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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:23 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:27 am
Posts: 32
Location: Coastal NC
So I got out today and it was my first time in heavy (over 10mph) winds. Winds were about 12MPH according to Windfinder.com and took a friend out that I hadn't sailed with before. Being that we hadn't developed any skills before, today was all a learning curve.

We were using a GPS to track our speed and while we were at 16MPH, we pitch-poled and capsized. Water was relatively shallow (12-15 ft?) and the mast was speared into the floor! Turned out to be quite a challenge. Eventually after some creative maneuvering, my buddy, Eric swam out to the mast and assisted to push it up while I pulled on the righting line and success.

Unfortunately, we learned the hard way the following:
-Consider utilizing a lanyard on ALL retaining pins: I lost the lower retaining pin to the main's block when I released it. It now belongs to the Atlantic.
-If you have a friend throwing the mast up while you use the righting line, ensure they have a line to the boat; We could have used the mooring line, but didn't realize that in the heavy winds that the boat would drift faster than he could swim back to the boat. Eventually everything was fine, but it was a definite challenge to deal with that could have been avoided.

Now, these are my lessons learned today. What recent have you learned that we can all learn from??

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Fair Winds and Following seas,
Scott

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:04 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:13 am
Posts: 1184
Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
Glad no one was hurt, and that everyone got home safely.

How about the lesson that the boat sails faster if you remember to remove the cat trax? That one is a classic.

Here's another one - we were in a hurry to remove the cat trax to go sailing, so we did not notice that the rope from the end of the axle snagged a shroud ring ding, and pulled it out! We were fine until the first tack, then we watched the mast gently fall down. It was a long paddle back to the Club. Always tape all ring dings and other things that can get snagged.

We all have our stories....any others out there?

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:49 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:11 pm
Posts: 313
Location: West Point, Utah
About 6 years ago when I was making the switch back to cats after sailing monos for about 30 years I was taking my wife out on a late October evening for a nice easy sail. This was only the 2nd time with the H16 since I was a kid of 12 or so. Anyway, we slide it into the water after rigging and I hopped on to sail over to the dock and pick up my wife. I noticed that it was really sluggish in the one tack that I needed to make the dock. I swung by and she hopped on and we headed for the harbor entrance. This is when I notice how deep in the water we were sitting and I finally realized that I hadn't put in the plugs. CLASSIC. As you all know it is nearly impossible to keep a waterlogged H16 on it's feet. As I headed back to the dock my wife, who hates the water, asked if we were going to die. My reply was,"not yet". Anyway, we made it back to the dock before it finally went tits up^^ and my wife did not have to swim for it. We got the mast off and all the sails taken care of and then tried to pull the hulls up on the dock to drain. No way. There were a bunch of fishermen over on the dock trying to start their motor with no success. By this time some of them were very drunk and had a good laugh at my predicament. They helped us pull the boat up on the dock though and I didn't mind the laughter as I deserved it. My wife was a real trooper and has since had many great days out on the lake on the Hobie.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:01 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:57 pm
Posts: 15
I pitchpoled in deep water but with 5 people aboard, shoulda been easy to right but we were all drunk and not taking things very seriously.

Anyways after that I bought the anti-pitchpole hydrofoils and the mast bob for peace of mind.

I do make a point of not taking noobs out with me unless there's someone else with me to help out, you never know how they are going to react under stress. Lots of "landlubbers" are not very conscious about their weight and you have to tell them everything. The only exception are my surfer and windsurfer friends who are comfortable in the water and usually fit above average.

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72 H16 and its white now


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:50 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:26 am
Posts: 140
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Get a Mast Bob, you will be glad you did.

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Every second that passes cannot be recovered, so make good use of every one of them that you have left.


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:42 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:51 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Florida
take a cell phone in a dry bag and all ways leave a sail plan with friends or at least a note on your windshield.

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styrofoam Snark
AMF Dolphin
OBrien Windsurfer
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1983 Hobie 16
Hobie Adventure Tri
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