Heaving To

[Philpott]

On Saturday afternoon of Fleet Week Dura Mater was out in the thick of it with four guests and a pit bull, bouncing around in about 18 knots waiting for the Blue Angels. In the thick of it, indeed. The only people out there who seemed to understand the concept of Right of Way were the people with their sails up. Everybody else? Checked out, for sure.

There were panga-type boats with BIG engines, swanky motorboats and more swanky motorboats. Has anyone seen that charter boat called the Liquid Limo? VERY entertaining! A lovely blonde woman with a wine glass in hand started to lift her leg over the transom in order to dip her feet in the water. She seemed very unsteady, and was dissuaded by a polite man whose job it probably was to do just that.

Lots of sailboats, not many with their sails up. Personally? I find motoring Dura Mater in high wind very unpleasant. So, there we were, tacking back and forth until I became smarter and decided that heaving to was the way to go. So we did, and it worked well, for fifteen minute increments at a time. There was so much traffic that we had to move periodically, but since we were on starboard tack most people responded appropriately. Even Liquid Limo.

It reminded me that I have never quite figured out the distance and speed covered by Dura Mater while hove to, so today I went out and sailed around with my notebook and handheld garmin. On the Olympic Circle it started out at 6 knots and clocked up to 9 by the end of my sail. I suppose every boat is different in its Heaving To capabilities, but it occurs to me that now might be a good time for Transpackers to practice this little skill with an eye to using it if necessary on the way over to Kauai? I know, I know. You don’t win a race by heaving to. Okay. Maybe on the way home?

This is what I learned:
In 6 knots of wind, over the course of ten minutes while hove to, Dura Mater sailed approximately .10 nm on a broad reach at a moving average of 1.8 knots.
In 9 knots of wind, over the course of ten minutes while hove to, Dura Mater sailed approximately .21 nm on a broad reach at a moving average of 1.9 knots.

Obviously, while heaving to, the boat doesn’t just stay in one place. In the middle of the ocean there is no worry about going aground. I have often wondered how far off the California coast DM would have to be in order for me to feel comfortable sleeping awhile while hove to. Is there a formula for swell, wind waves, wind etc? Or does it just depend upon your boat’s design? Either way, that was fun. Next time I’m going to measure how fast DM gets pushed downwind.

 

[BobJ]

Excellent.

I'll bet 90% of sailors on the Bay don't even know what you're talking about, let alone how to do it.

 

[SeanRhone]

That is something I need to try and do with my Hobie 33. I've done it with larger boats but not this one.

 

[Daydreamer]

Heaving to is such a useful skill.

During the Long Pac I used it when I went below and had to move everything around that was piled on top of the battery box, to rewire the solar charge controller.
Of course the work and the celebratory nap afterward took a bit of time. Looking back at my track, which set me NW for a period, I realize it would have been better to tack to port first,
then heave to back to starboard, my original tack.
That way I would have continued a proper course

Fore-reaching, which uses a bit more main trim, is handy for slowing the boat and making a bit more forward progress than when hove to. I used it when the wind and seas cranked up and the autopilot gave up.

 

[AZ Sailor]

Nice discussion. I’m long overdue for practicing heaving to with my “new” boat – 2 ½ years in.

I got into some gnarly stuff 100+ nm offshore last month and found fore-reaching on this boat to be very comfortable. I was trying to make steady progress, and the seas were pretty big, so I didn’t try heaving to.

My next visit to the boat is this weekend, and the forecast looks decent, so it should be a good chance to get several miles off shore and practice heaving to. If it looks like I will have crew to stand watch while hove to, I’ll also try another SSB test net while out there. I’ll update the “SSB Radio Check” thread with particulars if that’s going to happen.

 

[AlanH]

I remember heaving to out in the Gulf of the Farallones, probably 10 miles out and NW of Half Moon Bay for a very blowsy and foggy night when I didn't dare approach the Gate. We were well out of the southern entry lane coming in to the Lightbucket so I wasn't too worried about traffic. There's another 'emmmm BIG NOAA buoy out there and we were close-ish, but never saw it. Anyway,the Santa Cruz 27 spent about 8-9 hours idling her way to windward while I dozed in the cockpit, hiding behind the cabin. The only issue when it was all done was that the jib sheet had chafed about 1/4 of the way through during that time. It had been rubbing on the shroud.

I had a really dinky...probably not, technically "storm" jib on the Santana 3030, but it was dinky. I used to fly it when it was Really Windy. I tried heaving to with it on the 2004 SHTP during that gale and the boat wouldn't stay settled down. I was reefed. with that little jib up and nope, nope. The boat would not settle in.

So folks might want to try heaving to with the "little sails, just to see how it works out.

 

[The Smokester]

Heaving to in a squall risks a knockdown. If you have a rolling furler it may work to just roll up the jib and heave to with the main alone. The windage of the furled jib is important because it blows the bow down (given a stiff breeze) when the (slightly eased and reefed) main tries to bring it back up, but there is less tendency to heal. Helm locked to weather.

 

[lbrindze]

I love heaving to! And I'm lucky that I have a boat that does so with little effort. In my experience, which is limited to be sure, it is all about balance and I have found every boat balances differently. I have been on some cutters which heave to fine with a 3rd reef in their main and nothin else. Other boats (like mine) work best with the back winded job/genny and a scrap of main out, but this can change depending on conditions.

It is how I prefer to reef single or short handed when that golden window to reef in a sane/controlled way has passed (my lines don't run aft and I don't have roller furling so reefing requires scampering around deck a bit).

The book "storm sailing tactics" argues that is the only thing you should consider doing when caught in really bad weather and I think Lynn and Larry make a pretty good case. The main advantage is the 'slick' of turbulent water created by the boat dragging sideways that prevents waves from breaking on your boat, ultimately preventing a knockdown. It's a really good read and I feel very fortunate to never have needed these skills, though knowing them gives me comfort.

That being said, I would rarely stop a boat in a seaway to sleep. It seems like that time sleeping could be used to put miles down...

 

[AZ Sailor]

I went out sailing last Sunday, with heaving to on the list of things to practice/experiment with. The results were pleasing. Sailing on port tack with pretty good breeze, and the 120 genoa full out, I turned through the wind, keeping the genoa sheeted right where it was, luffed the main all the way out, and then turned the wheel hard back over toward the new windward side. The boat stopped, then began a gentle drift to leeward with the wind on the beam.

While it was windy in the cockpit, the motion of the boat was very gentle. Down below it was nearly as calm as being at anchor. Sweet! Here’s what it looked like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPP3HPvNts

After a peaceful lunch, I sheeted in the main, released the genoa and re-sheeted it on leeward, and we were off sailing again, now on starboard tack. After getting up to speed, rolled in about a third of the genoa and hove to the other way. Result was a slower drift to leeward, with the wind forward of the beam. I think that’s a better result. It seems to me, if you were heaving to as a storm management tactic, you would want the wind – and hence the waves -- well forward of the beam. But I don’t know. The one experienced sailor I talk to about it the next day said wind on the beam is where you want it when hove to.

 

[Philpott]

I went out sailing last Sunday, with heaving to on the list of things to practice/experiment with. The results were pleasing.

Very cool video, and a beautiful boat! What was the wind? It looks like your coffee wasn't even sloshing around. Your boat is a full keel, right? I've heard they heave-to beautifully.

 

[AZ Sailor]

Wind was 10+ gusting to 15. The boat is not a full keel vessel, but has a long chord keel plus skeg-hung rudder. So she shares some characteristics with full keeled boat, but points better and is more maneuverable in close quarters under power. Balances nicely, though, and tracks beautifully. Here is how she looked after being trucked from Belfast, ME, to San Diego, having bottom sanded off, new epoxy, and fresh bottom paint, April 2015.

 

[mike cunningham]

That IS a beautiful boat.

I experimented with heaving to in my Freedom 30. It's complicated by the self tacking jib. I had to lash the boom (aka camberspar) to windward in order to back the jib. This is an extra hassle and requires a trip to the foredeck. Having said that, I got the boat balanced and she just sat there slowly drifting to leeward. It was kind of magical watching the smooth slick turbulence to weather. I was a couple miles off Monterey with about 10/12 Knots of wind so conditions were very benign. That was the only time I've done this. I have taken to forereaching with the jib up, main down when things get rough and I am tired. That has worked for me so far but I've only used it up to about 30 Kts. I did that during the early days of the transpac so I could get some sleep.

 

[Lenora]

Heave or hove?

Very cool video, and a beautiful boat! What was the wind? It looks like your coffee wasn't even sloshing around. Your boat is a full keel, right? I've heard they heave-to beautifully.

I am not sure. Is it heaved to or hoved to? Or heaving to or hoving to? I mean I know what people mean when they say lets heave to. Or when they say that they were hoved to. But after that it gets very confusing.

 

[DaveH]

It's really etymologically pretty simple.
Heave is the operative verb, Hove is the past tense of that verb.

"Heave To" is a Verbal Phrase, so you are doing something to an object; in this case turning the boat into the wind and using the sails in opposition to one another.

Once you have accomplished that, you are "Hove To".
Ditto for describing it the past tense as in "we were Hove To off Hawaii and drifting west at 1knot when the school of sharks attached the boat"