Chubasco

[waterdog]

We were ashore for tamales the other night.    A little rain and wind storm blew through as we were at dinner.   Soon there was no power and 4 inches of water in the street.   We had another margeurita in candlelight and took some solace that it wasn't a named storm, so at least the insurance deductible wouldn't be outrageous.   There was absolutely nothing we could do for the boat at that moment. 

In twenty minutes it was all over.   We returned to the main pier as our friends launched their dingy to give us a ride to the boat.   The canvas shelters at the cruise ship dock were blown down into the water, with twisted metal frames.  There were plastic restaurant chairs floating half a mile off shore.   Zihuatanejo Bay was full of debris.  The good news was that we saw an anchor light where our boat should have been.   Many of the other boats were nowhere near the positions they were in when we went ashore.

We arrived to find the dingy upside down.   It still had the oars tied in.   The spinnaker unpacked itself from the bag and lay in its sock on the foredeck, the bag hanging over the side with the clips on the lifeline.   The inflatable kayaks which were on deck, not tied down, were still there wedged between shrouds and lifelines.  An empty styrofoam cooler that was on our foredeck somehow ended up in the cockpit with the lid still on. 

The open starboard ports will be a subject of family discussion for some years to come.   Inside the settee cushions were soaked.   Two laptops on the main salon table were dripping wet and non functional.   Foster was a both terrified and delighted that all his electronic text books were wiped out - no more school!   After a day of drying in the sun, it appears the only casualty was a single little boat cushion that got sucked out of the cockpit.   The solar panels didn't budge.   GPS showed we hadn't dragged.

Winds were reported at 50 kts plus.    A friend on a 48 footer broached twice, once to starboard and once to port at anchor.   The harbour was nothing but blowing white foam.

Elsewhere in the anchorage, there is a 75 pound CQR and its broken chain lying on the bottom with a couple of outboards from dingies that flipped over and dropped their loads off the transom.  There is enough awning repair work to keep a canvas maker busy for a long time.   A few boats got very wet.   

It was our first Chubasco.   Judging by the somewhat shell shocked reactions of the other cruisers, I think I'll be quite content to experience our next Chubasco safely in a restaurant.  Next time maybe one that isn't open to the wind with a leaky roof...

I love my Rocna.  I love my Rocna.

[Hawk]

Steve,

Good planning to be under a roof clutching a Margarita.
As a matter of general interest and given your well documented affection for your Rocna, what depth were you in and how much chain did you have out?

Hawk

[Stu Jackson]

As a matter of general interest and given your well documented affection for your Rocna, what depth were you in and how much chain did you have out?

Hawk,

C'mon.

Steve made it abundantly clear about his anchoring system in his 1500 Mile Update:  100 feet then rode.  What's so hard?     

See: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5270.0.html

The Rocna.  All 20kg of it with 100ft of chain.  The rest of the world can debate all they like.   When I pull into a place like Bodega Bay at midnight and the fog is so thick I can't see the jetty 50 feet away to make an entrance, I drop my hook in the rolling ocean swells with the surf crashing (Foster says it's like staying in a cheap Best Western beside the highway), and I sleep.  And in the morning I have a windlass to pull the beast up and I wouldn't trade it for anything.   (I also wouldn't add more chain - this works perfectly in 25 to 30 feet of water - you let all the chain out and you tie off nylon at the preferred scope and don't bother with snubbers and chain hooks and all that stuff...)

This was our best upgrade.

I do NOT know the depth of the Margaritas! 

[waterdog]

Ah, the margueritas were drawing about 3 inches.   Fairly generous scope on those...

We are anchored in about 15 feet and I have 110 feet out.  (100 feet of chain, 10 feet of nylon).   So factor in the freeboard and I guess I'm about 6:1 scope.   Had I known it was going to blow 50, I might have let out a lot more.   Then again, I might have shut the ports too. 

It's amazing how many people you meet who just sort of believe that having the anchor drag in a blow is normal and that there is no need to rethink their ground tackle, scope, or technique to ensure they don't drag.   If your anchoring is good 98% of the time, that means if you are cruising full time, you will have 6 nights in a year where you will be up in the dark of night hauling up anchor and dodging rocks, beaches, and other boats in your underwear.   Better to shoot for 99.8% of the time...

On the other hand, if you only anchor out 5 nights a year, you can probably get by for a lifetime throwing your 10 pound danforth with 6 feet of chain and 40 feet of rope overboard and mixing a cocktail.

[Ron Hill]

Steve : I've never had a problem with dragging, but did leave the Vberth hatch open 1/4" during a T-Storm once. 
My crew has NEVER let me forget how much water can come in that 1/4" opening!! 
You'll learn to close up the boat when you're off of it and let it cool off later - but be dry!!   

[Tom Clay]

Steve,

Great story on anchoring and what the proper tackle can do to hold the boat.

We were in the Gulf Islands last year in one of your Canadian protected coves with a stern tie. Protected...well on 3 sides.....LOL. We pulled into the anchorage at about 1:00 pm set the anchor in about 25 ft of water with a 5 to 1 scope, and put out a stern tie. We are now broadside to the open end of the cove, we had friends raft up beside us on the port side with their 36' Jeanneau as we have done many times(first mistake they did not put their anchor down). It is absolutely calm with no wind in the forcast so we went exploring on the island, came back and had a nice dinner on the boat. Friends went to bed at 10:00 and we went to bed at 11:00 again no wind and none in the forcast. At about 12:00pm I wake up and my buddy is out on his boat, I look out through the rear birth hatch and I see tree limbs......HHHMMMM those weren't there when I went to bed, and it sounds like the wind is blowing. I am sure you have personal stories about those Canadian northerlies that come up out of no where, we heard about them over the next 2 weeks as we related this story to other cruisers. The next 2 hours was a Chinese fire drill in the dark, first we had to get my friends boat off of mine so that I could reset the anchor...Oh did I mention there is another boat on our starboard side about 50' away (thank goodness for the stern tie), and we are trying to do this with a dingy and 25-30 knots of wind. We worked for 2 hours getting him off, anchored into the wind and my anchor reset, no sleep all night.

With the above story in mind I sleep very well with my 33 lb. Bruce and 60' of chain. This is the only time we have pulled loose in 4 years with the boat anchoring out 20-30 nights a year. I now have a pretty good idea what it takes to drag. I have spoken to one of our dock neighbors that has been to Mexico, we are discussing a possible future trip, he says get another 40' of chain minimum if we head there as he has been through a couple Chubasco's. 

Thanks for web updates, The wife and I throughly enjoy them and your humor through it all.

[Hawk]

Stu,
You're on to me. My question to Steve was code for how many margs he was into and whether he could remember how much scope was out.

And Steve you'll be happy to know, as I'm sure you've heard, that it's been raining for 2 weeks solid...hard.  Last night we recorded 110 kms (68 mph) over the water in Vancouver.

I know, I know, who cares senor.

Hawk