All Is Analyzed: A Sailing Movie Learning Workshop
Chapter 1, Collision At Sea
In this opening chapter of ASA’s Sailing Movie Workshop the skipper is faced with a terrible situation while sailing alone at sea – he slams into a floating container from a cargo ship. The boat is severely damaged and he does what he thinks was best. Do we agree?
Watch the video clip & leave your comments below…
Please note the video intentionally has no sound – we are simply using it to depict a situation for discussion
As an illiterate of sailing,(but not for long) something instinctually tells me he didn’t
follow proper procedure for the 911 as EMT’s would do. I’d stop the flooding! Hello!
I havent even taken ASA 101 yet (next week!!) but… Don’t you think maybe he should have, I don’t know, moved a little faster and dealt with the GIANT HOLE first? Like, got his radio set out of the waterfall so he would have a prayer of calling for help? And what good does reefing the sail do, I don’t see it blowing very hard, probably I would have tried to figure out how to save the radio, used it to call for help, and started cramming all my extra sails, cushions, blankets, heck my clothes, the furniture, into the… Read more »
Considering that it is a movie I don’t believe the container would have hit the side of the boat and put a hole in it like that unless it was moving it would have slid down alongside of the boat. The condition seems pretty calm that container it would be moving with the current and a boat made been doing a few knots regardless I would have start at the motor turn hard to starboard to swing the Stern away from the container
Does this scene even make sense? If the water was rushing in then the hole had to be below the waterline. The weight of the water would sink the boat and the rate of inflow would increase until either the buoyancy of the container counteracted the added weight of the sailboat, or the hull of the boat cracked from the opposing pressures and foundered. Somehow he’s got to stop the inflow, even if its some clever way to separate from the container and then quickly plug the hole. The only things I can imagine are issuing a mayday, quickly separating… Read more »
1. Call an immediate may day and fire off the flares.
Secure a lifejacket for your aboard group including yourself. Activate the bildge pump. Start the engine head for shore.
I hope that my old navy / Coast guard Auxiliary Training would kick in is this would ever happened to me. The first thing I learned SAP “C”. Stop – asses – Plan. First things first – PFD on STOP boat – Lower sail Assess – Looks like hole is above water line so water ingress should be fairly easy to control. Plan: Put a plug in the hole. A seat cushion wedge in Place would be a start. Tie boat to container. to keep about of water ingress manageable , until efficient damage control can be done. a tarp/sail… Read more »
Should have declared a Pan Pan or May day before messing around with books and sails. Should have grabbed pillows to stuff in the hole, started the engine and turned on the back up bilge pump , put on life vest.
I would put the dingy over the side fill it with water after its tied to the boom and make the boat heel then check ditch kit and check the damage to see what can be done
Thanks everyone for the great comments!! Don’t forget to check out Chapter 2! http://asa.com/sailing-movie-workshop/chapter-2-breaking-free/
He secured his logbook (good). He didn’t set the bilge pump to manual (bad but not critical as the auto switch ought to already be engaging the pump) He didn’t take action to slow the water ingress. (bad) think some effort to stop the flow of water around the point of impact would buy you more time. Stuffing a cushion or two around the edges where the worst inflow is might have helped slow it some. He headed up on deck to see what he’d hit. (good). You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what it is. Took… Read more »
So I panned this yesterday because it’s a impractical scenario as presented. Now let’s discuss what would really happen. First, it isn’t going to be flat calm. You’re on a sailboat under way, chances are you have some heel on. You’re also probably not sleeping in the v berth, it’s way to bouncy. When you hit the object it will most likely be between the bow and the chainplates and under the water line. You’ll know you hit something unless you are on a big yacht. Immediately after impact check to see if you can identify what you hit; a… Read more »
1) Save the radio
2) RADIO FOR HELP!!!
3) Deal with the situation.
Move off the container before it does more damage. Go on stbd tack to raise hole higher. Reef sails. Plug hole. Pan-Pan. Fix hole as possible.
I recently sailed to St. Thomas USVI in the same boat, a Cal 39, and it’s hard to imagine how that accident could have happened in the first place. I found the movie to be ridiculous from a sailing point of view. I went day sailing in the Long Island Sound better equipped than this guy for sailing around the world. I think at the very least I would have put the boat on the opposite tack in order to get the damaged portion of the hull as far out of the water as possible. Also, how would a drougue… Read more »
Does anybody know if radar would have detected that shipping container?
Yes! That’s exactly what I mean! Glad I’m not the only one ‘thinking outside the box!
Put on PFD.
Put out some fenders to try to keep container from enlarging hole.
Put on harness before messing with container.
Use of boathook is not appropriate. They do not have the structural strength to act as a pry bar.
Dropping sails was appropriate. I likely would start engine but not engage prop.
PAN PAN radio call
(1) seeing water on floor urgent to investigate which he did (2) Seeing the hole he needed to patch it but first to quickly assess what might have caused it which he did (3) Saw the container – Good (4) lower sail to depower boat so he can reduce force even in the light wind or lack thereof so limits force that might twist boat vs container to lessen likelihood of more damage – good (5) Wasted effort with boat hook to pry – never work with boat/container of size involved (an wooden oar might have had a chance) –… Read more »
I suppose that its my lack of experience , but I cannot envision how a stationary 30 ton sea container can ram the stern of a sailboat moving in light winds. in the same current as the container. so the bow should have rammed the container. OK they need a bad collision and they invented one now what . I should have backup emergency electronics properly stowed , so don’t waste time with the wet electronics. If their is proper winds hove to. if not drop sails , tie on a tether get a proper pry, board the container and… Read more »
The container isn’t stationary, it’s drifting with the wind and waves. Judging by the position of the boom, My guess would be he was sailing close hauled, say about 45 degrees off the wind. The container is drifting along with the wind/surface waves in a roughly windward direction. In light air with just the main up lets assume he’s making 3 knots, and the container is drifting along about about 1. the container could impact anywhere along the hull on the windward side. Because it hit the boat behind the mast/keel the impact energy would have turned him into the… Read more »
I agree with Lisa to start with plus stuff the hole with cushions to try to restrict the flow of water into the cabin. In addition at some point I would of started the motor to try move away from the container.
Certainly save more off the chart table before going topside. It appears like he is in irons so a radio call Pan pan would be next then try to stop the flood with a spare sail. Move gear to port to raise the hole out of the waves
We could have been spared watching this whole movie if he had turned his radar on and set the guard alarm for 2 miles while he slept
I would be very surprised if a radar set on a cruising boat would detect a container floating with all of about a foot of freeboard from the clutter or the waves.
Move the radio of the water. Turn on the bilge pump(s) Start the engine and drive off of the container. Keep it running for power. Grab the main halyard and pass it through the boom bale. Grab a sail bag, attach it to the main halyard, chuck it overboard and let it fill with water by pumping it up and down, making a sea anchor. Haul away sheeting the boom out on the side away from the hole. Once the hole is out of the water, be about stuffing the hole with a cushion, spare sail, etc. Make radio calls… Read more »
Why is it that leaks always seem to occur right on top of the electronics?
I agree with most of the comments with a couple of additions: drop the sails, start your engine, all your pumps should be on automatic. heel the boat, get over the side with a piece of plywood and a cordless screw driver (tie yourself to the boat is obvious) As a single handler I sleep in the cockpit (badly) at six knots the horizon is three hours away. I’m not sure how you hit something at that angle in a calm sea and you shouldn’t have so much sail up when you’re sleeping, if any.
Peter, I think there’s a glitch in the math here. On a boat this size, standing in cockpit, the horizon is about 3 miles away. At 6 kts. that’s 30 minutes away.
Some great advice from everyone so far! Thanks for participating.
I agree with Lisa and Betty here, and I also like the idea of putting a PFD right away, and yes, very well pointed that ASA 103 covers the preparation steps that could have helped a lot. I second that solo sailors (myself included) should do their best to “Keep a Lookout” and establish a short nap regime, but even then it is not impossible to hit a container. Also, assuming bilge pumps not working, if possible he could have started his motor and used the Raw water intake as an “emergency bilge emptying device”… Lastly, just to add some… Read more »
The very first thing he should have done was put on a life jacket! Next I would radio for help so the Coast Guard is on its way. Third, if possible, I would use the sails to dislodge the boat from the barge and then keep the boat on a tack such that the side with the hole is on the windward side. This will give me the ability to inspect the damage without water pouring in and allowing the bilge pump to catch up. It would also buy time for help to arrive.
Yep, dislodge first using the motor and/or sails with whatever you have to pry it loose. Then turn the boat to keep the starboard side up out of the water for however long it takes for help to arrive and/or to make necessary repairs on the fly. At this point your heading doesn’t matter.
I’ve watch this movie a few times, just to go over some of the things that might have been done differently. However, even in this situation. The mindset of each and every sailor will be different. So will the actions they will take. Some of the points which I found to be wrong in this clip. First, sleeping in the v-bed while underway, alone. Not an option. Second and most importantly, no life vest, no life line attached. Reckless to say the least. These are basic seamanship standards. As far as trying to save the electronics, waste of time. The… Read more »
After having read all the replys I tend to agree with you the most. As the” movie” goes I believe that his was depressed and really didn’t care one way or another and was ok with whatever happened , until faced with ultimate death.
Having been on a boat that was taking on water, stopping the water was first thing on my mind. Evacuating the water was second. This is what we practice and under stress you will do what you practice. The threat to your survival cause the fight or flight response and training will save lives. There are numerous errors that the captain of this vessel in the movie did,and we a sailors can see them, the general public will not and I believe we all can learn from from them.
Pls. pt. out these boo boos.
Thks!
A lot of good feed back here, hoping for a Coast Guard approved ASA correct answer.
Not sure there is a “correct” answer, but a lot of people have shared some good advice so far.