Packing It In and Packing It Up

The whole household has been in an uproar for the past couple of weeks as the the countdown to the closing on the new house looms and the packing process progresses. (say that 3 times fast!) Yesterday Mary suggested we treat ourselves to one of the casino buffets for Sunday brunch. The food's okay, the price is right, we don't have to cook or do the dishes AND the champagne/mimosas are free.

The problem with buffets is that I eat too much. I've been sticking to my New Year's resolution of losing weight and it's been slow, but progress is being made. One walk through the buffet line and I can feel all those hard-lost pounds creeping back on. By the second walk-through, well, you might as well staple the French toast to my hips. Actually, I did quite well. I tried to choose healthy foods (hard to do), ate modest portions, chose a sugar-free dessert (read that “chemically sweetened and lots of fat”) and the hardest part, drank only one glass of champagne (no OJ).

Luckily, I had some incentive to eat conservatively. Ahead of me in line were two very obese people who waddled through the line piling their plates high enough to require sideboards … and it wasn't their first trip to the buffet line. Imagining myself doing the waddle was all it took to keep me on track. Despite my self-imposed eating limitations, we all had a good time at the buffet before returning home and immersing ourselves in some more heavy-duty packing.

In no time, we had black newsprint-stained hands as we emptied the contents of cupboards and closets, drawers and shelves. David assembled boxes and, once full, stacked them wherever he could find free place. Karen priced and packed items that were designed for the upcoming yard sale. Mary and I worked at carefully wrapping and packing everything we were moving to the new house, leaving out only a few basics to get us through the next week before the move. A sort of controlled chaos ensued. “Where's the packing tape?” “That's not for the yard sale, we're keeping that!” “No, don't pack that; THAT's for the yard sale.” “Did you mark that box?” “Where's the black marker?” By late in the afternoon, we'd accomplished quite a bit … knowing, of course, there's still quite a bit left to do.

All the pictures and decorations are off the walls. How dull and vast and empty all those bare walls look with only picture hangers and nails left to adorn them. Cupboards are empty. Boxes are stacked everywhere. All the little personal tchotchkes that make a house a home are packed up. And now … just more waiting to pack up more stuff, move the stuff and … oh yeah, to unpack it all at the other end, put away the stuff and dispose of all those cardboard boxes and crumbled newspapers.

I'm thinking we'll need another trip through the buffet line.

#TBT - Crisscrossing the Dateline

Since we're not aboard Nine of Cups sailing at the moment (be patient, we'll be back aboard soon), reminiscing by reading and sharing some old blogs is a good way to refresh our memories about life aboard during passages. Storms are a popular topic of discussion among old salts and newbie sailors alike. These posts recount a couple of miserable days on our 2011 passage from the Chatham Islands back to New Zealand's North Island.

En route to Mainland New Zealand

 Day 6 -Across the dateline

Around 10 AM today, we finally crossed 180 degrees and are now in the Eastern Hemisphere again, west of the dateline. The winds have been obstinate and we're clawing our way back to the New Zealand mainland and fighting for every inch of westerly gain. The ride is uncomfortable with big waves and it's squally making sitting in the cockpit unpleasant.

We were hoping to clear East Cape by this evening, but the wind increased and our tack, though gaining us westerly progress, diminished our northerly progress. Thus, we are too far south to clear the cape as we had hoped and with gale warnings in force and the wind and waves increasing each hour, we finally could make no progress at all and opted to heave-to for the evening until the worst of the winds and waves had passed.

Usually heaving-to allows a pretty comfortable ride, but tonight we are heeled over and being tossed about. Though Cups seems to be weathering the storm well enough, the crew is not.

Day 7 - Blown back across the dateline again

Yesterday's miserable winds and weather deteriorated significantly overnight and though we were hove-to, life aboard was most unpleasant. Winds increased to 40+ knots with commensurate wave height and wave action. The wind shrieked and Cups shook and shuddered. The noise was deafening as huge waves crashed with a sudden bang and washed over her. Heavy rain punctuated with hail bombarded the decks.

Prisoners below, there was little we could do, but wait it out. "Grinning" was out of the question; "bearing it" was the only option. At one point I complained to David "Get me off this ride!" to which he replied with grin "I'll work on it". Trying to sleep was useless. We napped a bit, but we were always shaken awake by the sudden jolts and jars of the boat … an amusement ride gone amok. We were lame and sore, back and limbs aching from being scrunched up and wedged in the same position for so long on this heel.

The morning sun rose displaying a mackerel-clouded blue sky … a change in the weather on its way. Our position at dawn had us back east of the dateline. We had been blown back 25 miles east during the night. The wind had abated to westerly 30s, allowing some northerly progress, but against the built-up NW waves. We crawled along awaiting the promised SW winds in the next day or two. The sea is a washing machine, but on a slightly more gentle cycle.

Just after dark, we heard a loud snap and the main started luffing. We are triple-reefed and the reefing line broke. It's a brand new line, so it must have chafed through. With much difficulty, David was able to use the port side reefing line to secure the reef again and then reinforced it with another line. Getting this accomplished with the wind blowing 30+ knots, the boat thrashing on a heel and the waves crashing on and around him was a monumental task.

By the end of the day as I write, we have only recaptured the 25 miles we lost overnight plus two positive miles...a total of 27 miles to the good in a whole day … 25 of which we'd already sailed. We are still just off East Cape and on the east side of the dateline. The promised SW winds are coming, but the forecast is now calling for gale and/or storm conditions with winds up to SW 50 knots. Oh, my! THIS is the part of cruising that sucks!

In summary ...

The passage back to New Zealand was one of our biggest challenges. We had no wind (0-5 knots), too much wind (50+ knots), rarely the right amount of wind (15-20...lovely) and mostly "on the nose" wind (NW). We anticipated 4-5 days to get back and it took us forever moving at a sea slug's pace, usually in the wrong direction.

We suffered our first-ever knockdown in a storm just off East Cape which blew out our mainsail, tore the bimini to shreds, knocked out a deck stanchion and generally took our breaths away. Additionally, we had watermaker and transmission problems which thankfully, David was able to fix en route. We hove-to for another night and, sick and exhausted, we lay ahull for another after the mainsail blew. The projected 750 mile passage took 12 days and was actually 1,140 nm by the time we reached Opua.

Just saying … it's not always paradise out there.

The Blue View - Series Drogue DIY Pt. 2

In the last Blue View, I talked about why we liked the idea of a series drogue and why we think it is as good as any other method for handling major storm conditions. I also discussed why we felt it is far superior to any alternative tactic we know of when the waves are breaking. In this blog, I'll talk about how to make your own series drogue. The design and construction details of a series drogue were published as part of a publicly funded study completed by the U.S. Coast Guard and Don Jordan, and are freely available to the public. I used this as my guide when we made ours along with lots of practical advice from our friends at Sailrite.

The illustration gives an overview of the construction. The cones are the same size for any boat – larger boats simply add more line length and increase the number of cones. As the number of cones increases, the initial line size must also increase to handle the added load.

The bridle performs two functions. It splits the load, distributing it between two strong points on the transom, and it provides a turning moment to keep the boat stern-to to the waves. Each leg of the bridle should be 2.5 times the transom width, plus an allowance for the splice and for attachment to the boat.

The following table provides a quick summary of line sizes and the number of cones needed for different size boats. Use the gross tonnage for your vessel and then add 10%. The total load on the boat is shown in the second column. The third column in the table shows the load on the attachment points on each side of the transom. The line lengths shown in the fourth column is the length for the towing line. These lengths also include 5 feet at each end for splicing. A double braid line should be used rather than a three strand, which has a tendency to unlay as it is towed. The line sizes specified in the table are based on average strengths for double braid nylon line from several manufacturers. Check the breaking strength of the line you purchase.

Monohull Displacement (lbs)	Load (lbs)	Load at Attachment Points (lbs)	Line Length Required (ft)	Line Size (inches)	No. of Cones	Weight at end of line (lbs)
10,000	8000	5600	250	5/8”	100	15
15,000	12000	8400	260	3/4”	110	15
20,000	14000	9800	150/150	3/4”,5/8”	120	15
25,000	17000	11900	155/155	1”,5/8”	130	25
30,000	20000	14000	165/165	1”,5/8”	140	25
35,000	23000	16100	170/170	1”,5/8”	150	25
40,000	25000	17500	125/125/125	1”,3/4”,5/8”	160	30
45,000	28000	19600	130/130/130	1-1/8,3/4”,5/8”	170	40
50,000	30000	21000	135/135/135	1-1/8,3/4”,5/8”	180	50

For example, Nine of Cups has a gross tonnage of 18 tons, so we used 40,000 lbs as our displacement when designing the drogue. We needed to make and attach 160 cones to three lines, each 125 feet long. This seemed daunting at first, but it proceeded quickly once we got into the project. We set goals for ourselves to complete a given milestone each evening, e.g. draw and cut out 25 cones or cut 100 strips of nylon tape.

A 1-1/2 ounce ripstop nylon material was recommended for the cones. We used an old mainsail, which was much heavier than necessary. The emphasis is on the word ‘old’ in the last sentence. This sail had been retired for about four years and stowed on the forward bunk. Before we spent a lot of man-hours making all those cones, we wanted to be sure the sailcloth had not deteriorated and lost too much of its strength. To test the material, we made up a dozen cones, attached them to a line and, during one passage, dragged them for 24 hours. Our speed varied between 4 and 6 knots. The cones held up fine, but we did learn a few things about the construction and stitching.

The illustrations below show the recommended size and placement of the cones. We made a pattern out of cardboard to mark the outline of each cone for cutting. We also used the pattern to mark each cone to aid in aligning the nylon tape for sewing. We first tried cutting each cone using a hot knife, but found this to be too slow. We switched to a pair of electric scissors and then used a butane lighter to seal the edges.

The next step was to cut and mark each length of nylon tape. We placed pieces of masking tape on a flat surface to serve as a template for measuring, cutting and marking each strip of nylon. These strips were then sewn to the cones. One thing we discovered with our test run was that it was important to double stitch the tape at each end.

Each piece of cone material was then folded in half and double stitched together. The last step was to turn each cone right side out so that the seam was on the inside. It probably doesn’t matter, but we sewed each cone so that the tape was on the outside of the finished cone. We next began attaching each cone to the line. The first step was to mark the line at 20 inch intervals, leaving 5 feet or so at each end for splicing. Each cone was threaded onto the line, then the end of each strip of tape from the cone (six per cone) was pulled through the line and tied with an overhand knot using either the single or double pass method. We already had a splicing wand that worked well for this process, but you can make a tool using seizing wire bent into a loop and taped to a wooden handle.

The next issue was the attachment of the line segments, towing line, bridle and anchor. A proper splice is stronger than any knot. The line we bought, however, was manufactured in South America and we found it was almost impossible to splice eyes into it, unlike the line we were used to that was made in the U.S. Instead of splicing eyes into each end, we resorted to using knots to attach the line segments together. Ideally, we would have spliced heavy metal thimbles in the ends of the lines and attached them together with heavy duty shackles. For the weight at the end of the line, we used a 20 foot length of 3/8” chain. We attached it with a shackle to a standing bowline at the end of the line.

An important aspect of the overall system is the attachment points on the boat. These must, of course, be strong enough to withstand the load. The bridle splits the total load between the two corners of the transom, making the load at each attachment point no more than 70% of the total load. Most cleats and sheet winches, however, are not designed to withstand stresses of this magnitude. The ideal alternative is to make attachment points similar to chain plates by bolting stainless straps to each corner of the transom. These should be through bolted and utilize backing plates. Use heavy shackles to attach each tow line.

The following table lists conservative size straps and shackles for several boat sizes. If cleats are used, make sure they are rated for the load and are bolted through the deck with substantial backing plates.

Load at attachment point (lbs)	Strap Size (Inches)	Bolts	Shackle Size
10,000	¼ x 2.25 x 14-3/8 inch	4 each	½ Inch
14,000	¼ x 2.25 x 18-3/8 inch	6 each	5/8 Inch
18,000	3/8 x 2.25 x 22-3/8 inch	8 each	¾ Inch
22,000	3/8 x 2.5 x 26-3/8 inch	10 each	¾ Inch

Chafe may be an issue as well. We actually used dyneema for the bridle which is more chafe resistant than nylon, and enabled us to use a smaller diameter line. The last issue is the stowage of the drogue. The total weight of our drogue system was too much to handle, so we separated the line segments and only connected them together when we needed to deploy it. We stow each segment the way we stow our spare rope anchor rode using figure-eight flakes.

Now that the drogue is all designed and built, how do we deploy it? How do we get it back aboard again? I'll cover that in the last installment of this 3-part series next week.