"Twenty", you say???
Quote:
Originally Posted by ishoot308
It's supposed to be VERY windy on Saturday!
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On Saturday morning's gentle breezes, I went for a nice sail—but stayed close to home base.
As the wind gradually increased, I headed in—just as
two sailboats bravely headed out to The Broads.
The Santana-22 promptly turned to a windward shore (but in the
lee of the shoreline) to swap a "working" sail for one that had just proved too large for such winds. A JY-15 also headed out to The Broads, and I wished him a silent "good luck out there".
Both were experienced skippers, based on having seen them out in challenging conditions this year.
Less than 10 minutes later, both boats returned into sight—but only one was upright!
The JY-15 first resisted righting into the strong wind—then "turned-turtle".
After about 15-minutes, the JY-15 managed to right itself—
then took off with nobody aboard! The now-tired skipper managed to snag the transom as it went by, but being dragged briskly, was unable to pull himself aboard.
The Santana, now under power, managed to corral the JY-15 after a "drag" of two hundred yards. (Whew!)
In the "wind-shadow" of the Santana-22, the empty JY-15 then was struck by a gust—tipped over—then "went-turtle"
again! 
Too tired to mess with righting it again, both the skipper and his lady passenger accepted a boarding on the Santana
assisted by the Santana crew. The Santana slowly towed the JY-15 (inverted, sails still attached) into Johnson's Cove—about one mile from the original capsize. During this time, an assortment of powerboats stopped to pass advice.
I asked a brave passing kayaker to pass the word to tow the JY-15 into my sandy area—which is a more suitable area for dragging an inverted boat—than into Johnson's Cove—and
a lot closer.
He said, "I'm sticking close to shore—I'm not going out
into
that!"
An hour had elapsed into this adventure before the "rescuing" NHMP boat sped-by, towards Johnson's Cove.
"From Out of The Broads" the NHMP's
teensiest Patrol boat (a "McKee" patrol boat) flew impressively and briskly
with the wind towards Johnson's Cove
After two minutes in Johnson's Cove—probaby to examine both sailboats' registrations
—the NHMP sped back, but now
into the wind. The force of wind started to snap at the McKee's canopy—risking an upset himself—if not—a major tearing of canopy!
(So it then got stowed tightly by the NHMP officer, who then resumed his return to Gilford—
from whence he surely had just left).
The skipper of the JY-15 apparently got it righted OK, and went for a brief sail (!) before taking it back to his mooring.
These are JY-15s:
Like a thrown rider from a horse, there's something about "The Sailing Life" that makes a skipper want to get
right-back-on!