I spent about 2 hours practicing self-rescue with my GIS this past week. I still absolutely stink at it. I can just manage a self-rescue on a fairly calm day. But I know I'm hosed if I go over alone in any kind of chop. It will just be a matter of hanging on until I get rescued or fetch up on shore somewhere. (The one time I was in this situation, I had to swim the boat to shore. Luckily, I had a following wind.)
I know that some of the problem is that I'm heavy -- 200lbs / 91kg. And some of the problem is technique. I've never managed the trick of sneaking over the gunwale while keeping my center of mass below it. I'm just not that flexible. Maybe someone who is good at it can give me pointers during the Northeast Goat Herd-up in September. I hereby volunteer my boat for swamping in a self-rescue clinic. It will be worth it if I can learn the trick.
But after a lot of playing around this weekend, I've decided that much of the problem is just my boat. My mast is heavy. Even with the sail down, the whole package isn't stable when the gunwale gets near the water. The balance is very close -- I can right the boat with just a small tug down on the centerboard or up on the submerged gunwale. But there is definitely a tipping point when the gunwale is about 2" (5cm) above the water. Let go at that point and she is going over, not up. If I try to roll in as the gunwale comes up, the very tiniest bump from any body part sends it back down.
Knowing that I just can't get in over the side, I have rigged up a crude rope ladder over the transom. This works if the water is flat. But maintaining balance while clambering in is tough. Any kind of waves make it almost impossible. This is not a permanent solution.
Many builders on facebook have talked about adding buoyancy. I tried tying in some old PFDs under the seats. That really didn't help at all.
The solution as I see it, at least for my build with my heavy mast, is ballast of some sort. I have to give the boat a few more degrees of heel before it reaches the tipping point. It probably won't take much. 2 x 25lb bags of sand, or maybe just 1, tied around the base of the centercase would probably be enough. Like I said, the balance is close. I just need to get it to the point where it will reliably right itself from a degree of heel that allows me to climb in.
The problems will be keeping those bags from shifting and not adding so much weight that the top of the centercase is flooded with my fat butt in the the swamped boat.
What think you all? What have you found works? Doesn't? Am I the only one with this problem? Is my mast uniquely heavy?
I know that some of the problem is that I'm heavy -- 200lbs / 91kg. And some of the problem is technique. I've never managed the trick of sneaking over the gunwale while keeping my center of mass below it. I'm just not that flexible. Maybe someone who is good at it can give me pointers during the Northeast Goat Herd-up in September. I hereby volunteer my boat for swamping in a self-rescue clinic. It will be worth it if I can learn the trick.
But after a lot of playing around this weekend, I've decided that much of the problem is just my boat. My mast is heavy. Even with the sail down, the whole package isn't stable when the gunwale gets near the water. The balance is very close -- I can right the boat with just a small tug down on the centerboard or up on the submerged gunwale. But there is definitely a tipping point when the gunwale is about 2" (5cm) above the water. Let go at that point and she is going over, not up. If I try to roll in as the gunwale comes up, the very tiniest bump from any body part sends it back down.
Knowing that I just can't get in over the side, I have rigged up a crude rope ladder over the transom. This works if the water is flat. But maintaining balance while clambering in is tough. Any kind of waves make it almost impossible. This is not a permanent solution.
Many builders on facebook have talked about adding buoyancy. I tried tying in some old PFDs under the seats. That really didn't help at all.
The solution as I see it, at least for my build with my heavy mast, is ballast of some sort. I have to give the boat a few more degrees of heel before it reaches the tipping point. It probably won't take much. 2 x 25lb bags of sand, or maybe just 1, tied around the base of the centercase would probably be enough. Like I said, the balance is close. I just need to get it to the point where it will reliably right itself from a degree of heel that allows me to climb in.
The problems will be keeping those bags from shifting and not adding so much weight that the top of the centercase is flooded with my fat butt in the the swamped boat.
What think you all? What have you found works? Doesn't? Am I the only one with this problem? Is my mast uniquely heavy?
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