San Diego Spoiled and Rough Weather

[kevin carroll]

OK, so granted I am a little spoiled and my idea of 'Rough Weather' may be decidedly different from your definition but I was caught in what I term rough weather this weekend. Whitecaps and big rolling waves seemed to be coming from every direction. Would it helped the rolling and pitching of the boat to have my rudders down?? How about Centerboard? Also the wind was blowing so every wave we caught lots of water over the bow. Overall not fun with a wife and two year old.

Kevin Carroll
Jump the Shark
01 26X
San Diego CA

[Tom Spohn]

Assuming whitecaps everywhere you could have been in winds of 22 to 27 kts. We get this condition in the Puget Sound when a strong northerly blows into an ebbing spring tide. We balast the boat, put down the rudders and centerboard and go slow. However the boat still pitches, rolls, and occasionally slams like it had just crossed a tugboat wake. The flat bottom on the X boat may be why these boats want to rise up and ride on the waves rather than cut through them. Sometimes it helps to put crew in the cabin on the v berth. Sometimes it doesn't seem to matter. Taking the waves at an angle helps sometimes. Also by watching the waves break ahead of the boat you can sometimes pick a line to minimize (but not eliminate) the pitching. (Kinda like skiing through moguls) Sometimes ducking behind a peninsula to try to get out of the wind seems to make it worse as the wind and waves may be swirling around rather than runnning steady.

We have never feared for ourselves or the boat in these conditions as the Mac just soldiers on through the waves, but we are not having fun yet!

[kevin carroll]

Yeah, never felt in danger, just extremely uncomfortable, a dodger or full enclosure would have really helped, but living in San Diego, it is difficult to justify the cost. I should have put the rudders down, it would have at least cause less work in keeping the boat pointed right and I could have 'skied' down some of the larger swells!! My wife fell down in the cabin but escaped injury. Having rain slicks on board really helped as well.

Kevin Carroll
Jump the Shark
01X
San Diego CA

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Contrary to what one may intuitively think, a sailboat is more stable in rough weather with a little sail up as opposed to bare poles. Even if you only have a tad of jib rolled out and motorsail, I think the boat is more stable than motor alone. Like others have said, lower all three boards and make sure the ballast is full.

A dodger is pretty necessary unless you like to be really wet or go less than 4 kn most of the time. You can make a Mac cut through waves ( with a good size load on board), I think this is usually a more comfortable ride than bouncing over the waves. A good speed for this is 6-10 kn, if you go much faster, you may start bouncing on the top of the waves as the boat starts planing.

[Rolf]

Kevin,
I sail/motor to Catalina with the wife and 3 year old from LA harbor regularly, and aftr getting caught in conditions you describe once ( I got soaked, wife and kid underneath got sick), I went all out and bought a custom dodger/standup bimini/window connector for $2,500 from www.Harbor custom canvas.com There are various other custom dodgers made just for mac. It was the best money I've spent, comfort is EVERYTHING.

Unless you have a following sea or are very uncomfortable safety wise, I like keeping boat light/ballast empty and cruising at 9-10 knots over swells in these conditions. Boat is just easier to steer(no autopilot till next month) like this, especially when fighting swells. Ballast full and rudder cb down works too but 5 knot max speed allowed is too slo for me(Wife would kill me if I tried to sail in these conditions, she just wants to get back to land).

The dodger and stand up bimini take extra time to set up, but like everything else on the mac, gets easier and faster with practice(don't know if you're slipped). I don't know how anyone can motor fast or endure rough weather sailing without at least dodger(especially in winter).
Rolf
2002x-Albatross

[BK]

The biggest mistake I made sailing was leaving Victoria in Puget Sound with Gale force winds in effect with 5-7 seas but I had to get back to Anacotes. I was going with the wind and waves with full ballast and going about 8-10 MPH. The Mac handled very well but turned to the right at the bottom of the larger waves. The towed dingy kept slamming into the back of the boat when a wave caught it but I could not do anything about it.
We just got back from the San Juans yesterday and the fog was very thick at Friday Harbor the day we were leaving. We just followed the ferry back to Anacotes. They go slower when the fog is thick so you can keep up with them. Usually they go 18 MPH.
Another thing I noticed about the dodger is that you get wind burn without it. I cannot see going out without it as it wind and water spray make it rough going.