Ocean sailing on a 37'er

WestCoast

New Member
This weekend I closed up shop, and prepared to help a friend deliver a Pacific Seacraft 37' from Newport Oregon to Northern California. I'm pretty green with real ocean sailing. I had a good feeling in my stomach though, had some sea-sickness pills just in case, all the gear and safety equipment, so let's get on with it!

The boat was provisioned, and there would be 4 of us making the trip. A good boat, with a solid crew looking to make what was hopefully a two day passage down the Pacific Coast. Didn't quite turn out that way, but I'm a better sailor for going through the last few days.



We left Newport, OR under motor/sail, with a North breeze around 8-10kts.

Went out about 5 miles, and turned left, heading Southwest, further out to sea and towards our goal a few hundred miles away.


The boat was doing great, we made lasagna that night, heading due south now and we batten down the boat for some rough weather late that night and the following morning. Nothing big in the forecast, but we played it safe.


Before the rought weather, we were treated to some whales and dolphins/porposies cruising around us for a bit. Wind built to 12kts or so. Great times, good speed over ground (SOG).

That night, we shortened mainsail with 2 reefs, and two of us went below, while the other two started their 4 hour watch. At 12midnight, we came on deck, with a stiff breeze having shifted mostly to the south (right on the nose now) and some bigger seas, ugh, upwind beating in waves, no fun.

Our SOG was down as we pounded into some bigger waves but the boat was doing well, and we all felt fine. I turned in around 4:15am from my watch yesterday morning, and fell asleep in a heartbeat.


I awoke a few minutes before 8am for the next watch, and found the boat pitching rather violently. I went to the hatch and opened it up, and BOY OH BOY what a site.


Our boat is POUNDING into 30+kts of breeze and 6-8 foot wind waves on top of a confused swell. No fun and certainly not fast to get down the coast into the teeth of it.

This is not HUGE ocean action, but it about 10kts more than forecast, and we're a little concerened with getting down the coast on time. Our SOG is way down, and we're not out to get beat up, but to get the boat safely down the coast.


At the watch change, we haggle about whether to continue, or find shelter. Forecast says it now may build some more, so...

We decide to bail out, and we turn downwind, and run with the building breeze and sea state to seek out shelter.


This is all happening as the watch is changing, so I'm going to be driving in this! As I came on deck for my new watch, the current driver stayed on for another 30 minutes as I got use to the action. Puffs are ripping down the waves, a few waves break over the side and up against the stern, just in case we weren't soaked already I guess.

I eased into the role of driving the boat, and we were now in about 30-35kts of apparent wind, and from 7-9.3kts of boatspeed. Rough math I guess is around 40+kts for a number of hours (the owner said 50kts, but I dunno about that) Either way... very TIRING! The previous driver though talked me through what he'd seen, what was working, what he had watched out for, it was very helpful to get me on the ball fast.


So I'm driving the boat, and the owner is calling waves.

I'm thinking, hey, this is pretty cool. I'm nervous, but I think I mentioned that already. But I'm also getting the hang of it a bit and trying to find a groove. (more)
 
I'm nervous about an accidental gybe, and I'm holding the boat at 120 degrees off the wind. The waves are breaking a bit at this point, they sure looked like 15ft, but we figured later it was only 9-10ft wind waves on top of the swell. I felt very small either way!

With the waves coming in on our corner AND from starboard beam, off we go fast as a shot.


As the waves come and pick up the boat, I drive down to about 150. As we pick up speed, and the wave pushes the stern down, and the bow up, I am fighting the weather helm to keep the boat going down the wave and not rounding up a beam to the sea. I use the 30 degrees I put 'in the bank' to let the boat ride back up to the 120 heading again.

Into the trough, working it back up to keep some speed, and then BAM, the next wave is on us. I've get to get it back to 150 or close, or the next wave pushes us up to 90 degrees. A couple times I'm using both hands to fight the tiller, the rudder is shaking and loading up way more than I'm used to, and more than I like. I adapt quickly to let the boat roll more than I'm use to, but it unloads the rudder and I can steer easier when the boat is at a flat spot. I get used to the feel and can now anticipate instead of just frantically reacting!

After a while, you start to trust the boat, it rolls a bunch, but you fight the tiller less, and it SORT OF, KIND OF (we're talking a heavy crusing boat here) surfs a few of the bigger waves. Nice! I've gone from nervous, to just 'ALERT' but feeling much better and sort of, somewhat comfortable for a roiling sea and 35-40kts sustained!


We sail another 6 hours, eat nothing but two Snickers Bite bars, and work towards Bandon, OR. I'm in a zone, and time flies by in very quickly.
Before we know it, we're off the coast of our destination. All hands are on deck to help me pick up buoys and double/triple check the charts/GPS to put us on the right path in. We pick up our entrance buoys, and are on time to cross the bar at a flood tide.

I'm driving, the boat is all lined up on the channel range, and we're cruising in. I'm exhausted, but happy.


We lose focus for a bit, and are relieved to be back into a port, when perhaps the biggest wave of the day, just a HUGE swell pick us up and sends us rocketing between the two breakwaters. Thankfully we're aimed straight in, so I just keep the boat on it's feet, and, and we slide on down the face like a baseball player stealing a base. A fitting end to an immense day.


That was late last night, just as it got dark. Today we got the boat sorted, and two of the crew (including myself) got rides home. The boat is safe, and aside from a tired crew, we're all in one piece. The voyage will continue for them when the weather breaks tomorrow or wednesday.



I have a respect for the ocean that I THOUGHT I had before, but had never been tested. I learned to trust this boat, as I do my Laser, and not try to force it to do anything she didn't want to do.

I look forward to heading out again soon, and gaining more knowledge and insight along the way. The sea is a magical place, and any time I am able to go out with able and knowledgeable people, I will take it and learn all I can.


Thanks to the good ship 'TRUE' for taking care of us this weekend, and to mother nature for remind us, firmly, but not unkindly, who the real driver is out there....

George
 
He He ..... Well I figured you guys might not make all the way down because of my experience on how the weather can change so quickly and differently from forcast during this time of year.

Kudo's to you for finally getting some "valuable" ocean experience. Look forward to doing some ocean stuff with you soon.

Raccin Ray
 

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