A Strategy to Survive Heavy Weather / Seas (?)

[Kelly Hanson East]

With all due respect to Mad Mike, I am of the opinion that anyone who would consider crossing an ocean in a MacGregor 26 is playing Russian Roulette.

Absolutely. Mike has made extensive mods to his boat but more importantly has a wealth of experience from which to draw when the excrement hits the fan.

You CANT divorce the skill of the skipper from these discussions imho, it is the most important factor for survival and will determine outcomes far more than what sails you are using, etc.

One thing I have learned from my modest experience - at some point in your sailing life, you adopt the philosophy that your sails are a more reliable motor than your kicker and are the propulsion system of choice in heavy weather (with correctly rigged boat, correct choice of sail, etc). I used to feel safer cruising the cape under power when the seas kicked up - then a couple of summers ago I realised how fragile that approach was....the realisation for me was coming through Canapitset Channel under power, with sails tucked away, and having the engine alarm go off 100 yards from a lee rocky shore in heavy tidal flow......

[John McDonough]

Worst case Senario..

Delevi mentioned that a Mac should not go more than 100 miles offshore. At 100 miles out, and you hear there is a big storm coming, it would take you at least 15 hours to sail back, if its the calm before the storm you better have at least 20 gallons of gasoline and at least 5 hours at full throttle. If its rough seas and you have to motor, you will need much more fuel,and more hours.

[tangentair]

I have been in conditions that left me wondering if God meant for men to leave dry land that were withing 2 to 3 miles of a safe harbor and less than 1/2 mile from shore. Fortunately, when this has happened she has kept her sense of humor regarding my ineptitude. As previously pointed out - I would rather be on a marginal boat with a great captain than a great boat with a marginal captain.

[David Mellon]

With my two 12 gallon tanks, at full throttle, my range is about 75 miles. I would feel unsafe out of motoring range of a safe port in my Mac. One reason I chose the Mac is its ability to "not be there" when the weather turns for the worst. As it is, The only destination offshore here is Catalina Island, from the Cabrillo Beach ramp in Long Beach both ends of the island are less than 23 miles so I am in no danger of being out of escape range. But, when I have considered farther destinations I have always included more fuel as a requirement.

[maddmike]

It might surprise some to learn I consider going far out to sea alone in any boat a form of Russian Roulette. The trick is trying to reduce both the probability and severity of unforeseen circumstances. It's more a matter of developing the skill and experience needed to understand exactly how many chambers and how many bullets you're dealing with at any given time. A good boat and good captain might equal one bullet in a 100,000 chamber pistol, while 'Joe Newbee' setting off in a stock MAC after one day of practice on lake 'no wind' would be playing Russian Roulette with one bullet in simi-automatic clip. Its all a matterof playing to your strong points and covering your butt concerning weak points as much as possible; to put it another way, one needs a good understanding of actual risk vs. consequences. I'm a lot more comfortable estimating my risks and skills at sea than I am at guessing which driver on the other side of the white line has been drinking.

MM

[ROAD Soldier]

I will not go any further off shore then my radio will reach. I also have a storm sail for high winds to maintain steerage way and practice setting it up ( making sure I was close enough to a protective cove if something went wrong) in real high winds 30+ knots once and it worked as advertised. If I really had to I could attach my drift anchor to the bow and hold out for a little while before hitting shore. Defiantly would have to be at the bow because just using it for fishing on regular tides at the stern you can see the stress on those cleats, it pulls hard but works great. I like it so much that I hardly use the real anchors anymore.

[waternwaves]

I love that quote Mike.....

Its all a matterof playing to your strong points and covering your butt concerning weak points as much as possible

and being I have such a large butt.....
It takes me a long time and lots of material to cover it.

for example......for this weekends wonderful sea trials cruise in the straights of georgia...

Extended Forecast
Issued 04:00 AM PST 10 December 2008
Friday
Wind northwest 10 to 20 knots increasing to 25 to 35 in the afternoon.
Saturday
Wind northwest 25 to 35 knots diminishing to northeast 15 to 25.
Sunday
Wind northeast 15 to 25 knots increasing to 20 to 30.
Friday..Rain or snow. Low plus 1. High plus 4.
Saturday..Sunny. Low zero. High plus 2.
Sunday..Sunny. Low minus 2. High minus 1.
Normals for the period..Low plus 1. High 6.

gotta love that sailing in the northwest..... Foulies-Check, Deck boots-Check, neoprene gloves-check, goggles-check, radar -check.
did I mention there is no enclosure or bimini on the boat this weekend.....

Thermal pocket handwarmers....... (where the hull are they........)

But for some strange reason.......... I would rather see things break while the broker (hmmmm... pun intended) still has the boat and before I sail it 150 miles south to its new home.

what a hobby.............

[technicalman]

My strategy has been to plan a 4 day trip around a 15 day forecast. Go when the weather is good.

[waternwaves]

Classic TvM (Time versus Money)

Have to do sea trials before signing on the boat......, not a pleasure cruise..... and a lot of testing gets done in a short period of time this way...... especially in bad weather...lol and my less less than exemplary december sailing luck.

should be interesting..... I'll take a couple of days to sail her back during the christmas break... 1 day to bellingham...... 1 more day to edmonds....... maybe have tri county diesel service go through the engine while she lies in bellingham...

looks like too little wind will not be a problem.