The worst bit of trouble I had with steering a little tri I had
was when the rock pick happened to untie itself from the net. I spent
about half an hour trying to get around a small headland and was
assuming current problems so started the outboard which promptly
wrapped itself around the anchor rope so i discovered the problem. I am
assuming all sorts of possible problems like this were eliminated but
just in case.....
Today I went into the water while mooring the 27' catamaran. I was
standing in the dinghy, which was on the mooring, pulling the cat over
to the bridle when a big gust took the boat. I hung onto the cat,
thinking that my friend at the helm would not be able to catch the
mooring on his own (tough to moor such a light boat with all that
windage). I got my hands across the bow to hold onto the edge of the
deck, arms flat on the deck, legs in the water.
The reason I mention this is because the drag caused by my legs
apparently made it almost impossible to bear off the wind. As a
result, instead of circling back to the mooring, my friend charged
straight ahead and rammed me into a tree that happened to be floating
in the mooring field. Then he decided to fix his mistake by backing
out, and pulling me through the tree again. Thankfully he stopped
after that, helped me get a leg up on deck, and we moored the boat
properly.
I had been wondering why he rammed the tree instead of steering away
from it, but he called right after I read your post and explained that
the boat simply wouldn't turn to leeward. (the second tree ramming,
though, I still place on his shoulders...
This would have been more fun to try in July instead of October -- 44
degrees today and windy.
- Mike
cateran1949 wrote:
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