Heaving to on an x

[Rolf]

Has anyone here heaved to into rough seas on an x? What kind of sea anchor do people here recommend, and is it possible to deploy it from the cockpit? Thanks.
Rolf

[Chip Hindes]

I have hove to on many occasions, particularly when singlehanding, but never in really rough conditions. Probably the worst was in 15 mph gusting to 25 and 3-4 foot "seas" (are they still seas when you're in a lake?) Usually for a brief period just to take a break, munch a sandwich or visit the head, before I had the autopiot.

Though it was fine in these conditions, my choice in anything worse would be to drop the sails, fire the motor and run for the nearest hidey hole.

I also have a parachute drogue but have never deployed it.

[Lloyd Franks]

The mac X is a breeze to heave to. It's good to know how for lotsa reasons. Reefing, storms, lunch w/o deploying lunch hook, and, ya never know when the CG may want to come aboard.

[Dan B]

I have hove to on many occasions, mainly just to grab a meal not to deal with bad weather. I just roll in about half the genoa, backwind it, center the mainsheet and turn the wheel to windward.

[Night Sailor]

Heaving to is easy and very convenient in the M26X in most conditions. I haven't had to endure any really bad weather in this M26X since I have the NOAA weather radio and radar tuned in. However, based on experience with other boats, if seas were over 4 ft. on swells of more than 10 ft., I'd choose another option while single handing except for something very brief in time. For example, a very necessary potty break or a radio report of location.

Being able to heave to can come in handy in unexpected ways. I sold my previous boat on a demo cruise because the wife of the couple worried about being able to cook and eat while sailing. In about ten seconds I had the boat sitting still in the water. I asked if that would do and she smiled broadly and said it was perfect.

The husband had already tested the rigging by doing a completely uncontrolled jibe while going wing and wing in a 12 knot wind. When teh mainsheet went tight it sounded like a shotgum blast and the whole boat shook. Fortunately, he did it while everyone was sitting down. I calmly said, I guess you can see the rigging is strong. He nodded and had no further questions about the boat!

[delevi]

I hove to on my a bunch of times for breaks, etc, but not to wait out a storm. The only method I know is backwinding the jib, trurning the wheel to windward and letting the main sheet run free. This keeps the wind on your beam. Does anyone know a different method which keeps the bow in the wind? This would probably be more comfortable with big swells and if you really have to wait out a storm. Hope things never come to that, but it's best to be prepared just in case.

[Chip Hindes]

Leon:

What you describe is the classic "heave to" maneuver for a sloop rig, except you don't let the mainsheet run free. Once the boat is stable with the foresail backwinded and the wheel/rudders to windward, haul in the mainsheet enough to stop the boom and sail from flapping.

Which brings up a point. Anyone know if it's possible to heave to without any foresail? My sail reduction strategy involves completely dropping and securing the main before furling the jib, so it's not a problem for me. Can you heave to in a stock M with no foresail?

I dont believe there is any means of heaving to which keeps the bow to wind. For that you need a sea anchor deployed off the bow.

[Night Sailor]

Interesting question. I never thought to try it without the foresail, as the situation didn't come up. Next sail I will play with it on the M26X with roller furler and report the results.

[zuma hans 1]

What, you guys have never dropped your cap in the drink and had to heave to to fish it out?

[Rolf]

Thanks for all the great examples, but I should have been more specific. Anyone heave to with no sails or motor and ust an anchor off the bow, in rough OR calm weather? Could a regular anchor such as a Danforth off the bow work in deep water without touching bottom? This may seem like a dumb question to many, but I'm not going to learn if I don't ask!
Rolf

[Hamin' X]

Rolf,

I think what you are looking for is a sea anchor. Just do a search for sea anchor on this site and you will find many posts on the subject. From my personal experience, almost anything would be better than just hanging an anchor off the bow. You are trying to get resistance to movement through the water. This is more a matter of surface area, than weight. Try throwing an empty 5 gallon bucket over in an emergency. It will slow your wind drift down noticeably.

Rich---Hamin' X---N7ZH

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Hi Rolf, a regular anchor like a danforth won't work if its not touching bottom, and you need a decent scope also. A sea anchor or drogue will slow you down and keep your bow into the weather if you put it off the bow. There is also a technique of running with the drogue off the stern. Its pretty much blue water stuff though, much easier to heave to in coastal cruising.

[Hamin' X]

Here is a good article on Heaving to.

Click Here

Rich---Hamin' X---N7ZH

[Rolf]

Thanks! Since I sometimes motor to Catalina with mast up, no boom and mainsail because of head high bimini, and the hanked on jib in the cabin to leave room for the dinghy on deck, heaving to with a drogue is a realistic possibe necessity for me in very rough conditions should the motor quit. Of course keeping jib attached seems more practical, but I want to avoid going on deck to raise it. No furler or halyards led aft for me, simplifies my launching. A drogue out the cockpit seems like the quick solution in such a situation while I ponder hanking on the jib or calling for a tow.
Rolf

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

In a X boat (probably same for an M), you have to be extra careful with running in following seas...even with a drogue. Reason being that the rudders are very weak and could easily snap off (probably leading to a broach and perhaps a CB failure too). Heaving-to will calm the boat's motions considerably (almost miraculously it seems) and does not require near as much sailing knowledge as using a drogue does. In places like Tampa Bay where the wave period is so much shorter than open deep water, you get more vertical wave faces in high winds, this really puts a big strain on the rudders when running (mine have a bunch of stress cracks in them). In a situation like that, I use the motor at low speed as the third rudder while sailing...powersailing if you will. I think it is more controlled that way and puts less stress on the rudders as you surf down each steep wave.

I do carry a sea anchor that I've never used but I think I would be more inclined to position it off the bow to keep the nose pointed into the waves as a last resort if I couldn't heave to for some reason. Although this wouldn't work too well if you had a situation where current was opposing wind considerably.