Offshore sailing: Dismasted! Sailing Cape Verde Islands: Part 3

[@mattdouglas5570]

Great team work sorting this out

[@sailinghaldis]

JK is the man. He wrote a nice piece about this in the November December issue of cruising world.

[@prof.heinous191]

Again, very useful and educational. I was advised to carry a battery operated angle grinder for just such a scenario - definitely now sold on that one! Great film by the way...

[@sailinghaldis]

I also see that as essential kit at this point. Thank you for your comment!

[@sailingstpommedeterre4905]

Sorry that this issue happened...BUT, what lesson learned! Cool, calm Skipper AND Crew. Good job all !

[@gracepagnac8873]

Wow~Glad your journey ended safely!

[@IWANVOLLEBREGT]

great vid glad no one got injured and all confirms John is a absolute LEGEND!

[@sailinghaldis]

He is! I love that guy

[@virginiai.3632]

How does this not have a jillion view?! Amazing! I was just on a week practical course and we had a not as nearly as dangerous mechanical error. Another student hemmed and hawed about the age of the boat. Finding techs in a foreign land without an anchorage available was amazing teaching moment. You give props to the Skipper but your crew did amazing too.

[@sailinghaldis]

Thank you! KZbin glitch, I guess. The crane worker in the harbor and the Frenchman who happened to have an angle grinder saved the day removing that broken piece. Jon Kretchmer went onto fix the mast and sail his boat around Cape Horn within a year of the mast disaster.

[@bojangles8837]

Well if that doesn't blow....I am on a campaign against stainless steel chain plates, particularly if they are set inboard and poke up through a slot cut in the deck, will, if the boat is sailed hard offshore, eventually leak, usually within a few years of launching, sometimes much sooner. And once water gets in, the chain plate itself starts to corrode-a problem that is serious enough that any boat so built that is more than ten years old should have its chain plates carefully checked, and after 20 years replacement is often the only safe alternative. I know, there are a lot of different ways to try and leak-proof a stainless chain plate. Some of them even work for a while. But the facts are that as long as you are mixing two different materials with radically different mechanical properties and trying to keep water from getting between them, things are probably not going to go well in the long term. Something to remember when refitting a boat-teak decks, or any wood trim for that matter, come to mind. One option would be to build the composite chain plates outside of the boat from pre-preg materials over a mold and then bond the resulting assembly to the hull and/or bulkheads, as well as the deck, with epoxy or Plexus adhesive. I’m pretty sure this would work well since a friend of mine made a lot of complex fittings, including a goose neck, in this way, very quickly and inexpensively. And I have another friend, one of the world’s most experienced composite boat builders, who assembles the high tech boats he builds with Plexus and says that the resulting bonds are stronger than the laminated assemblies they connect. By the way, I’m not the only one who does not like stainless steel chain plates. Many builders have composite chain plates because of the intractable leaks that the older generation of boats suffered from. Yes, I have and attitude against stainless steel. I think that we yachties put far too much trust in the material and often use it, just because it looks shiny and strong, when other materials like good quality bronze, galvanized steel, aluminum, or better yet composites would be better and more reliable.

[@sailinghaldis]

We discussed this as well... not much about alternative materials, which is a fantastic thought but the chainplates really should be placed outboard like pacific sea craft and others. The problem is you can’t trim your sheets as tight… I have an HR 44 on order and I now wish those plates were on the outboard. But, truthfully, I am skeptical of any stainless item, be it a turn buckle or a pin at the top of the mast. It’s frightening to think about how the mast in its design is a single part failure away from collapsing.

[@joopdesmit]

@@sailinghaldis Stainless is fine when used right. This is not that.

[@joopdesmit]

I am a mechanical designer. This is called crevice corrosion. You can prevent this quite easily in the design of the boat: A through deck fitting should be replaced regularly, and be designed to be exchanged. If the through deck bit is done with bolts that are replaced together with the shrouds, you're fine already.

[@sailinghaldis]

@@joopdesmit I agree. If only this was a design element of these older yacht. In this Kauffman 47 it would involve pretty extensive surgery on the interior.

[@joopdesmit]

@@sailinghaldis Well, you know what to look for now. So that's a selection criterion for a next buy. Oldage has nothing to do with it. My Dehler Optima 92 from 1978 has it right.

[@kirenireves]

I'm envious of your chance to experience this with a competent captain leading the way. Invaluable training that would be impossible to get except through real world experience. Question: was your motor not an option to start back to harbor earlier? Too many lines in the water? Or another reason? Getting back during daylight seems like it would have been beneficial. Hat's off to you and Captain John. I'll be looking at chain plates in a new light after this.

[@sailinghaldis]

I couldn’t agree more. It was such an amazing experience. There was an incredible amount of shit in the water, sails and lines we didn’t dare start the engine. Fortunately, we had Nathan and Vivian, who were able to tow us back to harbor. It was a slow trip. If we didn’t have them, we would’ve had to bring everything alongside and then dive underneath to be sure that nothing would foul the propeller. It was impossible to lift everything up. We tried. If you follow along with John’s travels, he was able to replace the mast and all chain plates on Quetzal, round Cape Horn and do the Drake passage to Antarctica within a year of the dismasting.

[@kirenireves]

@@sailinghaldis I hope to sail with John K someday! Here is a 1988 Slocum 43 whose chain plates gave away in the exact same way: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmXTZ6Rvfs-Gq6sfeature=shared&t=329 Seems like chain plates are things to replace before a long passage! Especially the embedded plates like on Quetzal and that Slocum. Fair winds.

[@sailinghaldis]

Snipping shrouds with a cigarette in his mouth! Legendary. Not sure if you saw on our video, but those shrouds on Quetzal were impossible to cut with the wire cutter. If you’re interested in Sailing with John, go on his website and email them. Let them know that you would be willing to get an waitlist for one of the trips. They will generally have a cancellation here and there. They’re in the Marquesas right now.

[@kirenireves]

@@sailinghaldis Thanks for the tip! I'm doing ASA108 this year, so maybe in 2025 I can sail with Captain John!

[@grengt3]

How old is the boat? Do you suspect any special circumstances why it could have happened? Thank you

[@sailinghaldis]

The boat is vintage 1980s. Extraordinarily well-maintained by its owner as he is preparing to round Cape Horn. I spoke to him extensively about all the refitting he has done over the years. Aside from the hull which was also reglassed, I think probably the only thing original on the boat were the cabinets and the chain plates. The chain plates were dye tested in 2021. They were deemed 90% perfect. Unfortunately, the test was 90% incorrect. Undoubtedly, the incident was lucky to have happened when it did as Quetzal’s rig will be stronger than new. John has a history of over building everything on her based on his business and teaching standards.

[@grengt3]

@@sailinghaldis interesting. Thank you. I will check it on mine.

[@SalingSamantas]

Such a wealth of knowledge and experience, I've always wanted to meet him in person. Also very sorry for his loss. But I guess that's sailing lots of ups and downs, mabe it will make it into one of his books one day.

[@sailinghaldis]

@@SalingSamantas He is one of my favorite people. Despite ours being the 169th training passage, John displayed true joy being out with us, bounding through the waves. He has a true youthful exuberance about him.

[@svsalserenity4375]

@@sailinghaldis Yeah , if you have them out for testing , just replace them , they are cheap .

[@idahobob180]

Was that stainless steel that had sea rot?

[@sailinghaldis]

Yes. Bad corrosion under the deck.

[@LibyanSoup]

at 0:09 you say France, but I see the Netherlands ensign on the Barquentine, so she's Dutch not French.

[@sailinghaldis]

You are absolutely right … it’s Dutch. Embarrassing 🙈

[@joopdesmit]

This is design error. Crevice corrosion is a thing. You should never have this situation on your boat!!!

[@mikenagy938]

Can't believe you are on a passage and actually hand steering. I operated my sailboat over 35,000 NM and only held the tiller 4% of the time. Boring in the extreme and your autopilot does a better job anyway.

[@sailinghaldis]

On this particular passage, most of it was done with hydrovane. You can see that in the previous two videos. Interestingly, the Maryland school had us hand steer the entire trip. No auto pilot.

[@briandale8386]

Cable cutters

[@sailinghaldis]

Yes, cable cutters were not helpful, unless you’re cutting a five penny nail. The hacksaw and angle grinder were helpful. Wishlist: Battery operated sawzall with hacksaw blade.