Today Pat Anderson posted about their terrible night at a mooring wall. The wind shifted so that the location was no longer protected, and damage was done to their boat. Fortunately it was not "Cruise ending"--but it will be a pain to repair, and I know leaves a very bad feeling about the dangers of being on a wall where there is no protection.
The fist part is situational awareness--and this includes weather forecasts for wind shifts--it also includes your "gut feeling"--some times this may be a subtle swell change, at other times it is "Too calm"...You may see barometric pressure changes (My watch tells this these days).
The second, is as you choose your moorage--it might be a sea wall, as in Pat's case, or it might be anchoring--you are looking for protection in the current conditions. We always look where to go in worst case scenario--is the wind going to clock 180 degrees, and now what is protected became a lee shore?
Where can we hide if the wind changes, or if the water suddenly rises (such as in a Tsunami or meteotsunami caused by many different phenomena such as a Derecho, or sudden onset of a very intense squall line associated with rapid change of barometric pressure. Some times waves and tides can cause phenomena called rissaga in the Med, abiki in Japan--but also can occur in the Great Lakes! In 1984, we missed one of the rissaga in Ciutadella Harbor, Menorca by only a day!)
When we come into a harbor, we not only look at where we are going to anchor or moor for the night--but also where there might be an alternate anchorage where we might have to move, just in case the wind shifts, as it did on Pat. It is much easier now that we have chart plotters (Radar and a good sounder which shows the bottom is also important). We often will travel around the harbor before we go to our final destination to moor. We are looking at the bottom on the sounder (made even better with down scans now to avoid debris), assessing where we can anchor, and if there are any hazards along the way (floating logs for example--or rocks which are not shown).
After we have tied up, we look around, and see where those sanctuaries are located--take compass bearings, and often may turn the radar on, and co-ordinate the visual picture, with the radar and chart plotter. A number of times I have had to move the boat in the middle of the night. Having already a bearing allows us to start out in the right direction even before the chart plotter fires up or the radar has warmed up.
There also has to be a plan as to when to move. One area in Yugoslavia, we were anchored in, there was poor holding and a lee shore--but it was the only place we could stop. I was aware of the "Bora" a katabatibc wind like the Santa Ana of S. Calif. It was too calm: I started the engine, gave my children and wife each a very sharp knife. I told my family--if the wind gusts over 30 mph or the bow swings off, more than 10 degrees, I am putting the engine in gear and you are to cut both bow anchor lines and the stern lines immediately. We did that, and within seconds were on a course to sea, as the wind was quickly building to over 60 knots in minutes. We could not see the land features, but followed the compass course and radar. We stayed at sea until the wind died 6 hours later.
On New Years Weekend 1964 (I believe) I sailed to Two Harbors for New Years Eve Celebrations. We were on a mooring--and around dusk, I said to my crew--it is too quiet we are gong to sail over to Cat Harbor (protected side from Santa Ana Winds). We didn't get there until midnight--and by that time, the wind was 30 knots--by morning there were 4 boats on the beach at the Isthmus and 8 boats on the beach at Avalon--a number of other boats sustained damage. The wind thru the Isthums was 90 knots in gusts--the sea planes were taking off--going backwards over the land as soon as they were air born.
Another time anchored by Punta Santa Elena, Costa Rico, we had to move 3 times between 9 PM and 6 AM because of the wind shift, in wind velocities of over 60 knots.
We arrived in Cabo San Lucas only a little over a week after an unseasonal Chubasco put about 20 seasoned cruising boats on the beach one night in December. Of those 12 were damaged beyond repair, 5 were eventually repaired. We spent almost a month there helping those who lost their boats, and listened to their, and those who got away's stories. Some listened to the weather, looked at Weather FAX and either left early in the day, or when the waves first began to build even before the wind became so strong that it was almost impossible to get off the beach. Many boats had anchored close to shore, because it was "easy to swim or dinghy to the Pallapas there. Those who were further out, had a better chance of getting free without tangling props and rudders in the maze of anchor rodes which were floating once boats began to break free.
This last March, we moved twice in one night on St John's river because of the wind shift and increased velocity--and this was in a seemly protected area.
The moral of this post is to be prepared to move your boat to a safe place if the wind or sea conditions change to put your boat in peril.
The fist part is situational awareness--and this includes weather forecasts for wind shifts--it also includes your "gut feeling"--some times this may be a subtle swell change, at other times it is "Too calm"...You may see barometric pressure changes (My watch tells this these days).
The second, is as you choose your moorage--it might be a sea wall, as in Pat's case, or it might be anchoring--you are looking for protection in the current conditions. We always look where to go in worst case scenario--is the wind going to clock 180 degrees, and now what is protected became a lee shore?
Where can we hide if the wind changes, or if the water suddenly rises (such as in a Tsunami or meteotsunami caused by many different phenomena such as a Derecho, or sudden onset of a very intense squall line associated with rapid change of barometric pressure. Some times waves and tides can cause phenomena called rissaga in the Med, abiki in Japan--but also can occur in the Great Lakes! In 1984, we missed one of the rissaga in Ciutadella Harbor, Menorca by only a day!)
When we come into a harbor, we not only look at where we are going to anchor or moor for the night--but also where there might be an alternate anchorage where we might have to move, just in case the wind shifts, as it did on Pat. It is much easier now that we have chart plotters (Radar and a good sounder which shows the bottom is also important). We often will travel around the harbor before we go to our final destination to moor. We are looking at the bottom on the sounder (made even better with down scans now to avoid debris), assessing where we can anchor, and if there are any hazards along the way (floating logs for example--or rocks which are not shown).
After we have tied up, we look around, and see where those sanctuaries are located--take compass bearings, and often may turn the radar on, and co-ordinate the visual picture, with the radar and chart plotter. A number of times I have had to move the boat in the middle of the night. Having already a bearing allows us to start out in the right direction even before the chart plotter fires up or the radar has warmed up.
There also has to be a plan as to when to move. One area in Yugoslavia, we were anchored in, there was poor holding and a lee shore--but it was the only place we could stop. I was aware of the "Bora" a katabatibc wind like the Santa Ana of S. Calif. It was too calm: I started the engine, gave my children and wife each a very sharp knife. I told my family--if the wind gusts over 30 mph or the bow swings off, more than 10 degrees, I am putting the engine in gear and you are to cut both bow anchor lines and the stern lines immediately. We did that, and within seconds were on a course to sea, as the wind was quickly building to over 60 knots in minutes. We could not see the land features, but followed the compass course and radar. We stayed at sea until the wind died 6 hours later.
On New Years Weekend 1964 (I believe) I sailed to Two Harbors for New Years Eve Celebrations. We were on a mooring--and around dusk, I said to my crew--it is too quiet we are gong to sail over to Cat Harbor (protected side from Santa Ana Winds). We didn't get there until midnight--and by that time, the wind was 30 knots--by morning there were 4 boats on the beach at the Isthmus and 8 boats on the beach at Avalon--a number of other boats sustained damage. The wind thru the Isthums was 90 knots in gusts--the sea planes were taking off--going backwards over the land as soon as they were air born.
Another time anchored by Punta Santa Elena, Costa Rico, we had to move 3 times between 9 PM and 6 AM because of the wind shift, in wind velocities of over 60 knots.
We arrived in Cabo San Lucas only a little over a week after an unseasonal Chubasco put about 20 seasoned cruising boats on the beach one night in December. Of those 12 were damaged beyond repair, 5 were eventually repaired. We spent almost a month there helping those who lost their boats, and listened to their, and those who got away's stories. Some listened to the weather, looked at Weather FAX and either left early in the day, or when the waves first began to build even before the wind became so strong that it was almost impossible to get off the beach. Many boats had anchored close to shore, because it was "easy to swim or dinghy to the Pallapas there. Those who were further out, had a better chance of getting free without tangling props and rudders in the maze of anchor rodes which were floating once boats began to break free.
This last March, we moved twice in one night on St John's river because of the wind shift and increased velocity--and this was in a seemly protected area.
The moral of this post is to be prepared to move your boat to a safe place if the wind or sea conditions change to put your boat in peril.
