January 28, 2020 BOATING SAFETY / CHRIS HOFMANN

JANUARY 28, 2020

BOATING SAFETY

CHRIS HOFMANN

This was a presentation on boating safety with detailed discussion about the incident that happened last spring in Monterey where a skipper fell overboard during challenging conditions during a race.  As usual, the presentation was fantastic with active participation by many in attendance.

Chris talked about hypothermia setting in and explained the 1-10-1 concept of the onset of hypothermia.  The first “1” represents the first minute of immersion in 50-60 degree water and the shock experienced with this first immersion.  Frequently when people first hit the cold water the  reaction is to gasp and breath in air, or water.  Surviving the initial plunge, it takes about 1 minute to acclimate and to calm down.  The next number ‘10’ represents 10 minutes of time where you have good mental capacity and can think and act rationally.  The last 1 represents the survival time of 1 hour in our cool waters in Monterey bay.  I presume these numbers pertain to a fit 30 year old sailor and may be a bit shorter for an older (not fit) sailor such as myself.

Chris talked about the complexity of a man overboard situation.  No two boats are the same and no two days are the same.  When dealing with the various conditions that can be experienced on the bay, it only makes sense to at least be familiar with your boat and to practice man overboard situations on your boat.  Chris also pointed out that in an emergency situation Murphy’s law comes into play and simple tasks can be very difficult to accomplish.  Even tossing a line to a person in the water can be difficult to do if you are urgent and trying to do it quickly.  The old “the hurrydier I go the behinder I get” comes into play.  This is why it is so important to practice man overboard situations.

I have to say that on Pair A Dice, since we have been setting the start line marker and have had to pick it up every week, our skills have gotten much better.  The techniques we have learned after many botched attempts are as follows: 1: approach the object under power of the main only.  2: aim for an area just downwind of the object. 3: have a crew member on the bow with a boat hook always pointing at the object. 4: when directly downwind of the object, release the main and coast up directly into the wind to the object.  By doing this exercise we have become pretty adept at getting the line marker in the variable conditions we have in Monterey Bay.

Chris also had examples of retrieval equipment.  The most predominant one seen on most keel boats is the Life Sling.  The shortcomings with the Life Sling is that it is difficult to toss to a person in the water if there is any wind.  This device is best used by deploying the life ring and tow it behind the boat. Make sure the line is tied to the boat.  If you steer the boat in a tight circle around the MOB, they can grab it and put it around their body.  Once the ring is around the body, it is critical to stop the boat.  Any sustained speed two knots or more cannot be survived by the MOB.  This is where it is critical to know your boat and how to “heave to”

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Heaving to with your boat is a critical maneuver that we should all know and I would think that even with limited resources, if you “heaved to” just to windward of a MOB, everything slows down and you can deal more rationally with the situation at hand.

Another device demonstrated by Chris was a “Throw Rope”.   This is a line coiled inside of a small bag.  The bag seems to be weighted and can be efficiently tossed to a person in the water uncoiling the line as it is tossed.  Once again, it is necessary to slow the boat down once the person is in tow.

We also had a discussion on the different PFD’s available.  Many people are opting to use non inflatable PFDs because of the frequent failures of the inflatable devices.  Chris was kind enough to pull the tab to inflate an inflatable PFD and sure enough, it only partially inflated until the Velcro was undone on the other side.  A partially inflated life jacket would roll you over with your face down where you don’t want to be.

If an incident does happen, there was a discussion about which channel to use to call a MAYDAY?  Mayday alerts are always called on channel 16, but for assistance from local boats ON TUESDAY NIGHTS ONLY use channel 69 (our normal channel) to apprise the fleet of any emergency. It would be critical that the boat in trouble be the one to direct the rescue.  The last thing needed would be 5 boats swooping in at the same time trying to rescue a victim.    If a mayday is called, switch to channel 16 to do so keeping in mind that the Coast Guard will respond from a distance probably by helicopter.

Next Tuesday, Captain Joe Rogers will talk about the history of marine disasters in the Monterey Bay.

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

1/21/2020 PRO101 WITH MIKE GROSS

JANUARY 21, 2020

PRO 101

MIKE GROSS

This presentation by Mike Gross was all about the administration of regattas. As it turns out there are many types of sailboat races and sometimes rules differ depending on the type of racing you are engaged in.  There is match racing, which we all got accustomed to when the Americas Cup series was being conducted a few years back.  

 There is Team racing, which many in our club are familiar with because the Santana 22 fleet runs these on a regular basis.  Having engaged in these races, I can attest that they are very fun and educational, you really do learn about starts and rules.  I really appreciate the attitude of these guys, not only on the water but the debriefings after the races is all in good nature.  I love good sportsmanship and it is in these debriefings that you hear guys exclaiming to competitors “boy you really got me on that one move!”  If you get a chance to sail in one of these regattas, do it!

After a discussion of the many classes of racing, from dinghies to radio-controlled boat, we talked about the actual administration of the race.  The race officials are responsible for setting up the course and keeping track of all competitors.  The top administrator of any regatta is called the PRO (Principle Race Officer), but there are many other people necessary to conduct a regatta.  There are chase boats that deploy marks and assist boats in trouble.  This assistance can be critical when there is a small boat regatta like the laser class. On the committee boat, there must be a time-keeper who times the start and keeps the people deploying the flags on their toes. There is a recorder that sights the line to see if boats are OCS at the start and the times of each boat finishing.

We were fortunate to have several people attend tonight that have been very instrumental in assisting on the committee boat many times.  Chris North has been the recorder for many regattas and her insight was incredible on how she keeps track of boats on the start line and at the finish line.

There was a discussion of various flags used in regattas.   AP (answering pennant) is raised with 2 sounds of the horn to postpone a race. The Sierra flag is raised to shorten course with 2 sounds again.  The x flag is raised if there are boats OCS at the start with one horn and stays up until all OCS boats have come back to start appropriately.  The Charley flag is raised to indicate a change of course. 

I found the whole presentation and discussion to be very interesting and educational.

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Next Tuesday, Chris Hofmann will talk about boating safety.  The week after that will have Joe Rogers talking about the history of boating disasters in Monterey Bay and how they could have been prevented.

We are truly blessed to have such a talented group of sailors in the Santa Cruz area.

Barry L.Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

January 14, 2020: CANAL CRUISING IN EUROPE

JANUARY 14, 2020

TRS: CANAL CRUISING IN EUROPE

DAN LARSON

    We had a great and informative discussion lead by Dan Larson about canal cruising in Europe.  Dan indicated that there are two main chartering firms in France and most of Europe, Locaboat and   Leboat.  Dan and his wife Nancy cruised in France out of the town Agen.  The boats offered are about 33 feet long with a 12 foot beam and cost about $1700 Euros for one week.  There are no requirements for qualifications to rent the boats.

Their trip started into Paris and where they traveled south to Tolouse then took a train to Agen to pick up the boat.  Their trip took place in September 2016.  From Agen, you can go upstream or downstream.  At the time of their trip, they went upstream because there was not enough water downstream.  Dan said the boat was easily managed by two people, but could accommodate up to 6 people. The boats travel at about 5 MPH and they motored for 3 hours a day travelling about 15 miles per day.  He found it best to make a quick trip one way on the canal, prioritizing which places they wanted to spend more time on the way back.  Dan said there was not much traffic on the canal and saw only a few boats daily.  The canal is frequently about 30 feet wide so passing other boats could be a tight squeeze.

They enjoyed the wine tasting and had the full range of weather from very warm to rainy weather.  There was no issue with security which allowed them to use the bikes to travel to and from towns that were close to the canal.

After Dan’s presentation, Todd Johnson offered his perspective on canal cruising in Belgium.  Todd said in Belgium you can frequently dock your boat in the center of towns.  Todd said that Belgium is famous for Beer, and France is famous for wine.  Todd also said that Belgium was very crowded with many more boats than Dan describes in France.

The last nugget of information may explain the difference in traffic on the canals.  It is a fact that all of Europe takes the month of August off for vacation.  If Todd was travelling in August he would have much more traffic than Dan had travelling in September.

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Next Tuesday we will have a presentation by Mike Gross titled “Race committee 101”.  This will be about conducting races and all that goes into it:

            In mid-February Santa Cruz Yacht Club will be hosting a US Sailing One Day Race Management Seminar for folks interested in improving their sailboat race management skills or certifying as a Club Race Officer.

            Separate from the formal training seminar, an introductory ‘Race Committee 101’ talk will be offered on Tuesday January 21, 2020 at 6:00 PM to anyone interested in a better understanding of sailboat race management, competitors and race officers alike.

            US Sailing’s Race Committee 101 is a free, informative and engaging 90-minute talk and PowerPoint that takes beginners through basic race committee concepts such as types of boats and racing, the purpose and duties of the race committee, equipment and jobs of the race committee and what to expect out on the water. “RC 101” is not a training course, but it does provide an overview of race committee functions for those who are interested in learning more.

If you are a race committee newbie, a race committee chair, a race management instructor or a yacht club leader, you may be interested in attending the presentation before committing to a formal training class or seminar.

            The upper clubhouse and bar will not be open, the talk will be presented in the lower room. The grill will be fired-up from 5:00 to 5:45 if you would care to bring something simple to grill.

This presentation will be an excellent way to get an understanding of what happens on the administration side of regattas.

See you next Tuesday

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JANUARY 7, 2020 CRUISING THE DELTA (DAN LARSON)

CRUISING THE DELTA

TRS 1/7/20

DAN LARSON

This is a recap of the presentation by Dan Larson about cruising the Delta.

The first discussion was about how to get to the San Francisco bay from Santa Cruz.  Dan feels it is better to get an early start (about 7am) so you can get to Half Moon Bay in the late afternoon.  You can get a mooring ball or anchor in the harbor there for the night.  It is always good to check predict wind or other weather web sites to make certain you will not be dealing with 35 knot winds.  Dan feels it is best to sail within 3 miles of shore keeping in 150 to 180 feet of water which keeps you out of the freighter channels that are further out. It is always good to keep an eye out for crab trap buoys to avoid fouling your prop.

Approaching the bay through the Golden Gate Bridge, you should round buoy #8 close to Fort Point (South end of bridge).  Entering the channel further out can necessitate dealing with freighters that, at times, can be nonstop.  Cruising the San Francisco Bay in itself is a pleasure with many places to visit, including South Beach Yacht club, Aquatic cove and the many other yacht clubs all around the bay.  This is another great benefit of being a yacht club member: access to most of the yacht clubs in the area.

It is suggested that you have (and use) several of the cruising guides for the San Francisco Bay and the delta.  These guides tell you the places that can be visited and more important the route you need to follow.  There are many shallow areas that can be hazardous for a keel sailboat, especially considering the large tidal variation.  It is always wise to keep an eye looking aft to avoid the fast ferries that are all over the place in the bay and Delta.  Another nugget of information you get from the Delta and Bay guides is the numbers or hailing channel to hail the bridges that need to be opened for passage.

Dan emphasized that it is critical to be wary of the many freighters that are passing to and from destinations up the river.  As these freighters pass, there is a tremendous surge of water that is caused by the passage of these freighters.

As Dan said, you can cruise the delta for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years.  There are that many destinations and you do not need to deal with jet lag to get to your cruising destination.

Thanks  Dan for a great presentation.   Next week (1/14) Dan will continue with a talk about canal cruising in Europe.  I am looking forward to this presentation.

The following week (1/21), Mike Gross will put on a presentation called “Race Committee 101”.  I would recommend this presentation for anyone interested in racing a sailboat.  You will find out what its like to be on the race committee. Learn all of the sound signals, flags used and actions that are allowed and not allowed by the race committee.

We will see you next week.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice