White Out (rain) - lessons learned

[TwoBurgers]

So Gents, I had a new and quite scary experience yesterday (Sunday) on Lake Anna in Virginia. My girlfriend and I were on the southerly (dam) end of the lake enjoying another beautiful day on the water. We had watched the skies get a bit darker after lunch, but we were only 15 minutes from the ramp, so all was good. Hmmmmm. Around 3p we saw a larger cell up near the north end of the lake, and I checked my phone (weather radar) to see the direction. It looked like it would stay clear of us, so we stayed put. Mistake! It did miss us, but another cell formed off of it. After another 30 or so minutes, it looked like the storm had changed directions - coming more in our direction. I confirmed with the weather radar. At that point I decided to pack up and head to wards the ramp.

At this point I will say a bit more about my girlfriend. She is a lifelong sailer, sailed competitively off of Long Island as a youth and at the collegiate level and owns a 23' dual console and a 42' sailboat. Turns out she had been in four white outs before. I am a lifelong boater, but have precious little storm experience - by design. Also worth noting I am a student pilot and have about 10 solo hours including stalls. The white out felt like flying with a hood.

Back to the fun... As we were running up the lake the wind picked up and several boats went by us quickly going down lake - away from the storm. Very quickly the winds grew to approximately 30+ knots - blowing straight down the lake. The wind was blowing hard enough to make the rear seats flow up and down from the wind. I was quite surprised by the wind. White caps were half of the waters surface and I wondered what I was in for. Then I saw the wall of water 500 feet away and closing fast. At this point I was in the middle of the lake and no one was close. I slowed to an idle as I only had my Bimini up (better than nothing - although useless for this weather). The only thing we could do is hide behind the glass and the rain stung to the point where I could not see. Note that we closed the center window - a good call. At that point I could not see the shore (no more that 250' away), and I would guess visibility was easily less than 125'. My sun glasses were useless and my reading glasses were not at hand. I had to have my girlfriend read the depth gauge to me so I knew I was in the channel. My 232 is stock - no compass or GPS. At this point I was not using enough throttle to keep the bow in the wind which really surprised me. The waves had grown to a real 3'+. As I got the bow back in the wind, we took a wave over the bow. It was not terrible, but I guess we took about 25 gallons, as I quickly felt it at my feet. I turned on the bilge pump. As my girlfriend is an old hand with the sea, she giggled and just reminded me to keep the bow into the wind as she read out the depth gauge regularly. She offered me a sun visor hat which I declined, but then accepted. It helped a bit if I squinted and used the bream to offer shelter from the stinging rain. The white out lasted a solid 10 minutes, but it felt much longer.

After 10 minutes I could begin to see the shore - we really had not moved much, as I think I circled once or twice. As we headed through the remaining rain the skies cleared quickly. Once at the ramp we stowed the bimini and chatted with another boater that was ahead of us. They looked about as tattered as us. Their biggest fear was getting run over by another boater. I had that fear along with taking on another wave and sinking the boat. Seriously.

Lessons learned. In a new/frightening situation ones focus narrows. I failed to turn on the navigation lights - forgot where the toggle switch was. I could have used my phone as GPS (Google Earth) but didn't. I didn't keep the bow in the wind effectively - the white out freaked me out as it was totally unexpected. I did turn on the docking lights. Monitoring the depth gauge did give me some confidence I would stay away from the shore. I did turn on the bilge in anticipation of water inside the boat. The water we took over the bow splashed over the front cushion (storage area was dry), and ended up going through the ski locker. NOTE - the drain hole for the ski locker is very small and could easily get clogged. Mine did not clog, but in a storm that could really weigh down a boat. While I don't know how much water we took on from rain, a storage bin (like a square bucket) I keep in the floor ski locker was completely full at 5 gallons. Needless to say everything was soaked.

Big picture was that I could have taken out before the storm hit, but I chose to wait it out. Mistake. The boat survived fine and is drying out now - less carpets and the cover. I also learned a valuable lesson on how to mentally prepare for white out conditions. All said, you want to avoid whit outs at all cost. I wish I had my GoPro on and going, but I did not.

Best,
Chris

[thunder550]

Sounds like quite the ordeal. Glad you walked away with nothing more than a story and a good soaking Thanks for sharing.

We get some pretty massive monsoon storms here in Phoenix during July and August...the ones that make national news with pictures of giant walls of dust rolling across the desert. One at Lake Pleasant last summer (before we bought our boat) was bad enough to rip several docks off their moorings, sink a few boats, damage a fuel dock, and rip one of the launch ramp docks off and send it floating into the middle of the lake. I've tried thinking though scenarios like this because it's not a matter of if, but when, we will encounter one while on the water. Best thing to do obviously is try not to be on the water when it hits, but running for shore could be risky too if you don't make it in time and the storm hits while you are trying to dock or trailer the boat.

From your experience, if you had Google maps or something like Navionics up on your phone so you could see where you were in relation to shore, would you have felt any more confident riding it out on the water? My tentative plan in a situation like this would be to head for the ramp if I was confident we could get out before it hit, but short of that, try to find a cove to hole up in until the storm blows over. Also, did your bimini offer any protection at all? I'd be torn on leaving it up to get some sort of reprieve from the rain vs possible damage due to high wind speed. As of right now, I lean more towards folding it up to prevent damage. Curious on your thoughts after riding one out.

[TwoBurgers]

Hey Thunder555,
I appreciate the reply and support. It was a learning experience for sure. Things I would do differently... I would have my reading glasses at the ready (so I could see the dash). I would have Google Maps loaded on my phone, which would have definitely helped navigate. Lastly, I would have headed to the ramp earlier.
The bimini certainly helped keep some of the rain "off" the boat, but the 30+ knot winds and driving into the wind at around 5 knots assured the rain stayed horizontal. If anything, having the center window closed helped reduce rain intake. Funny, but this was the first time in five years that I have used the bimini. Very nice fit ind finish. The girl friend is a fair skinned red head, so she needs it.

[AsLan7]

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Thanks for sharing that story TB.. Hopefully others can learn from your experience as well.
Also don those life jackets in conditions like that. May save your life-- especially if you run into something and get thrown.

Stay safe out there.

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[TwoBurgers]

Hi AsLan7 -
Great point! I meant to add life jackets to my list. I keep eight (two bags) of three snap ski style vests under the front seats - doubt they would have done much good in there if I really took on serious water. Ideally, we should have put them on, or at a minimum snapped then to the back of the captains chair handles.
I will say I was quite surprised (shocked) when the wave crested over the bow. I'm glad I only had one guest on board.
Chris

[sailor55330]

So-first things first. Im glad you survived your ordeal. I have a couple of thoughts on this. I have been a life long sailor who has been on some big water and winds.

The first thing you did was not panic which was key so congrats on that. Number one is life jackets go on as soon as your not in control. Had it been me, i would have probably dropped anchor (if feasible) at the edge of the channel and turned my anchor lights on. The wind would ensure the bow was into thewind. Having the engine running in neutral while at anchor would not have been a bad idea in case the anchor started dragging. Running blind usually isnt a great choice. Plus, how would you have handled docking in high winds if you had made it back to the ramp? I’m sure the water over the bow was a shocker but remember, most boats will handle way more than thier owners. While the bimini may have offered some protection it also created windage which will affext the boat in high winds

I wiuld also recommend a dry bag on board. That way your belongings stay dry. Mother nature can be tough—control what you can and minimize risk—thats the name of the game.

You brought the boat back safely which is the most important.

[TwoBurgers]

Thanks sailor55330 - appreciate your insight.
To be perfectly honest, I did panic a bit. As my focus narrowed, I forgot the lights were on a toggle switch, not on the row of push buttons.
I didn't think about the effect the bimini had with the wind - but it certainty was a lot out there. Again, I do like the Cobalt bimini system - very tight.
I have two anchors on board - a stainless 12lb grapnel (stores in the small bow compartment) and a Fortress 7 with 10' of chain. I wonder how the boat would have done (water over bow wise) with the anchor line pulling the bow down? Not to mention is was too rough to connect it to the bow eye to keep things centered.
While it is not easy to admit, the gal I had on board is a real sailor - not just a cute toy. She's also a pediatrician if that counts for anything. . She was actually laughing at my response to the conditions - more because she had been in them and I obviously had not.
Good call on the dry bag - I just never imagined I would get caught out in something like this.
Regarding docking - great question. Lake Anna is not too big, and storms in Va pass quickly. By the time we reached the ramp (5 minutes later) it had stopped raining - otherwise I would have waited.
I like the insight... there were several areas to learn from.
Chris

[Southernboatman]

Yes Thanks for sharing TB! My 2 bits. I think your selection for a mate was most fortuitous! Having non panicky help is awesome! Like jackets handy or on yes. Otherwise I think I would have done exactly the same, and did Saturday in less severe conditions. Bimini for some protection. Closed window and bow door. I do have a charplotter and yes it’s invaluable so I recommend but that’s related to where I boat. Having someone run into you is a major threat so your right there too! Even if you had run earlier there were likely many ahead of you so may not have gotten in. I jadthe option and chose to dock up somewhere Saturday and sit it out having martinis. Worked out fine.

[Southernboatman]

This was our blow through but wasn’t nearly as bad as yours TB. Again, may want to consider taking that mate out some more. A panicked passenger (albeit with good reason) could have made that trip a lot worse.
Our storm did the same. Original storm looked to miss us and then got a lot bigger and didn’t miss us.

[AsLan7]

This was our blow through but wasn’t nearly as bad as yours TB. Again, may want to consider taking that mate out some more. A panicked passenger (albeit with good reason) could have made that trip a lot worse.
Our storm did the same. Original storm looked to miss us and then got a lot bigger and didn’t miss us.

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Yikes.

Be careful out there & monitor that weather. Those storms can roll up fast.

BBP texted me this pic from Lake Michigan today....
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[sailor55330]

Thanks sailor55330 - appreciate your insight.
To be perfectly honest, I did panic a bit. As my focus narrowed, I forgot the lights were on a toggle switch, not on the row of push buttons.
I didn't think about the effect the bimini had with the wind - but it certainty was a lot out there. Again, I do like the Cobalt bimini system - very tight.
I have two anchors on board - a stainless 12lb grapnel (stores in the small bow compartment) and a Fortress 7 with 10' of chain. I wonder how the boat would have done (water over bow wise) with the anchor line pulling the bow down? Not to mention is was too rough to connect it to the bow eye to keep things centered.
While it is not easy to admit, the gal I had on board is a real sailor - not just a cute toy. She's also a pediatrician if that counts for anything. . She was actually laughing at my response to the conditions - more because she had been in them and I obviously had not.
Good call on the dry bag - I just never imagined I would get caught out in something like this.
Regarding docking - great question. Lake Anna is not too big, and storms in Va pass quickly. By the time we reached the ramp (5 minutes later) it had stopped raining - otherwise I would have waited.
I like the insight... there were several areas to learn from.
Chris

There's nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as we learn from them. Here's a couple of thoughts on anchoring in wind....make sure your scope is enough....in a storm, I'd be looking for at least 5:1 if not 7:. That might be overkill on a lake, but it would keep the bow from being "pulled down" into the water. I would have probably gone to the fortress and tied it off on a bow cleat in case I needed to adjust or disconnect.

The other thing that I completely forgot to mention regarding the bimini in a storm---it's essentially a lightening rod--lower is better). Now, provided that you dont' touch anything metal on the boat when a lightning strike happens, the lightning should pass into the water. Happens a lot on cruising sailboats and as I'm sure Aslan7 will attest, planes.

Either way, you're now more experienced and have one more trick in the bag.

[Ytmsn]

Sailor that's good stuff.

[thunder550]

I stole these pics from a Lake Pleasant Facebook group. This happened yesterday when a big monsoon storm came through Phoenix. It can happen to anyone, anywhere. Thanks again TB for starting this thread, and for everyone else who has shared. It's always good to be prepared and know in advance what you plan to do if you get caught in a storm, even if you plan to never experience one.

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36851119_1854466084618435_1930593795326345216_n.jpg

[AsLan7]

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Wow, t550. These monsoons are wreaking havoc around the globe.
Prayers were answered with all those soccer kids (& coach) now rescued.
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