We had our sixth voyage on the C-14 this past Sunday and wow! What an adventure! The afternoon started quietly enough with my wife and two daughters aboard. Winds were 5-10 kts with occasional gusts to 13. I have a Minn Kota trolling motor and it was so calm, we needed it to exit the marina. My youngest commented that sailing was "boring".
Her attitude didn't last long after we got out in the middle of Round Bay on the Severn and winds got more steady. It was a beautiful day for sailing, 75 degrees with slight cloud cover to prevent sunburn. After about three hours we toyed with heading back when the skies suddenly grew much clearer and the winds started to increase. It was really pretty amazing how fast the weather changed. After it all happened and we got back home, I checked the records of the nearest NOAA anemometer and it showed sustained winds of 10 kts / gusts 11 kts at the 4 PM hour, and sustained winds of 22 kts / gusts 24 kts at the 5 PM hour. Yikes!
So... the wind is getting stronger and the only way I can keep the boat upright is let the sails luff violently. It occurs to me the jib needs to come down. I turn the C-14 into the wind and struggle with explaining to my wife how to lower the jib. Then the bow got turned to starboard - the side I was sitting on - and over we went, tossing all four of us in the water.
As somewhat of an expert on capsized sailboats (Sunfish and Moths) I immediately swam around the stern to climb on top of the hull and grab the centerboard, only I was too late. In less than 15 seconds the Capri had turtled and was completely upsidedown. While my family clung to the gunwales, the youngest screaming in terror, I climbed atop the hull and bounced my puny 190 pounds this way and that trying to right the boat. It wasn't budging.
Fortunately along came a party in a pontoon boat and the skipper offered assistance. Although this was the first time i had turtled a boat, I knew eventually we would get blown ashore and the bottom would bring up the mast. Had I been alone I would have declined the offer but one look at my nine year old's face brought out, "Can you take my family aboard?"
With my loved ones safe and sound, I dove under the boat to get a line (the jib halyard) hoping to add more leverage to the righting effort. No luck. Then the skipper of the pontoon boat, named Jason, climbed onto the hull to lend his 230 pounds to the effort. Still no luck. We decided to try attaching a rope from his boat to the U-bolt on the bow to see if a slow tow would help roll the mast sideways enough to let us leverage the boat upright. That didn't work either. Then another burly fellow from the pontoon boat joined us on the upturned hull and I dove again underneath to make sure the sheets were all loose and the sails were free. Will me tugging on the windward stay underwater, and both of them leaning on the centerboard, we could not pull the boat even a few degrees upright. I considered perhaps the mast was stuck in the bottom but we were definitely drifting ashore. It appears in heavy winds, the C-14 is far more stable upside down than rightside up. Go figure!
After about 20-30 minutes of this, both boats drifted into the shallows, the mast got stuck in the mud and my two new best friends managed to lever the boat at least onto it's side. Jason asked if they could stand on the centerboard and I told him probably not out at the end, but close to the hull. I was afraid they would snap it off. Still the boat would not swing upright until I uncleated both halyards and drew in the sails. This surprised me since both sheets had pulled completely free of their cleats.
Once upright and the sails stowed out of the wind, they towed us easily back to the marina. I offered them a ton of money for the gas they used but they wouldn't take it. Say what you want about motor boaters, but I find them exceedingly useful at times.
In retrospect, I learned many things about the Capri and the other aspects of our adventure. We didn't lose anything except one shackle and a water-logged cell phone. The Minn Kota Riptide motor worked pretty good after being submerged for all that time but the switch started to smoke and might need replacing. We just have to wait and see whether it survives or not.
My boat is of the Model 2 variety with the forward hatch sealed by a large fiberglass pocket, thus preventing the boat from swamping and no doubt contributing to the trouble we had in getting her righted. I suspect with no water flooding the hull, she's just a bit too bouyant and her center of gravity is a bit too high to leverage her back over easily. Still... after reading Steve Spratt's adventure, I'm thinking I prefer a bouyant hull.
Even though our mast has the foam plug in the top, there appeared to be no hesitation preventing the boat from turtling. I suspect when the winds are high enough, they just have to get under the hull and over you go until completely inverted. It really was only a matter of seconds.
Another thing I learned is to educate any passengers and crew ahead of time to perform essential tasks like dropping a jib or reefing a sail when I can't let go of the tiller. After the wind picked up, we had about five minutes to get the boat seaworthy for what was coming but that time was wasted deciding what to do and explaining how to do it. That won't happen again.
Although we survived the experience relatively unscathed, I've taken steps to make sure we don't get into the same trouble again. The local Hobie Cat dealer is sending us a "Baby Bob" mast float which should arrive by this weekend. If anyone has installed such a device atop their mast, I would be grateful for any insights into fastening, etc. It would be great if we could spend the weekend sailing and not engineering, if you know what I mean.
Secondly, I would like to know if anyone has retrofitted any efficient and relatively simple reefing schemes for the main sail. Although I think just dropping the jib would have been sufficient to return control of the boat, that might not be true and there is always the possibility of getting into heavier winds.
Finally, when pulling the boat onto the trailer and removing the drain plug, there appeared to be at least 10 gallons of water in the hull. All previous outings it had been bone dry inside. Where did this water come from? Around the seam between the hull and deck? Is that normal??
Thanks in advance for all your replies,
Jim
Her attitude didn't last long after we got out in the middle of Round Bay on the Severn and winds got more steady. It was a beautiful day for sailing, 75 degrees with slight cloud cover to prevent sunburn. After about three hours we toyed with heading back when the skies suddenly grew much clearer and the winds started to increase. It was really pretty amazing how fast the weather changed. After it all happened and we got back home, I checked the records of the nearest NOAA anemometer and it showed sustained winds of 10 kts / gusts 11 kts at the 4 PM hour, and sustained winds of 22 kts / gusts 24 kts at the 5 PM hour. Yikes!
So... the wind is getting stronger and the only way I can keep the boat upright is let the sails luff violently. It occurs to me the jib needs to come down. I turn the C-14 into the wind and struggle with explaining to my wife how to lower the jib. Then the bow got turned to starboard - the side I was sitting on - and over we went, tossing all four of us in the water.
As somewhat of an expert on capsized sailboats (Sunfish and Moths) I immediately swam around the stern to climb on top of the hull and grab the centerboard, only I was too late. In less than 15 seconds the Capri had turtled and was completely upsidedown. While my family clung to the gunwales, the youngest screaming in terror, I climbed atop the hull and bounced my puny 190 pounds this way and that trying to right the boat. It wasn't budging.
Fortunately along came a party in a pontoon boat and the skipper offered assistance. Although this was the first time i had turtled a boat, I knew eventually we would get blown ashore and the bottom would bring up the mast. Had I been alone I would have declined the offer but one look at my nine year old's face brought out, "Can you take my family aboard?"
With my loved ones safe and sound, I dove under the boat to get a line (the jib halyard) hoping to add more leverage to the righting effort. No luck. Then the skipper of the pontoon boat, named Jason, climbed onto the hull to lend his 230 pounds to the effort. Still no luck. We decided to try attaching a rope from his boat to the U-bolt on the bow to see if a slow tow would help roll the mast sideways enough to let us leverage the boat upright. That didn't work either. Then another burly fellow from the pontoon boat joined us on the upturned hull and I dove again underneath to make sure the sheets were all loose and the sails were free. Will me tugging on the windward stay underwater, and both of them leaning on the centerboard, we could not pull the boat even a few degrees upright. I considered perhaps the mast was stuck in the bottom but we were definitely drifting ashore. It appears in heavy winds, the C-14 is far more stable upside down than rightside up. Go figure!
After about 20-30 minutes of this, both boats drifted into the shallows, the mast got stuck in the mud and my two new best friends managed to lever the boat at least onto it's side. Jason asked if they could stand on the centerboard and I told him probably not out at the end, but close to the hull. I was afraid they would snap it off. Still the boat would not swing upright until I uncleated both halyards and drew in the sails. This surprised me since both sheets had pulled completely free of their cleats.
Once upright and the sails stowed out of the wind, they towed us easily back to the marina. I offered them a ton of money for the gas they used but they wouldn't take it. Say what you want about motor boaters, but I find them exceedingly useful at times.
In retrospect, I learned many things about the Capri and the other aspects of our adventure. We didn't lose anything except one shackle and a water-logged cell phone. The Minn Kota Riptide motor worked pretty good after being submerged for all that time but the switch started to smoke and might need replacing. We just have to wait and see whether it survives or not.
My boat is of the Model 2 variety with the forward hatch sealed by a large fiberglass pocket, thus preventing the boat from swamping and no doubt contributing to the trouble we had in getting her righted. I suspect with no water flooding the hull, she's just a bit too bouyant and her center of gravity is a bit too high to leverage her back over easily. Still... after reading Steve Spratt's adventure, I'm thinking I prefer a bouyant hull.
Even though our mast has the foam plug in the top, there appeared to be no hesitation preventing the boat from turtling. I suspect when the winds are high enough, they just have to get under the hull and over you go until completely inverted. It really was only a matter of seconds.
Another thing I learned is to educate any passengers and crew ahead of time to perform essential tasks like dropping a jib or reefing a sail when I can't let go of the tiller. After the wind picked up, we had about five minutes to get the boat seaworthy for what was coming but that time was wasted deciding what to do and explaining how to do it. That won't happen again.
Although we survived the experience relatively unscathed, I've taken steps to make sure we don't get into the same trouble again. The local Hobie Cat dealer is sending us a "Baby Bob" mast float which should arrive by this weekend. If anyone has installed such a device atop their mast, I would be grateful for any insights into fastening, etc. It would be great if we could spend the weekend sailing and not engineering, if you know what I mean.
Secondly, I would like to know if anyone has retrofitted any efficient and relatively simple reefing schemes for the main sail. Although I think just dropping the jib would have been sufficient to return control of the boat, that might not be true and there is always the possibility of getting into heavier winds.
Finally, when pulling the boat onto the trailer and removing the drain plug, there appeared to be at least 10 gallons of water in the hull. All previous outings it had been bone dry inside. Where did this water come from? Around the seam between the hull and deck? Is that normal??
Thanks in advance for all your replies,
Jim