Near Capsize
Rogue Puff!
Where Do I Begin, To Tell The Story…?
8.8.23
84th Sail
It was Tuesday morning. The weather report had finally settled on a near perfect day. Forecast was for temps of 69-89, with winds out of the West then changing to WNW by noon. Wind speed was predicted at 8 mph until 11:00, then 9 mph for the rest of the day, and rain chance in the single digits and sunny. How could I resist!
We arrived at Beatty’s Ford Landing around 10:00 am. My guest for the day was Alan. The wind was blowing westerly at around 10 mph. But I digress. I had some trouble getting the boat out of its parking space at the house. The port side sighting pipe on the trailer hit a tree and bent backwards. I had to stop and straighten the pipe, then jack my way out. It took about 10 minutes. We rigged the boat and launched shortly after noon. I found out only after I returned that I forgot to set the downhaul. This probably contributed to the sail giving more power that I wanted considering the wind. Just before I launched, I checked the weather forecast again. They changed it. Image that. Now the forecast was for 7 mph winds at noon, then 8 mph at 1:00, then 9 mph at 2:00, then 10 mph by 4 pm. Well they got the increasing winds part right, but it all came a lot sooner.
We started on starboard tack, but the winds were back winding us from the shore. We did have some trouble catching the wind, but not as much trouble as last time. Once out into the channel, there was plenty of wind, as usual. We switched to port tack and maintained it until we came about at channel marker D10. Winds were 10-12 mph with occasional puffs of 15-20 mph. Wind shifts were often 20-30 degrees. We sailed mostly from a beam reach to a broad reach, but occasionally a close haul. Waves were 18” increasing to 24” with light white caps. We sailed rapidly, passing Gordon’s Island in 35 minutes and the Lake Norman Yacht Club in less than an hour! We saw our friend, the osprey on the nest on top of channel marker D7. I caught site of a colorful sail in the distance probably near the Lake Norman Yacht Club. It was bright blue, with some red and yellow. That was the only sailboat on the lake while were there. A lot of sailors missed a lot of fun! As we approached channel marker D10, we saw a large marina to the west. The winds were increasing, and so was the pain in my back. The channel from that point on was much narrower. I had been in that channel once before, years ago. It would have been a lot of tacking on a windy day. After we passed the marker, we jibed and came about at 1:35. We sailed back on a similar path to the one we went out on, but a bit more easterly because the wind was driving us. We were sailing mostly on a close haul, but sometimes on a beam reach. Wind shifts were often 30 degrees, and one about 50 degrees. Then came the biggie about channel marker D6. The wind shifted almost 180 degrees and sent us back the way we came. We jibed and came about to continue our journey. We had no becalming lulls. Some were down around 6-8 mph, but they did not last long. Winds were increasing. They were normally around 12 mph but sometimes as high as 15. Puffs were in the upper teens to lower twenties. I yanked my mainsheet twice to save the boat. I also turned the boat into the wind on several occasions to avoid a capsize. Waves were about 24” with white caps coming and going, mostly coming. Alan questioned me again about the boat heeling. He said that he wasn’t aware that it was heeling. Several times on the trip, I told him to look and the water level on the opposite side of the boat. It was right up near the rim.
As we were passing the islands north of Gordon’s Island, I tacked couple of times to avoid running out of water. We also received some timely lifts to turn us toward the dock. You will notice on the map how the wind shifted more northerly at the islands. I have noticed that trend before. As we entered the main channel, just past Gordons Island, it started to get interesting. The wind was now blowing straight down the dog leg of the channel WNW. Waves increased to 30” with some boat chop and wakes to 3’. There were heavier white caps. The wind speed was about 15 mph with puffs up around 20 mph. It was also mostly cloudy so the water was grey. I sheeted out about half way, even though I was on close haul. I was trying to get a layline for the dock, but I decided to tack and cross the lake before approaching the bay. I tacked into the full furry of the wind. We got caught in a blow in the mid to upper teens. The sails were rattling and the boom was shaking! Now I know why the boom was shaking. The outhaul was not set! We could not achieve enough boat speed and a couple of tacks failed. On the third try, we tacked and sailed toward channel marker D2 at the point. I pointed out to Alan that this is what it looks like on the lake when the weatherman predicts 10 mph in Charlotte. (By the way, his predictions are almost always a few mph less on Lake Norman. I ignore the local prediction.)
As we sailed into the bay, we were under the lee of the land, and the wind and waves diminished. Winds were 10-12 with some puffs in the mid- teens. The winds became variable with some dead lulls. They were often 1-2 mph and swirly. We would occasionally get a puff around 8-10 mph to move us along. I continued to tack my way toward the dock. My intention was to sail to the Rescue Station, then sail parallel to the shore and cut to port to the dock. It worked last time. I actually had to sail south of the Rescue Station because of the available winds. As we passed the Rescue Station, maybe 100 yards off shore, I had sheeted in my main preparing to drop it. Winds were less than 5 mph. We were just trying to limp the boat in. Suddenly, without warning, a huge puff came in off the land. Alan was thrown to the starboard side seat and I was thrown to the deck on top of the tiller extender. Water poured over the starboard side onto the seat and cascaded onto the floor! (Ok, this is the third time that I have written this account of what happened. Actually, the whole thing happened in just a few seconds. I have only 2 pictures left in my feeble mind regarding the incident. One was the water pouring over the side onto the seat, then cascading onto the deck. The other was that I was laying on the tiller extender. I pieced together this description based on a phone conversation that I had with Alan Smith the next day. The rest is blanked out of my memory). I lost my handle to the tiller. We both scrambled onto the port side seat, and the boat spun around to port and settled! Thank you LORD, we were saved from a capsize! We were both out of position to receive that puff. I realized that neither one of us panicked. We regained our composure, and got back on the seats. The water sucked out the automatic bailer and was gone by the time we got to the dock. We sailed slowly to the dock, but the wind gave out about 50 feet from the dock. We glided to a stop and then the wind slowly back winded us out. We got out the paddles and moved toward the dock. We then picked up a very slight breeze to port which allowed us to glide into the dock.
We crawled out of the boat onto the dock about 3:35 pm. What a crazy ride! It never got hot. There was spray flying in our face most of the way as we bounced and cut through the waves. It kept us cool, though the water was warm as bath water. That was the closest that I have come to a knock down. Note: no pictures on the trip. We were far too busy and it was not safe to bring out the camera. We packed up and left for home about 5:30, tired, sore, and happy! What an adventure and what a day!
Weather Stats (at the airport)
Highest wind speed 15 mph SW Our experience was higher
Highest gust 22 mph SW Our experience was higher
Temp 70-87
Water temp 86 degrees Felt like bath water