Storm Tactics

I have been a believer in the Lin and Larry Pardey approach to storm tactics but so far have not had to deploy a vessel stabilisation system such as a sea anchor. I have a medium sized parachute and long lead line (90m) with a nylon bridle to deploy from the bow. The idea being to maintain a hove-to point of sail. The problem that everyone mentions is that the boat might be moving backwards and thereby putting great strain on the rudder and tiller which is already under load trying to hold the bow into the wind. Louisa lies very nicely when hove-to in F9 winds in a breaking sea but I don't know what will happen in stronger winds.

I can see problems with a Jordan Series Drogue (JSD) on Louisa as the transom and overall freeboard aren't great and the risk of being pooped is significant but having been given a JSD which is suitable for Louisa it seems reasonable to set the boat up for this. The drogue consists of a 40m leader line and 40m drogue with 70 cones. I have made chain plates which will lead to fairleads on the transom. I have also made 6m bridle lines in 12mm double braid with chaff protection. A length of chain for weight and all packed in a waterproof holdall. 

Yet another addition to Louisa that I hope I never have to use!

Possible problems include entanglement with the self steering, excessive load on the fixings, being pooped and problems with deployment and recovery. I might test the system when I am next offshore but since I have only tested the sea anchor in the river this may not happen for quite a while.

 

   

Job list but no sailing

 With the lack of wind and prevailing high pressure conditions I have been tackling the job list. 

A while ago my mast head VHF antenna started to lean over at an increasingly alarming angle. I lack the strength to pull my self up the mast on my bosun's chair so I decided to make a mast ladder. Well it worked first go! I was up and down the mast twice before breakfast.

The VHF antenna was leaning over because a previous owner had used a wooden block to clamp the antenna in the bracket which had rotten out. I made a temporary block out of tape and the antenna is back to vertical. I'll leave it until it starts to lean over again before addressing it properly.

Also on the topic of electronics. I installed my French radar detector. It seems to work but with a river authority radar nearby it seems locked on that. I am looking forward to trying it at sea.

Other jobs included a new domestic battery, the last one lasted 9 years of continual use powering fans and an air freshner device. Re-commissioning the diesel heater and making a start on a second depth sounder were also progressed.

Bilge pump problems

I keep Louisa in the water all year round and to lessen the risk, or so I thought, I have an automatic electric bilge pump. I visited the boat last week and could hear a low buzzing sound. I traced it to the electric bilge pump. The battery powering it was very low, 10V or 6V depending on where I checked. As this is a brand new AGM 95Ah battery I was pretty upset. I decided to check the other bilge pumps. The cockpit pump failed to prime even though it worked fine last time I checked. The emergency bilge pump which is a double action pump, fitted so that I can still make a cup of tea if I need to, still needed testing. I filled the bilge up and started pumping, river water sprayed all over the forepeak where the outlet is! It emptied the bilge in seconds but not before there was a lot of water over my spare sails and the heads. I couldn't replicate the fault on the electric pump but another club member who has a wooden boat reckons he gets through 2 pump / switches a year said replace the whole system. So, new electric bilge pump on order with a battery saver cut off. I have spares for the cockpit pump and I think I have sealed the leaks in the emergency pump outlet line. Also, I think I may have saved the battery, several 30 minute runs on the engine at high revs and it seems to be taking charge again. Long story short, I'll be checking my bilge pump systems more regularly and I have left a bucket in the cockpit.