After sending off the post last night, the sea state became even more contumacious. For the first time in 6000 hours of cruising with Wind Horse we found it advantageous to slow down – a lot – from 1800 rpm to 1500 and a boat speed of eight knots or less.
Although the wind never blew that hard – the most we saw in squalls was 45, with occasional steady periods of 40 knots – it must have been blowing harder prior to our arrival to raise such a large sea.
On occasion we’d have a crest of easily six feet / two meters over the bow and above the stern. Very good stuff for keeping a designer’s parameters fixed in a proper sea-going context.
What made things interesting was bow quarter waves (each side) along with the head seas, so the occasional pitch was enhanced with a quick, albeit limited, transverse heel.
Every design detail oriented towards keeping us comfortable and safe was in use. Handrails, fiddle rails, furniture placement, companionway design including width, the galley layout, were all doing their part.
And when the bow would drop ten feet/three meters into a trough we were very pleased to have such high structural factors of safety.
You might be tempted to think that modern weather forecasting, especially coastal, will enable you to avoid such situations. Yet these lovely test conditions were far more vigorous than what had been forecast (it would be interesting to look for buoy data at Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina to see wave and wind there. At 0100 on December eighth we were eighteen miles from the edge of the shoals.)
Which brings us to this morning, with a rising barometer, a moderated sea, and clear sky. We will soon have the air conditioning on as the Gulf Stream, now at 81F/27C, is banishing winter blues. We are back up to cruise, eleven knots, 1850 RPM, motion is minimal, life is good.
Wind Horse is content, her little Deeres are purring away, she has a dry interior, and her crew is in reduced wardrobe mode.
A final thought on tradeoffs. We are continually faced with opposing demands of comfort and safety at sea, and interior volume when anchored. What we know from long experience, our own and that of our clients, is that as rare as conditions like last night are, they are what you remember. You either have confidence in knowing your vessel can deal with them, or you start to get the “what ifs”. It is the latter that makes marinas so hard to leave, and the former which gives you the ability to say “let’s get on with it” and go when others are waiting for the ever illusory perfect weather window.
OK, enough from us. There are many highly experienced cruisers and professional seamen amongst SetSailors. What are your thoughts on this subject?
Posted by Steve Dashew (December 8, 2012)
December 8th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Waves be damned, it’s erudition that counts. Contumacy is rare in cruising blogs, so thank you for raising the bar.
December 8th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Now Steve, you’re asking for comment from the fannery. Of wot I am of course one. I suspect you expect only the dithrambic. So, in the interests of leavening – I am a little dubious about the height of the bridge in the 115 – the roll period may be long but it seems to me that the length of the arc may be uncomfortable. And, while I’m aware of the value to motion calming that a mast has in a sailboat, I look at all the up high aluminium in the 97 and think hmmmm…
All of which said, I’m sure you have the sums well worked out and I’m still, and religiously, putting most of my pocket money into a tin marked FPB64. Ho hum.
December 9th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Bob:
VCG and the limit of positive stability for the FPB 97 are way beyond anything normal for an ocean going craft, so LPS is not an issue. However, to the extent there is motion, it will be accelerated with height.
December 9th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Erudite?
It is only fair to ask – contumacious of what ?
The last recorded instance of the sea’s contumacy was when it ignored King Canute’s command for the tide to go back and he ended up wading home gathering his kilt up with one hand and holding his flip flops aloft with the other
So who is it that is trying to throw their weight around this time ?
Erudite or malapropos ?
December 9th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Hi Steve
Your post and the conditions remind me of what we experienced on two occasions on Iron Lady (FPB64-3) during our circumnavigation of NZ this year. Both occurred in the Southern Ocean – one around 48 South and the other off East Cape. Both were at night (always seems to be the case); both featured wind opposing current, and we were headed dead in to it. One event was not forecast and the other was forecast to be significantly weaker then it turned out to be. The first featured a 6 hour period of 50 pus knots and the second high 40’s. The seas were so violent that we, like you, slowed the boat down from 1800 RPM (10 knots) to 1400 and bore off around 30 degrees to keep the boat in the water. There is no way we could reckon the waves, but the seas were violent enough to blow water over the boat. The aft deck, which is normally serene in any almost any condition was moving violently enough to throw the 6 gallon gas tanks (full) to the front of the dink (we have now added stops to keep them in place).
In roughly 10,000 miles of cruising since we took delivery in Feb 2011, these were the worst conditions we have seen. They only lasted 12 hours or so and by morning, both the wind and seas had abated on both occasions. Certainly no fun and we never go looking for conditions like this. Point being, you do get caught on occasion and, when you do, it is mighty nice to have a boat that shrugs this kind of stuff off.
Best
December 9th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Going in harm’s way is a concept that captured my imagination as a youth, and the smooth complexity of your vessel that is so capable of doing that very thing holds my imagination as I get older. Rest well and cruise on in fair weather. Thank you for taking that storm for us.
December 13th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Hi My thoughts on trade offs, Of course it would be quite easy to have a version of your 64 that has a little longer upper house, queeze in a few more bunks I think this would appeal to a client who wants something seaworthy without looking like a nordhavn, that is not seriously going off shore but wants to take the family with him with the looks of a Hummer rather than a people mover
December 14th, 2012 at 8:16 am
So where are you now?
December 16th, 2012 at 11:58 pm
Harm’s way;
Exercised thesauruses aside, I find it totally satisfying that we can design and build something that will balance requirements as well as this yet still take on the worst of what mother nature conjures up. Though it is a matter or priorities, I would have to say that they are in the right place for a craft that can take you there and bring you back with such confidence in such conditions. It must be totally satisfying to experience this for those fortunate to already enjoy one of these well balanced wave piercing craft. Many may not think that form following function could be sexy in this context, but I beg to differ. It may be one of the ultimate expressions thereof in a craft of this size. OK, I will go back to my blues [Clapton] and chardonnay until I can enjoy this one day – hopefully very soon now.