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I will endeavour to get these photos to show up. This is the Selkirk Settler, a Montreal based ore carrier. Please note this ship is 728 feet long and 75 feet wide and the temperature in this storm probably was around freezing. Even my brother wouldn't sail his CD in this stuff.
So, what storm tactics would YOU use in these conditions? A certain Robert Johnson song comes to my mind.
Somewhere in my rat pack file of pictures taken, I've got one of waves breaking *OVER THE TOP* of the Oswego harbour lighthouse, and that's three or four stories high above the water.
Late last fall, and then again in this coming spring, the Army Corp of Engineers is replacing monstrous rocks of the breakwater that have been blasted away by the force of storms.
Some of these missing boulders are as large as an automobile, I kid you not.
These Alberta Clippers come roaring down over the Great Lakes and God help the ships, usually laden with cargo, that can't handle them. It was a storm similar to this that sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald, of the ballad of the same name.
Forewarning and a great amount of respect are the keywords for a typical storm of this calibre wherever anyone sails.
Just seeing that lake in its fiercest red-in-tooth-and-claw fury makes me weak at the knees. I can't imagine being in THAT in my cute little sailing tea cup. What a quaint thought!
Seeing those pic's reminds me that my favorite storm tactic is to take advantage of a favorable weather window no matter how much I respect a Cape Dory.
Beyond that I'd reread Coles "Heavy Weather Sailing" ( before leaving port ) and also saying a few ( or many ? ) prayers . . .
In all fairness to those that sail on the Great Lakes, fierce storms like those that Paul's pictures portray aren't everyday happenings.
For the most part, the weather and the sailing conditions are very pleasant. This is not to say that storms of varying degrees of ferocity won't develope.
Usually for nine or ten months of the year the conditions are mostly pleasant, but like wherever you sail, the weather can get very ugly at times.
On the Great Lakes, the weather can run the entire gamut of conditions. I remembered back some years ago, I was crewing on a schooner whose ultimate destination was Chicago.
There was no breeze to speak of so we motored from the Oswego Canal branch of the Erie Canal all the way across Lake Ontario. We spent the better part of a day passing through the Welland Canal to Lake Erie, still no breeze. The lake was calmer than a mill pond all the way across to Erie, Pa.
This was in late May, the days were warm, we were clad in tee shirts and shorts, and the night watches were mild. This weather held up through the Detroit River, Lake Ste Claire and the Ste Claire River into Lake Huron.
Then all hell broke loose. It got cold and started snowing by the time we passed through the Straits Of Mackinac. We had on our woolies and ski jackets. Pea coat weather. This was a four masted gaff rig. We boiled down Lake Michigan and stopped overnight in Milwaukee to let the crew catch it's breath.
The next morning the wind was blowing even harder than the previous day. The Captain said let's put the ship to a true test and hoist all available canvas. Talk about a nautical bob sled run.
Do you know that an hour or so befor we reached Chicago, the water flattened out and we had to motor her into the Navy Pier, the crew wearing tee shirts. The weather on the lakes can change in no time at all. You have to pay attention to the weatherman.
I can thankfully say I've never experienced anything remotely close to this. In answer to Paul's question, if I found myself in these unfortunate circumstances, I think I'd lie a-hull and lash the tiller to weather and follow the duck theory. This would present me broadside to the primary wave forms. Since the primary wave forms aren't breaking, you should be able to ride up and over them. This would present me to take on that big one on the bow. Did I mention that I'd pray a lot too?
Is my reasoning sound here
CDSOA Commodore - Member No. 725
"The more I expand the island of my knowledge, the more I expand the shoreline of my wonder"
Sir Isaac Newton
Being totally ignorant in the music department I don't know what Robert Johnson song you are referring to, or for that matter, I don't even know who Robert Johnson is. But Gordon Lightfoot sure comes to mind.
I hear ya OJ, Mate and I came from Sacketts Harbor in what started out as nice little 3 foot rollers which as soon as Neptune saw we were out there uped the anty. With in 15 min. they came in at around 8 to 9 feet and were less than 25 feet apart. I tell ya that puts the jewels into the space tween the head and shoulders in fine fashion. It was only after we were fast on the mooring and half way out of rum did we say a word to each other. gotta give a lot of respect to the east end of lake ontairo.
Plumber
The storm pictures below were taken during a North Atlantic storm in February 1987 while the ship was en route from Europe to a U.S. East Coast port. The pictures were taken by Capt. George Ianiev, who was the ship's Second Mate at the time. The big blue wave was the largest wave the ship encountered during the storm; seeing it hit the ship made the vessel's master question whether they would survive the storm.
