CaptnChaos wrote:
WOW ! That sounds pretty scary with a loaded AI, big seas, the remoteness of your location AND sailing solo when the incident occurred. Even though you said you're going to write about it more I have a few questions:
Did you also have your cooler on the Stern ? How fast were you going when this happened ? Did you have to replace the shear pin before getting back on board ?
Glad you're ok Keith. It could have turned out a lot worse in those circumstances.
Hi Jim, I've referred to the righting of the boat as "routine" partly because of your good description about righting your AI after your accident. Also, I righted my Hobie 16 many times, but that was 45 yrs ago.
The cooler and 65L dry bag were on the stern. Unlike the pre-2015 AIs, the AI 2 handled that load easily. I was probably doing 6-8 mph when the pin broke, and I dumped in an instant. Really, absolutely no time to think about it. One moment I was sailing normally, next
split second, I was in the water. I replaced the shear pin AFTER I righted the boat. Unfortunately, for recovering my gear, the jostling while capsized caused the attachment button to come loose and fall out. So, when I had the shear pin replaced and went to attach to the hull, there was nothing to attach to!! This was the main cause of losing my valuable dry bag. I sailed the disabled boat to a small island and straightened the boat out, but it just took too much time. When I got back out in the vicinity of the capsize, too much time had elapsed, and there were too many whitecaps to see anything floating in the mess.
tonystott wrote:
Keith I apologise for my attempt at lessening the gravity of the situation with my comments above, and I am sorry that you had to endure what must have been a very alarming situation during the capsize and protracted recovery.
My smartarse commemts were out of order.
Tony
Absolutely not a problem, Tony. I enjoyed your comment.
TriBlue wrote:
Hey Keith,
Sorry to hear that you capsized inadvertently but Glad to hear you we're able to recover "routinely" and all is well save for some lost gear... I'm not sure routine can be appropriately used here though! Looking forward to the trip report...
Hi Don,
"Routine" may not be the best word, since it was the first AI capsize for me. Still, as I said above, I just did the things any of us would do. It was hard actually, but seemed "routine."
@Stringy--Stringy, if you are reading this, I've gone from thinking "no handles on the 2015 AI" was not a problem, to thinking "What a dumb move!" There are not a lot of things to grab onto when in the water trying to right your boat. Handles would definitely help. What a dumb move!
Keith