Fwd: Sailing is a Risk

Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Listees, We lost three sailors last night. Full details are not yet known, but the basics of the story are that a J-35 left Monroe Harbor last evening around 6pm, in VERY bad conditions, gale warnings, over 25 knots NE winds, over 6 feet waves with short intervals. They sailed to the Calumet Harbor breakwater, some 11 miles. While trying to take down the sails a crewmember went overboard. The boat sent a Mayday and began an attempt to recover the crew. They may have been capsized by the waves, but ended up being crushed on the breakwall. They were in the water about 45 minutes or so, and only one survived. They were all wearing PFDs. The water temp was 58 degrees. They were on their way to the boatyard for winter storage. They were not novices, the boat had done the Chicago-Mackinac race this year. In Chicago, in October, you pay very close attention to the Lake. It's been blowing from the NE for 3 days and you pay attention to that. I don't know why these guys made the decision they did, maybe we will find out from the survivor, but you can always reschedule your haulout, or whatever. It can always wait. It's not worth a life. Much less three. I had a personal experience once, when I was very green, and I made some decisions that I shouldn't have made, and was saved by some powerboaters. I became really conservative about safety, and am to this day. Just remember, as Jerry Powlas says, sailing is risky business, and you have a responsibility as an owner/captain toward your crew and ship. Regards, David Dobbs Cal29 411 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

I showed up at the start of the Oktoberfest race Sunday with mainsail reefed and #3 jib flying. Everyone teased me but one forecast, the National Weather Bureau, was for 20-25 knots with gusts up to 45knots, and up to 100 mph breezes in the canyons. There was a thick fog bank extending into the mountains in Malibu, which turned out to be smoke blowing down from the North (the big Malibu fire)..at Marina del Rey we had light breezes from the south. I ended up ditching the reefs and putting up my #2 before the start, and almost won my division except for my old 8 channel crapping out just as we headed for the last marker. Next time I'll go below and chart the buoy positions or...learn how to program my new Garmin 76map which I just got..only two years ago. Jerry --- On Thu, 10/25/07, david dobbs <tm… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: From: david dobbs <tm… [at] yahoo.com> Subject: [Cal_Boats] Fwd: Sailing is a Risk To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, October 25, 2007, 10:23 PM Note: forwarded message attached. ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail. yahoo.com

heaven help anyone overboard; let-a-lone in rough, cold, and or less-than tropical dock-side sort of conditions. i suppose when i think about it, sailing can be dangerous. but it need not be, and i see that as a very *Important* distention! fiver recently posted a short story of a sailing adventure she had on the Puget Sound aboard *Nemesis* (Cal 3-30), with Fred Haas (Owner & Capt.). at the Skipper's meeting before that days race, i took note of the *PFD's* the different people had worn to the meeting (required). mostly i think *inflatable* as they were hidden under jackets. i thought to myself; Ok, not my first choice. not in these cold- ass waters. as much to my surprise i had the only *float-coat* in the bunch. and i'd have had a small inflatable under that if i had the money too! one of those belt type. but first i need to get a par of CG approved overalls if i am going to keep sailing in the winter. after all, it's not just keeling your head above water that counts in the north. the cold water will kill your ass pretty bloody fast too! and i would rather be too hot while i am sailing than too cold while i am swimming. this as one is for fun, and the other is for life. but just the same, a couple of the fellows at the meeting had on real pretty (matching) red bad weather sailing suits. the sort that if one float-tests, will simply fill-up with water and sink like a sub. but i must say, they sure looked pretty! probable cost more than i paid for BB-54. but hay, they must have had some sort of inflatable under it all (for all the good that would have done them). each to their own, right. i am just using this as an example. for all i know the red suits may blow-up like the one Woody Allen wore in that old movie where the lady road him across the lake...... so now that i have this nice bomber-style float-coat and matching floating pants/coveralls; what if anything should i put in the pockets? will, a real good cutting instrument of some sort. if i go in the drink, i may need to cut myself free of something. and if there is an emergency onboard, i may need to cut a line, or even a halyard. such as in a blow-down. next a whistle, but not just one. i would also get a gas-powered min-horn and stick that i a pocket too! i have heard a story or two of boats hearing a whistle and not being able to tell where it's coming from. or a person whistling at a boat and the boat not hearing them. so next it's the best auto-strobe light i can find. that goes on the outside. and then a good (small) led water-proof led style flash-light for the pocket. and then the most important point, if nothing else; put your damn cell-phone in a zip-lock plastic bag and stuff that in a pocket. you just never know...... Oh, and if they ever invent a orange instant-inflatable balloon on a string, i'll get one of them too! now, start thinking about how the hell you are going to get out of the water again. it just mite be a bigger problem than finding you after you fall in you know. like last Saturday with Capt. Fred and i. if fiver had gone for a swim, how the hell was Fred going to get me out of the water once He me again? if He ever found me in that swell and wight-cap. it sure as hell wasn't likely that i was going to be of any help after even 5 or 10 minutes in Puget Sound. given that, what should been His first move, call the CG or go looking? it's certain He would not have been able to keep an eye on me and handle *Nemesis* at the same time. you all want to know the truth.... i have been around enough that i knew going out that day. if i had gone for a swim, i was dead the moment i hit the water. not off a sailboat...... there are things that the seaman can do to improve his or her survivability in the water. and i do all of those things i can. but when it comes right down to it, experience at sea makes all the difference in the world. that and the understanding that every part of that boat or ship is *Expendable* in the pursuit of safety. that means that if someone goes over the side; i don't take time to get the sail down. cut the bloody halyards, get the engine started and get that boat back to that person. i need a line; Wow, there is a jib sheet! now i got a line!!!! bill me for it..... if i can't get that person on board, tie a line around me and i'll go in and get em. then at lest we both got a line tied around us. if your near-shore, and you can't get them aboard, tie on to them and drag them to the shore. what is worth more, your boat or the life; you figure it out budds. where i come from, we don't leave a body to die alone. i never have, nor will i ever. i couldn't live with myself....... so what does all of this have to do with the tragic loss of the J-35 and her crew; well, beside the fact that every crew member has a responsibility to them selves to come aboard equipped and ready for his or her own personal safety. and with the guts to insist on it! i also feel that modern sailboats need to be outfitted for safety. something that i am sad to say they are not today. take a simple thing like the propeller. the feathering prop may be fine for a lake or up some small river. but it sure as hell isn't fine for place's where one may encounter heavy weather. i don't see how any boat can be expected to recover a man-over-board if the ship can't maneuver in the conditions under which it is likely to be out in when the man is lost in. but then what racer is going to hang a good high-thrust 3 or 4 blade screw under his tail unless the rules require all boats to do so? it's not unlike banning chemical weapons, isn't it. and then there is that cock-pit full of tiller that all of you sailors seem to just love so much. as far as i am concerned, it's bloody dangerous! lets ban the tiller in all boats above a given length and or weight. that way everyone will be playing with the same toys. and if not banning the tiller, then require the cock-pit to be twice the length of the tiller. these are just two simple observations that i have held for a long time. one of which was confirmed Saturday. but maybe people have gotten so used to boats the way they exist now that change is unthinkable. it isn't you know. just try coloring out of the box once in a while, or does it take the loss of a few more J-35's...... fiver, Master of The "BB-54" one of the famous Cal-28 flush-decks out of Sierra-5, Papa Hotel (in days gone by) now hove-too, not 10' south of my front porch; in my Sister Karen's one acre back yard....... (built like a Battleship; sails like a Sub......) ******************************** --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, david dobbs <tmft567@...> wrote: > > > > Note: forwarded message attached. > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > Listees, > We lost three sailors last night. Full details are not yet known, but the basics of the story are that a J-35 left Monroe Harbor last evening around 6pm, in VERY bad conditions, gale warnings, over 25 knots NE winds, over 6 feet waves with short intervals. They sailed to the Calumet Harbor breakwater, some 11 miles. While trying to take down the sails a crewmember went overboard. The boat sent a Mayday and began an attempt to recover the crew. They may have been capsized by the waves, but ended up being crushed on the breakwall. They were in the water about 45 minutes or so, and only one survived. They were all wearing PFDs. The water temp was 58 degrees. > They were on their way to the boatyard for winter storage. They were not novices, the boat had done the Chicago-Mackinac race this year. > In Chicago, in October, you pay very close attention to the Lake. It's been blowing from the NE for 3 days and you pay attention to that. > I don't know why these guys made the decision they did, maybe we will find out from the survivor, but you can always reschedule your haulout, or whatever. It can always wait. It's not worth a life. Much less three. > I had a personal experience once, when I was very green, and I made some decisions that I shouldn't have made, and was saved by some powerboaters. I became really conservative about safety, and am to this day. > Just remember, as Jerry Powlas says, sailing is risky business, and you have a responsibility as an owner/captain toward your crew and ship. > > Regards, > David Dobbs > Cal29 411 > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com >

Thanks, Dave. Timely and sad story. We are also doing heavy NE winds in the Chesapeake. I was supposed to take a mastless (sitting on deck) CAL 25 (Chicken Little) some 20+ miles to a new winter rehab home in Deale, MD. Water here is obviously still somwhat warmer than Lakes, but without a mast a sailboat wallows worse than a trawler, and we get short seas here in our shallow water. At any rate I postponed the trip. Yard schedule be damned. Take Care Everybody Charlie From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of david dobbs Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 1:24 AM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Fwd: Sailing is a Risk Note: forwarded message attached. Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Husar, Charlie [USA] wrote: > > Thanks, Dave. Timely and sad story. We are also doing heavy NE winds > in the Chesapeake. I was supposed to take a mastless (sitting on > deck) CAL 25 (Chicken Little) some 20+ miles to a new winter rehab > home in Deale, MD. Water here is obviously still somwhat warmer than > Lakes, but without a mast a sailboat wallows worse than a trawler, and > we get short seas here in our shallow water. At any rate I postponed > the trip. Yard schedule be damned. > The end of the season usually happens pretty quickly and abruptly. I rarely regret my haul dates, although there are usually the one or two pretty days when it would be fun to be out sailing and there's always at least one other boat out there having fun. Yesterday I was on the shore of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay and four boats were out sailing in the sunshine. Mind you, the temps were in the 50s so if there was much more than a light breeze it was chilly out there. I was jealous but realistic. These were probably local folks who could haul on short notice, now that the yards are past their peak haul-out rush. My other boat lives at the biggest yard there and is snug in the boat barn--gave a visit yesterday to verify that my new propeller would fit. The lesson from the J-35 story is that when risk factors accumulate, your risk minimizing practices should multiply. If it's blowing like stink and you're in big waves and they are of short period (steep) and the water is cold and you're working around the hard stuff at the edge of the water, you've got to be especially careful. Dave's note tells us that one sailor went overboard and the result was three plus the boat lost. That's no small toll. How sad. Chris Campbell