Caught out in 50 Knots! - Episode 116
The weather man lied to us again! With a 15 to 20 knot offshore wind predicted to give us a beam reach down the coast we expected our trip from Newcastle to Pittwater to be a little bit of a non-event. What we got instead was something completely different...
I'm really excited to share this video with you all. I had a lot of fun editing and mixing the sound and I think Troy did a really fantastic job on the colour grading. The sail itself is filmed almost exclusively with our 2 Sony action cams which gives this episode a bit of a different feel to our usual videos but we really liked the way it turned out.
So sit down and don't forget to strap yourself in for the wild ride!
Pascale
Comments (37)
I did have it on reliable authority that it was the Elizabethan hull lines, put on a projector and magnified slightly as it was projected onto a wall and traced! May I ask if you have a seperate car track to be used with the inner stay and if you have running backstay fitted? I can't recall if you told me that before. A hanked on sail can be fitted to the stay and bagged on deck if you are expecting trouble, then just furl the foresail and hoist the jib. Saving space below is a never-ending battle but you have already paid the weight penalty.
Wow! Weekly fix turns out to be a triple shot coffee with rum! Pascale, you certainly looked a bit stressed but you handled that way better than my partner would have.. have to build Donna up to that stuff! I was reading about the Elizabethan 29, the design of which Bruce Fairley, it has been claimed, used as a basis for the Clansman. One of the English skippers claims it sailed at its best "when you could see mullet through the windows". Troy, I think you were trying to prove that! This video made me think again what you suggested for Coromandel, that I do away with the furler and use the hanked headsails instead of getting a new furling genoa. My consideration had been purely space saving below. Now I'm reconsidering.... Coromandel has an inner forestay and the small jib we have has had a set of reef points and some heavy roping to make it into a storm jib It looks like it was made (on board by the look) to fit that inner forestay. Fair winds you two, looking forward to Tassie adventures, and Troy, maybe do a video of that Tassie distillery that keeps winning the Worlds Best Single Malt awards....
Great stuff, a third reef in the main would have been handy???
Oh yes and I think a 3rd reef is a better idea than a trysail just because reefing is practiced so often as opposed to the few times in a sailors life they would ever deploy a try and then in the worst conditions. It's on the list of refit jobs.
Thanks Mark for the high praise. We still haven't seen one of our later videos on anything other than a computer monitor and we sometimes worry that the quality may be suffering for people like yourselves who have a big screen.
I just watched this episode for the second time, this time on a big high-def screen. It's just fantastic. One of the best. You had me terrified. I have not seen a better video of what it's like to sail in gale force winds. You guys are terrific! All the best.
WOW!! Awsome video! Awesome sailing!! Well done! I loved it! Favourite quote... Troy: "We're only sinking a little bit"... Pascale: "I'm a bit scared".. followed by nervous laugh... 😂 If that didn't prove the boom repair... NOTHING will !! 👍 Really enjoyed that hard rock track from 18:05 to 18:54... Cowboys - Tigerblood Jewel (had to search to find it.. 😉)
Just putting in the hours required before meeting the Agulhas current again! Mirrool was so leaky when I first got her, I can't imagine how long we would have been cleaning up for afterwards if she was still the same. We would have been sinking just a little bit more. It sounds like you know- but all of the tracks are listed with their timecode in the description so you can get the music you like if it's free on the web.
This would have to be 1 of the greatest episodes guys .It was just like dinghy sailing but better .Well at least its a lot harder to capsize .
True but I'm not sure we would have got any wetter in a dinghy! Mirrool does feel like a great compromise between a fast dinghy and a big heavy yacht- no wonder there are so many 28-30 footers coming out of NSW in the 70-80's for the Sydney Pittwater area.
Thanks for indulging us in the exciting side of sailing.
You're very welcome Cliff. Glad we could capture the excitement on this one!
I think this video explains perfectly the need for adequate Cockpit Drains! I don't think that the boats used by most of the Vlogs that I follow would have survived intact after that passage, nor the Skippers have had the experience to not panic under what must have at times been brown-trouser moments (or half-hours). Well done both of you, it was as advertised a wild ride indeed!
Oh if I could triple the drains! Mirrool is interesting in that the cockpit was modified to reduce its volume, which I found very attractive when I purchased her. Some cockpits are large and great for entertaining but can weigh the boat with a couple ot tons of water in a bad sea if poorly thought out. Sea like that also makes us glad to have a snug boat and I commented above on my dislike for open plan designs where a body can build momentum between hand-holds. Lol at brown trouser moments. Not yet...
I was glued to my computer screen... learning from the best! What a ride, I'll have to watch this again. Thanks for all the giggles Passy_your spirit is so lovely_even under stress.. sorry for the boat-bite! Great Video...Great Sailing!!!
Sailing certainly has its ups and downs and ups and downs and....We like to able to show the tough times as well as the idyllic moments so aspiring cruisers stop and think about them but see that there is still a time for laughing as well.
Aye, excellent vid. One question to put here though: Did you ever consider wearing some kind of helmet whilst inside during a blow? Even a beanie might be OK? Must be many opportunities for smashing into something… Or maybe I'm just getting to old?
Our boat is too little to get much of a run up and there is always a handhold. Flying objects and the corners of our table are the danger points to be aware of. Wedging in before releasing handholds is key. I can't remember the last time either of us bumped our heads but it is a more common injury when conditions are benign and caution hasn't crept upon us. I have seen some boats laid out open plan and they are a nightmare in a sea-way. A helmet might be good in those- or maybe one of those padded Sumo suits that were popular years ago!
"We're only sinking a little bit" "I'm a bit scared". Ah the famous Aussie gift of understatement! That was bloody TERRIFYING! Well done Skipper and Crew! I won't be needing any caffeine this morning!
We need to save some hyperbole for the Southern Ocean. Didn't want to use it all up in a little gale! ;)
The wind coming through there is crazy. We had a huge blow from the south come through on New Year’s Eve and it pinned us came around the head land and bang. We managed to anchor only to get flipped in the opposite direction and have the anchor come out and drag. Memorable sailing.
We knew things were peaking when the Shearwaters decided to sit it out in huge flocks, taking off again when the wind eased!
Wow!!! That was about as spirited a passage as I've seen, and it looked extremely well handled by captain and crew in spite of the challenges.... It made me nervous to watch--hard to imagine how it actually felt!! The variable gusts I've experienced on a much smaller scale on the lake here helped me to appreciate your description of the 20 to 35 to 50 knot conditions. It's impossible to have the right amount of sail up (if you would want any at all at 50!). Sounds complete unmanageable, and yet you did! It was a nice touch to see Pascale put the bits of gear away in the snippet of relative calm. Hell of a way to test your boom repair!!!
The genoa on the front pulls the centre of effort forward as we reef it so thats why I was pining for a jib on an inner stay. It would still have been tough but we could have pointed higher and not been in it for quite as long! Also, if the wind had shifted to the south a bit more as predicted, the run in would have been kinder but alas it stayed in the west. There was some racing in Pittwater when we were out in it and a bit of damage done to sails and rigs before they cancelled and went back to sipping booze.
Oh and I did also add a cutter rig storm sail to my old Cal 2-27 boat. It was a hanked on setup. It was absolutely wonderful sailing in 35 kts or more of wind. The sail did not extend past the mast, it was high cut, heavy canvass. Since the center of effort was so close to the center of the boat the rudder was balanced and completely light with total steering command. You will like that setup. The boat barely healed and it was like motoring in a storm. I have a you tube of it
Pascy didn't really get sick on that voyage because we hadn't laid up in port for very long before it. Yes, a 90% jib on an inner would have been great. I am considering a solent stay but I need good sailmakers advice about the exact position of the sheet leads before I make new holes in the boat. It is a walk around job and isn't the sort of thing that can be done via correspondence unfortunately.
We just had our own two days of hell here in the Pacific. 12 foot waves, rain and cold. I do have that cutter rig you want on this super heavy Freya 39. 32,500.50 lbs. and that cutter rig is to die for in a blow. Makes it a joy ride. However my girlfriend wants to know if Pascal got sic on that passage. Another great video.
Now, THAT'S sailing! Thanks for the video!
Please understand if we don't make that type of video a regular Charlie!
Ever lost a winch handle over the side?
Once in the Kimberley. It was a steel one and didn't float like the ones we have now. It fell from a mast winch.
Well you certainly understated that wild ride when we met in Pittwater guys.... a testament to the strength and reliability of a well built 50 yo boat sailed by an experienced sailor dully supported by a terrified partner. I bet Passy will be much more confident if you guys get caught in another blow like that in future..... Hope you are enjoying Tassie now.
Each one of those scenarios is making Pascy a better sailor in a way that reading about storm preparation cannot. Mirrool is also pointing out all of the things we will want in the next boat if we want to do high latitude expeditions in security and comfort. And yes! Tassie is absolutely wonderful (but cold!)
Very amazing video, folks. I was riveted. So happy you made it through that safely. The sea is not to be trifled with, I am certain. Let me say though that this presentation was very entertaining from the office chair perspective. Seeing you both play out the details of those events was better than any reality TV.
It gave us a laugh to look back on and definitely more fun from that perspective! Still, meeting challenges like that is very satisfying and knowing how we will react in adversity is more reassuring than wondering about it as Mirrool takes us further south.
Wow! When we met at the Newport Arms you definitely understated that wild ride. So glad no equipment breakage and the boom repair held up. Good practice for Bass Strait weather???
Haha, no. The Bass Strait was comparatively tame, though I was persuaded to man the tiller for a few hours when I thought the auto-pilot may not prevent a broach when the sea steepened around midnight. It was inconvenient but a bit of a thrill as compensation to whoosh down the waves.