{"id":735,"date":"2018-09-24T20:37:32","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T20:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/?p=735"},"modified":"2018-09-24T20:52:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T20:52:03","slug":"steering-big-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/steering-big-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Steering in Big Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/steering-big-waves\/\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p>What\u2019s a big wave? Is it the 100-foot wave from\u00a0<em>The Perfect Storm\u201d?\u00a0<\/em>Could it be the waves from a TV show called\u00a0<em>Bering Sea Gold,\u00a0<\/em>when they tell us there\u2019s a storm, and it looks like all of 12 knots of breeze and two-foot chop?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is yes. Any wave that makes you feel that you and your boat are in danger is a big wave. All that matters is that the waves are challenging you, and you\u2019re nervous about handling them safely. There are some basic rules that can help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First -If conditions scare you, don\u2019t go out. Getting macho can get you and your passengers in deep trouble. Getting back on Monday morning isn\u2019t worth risking the safety and sanity of your crew.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The classic example is the trip back home from Catalina Island. You left the mainland early on Saturday, and it was flat with no wind, so you zoomed over (zoom speed is relative \u2013 maybe six knots from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yanmar.com\/global\/marinepleasure\/sail_boat_propulsion\/\">Yanmar\u00a0<\/a>in the sailboat, and 25 knots from the twin\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.volvopenta.com\/volvopenta\/na\/en-us\/marine_leisure_engines\/Pages\/marine_leisure.aspx\">Volvos<\/a>\u00a0in the cruiser). You leave for home on Sunday afternoon, and there 32 knots of breeze pushing some healthy wind waves along with a big swell rolling down the channel, and you\u2019ve got 26 to\u00a045 miles to go with that on your beam or under your quarter.<\/p>\n<p>You are relatively inexperienced, but you\u2019ll probably make it. You\u2019ll beat up the boat, and scare the pants off your crew and yourself in the process. The crew may never get on the boat again. Or, you are experienced, and you\u2019ll make it. You\u2019ll wear yourself and the crew out, and the boat won\u2019t be real happy either.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Second- There\u2019s no better teacher than experience, but try to gain that experience with an old hand aboard to help you learn. Often the difference between the emotion \u201cWe\u2019re gonna die\u201d and the comment \u201cThat was a big one\u201d is usually perception and a twitch on the helm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are next to the helm on one of those days, and the driver is calm and under control, it\u2019s amazing how much you can learn just watching and listening. Then when you trade places and you\u2019ve got the helm, have a calm voice in your ear, coupled with the positive results, can help you learn a lot, and apply it at the same time. Then you gain the confidence to try it yourself.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Third &#8211; Practice. When you go out, and it\u2019s lumpy, take some time to drive the boat both uphill (into the wind and waves) and downhill (away from the wind and waves). Learn what makes the boat feel and respond best under current conditions. You check the weather, then look out the harbor entrance. If you see other boats of your type in the vicinity, go out and play. Practice going into the wind, downwind, into the waves and away from them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Going into the waves, while often scarier, is easier on the boat and the driver when you do it right.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry about your specific destination \u2013 as long as you\u2019re making up distance to the mark (technically\u00a0<em>VMG \u2013 Velocity Made Good<\/em>), you\u2019re doing well. If you steer at an angle somewhere between 20\u00a0\u2070 and 45\u2070 off the face of the wave, the boat is a lot more comfortable, and is actually faster than heading straight into the sea. You don\u2019t get the big flying spray, and you don\u2019t get the big pounding crash, either. And, you\u2019ll be under control.<\/p>\n<p>Not steering at your mark seems counter-intuitive, but any racing sailor can tell you that it works.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s nice, you\u2019re thinking, but at some point I have to make up for that angle away from the harbor mouth. You\u2019re right. You do. If you\u2019re paying attention, you\u2019ll find a periodic flatter spot between waves that will allow you to make the turn (<em>tack<\/em>) without wrestling the boat over a bigger wave.<\/p>\n<p>Heading downhill requires more touch, and more attention to your helm. The basic design of most powerboat hulls has a broad, usually flat, surface for the following wave to push on, along with a more or less square corner (the quarter). This means that when that big wave comes at the stern, it lifts the stern while pushing on that flat surface. The combination of shapes and forces make the stern want to go to the side, and the boat wanting to turn parallel to the wave\u2019s face, tilting away from the rising wave. This can make for some interesting or even dangerous moments. Sailboats do the same, but with a less exaggerated motion.<\/p>\n<p>With some practice, you can learn to anticipate your boat\u2019s tendencies, and start steering up the face and down the backs of oncoming waves, into the direction that swinging stern takes (<em>It\u2019s called \u201cYaw\u201d<\/em>) on following seas.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fourth \u2013 Watch Your Speed. If you pay close attention to your boat speed relative to the waves, and adjust accordingly, you\u2019ll find the sweet spot. Wind waves are usually moving at speeds from 13 to 18 knots, so you want to work around that basic datum. If you\u2019re steering into the waves, and in a hurry with 15 knots of boat speed, you\u2019re meeting big walls of water at 30 knots (just under 35 mph). The air is getting under your hull, and you\u2019re flying a bit. That is a lot of energy your boat has to absorb when you hit the next wave. Saves a lot of wear and tear on the boat and the bodies aboard.<\/li>\n<li>Fifth &#8211; Steer easy.\u00a0 Remember, the rudder is turning the stern, not the bow, so you&#8217;re always just a beat ahead of the boat&#8217;s motion.\u00a0 That means you can be making exaggerated corrections, larger and larger turns, out of synch with the waves.\u00a0 That leads to more bounce, more roll, and frayed nerves.\u00a0 Usually, it&#8217;s just slow the boat speed a bit, slow the steering a bit, and get into the rhythm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When steering off the wind, some of the math works\u00a0<em>for<\/em>\u00a0you. If the waves are moving at 13 knots, and you throttle back to about 13 knots, keeping the bow down enough to increase your waterline (hence control and comfort), you\u2019ll find that steering the boat and managing the course is a great deal easier. The waves are coming at you a lot slower, and you have much more time to make your adjustments to steer a comfortable and productive course. With some practice, you\u2019ll find yourself actually surfing the boat on the swell.<\/p>\n<p>Take it easy.\u00a0 Think safe, learn well, practice and just slow down. Your boat, your back and your crew will be much happier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tweet What\u2019s a big wave? Is it the 100-foot wave from\u00a0The Perfect Storm\u201d?\u00a0Could it be the waves from a TV show called\u00a0Bering Sea Gold,\u00a0when they tell us there\u2019s a storm, and it looks like all of 12 knots of breeze and two-foot chop? The answer is yes. Any wave that makes you feel that you&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/steering-big-waves\/\">Read more: Steering in Big Waves<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[147,146,65],"class_list":["post-735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-content","tag-boat-steering","tag-seamanship","tag-steering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":738,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}