LEARNING CURVELEARNING CURVE38 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com JANUARY 2016pressureof low TrackPrince Rupert, BC
Victoria, BCVancouverSan FranciscoKNOCKDOWN!NORTH PACIFICOCEANGulf ofAlaskaALASKA
CANADAUSAKauaiO’ahuHawaiiMauiNORTH PACIFICHIGHGraham I.0 500nm‘I was thrown down the companionway, across the cabin and into the heads, which meant Sänna was on her side’FINISHSTARTMarie and I departed Hanalei Bay on Kauai, Hawaii, aboard Sänna, our
mile passage towards Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British customised Bavaria Ocean 50. Ahead of us lay a 3,000-
Columbia. The first week brought glorious trade wind sailing, then the North Pacific High blocked our passage so we sailed north around its west side.
couple of calm, sunny days under motor. As we reached higher latitudes and the westerlies that would take us The wind died away and we had a
all the way to Victoria, the temperatures dropped and dense fog, strong winds and torrential rain set in.
week we’d ridden out a couple of blows and we were happy to save diesel. We’d By the end of the second
signed up with a weather routeing service but it proved less than useful so we kept downloading GRIB forecasts
via SSB radio. We were also in email contact with Skip Kleger, a San Francisco sailor and weather guru we’d never
met, who was routeing the US yacht two behind us. Morning Star, a day or
Storm warningOur latest GRIB showed a low pressure forming to the south that didn’t fit the north-east Pacific weather patterns.
Although not unusual, it was predicted to deepen and move north-east across our easterly course, giving 20-30-knot winds on our starboard bow. I made a mental
note to check the staysail sheets and furling lines as we’d not used our storm sails since leaving Hawaii. Then, I noticed a second email from Skip.
He’d picked up a Canadian forecastpredicting a powerful storm closing in. The GRIBs still showed 30 knots but, as the low moved north, it would be squeezed by the high spreading east, creating a band
of 40 to 50-knot southeasterlies. We were still 600 miles from Canada.wasn’t quite so certain. ‘We’ve dealt with it before,’ said Marie. I Sänna is fin-keeled
with a spade rudder, a design that some ocean cruising purists scorn. Would our keel or rudder fall off? more than half way around the world and Sänna had got us
through a number of bad storms but I ask myself these silly questions in the long, dark watches of the night.North
Pacific
knockdownA freak wave puts Dave Ungless and his yacht
on their beam ends in storm force 10 conditions‘50 Knots, gusting 60’The wind built slowly from the south-east and we were well prepared by dusk. Everything was secured, storm
trysail ready and checked, bilge pumps and engine tested. Marie prepared hot food, and tea and soup in flasks. She also
checked our grab bag contained the essentials. I later found her Kindle in there, too. ‘I’ll need something to read if we
abandon ship,’ she explained.main and staysail, we could close reach comfortably and With double reefed furling
keep the big seas off our beam. We took turns to steer, avoiding the bigger waves, and our autopilot handled things well.
through the worst. The winds were gusting up to 35 knots, with 3-4 metre seas, so the We rested when we could and in six or seven hours we’d be
GRIB forecast wasn’t far out after all. knots, gusting 60. We needed a third reef in the main, and to prepare our trysail and Suddenly we had steady winds of 50
reef the staysail. I activated the autopilot and readied our tethers to clip on at the mast. I checked we were holding course before joining Marie below to change into
my sea boots. I reached the half-open hatch and saw a towering wave on our beam, twice the height of the others and approaching from a different direction. As
it broke over us, Sänna was knocked down.Chart: Maxine heathSännainto the sunrise. Within hours, in force motors
10-11 winds and towering seas, chaos would reignPhOtOS: Dave UngleSS UnleSS StateD OtherWiSe