Last week, we were just about to arrive
in Key West and clear into the United States
We pick up the story the morning after
little did we know what the next leg would bring.
Here we are in Key West, finally.
It was a windy arrival
we had 20 to 30 knots as we were leaving the Gulf Stream
Yeah, we were certainly flying
The boat was just honking along
Well we were doing seven to eight knots
the whole way across the Gulf Stream
but we were actually doing one or two or three knots
across the ground
but if anything that wind picked up we came
closer to the Keys
and the Gulf Stream effects dissipated
and the boat then started showing some real progress
we still had 20 odd miles to cover to get here
the wind held, in fact it got up to 31 knots at one point
we had full sails up
dead downwind wing and wing
the boat was surfing up to 13 knots at night time
and we were just sitting lounging in the pod
getting up on these surfs and
it's uncanny the way the boat just tracks like a train
We got into the leading lights around midnight
and then it took us about an hour and a half to
find our way down the shipping channel
call up port control who didn't respond
however Coast Guard did
US Coast Guard and they were kind enough to
give us a phone number for Customs this morning
So errrr, as we came into Key West
completely foreign port to us
middle of the night
it was very comforting to arrive and see many yachts
just anchored and moored around
so finally we could just drop the pick
and as a captain and crew you really
do experience a sense of relief
when you get to that moment
because you know you and your boat are safe
It's now midday and we haven't cleared in yet
but we did go and talk to some locals in the dinghy and
some fishermen and they were quite helpful and told us
how to find the clearing in procedure
it's quite informal actually, surprisingly enough
When you come by plane
Yes
There is such a difference
Yes. Totally.
When you come by boat, it's like, casual.
Casual. I was thinking that you know that one of the boats would
have come out to us they would have been
watching us on radar and on AIS last night
but it just seems so informal you know if you were
doing something illegal
there would have already been opportunities
to finish your illegal activities before
you know having them
inspect the boat it seems confusing
So. Yeah. Glad to be here
Let's clear in, and then we're going to leave in the morning
Probably early tomorrow morning and head up to Fort Myers
it's about 50 miles away
and, hopefully, make the Hui on time
Let's go clear in. At least. [LAUGHS]
We had pre-arranged visas before arriving in the US
so everything went smoothly with customs and immigration
Although we thought they might, they did not search the boat
For reasons we'll explain in a moment
we only had time for a quick beer and a look around as we
had to leave right away for Fort Myers
[MUSIC]
Where are you going now?
We are always going on the way to….
Yeah, I know, we have got to stop going places soon…
[LAUGHS]
That was a whirl wind view of Key West
Like our whirl wind view of the Exumas
There is a little bit of dissension among the crew
about our whirl wind visits.
And, they haven’t stopped.
Fair enough too.
But, once we’ve got this Hui over and done with
that is the end of the schedule thank goodness
Who's private?
Grace. Grace E Georgetown.
they're living in a castle
We're living in a Ger.
Awwww. Don't be so hard on Luckyfish.
[LAUGHS]
This is a luxurious Ger.
[LAUGHS]
You'd be proud of me, crew. I just ummmm
took a short cut. Something you like doing.
Did you? Good.
I cut corners.
One thing about novice sailors that always puts captains
makes them very uneasy is that they like to cut corners
Rocks are very unforgiving.
So we fare welled Key West in pretty good
spirits not aware of what was waiting
for us that night
We recounted the events the following day
Almost. It felt like we almost capsized.
We didn't have long in Key West, did we?
No.
We only stayed there...
A night and
I think we've got in about midnight and
then we left at 8 p.m. the same day
It was a short and sweet visit
But, with the just-in-time planning it sometimes
backfires and I hadn't
checked to see what the distance was up to Fort Myers from
Key West I thought it was about 50 miles
turned out I was 130
Bad mistake so,
we were planning on sleeping another night and
leaving early in the morning
but when we got back to the boat
after a bit of shopping in Key West and clearing in
we realized we had to leave pretty much straightaway
So we did. We left at 8:00 p.m. last night
straight into the teeth of a 25 knot
solid 25 knot easterly
Huge waves.
Big waves.
It was very confused water
The waves steadily built up as we departed
the keys, left them behind to the south
we're heading north now directly north
and it was
quite a rough crossing so far of the 130
miles 115 of them are at sea and then
there's about a 15 mile trip up the
Okeechobee River
it's the start of the Intracoastal,
until we reach North Fort Myers
We've got about 37 miles to run of the
sea leg of their journey
the winds drop down to about 15 knots now
But boy it was a rough night
Last night we almost capsized
Almost. It felt like we almost capsized
We had waves just arriving from nowhere and
just slapping us
We looked at the chart plotter
before finalizing the route it
which was pretty much a direct line
and noticed two wrecks in quite close proximity
listed as dangerous
however they're probably a long
way deeper than our keel
but when you see dangerous on a chart
you do wonder what could possibly go wrong so
we passed by them within about a quarter of a mile or so
but as we were traveling we
thought well why would there be two
wrecks in the same spot
this place has got bad spirits
[LAUGHS]
Didn't really think much more of it than that
and then, as we were passing
the first wreck, on the way to the second wreck
we had 3 quite large waves in quick succession
go underneath the boat
that wasn't unusual, the size of the waves wasn't unusual either
its just that there were 3 large ones in quick succession.
And that was very strange
because by the time the third one came around
we wondered when it was going to stop
But that was it. The boat just went up and down.
Rocked sideways
We were roaring along. We were doing between 8 and 9 knots
2 reefs in the main, 2 reefs in the foresail
and half the jib out
the boat was just flying
We were sitting right here
Yeah, so we were happy to let it run
because we had a bit of time to make up
and then as we were passing the second wreck
just out of the blue a big wave
impacted the starboard hull
so hard, and so vertically
you know the whole boat was just lifted up
Zaya reckons the angle was about sixty degrees
I dont know I was thrown across the cockpit
landed on my bloody wounded knee opening it up
again. Not good.
But, ummm, I was actually quite concerned
It was an instant thing. It was all over in a second
but the boat did get up on its ear
that wasn't pleasant.
And errr, Zaya was alright
You got thrown into the table right? Yeah.
So yeah. That was a real shitty wave.
Just out of nowhere.
had a few more ones similar to it but nothing that size
and nothing that sheer, you know that vertical
face on it.
Whatever it did to the boat. I don't know.
It must have just turned it right up on its edge
As a sea captain with millions of miles
and friend of lucky fish told me later
the frequency of coastal rogue waves
is grossly under reported or acknowledged
the dynamics of shallow water wind
current and swell do crazy things sometimes
The incident led me to look
deeper into our boats stability and ask the question
Can our boat capsize?
Here is what I learned
The Tiki 38 is a form stable craft
which means it gets its stability from its shape
Primarily it's beam
On a monohull, the stability comes from a deep ballasted keel
so how much wind would it
take to capsize us ?
Luckily the physics for catamarans is
not too hard to understand
and luckier still
Wharrams provide the complete set of
stability calculations with their designs
Known as the "law of moments" the
force of wind on the sails tries to lift
one hull out of the water while the beam
and weight of the boat resists the force
using this law the stability of a
catamaran is calculated by finding the
wind speed required to lift one hull
under full sail
once the hull lifts clear of the water
the form stability of
the boat begins to reduce rapidly which
can lead to capsize
Now before we get to that wind speed
it's worth noting some
important differences between Wharram
designs and virtually all other
catamarans we come across
and all of the differences relate to stability
Firstly the sail plan is kept low
reducing the heeling moment
secondly the height or windage of the hulls and the cabin sides
are also kept low
and thirdly the hulls are kept narrow
about 20% narrower than a comparable catamaran
meaning they require less sail area
to drive through the water
All these features add up to a very safe
design and explain why in static wind
conditions with all sail up and hard-on the wind
it would take 38 knots of wind
to lift one hull.
The wind is seldom static however.
In the late 1970s
James Wharram was instrumental in
recognising the importance of the
dynamic nature of wind which led to a
safety coefficient of 67% being applied
to allow for wind gusts.
What that means is we should be reducing sail
in winds 25 knots or more
We begin reducing sail
in 15 to 18 knots of wind when we're
reaching or at tighter angles
So, in answer to the question.
Can our boat capsize?
Unless we were extremely foolhardy, no.
Our catamaran will not capsize and this
is borne out by the unequaled ocean
safety record of Wharram designs.
[MUSIC]
Seventy feet. Minimum vertical clearance.
It's quite scary isn't it? Yeah
Wow.
Here we are America. WooHoo
Checking
Well we count ourselves very fortunate
to be here just on sundown we've arrived
at Fort Myers one more bridge to go under
and then just to the right is the Fort
Myers Yacht Basin, which errrr
although its closed apparently, there's a night watchman
there and hopefully he'll give us
permission to berth there tonight
Clean the boat and then turn up over at the
Hui tomorrow probably around noon I'd
say it's going to take us a good morning
to get the boat looking semi respectable
she's had a pretty hard three weeks
since we left Grenada we've pushed her
pretty hard and there's bit of gear
breakage. Nothing serious but there's
a few repairs to do
and Wow, you know here we are right on sunset.
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check out some other designs
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