Stop whining, America!

"Matt Barrow" wrote

BIG difference between fresh water and salt? Or _relatively_ shallow
water?

Just curious...the closest I ever got to water was McHales Navy.

The shallow water of the Great Lakes is the major factor, but the strength
of the sudden squalls also makes it wicked.

It is hard to explain how steep the waves get in Lake Erie. I have no
direct experience on Lake Michigan, or on the Eastern end of Erie. As I
said in another post, the depth of West Erie is less than 30 feet. I think
28 sticks in my mind.

To try an explain how steep a 12 foot wave is, let me relate a tale of mine,
on the lake.

I was with my Dad, and other family members on a fine day, with relatively
calm waves of 2 to 4 feet. The sky darkened up ahead, and we turned on the
weather radio. A storm warning was up for a fast moving squall line, moving
fast towards us. We were way out of sight of land; about 12 miles, which
might have been 100, as far as getting out of the way of the storm was
concerned.

We prepared the boat by reefing the main sail (reducing the surface area of
it, by almost half), and taking down the jib. (front sail) The wind came
up, and it was so strong that we could not control the boat, so we took the
main down. Our next option was starting the motor to try to keep at 45
degrees to the waves; reducing the chance of being turned over, and reducing
the strength of the waves from hitting them head on. Soon the wind was
blowing around 50 to 60 MPH, and the waves had gone from 4 feet to 12 feet
or more, all in the time span of 20 minutes. On the ocean, a sudden squall
would have made the boat harder to handle because of the wind, but the waves
would not have increased nearly that quickly; taking hours instead of
minutes. Depth is the factor, again.

Here is what I was leading up to, to help you understand.

The waves were so steep, that while we were on top of the wave, the
propeller was OUT of the water. The faces of the waves had to have been
more than 45 degrees, as we went up and down them. The top of one wave to
next was very close together, with the front and the back of the boat
touching the last wave and the next one, all at the same time.

Soon, we were not able to control the direction of the boat in relation to
the waves, since the prop was out of the water for so long. The only thing
we had left was to throw the anchor out and hope it held, and tie it to the
bow. (front) It held, and we rode out the storm for another 30 minutes, and
then the waves started to get smaller, and another 30 minutes we were on our
way. I feared for my life, that day.

Now, for all of you sailors out there, we did very little right, that day.
It was the first year, (we didn't know nearly enough) and we were still
learning, and not well equipped for such storms. We got a storm jib (very
small) and another set of reefs for the main, (to make it smaller, yet) and
purchased a sea anchor. That is a unit that looks somewhat like a wind
sock, and provides a way to let the boat drag through the water, and pull on
the boat to keep it pointed in the direction that you need.

The ocean wind makes big waves, but if you are in deep water, the angle of
the faces of the waves are maybe 15 or 20 degrees. (until you get to the
perfect storm type of waves g) Compare that to more than 45 degrees for
Lake Erie. A 25 foot boat seems big, but unless sailed correctly, is no
match for those conditions.

I hope this helps you understand a little bit more of how quickly it gets
fierce on the Great Lakes. It has killed many experienced sailors, and in
much bigger boats, and even ships.
--
Jim in NC