especially when shorthanded). The racer/cruisers element
is mainly inshore, light air sailing. Taking each into the others
world involves compromises.
The problem with jibing and broaching, reminds me of my last boat
which had a small main/large jib and the mast stepped well aft.
The weather helm was uncontrollable in breezes above 15kts and
would round up in a following sea/breeze in a snap. I dont think
the weight of the boat had as much to do with its handling in a
breeze as the position of the mast. Sure if she weighed twice as
much and had a full keel it would have been slower to respond but
the balance problem would still exist... My current boat has a
fractional rig with the mast well forward. I can adjust the helm
to my liking, with the headstay/backstay linkplates, from lee to
weather helm.
A friend with a Hunter 34' had severe weather helm, which he cured
by ignoring the 'yard' tune and adjusted the top of the mast slightly
forward of the bottom, then applying bend. He had to shorten the
headstay (no sweat with the furlers' Norseman fitting) and he put
split backstays in to control headstay sag without having to put
excessive standing loads on the rig. Now I am not a fan of Hunters
in particular, but his boat was not only a better handler, but it
was much more comfortable in a following sea when it was pulling
well. Since it balanced better he was able to carry his sail more
effectively and make more speed than before. Even with a big following
sea, it was fairly comfortable once she was doing 8+ kts. He never
could sail under main only though.
To an extent my boat (Tartan 33') is similar. If I am under-canvased
on a run (making less than 7kts) and the seas are fairly steep
(Buzzards Bay and Rhode Island Sound with a 20kt sou'wester) she
wallows and I have to steer a lot. Get enough sail into the act
so I am making above hull speed (say around 8kts) and the boat steadies
out nicely. This is the same technique (carried to extreme) used
by offshore multihull racers. Keep your speed up and she is manageable.
In 40+ knots, off the wind, I should be able to run with deep reefed
main alone and maintain the speed I want (I have done it in flat
water off Fishers Island but not for extended periods offshore)
without steering problems. The Hunter would still have a strong
weather helm and would do better under small staysail (storm trysail
rigged to foredeck padeye and jib halyard) which would move the
center of effort forward.
Anyway, thanks for the account of the trip.
Walt
|