When the fleets of little fishing boats were
large here on the west coast wed occasionally see a boat
with the windows knocked out. Occasionally is to strong
a word; rather, once in a great while wed hear of it. Thinking
back, you know I only remember one. The use of the We
is not meant as an Imperial We like the way the English
Queen uses the word, but rather, to cover everybody around, not
me alone!
The thing is, while we all fear and try to prepare ourselves for
terrible weather it rarely happens outside of definite seasons.
It does appear that as the planet slowly warms up, these seasons
are extending and the severity of storms is increasing. But we
cant say that for sure because ocean weather and seasons
have only been tracked since the early 1800s, when an American
Lieutenant had the idea that ships everywhere should record the
weather conditions where they were every day. This info was forwarded
to Washington. Later, when wireless communication was invented,
this info was radioed in daily and by the 1960s, the pilot
charts with their season weather averages were pretty good
to rely on. I think they still are, but being no hero I would
extend the averages out and try to be well on my way long before
the average time of weather change.
That is the way the cautious cruiser should think, and when he/she/it
(which shall from now on be abbreviated to the word he
alone with no sexual or political undertones at all) does, he
can cruise the planet and the odds are hell never experience
seriously bad weather. This is different than commercial boats
which frequently venture out when they really shouldnt,
or push on when they should heave-to. Back when I was a kid and
the salmon fleet was huge, even then the rare boats that were
lost usually bought it when coming in across the bar.
The sea wasnt their enemy; the land got em.
Anyway, just the same if you worry about everything and try to
prepare for whatever paranoia you suffer from, should it actually
happen maybe youll get through it. Remember; just
because youre paranoid doesnt mean they aint
out to get ya....
To me, the seagoin boats pilot house should
be small and is not part of the main cabin. The cruising powerboats
shown elsewhere on this site demonstrate what Im talking
about.
If I was building one of them I would make provision to install
sailboat type drop boards in the passageway down to
the fore & aft cabins. These arent water tight but they
really slow down the flow. Lets imagine the highly unlikely
situation where the boat is knocked down, looses its house windows,
and stays over for a few minutes. Or is pitchpoled and rolled.
This stuff is highly unlikely but..... The wheel house would fill
with water and in the average boat, the water would rush down
the companionway into the main and aft cabin, and youd sink.
The drop boards give us time.
Then, Id install four 1 1/2 or 2 cockpit drains
in the wheelhouse floor, one near each corner. These would be
piped with radiator hose down to through-hulls located at least
a foot above the waterline. I wouldnt want to even think
about any problem should a thru-hull fail, as unlikely as that
would be.
These two simple and inexpensive items will likely never be called
upon, but installing them will give real peace of mind because
youll know that if things get scary you can insert the drop
boards and youll have a pretty good defense if or rather
WHEN Goddess decides to take a swipe at you. I doubt youll
ever need them in normal cruising but they cant
hurt to have!