Spinnaker Training

After digesting last weeks official spinnaker training with Diane, it was time to dial in the workflow on Knee Deep the amazing Shark. Monday night had some wind as the Rex high pressure system that had been wallowing over Lake Ontario was finally bored and decided to move on.

The Shark 24 has a few nuances compared to the more race orientated Beneteau 25 footers we were training on. The pole for one is much lighter on the Shark and it sits ready restrained on the SB side of the boom with a single Pole Up / Pole down line. (I get a picture of that soon!) Similarities include launching the spi (French term) from the companionway and that the sheets (guys) can be crossed rigged for easier management. The Shark doesn’t seem to get quite as downwind as the Beneteau and she also seems to like to jibe the main first. More practice required.

On Monday Victor and I got in a couple hours with several jibes and of course lots of mistakes and experiments on how to do things more efficiently. Tuesday night I got out with Arjuna and Mike and we got things going more smoothly.

Spi Training Routes

Formula For Disaster / Personal Minimums

While preparing for the Bark At The Moon Race which Arjuna and I raced shorthanded, I was particularly focused on increasing our safety on board Need Keep as she has no real offshore safety stuff; life lines, jack lines, pumps, EPIRB etc. so I set about to do the best I could.

I had got some feedback from Coach Paul regarding some installation ideas, but I didn’t really understand the boat structure until I got the jackline hardware down to the boat. The placement for jacklines or somewhere to clip in – just wasn’t working out. I also needed to measure the tether distance and get the padeye’s back plated. Then I am debating the continued investment in making this a safer offshore/overnight boat knowing something is coming around the corner. (More on that next week).

Ok. So – back to the point – while researching safety stuff, I came across a great excerpt from the Annapolis Book of Seamanship called the Formula For Disaster. I found this here on CrusingClub.org. The message really got me thinking about Factor 1 in the formula – “A rushed, ill-considered departure.” That seems to be the common denominator in most sailing disasters. I have posted the full excerpt below hoping it might be helpful to someone in the future.

I also discovered the idea of ‘Personal Minimums and Policies‘ from the FAA used by pilots. Those should be written down to refer to in times the provoke hasty decisions or when exhaustion or time adds distortion to normal decision making.

The purpose of having a personal minimums checklist is to facilitate good aeronautical decision making, including making the critical “Go/No-Go” decision. The NTSB estimates approximately 75% of all accidents can be attributed to pilot error. Undoubtedly many of these errors can be traced to poor decision making by the pilot in command. Having a personal minimums checklist and a firm commitment to following these minimums will result in better decision making and a safer pilot.

For example, for the upcoming night race, my personal policy will by no alcohol on board, 2 sets of navigational lights, 2 VHF radios, power flash light, sails down over 15 knots and motor to NYC and no spinnaker that night no matter what. I am working on my current personal minimums contract with myself and I’ll post it on the boat. There is a good read here on the concept from the AOPA: https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/online-learning/safety-spotlights/do-the-right-thing/personal-minimums

Formula for Disaster – From The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

Study of the 1979 Fastnet storm and other calamitous evens reveals repeated patterns of human behavior in catastrophe that can be summarized (in my words) as the Formula for Disaster. The Formula consists of seven factors that appear time and again in major emergencies. Often only three or four of them are at play, but there are some catastrophes where all seven can be found. (These factors can be found in disasters on land as well.)

Factor 1. A rushed, ill-considered departure is first on the list because it turns up in almost every bad accident. While the demands of jobs, families, and racing schedules often dictate when we go out on the water, none of these imperatives bears any relation to the schedule that counts the most in good seamanship. That schedule is nature’s cycle of tide and wind.

Factor 2. The route is dangerous because it passes through predictably risky waters.

Factor 3. The route has no alternative where the crew can “bail out.” Many crews have got into serious trouble because they set courses far from intermediate harbors of refuge.

Factor 4. The crew is unprepared. Poor crew preparation can take several forms. Sailors may not be prepared for seasickness, or they come aboard exhausted. If they lack good foul-weather gear and warm clothes, they’re candidates for hypothermia. Some people do not have the basic sailing skills and experience to handle themselves and the boat. They may not have a safety harness or PFD (the skipper should have already told them to bring them.)

Factor 5. The boat is unprepared. Major damage can occur because the crew, when preparing the boat, did not have a worst-case state of mind. The results can be dangerous. To cite a few simple examples, when charts are missing, boats can’t find refuge; when flashlights don’t have batteries, nobody on deck can see at night; when knives are dull, lines can’t be cut; when life jackets are waterlogged, they won’t provide buoyancy; when the boat’s batteries aren’t tied down, they may capsize and leak noxious acid into the bilge and force the crew on deck.

Factor 6. The crew panics after an injury. A shipmate’s injury or illness always threatens to distract the crew from good seamanship. In order to get the injured person to assistance, people may make well-meaning but poor decisions that put the boat and her whole crew at risk — like sailing toward a lee shore in a gale or abandoning ship even though the boat is floating. Even when the injury or illness is treated competently on board, crew discipline can break down.

Factor 7. Leadership is poor. Vague, weak leadership can cause low morale and lead to mistakes. Poor leadership often results from an excess of testosterone. Macho skippers unable to admit their personal limitations may lose the respect of their crews. A skipper who does not wear a life jacket or safety harness in rough weather sets a poor example, and one who does not assign a clear line of authority may cause a leadership vacuum. A good skipper knows when to defer to the judgments of more talented people and also whom to appoint in a chain of command.

To put this another way, bad things can happen when leadership is weak or confused, and when critical thinking is not employed

From The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

Boat Search – Update 20456

Facts are, Gladis is stiff for sale, reduced to $3k – There are apparently few folks interesting in 60 year old day sailboats even though there is such a great Shark 24 community on the Great Lakes. Someone is going to get a good deal! If you are interested – here is the ad on Kijiji!!

Kijiji Ad: https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1634196973

We have been enduringly pestering the dude for the Figaro 1 as it’s right next door but understandably the seller does not want to be without a boat as he appears to really love it. Makes sense. I hope he finds a new muse soon as the kids are looking for a commitment to Aurora the Figaro 2 within a few weeks and it looks like the offshore school might be releasing a couple school Figaro 2’s into the market. One day part of TWIS will have some more interesting news!

Collapsing or Lightning Bowline

So Victor showed me this version of a bowline – it’s quite brilliant and fast if you have a decent working end. It took me a while but the website below explains it really well. I’ll take a video sometime and upload it here but the linked site will do the trick.

https://www.survivalsullivan.com/lightning-bowline-knot/