Author: Scott
This Journal will use a number of sailing terms and I will try to translate for those of you who are not sailors.
This particular entry actually starts off with Pam and I standing in the cockpit under a pitch black blanket of darkness. There must have been a thick cloud layer because there were no stars in sight and the moon is taking his monthly break. Of course this is the perfect setting for calamity to strike. We are always amazed that these things seem to happen after dark, either just at bedtime or after just after you close your eyes off watch.
I said to Pam "Lets move to a starboard tack for the night, then I think we won't need to make any other changes until morning." The maneuver we were planning is called a jibe and you jibe a boat when you pass the stern of the boat across the wind so the opposite (leeward) side of the boat is transitioned to the side facing the wind (windward). You generally make this maneuver when the boat is already traveling down wind. It is a nifty way to tack the boat quickly, but it is also a little trickier than tacking the bow across the wind as there is a no sail zone and your sails have a time when they are not driving the boats momentum. When you jibe you instantly switch the leeward side of the boat to windward. You have probably seen in the movies when a person is comically knocked off the boat with the boom, this is generally done by jibing the boat when the sail changes the direction that it is hit by the wind and the boom travels across the wind to the opposite side of the boat. Unfortunately, in real sailing there is rarely an instance when a person is harmlessly hit by the boom and nudged in the water. An accidental jibe has led to many serious injuries or death, and has resulted in the loss of many masts. Therefore, jibing is a little more technical then tacking but is a common sailing maneuver when executed correctly.
We did everything right for a nice gentle jibe. We brought the boom to center so that it would not violently swing across the boat during the jibe. We were prepared to release the mainsheet to allow the boom to take on the pressure from the new angle of the wind. We prepared the new working winch (the winch that would hold the sail in trim after the jibe, and prepared the current working winch to become the lazy winch (no longer holding the wind's load). Lastly, we used our auto pilot to slowly but steadily bring the stern through the wind and execute the jibe. Everything went just right. The boom changed wind angle and moved across the stern. I released the working sheet (line holding the sail) and immediately took up winching in the new working sheet. Now, we have done this many, many times and we even pride ourselves in our timing. What we didn't plan on was the fact that you are always shaking down a new yacht and Starship had excessively long jib sheets, this allows a lot of excess line to fly free when the jib (forward headsail) is moving across to the opposite side of the boat. Even though we had figure eight stopper knots at the end of the sheet so that the end could not fly off the boat, there was still enough excess line to fly over the bow of the boat, slide down the hull under Starship and immediately tangle itself on our prop that was slowly turning beneath us. "Oh rats (maybe a little stronger actually) immediately came from my mouth. Not only was the sheet pinned under the boat, but the jib was a mess and viscously cracking like a whip in the 20 knot wind.
So here we were wind blowing, jib a tangle under an extreme wind load with a savagely dangerous loose sheet snapping in the wind and pinned under the boat and there was no way we could engage the engine because the prop was fouled. This was one of those situations that "went all pear shaped" as they would say in New Zealand in the blink of an eye. One minute we were sailing along in storybook conditions and the next we were faced with multiple problems all at once. The Tasmanian Devil had struck without warning! The little bugger!
After the initial shock we both reacted as we always do Pam a little stressed and me a little overly quiet and contemplative. However, from this point in the story we made a fabulous team (despite a few terms of frustration along the way). After dawning our PFD (personal flotation devices or life jackets) and clipping in, I went to the bow to assess the situation. What a mess! The jib was a twisted sculpture of chaos, the loose sheet was randomly lashing out like a snake with its tail in an electrical socket, and there was no budging the end of the wild sheet that was trapped under the boat. "Rats and double rats" and again maybe my language was a little more colorful. My first move was to tell Pam to release the end of the fouled sheet. Can you say STUPID with a capital S for Scott? The sheet was already fouled and all this did was lose one end of the line overboard to create more trouble. Okay, in my opinion that was the one and only truly dumb ass thing I did that night. I tried to improve my record and I yelled to Pam that we should try to furl the twisted and wildly thrashing sail (this is how you put away a headsail by using the equivalent of a big spool to wind up the sail). Believe it or not, even tangled we were able to furl the sail and subdue the beast and his nasty friend the snaky sheet. We removed the now flaccid jib sheet and tied it off until we could deal with the tangle. We unfurled the sail and then reset it with all of the twists now gone. Calm returned to Starship!
So, here is the situation. Nothing was in danger of hurting us. The boat was still moving with a fouled prop, making the engine inoperable and the end of Scott's stupid sheet was hanging in the water for our Tasmanian friend to have his way with it. The good news was that we had steerage and time to think, and think we did. We decided to wait out the darkness, mull over our options and reconvene in the morning. This did nothing for our beauty sleep, but we successfully sailed along on course for the remainder of the night.
When the sun came up so did our spirits. We had a bad situation but a manageable one. We really had two options. We could do nothing, sail to Sydney without an engine (we have had a bit of practice) but there is a potential for the loose line to snare the rudder (device used for steering), creating a catastrophic problem at sea, being adrift with no steering. The second option was to dive the boat, free the prop and all would be a box of fluffies (Kiwi for swell). Now, before our sailing friends admonish us, yes we know that any time you leave your vessel underway is a highly serious undertaking. If you and the boat become separated, your chances of survival have just equaled walking through a football field of rattle snakes. Our sailing instructor put it very well; "think of falling off your boat like falling off the Empire State Building". However, with a good plan, painstaking preparation, and common sense you can turn any dangerous task into a reasonably safe exercise.
Here is how we solved our problem. First, we hove to (a sailing maneuver that opposes steering with the wind thus stopping the boat). Heaving to is a very useful maneuver allowing a crew to make sail changes in adverse conditions, ride out a storm, or just simply cook a meal with less turbulence. Once we had the boat stopped we could assess our conditions. We had fairly light winds and the sea state was slight. There was about a knot of current flowing by the boat (any current can be hazardous when diving off a boat). We determined that the conditions were suitable to free up the line. We meticulously prepared the SCUBA gear and deployed our dinghy with the bulk of the gear lashed inside. We secured a line to a winch and the boat and then attached this to me using a tether and harness over my wetsuit. I then climbed off the boat and into the dinghy. This gave me a chance to further assess the sea conditions at the level of the water. I could actually reach in and feel the current to make a good estimate of the strength. The dinghy also gave me an easy place close to the waterline to return to if necessary. Feeling confident that the conditions though not perfect were indeed safe and acceptable I dawned my gear and flopped overboard. Woe doggy - there sure was a knot of current and you would be surprised how much that can pull on you. However, I was always securely tied to the boat with Pam carefully monitoring events from Starship. Now at this point the wildlife talk on dangerous species we attended in Sydney was spinning wildly through my mind. Weren't we close to Australia where there were all kinds of poisonous and viscous animals, Salt water crocodiles and sharks just to name a few. I trailed the boat keeping a hold and constantly checking my safety line. When I first swam under the boat I could immediately see my challenge. The Tasmanian Devil did a good job of tangling the line. I dove down and pulled myself forward with the fowled sheet. I then wedged myself safely under the rudder avoiding any sudden movements from the boat. I then first tried to cut the tangled line free but soon realized that I could more successfully unwind the tangle by hand. Besides the thought of spilling any blood to attract friends was on my mind, even though I have heard that sharks are not attracted to human blood, for all I know my fish and chips the other night could taint my blood and make me smell like a Big Mac. In less than ten minutes I had the line free and I returned to the surface. I told Pam to untie the line from the boat and she hauled it aboard. I made a further inspection under water and then let the current pull me to the boarding ladder at the aft of the boat. I crawled on board very tired but triumphant in the success of my mission. I untied my safety line, removed my gear and spent five minutes just basking on deck like a flying fish drying in the sunshine. The rest of the morning was spent tidying up and stowing the dinghy. We took the opportunity while we were hove to take care of a few other maintenance issues and at 11:30 we were back underway with the problem behind us and the Tasmanian Devil at least temporarily tamed.
The remainder of the day was lazy with lots of email and Sydney preparations to attend to. When my first sleep period came I was sacked out before Pam had finished brushing her teeth before going on watch. What a day at sea.
Now at this point in our little tale those sailors who are reading along are probably saying I would have, I could have, you should have… We like to share our challenges as well as our triumphs so everyone can glean something from the experience. There are no perfect sailors out there and we like to share our struggles with you to get your ideas and feedback, not to point out our dorkier moves, as well as offer solutions to sailors with similar situations. We would like your feedback, suggestions, and even criticism when we have just troubleshot a challenge. Overall we think we did a good job, we made a few mistakes along the way, but when faced with adversity we successfully and calmly (for the most part) found our solutions independently. Boy was I tired and sore the next day!
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