Post by strop2 on Mar 16, 2015 18:07:28 GMT 8
The following posts on Boat Experience could be from anywhere in the world, the same issues could be encountered, no matter where you are.
I placed myself in a situation by taking a 23 ft yacht out from a South East Queensland location and sailing off just prior to a week of Thunder Storms striking the area.
Although I borrowed the boat, my scenario was to take a boat with little equipment. I did no pre-check on the boat, which hadn't been sailed for almost 12 mths. I planned to check the boat once anchored up.
I took enough food and water for 7 days and various survival items.
There were several sails on board and the boat was rigged for immediate sailing, like most sail boats are. There was enough petrol for the 9 HP motor to get me out of trouble eg a controlled beaching if required. The plus points for sails are they last for years, and are reasonably silent running unless you have to tack into the wind. The 9 HP outboard motor allows more control for the novice like myself, but keeping fuel for emergencies is paramount.
The yacht had a keel with an extension which could be lowered to help stabilise the boat, - especially using wind shear, where the boat rolls over so far until the wind empties from the sails and stops from capsizing. Unfortunately, the Elements (wind, waves, swell, tide, and current) can gang up on you.
Aim - place self in an escape/evasion/survival scenario. Real Threats were boat borders (thieves who board unoccupied boats) and the Environment (mix of Elements and wild life such as sharks, stingers, jelly fish if I had to enter the water etc).
Location - South East Queensland.
Equipment - the boat was too well stocked like most boats would be. It is obviously cumbersome to load and off load from a boat and easier to trust a small rusty padlock to protect the valuables on board. I had one quick look as I stowed my own gear and realized that there was a lot of double up which would impact on living space and decided to leave my own gear on a pontoon to save time. Equipment I didn't have and would have liked - crab pots, higher poundage fishing line, mossie net, and a working boat battery.
Issues - getting a feel for the boat was interesting due to the Elements, mainly wind gusts and gales. The fitted on-board depth sounder was hard to read and not set up for me and was difficult to read because it was inside the boat and I was struggling in the Elements on the open deck. Once I was anchored, I did get important readings from a portable depth sounder fish finder, which were invaluable, until I accidently broke it, I was able to rig a weighted line to obtain depth readings. Although it was coolish and I was off shore, there was still a problem with mosquitoes, unless the Thunder Storms pelted down rain and then I had to close up the boat and sweltered in the heat. I needed a thin mossie net. The battery was faulty and didn't charge up with the small wind turbine or solar panel, therefore my lights were tealight candles for personal use and a kerosene lantern (which I had to use by law) as an anchor light. The anchor light blew out on average twice per night during gales when the Thunder Storms struck. The salt air and high humidity increased my water consumption (so had to ration my water but was able to capture water in the rear deck). I had one solar shower which I used once, then decided to keep the left over shower water for drinking, and use rain water for bathing. The 30 plus sun screen wasn't enough and didn't last as long as I thought, I was slightly sunburned on the first day due to high winds and glare off the water and unable to leave the tiller for any period. The constant movement of the boat gave me sea legs in a short period of time (lucky I don't get sea sick) and moving around on the boat due to its movement was an excellent workout in grabbing, holding and stabilizing. The boat never dragged but my arms worked overtime raising the anchor (the last 5 metres very quickly) and then racing to the Tiller to control the boat. The Tiller arm was stuck in the upright position for awhile and it took some time for me to realise that a retaining pin had come out partially and stopped the Tiller Arm from lowering, meaning I had to use more arm strength to steer the boat. The anchor hatch broke but was saved from going overboard and silicon was used to fill the screw holes, to stop rainwater from going inside the fiberglass hull which would lead to structural damage to the internal wooden frame.
Lessons Learnt - the main lesson learnt, is that being on water is a short term activity of a maximum 7 days during severe weather conditions. Longer periods of time are achievable and a lot of people do this regularly but more comfort is great, which means a bigger boat, more crew, or better weather conditions. I like the water, but after due consideration - Water World is not for me, there are too many variables. Boat maintenance is a must, the salt sea corrodes boat parts very quickly eg hatch hinges. Any boats I access will be short term use, to get out of trouble, or for fishing/ leisure time. And boats are good for island hopping. Going solo, isn't all it is cracked up to be, even though I had books, charts, navigation planning, fishing, basic boat maintenance, cooking/ food prep etc. The final lesson was to prep food during small windows of opportunity when the Elements weren't ganging up especially at the change of tides. Prepare by planning ahead - basic prepper theology.
Summary - although I've been on many boats of various sizes, this was a great experience. The relevance for preparation is obvious, as well as back up planning and finding solutions to problems as they are presented.
NOTE: All photo's were taken before or after any storm and mainly at the change of tide when seas were calmer.
Photo 1 - Departing.
Photo 2 - Thunder Storm rolling in. The calm before the storm.
Photo 3 - In a sheltered bay waiting for the storm.
