Sailing to Hawaii...the First Attempt by Arnold Rowe

8/3/2019 Sailing to Hawaii...the First Attempt by Arnold Rowe

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Lessons Learned

Sailing to Hawaii...The 1st Attemptby

Arnold Rowe(Analysis by Doug Ritter)

Click on photos for larger image. Lesser quality images captured from video.

The following narrative was authored by Arnold Rowe, whograciously shared his experience to benefit others.

We were about 200 nautical miles offshore when the voice of

U.S. Coast Guard Group San Diego came back over VHFchannel 22A. "We've had a meeting and it's been decided tosend a helicopter to your position." "Why?" I responded. "Whatis the reason for doing that?" "You can discuss that with thehelicopter pilot when he arrives at your location," was theircryptic reply.

The voyage ofPANDA to Hawaii had been in the planning andpreparation stages for over three years. PANDA is a 1984

Catalina 36, hull #222. The crew consisted of myself (age 56),long time sailing buddy Jack Thomson (age 45), and ourteenagers, daughter Aimee (age 18) and Jack's son Jeff (age19). Aimee had just graduated from high school with high honors. Jack and Jeff are EagleScouts. Both Jack and I have 20 plus years of sailing experience and all four of us hadattended numerous sailing courses offered by Orange Coast College Sailing Center(Newport Beach, California). I had made a previous crossing to Hawaii on the college'sflagship vessel,ALASKA EAGLE, eight years earlier.


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PANDA has a manufacturer's published displacement 15,000 pounds and stated house capacities of 33 galloof diesel fuel and 48 gallons of fresh water. We addedto these, bringing the total capacities to 63 gallons ofdiesel and 108 gallons of water by using six gallonplastic jerry cans. We carried enough food for morethan 21 days. My wife, Phyllis, had packed the meals

so that all we needed to do was grab a zip-lock bagcontaining all the necessary ingredients. She also organized our extensive cruising medickit that we had purchased from Seaside Marine in San Pedro. Seaside is a well-knownpurveyor of offshore medical kits. As one of the many preparations prior to departure, ousailmaker installed two additional reefing points as well as reinforcement at critical pointof the standard Catalina mainsail.

A Bon Voyage dock party, attended by many kind friends and relatives, was held at ourhome port of Yacht Haven Marina in Wilmington, California, on Saturday, June 27, 1998

We departed on the following day for Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, wherea previously leased slip awaited us. With jacklines installed, we left slip #158, which hadbeen PANDA'S home for the past five years, at 11:55 AM on Sunday, June 28. I shouldmake note of the fact that Jack had been wearing a scopolamine (anti-seasicknessmedication - Ed.) patch for at least 12 hours prior to departure. The rhumb line distancefrom Los Angeles Light to Kaneohe Bay is 2,221 nautical miles with a compass course of237 degrees magnetic

Wearing harnesses tethered to jacklines, we headed

toward Angle's Gate. It was at this point our firstequipment failure occurred. The Genoa fairlead blockparted, with the sheave remaining attached to the jibsheet and separating from the portion still attached tothe aluminum T-track. With the battery powered drillwe had aboard, Jack was able to drill out the defectivepart and install a fastener to make the fairleadfunctional again. Less than an hour later we passed byAngle's Gate and began heading for the west end of Catalina Island. Harness's were alway

worn while in the cockpit and no one was allowed to go forward on deck unless someonewas observing from the cockpit. Winds were about 15 knots and the Monitor wind vane(mechanical autopilot - Ed.)was doing a fine job of steering.

For dinner I heated up some previously frozen minestrone soup made especially for us byJack's wife, Cheryl. What a great treat! Seas were very brisk. Once well clear of CatalinaIsland's west end, we headed south on a starboard tack, passing San Clemente Island to ouport during early Monday morning hours. Sailing was under working jib and with the


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number 2 reef point installed on the main. It was totally dark that evening and beingwithout radar, hourly GPS positions were plotted to be certain we stayed well off SanClemente. Our closest point to the island was 7.5 nautical miles, although we never saw iin the darkness. From 2:00 AM to 6:30 AM we were heading 201 degrees magnetic andcovered 26.7 nautical miles. This works out to an average speed of about 6 knots.

Seas were becoming much lumpier now and the going was not as smooth as we would

have liked, but the sailing was good and the boat seemed correctly balanced and wasmoving well. Late Sunday evening Jack experienced an initial explosive vomiting incidenwhile resting below.

I was in the cockpit when I heard Jack vomiting. Upon entering the cabin, I found Jacksitting up in his berth with a somewhat mystified and surprised look on his face. Whatgreeted me was not a pretty site. Jack very carefully and slowly remove his soaked T-shirsaid good by to it and handed it to me. I told the folks in the cockpit to stand back and oveit went! I knew this was not a positive event, but I had no clue as to how serious it would

become. The powerful and strenuous vomiting continued and Jack was unable to holddown any solids or liquids.

On Monday, June 29, the Monitor windvane failured. One of the guiding sheavesmysteriously disappeared, eventually severing the control lines. We successfully juryrigged a repair and kept on going. Jeff and Aimee had a freeze-dried entree for dinner, asimple faire to which one adds hot water, waits for about 15 minutes, and then eats. Seaconditions were far too vigorous for any type of standard meal preparation. Simple actssuch as drinking liquids from a cup were difficult, if not impossible. While trying to drink

from a cup it was as though someone had come behind you and slammed a hand directlyinto your back, spilling the liquid out of the cup over your face, neck and chest. Oftremendous benefit were the pre-packaged drinks in cardboard boxes with a small strawincluded. Water in plastic bottles with the snap locking tops, along with high-energyfood/protein/breakfast/ bars, were also invaluable. A description of going to the bathroomwhile living in long underwear plus the usual shirts, sweatshirts, pants, and bright yellowfoul weather gear would constitute a separate entertaining essay! Log notes say "rough anlumpy, everything wet."

Everything means just that, everything. Cushions, sleeping bags, navigation station, radioGPS, log notes. Except for the aft cabin, there was not a dry spot in the house.Surprisingly, zip-lock bags, even when securely sealed, can accumulate copious amountsof water. Cans rust rapidly and all our clothing was soaked. What works great is thevacuum bagging machine you see at boat shows. Articles vacuum packed in these bagswere not even damp!


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At noon Monday, PANDA was about 106 nautical miles fromLos AngelesLight on an average bearing of 198 degreesmagnetic. Jack continued vigorous vomiting, still unable totake in any food. At 5:00 PM we were 135 nautical miles fromLos Angeles Light on an average bearing of 202 degreesmagnetic giving us an average speed of 5.8 knots over the pasfive hours. That evening Jack asked to be excused from his

assigned watches with his thought being that a good solid andlong rest would help him recover from vomiting. I agreed tothis and the three remaining crew split Jack's watch duty.

On Tuesday, June 30, we were sailing close to a rhumb linetoward Oahu. My log notes once again that the conditions were "rough and lumpy" andthat "everything is wet." We were experiencing water over the deck which was finding it'way inside through hatches, dorades, windows, mast member and deck fittings. In sailingthe waters of Catalina and environs, we seldom took water on the deck and hence never

experienced any seepage that was of any consequence. At 6:45 AM I called home usingthe ICOM M-710 SSB via KMI on station 809. PANDA was then 205 nautical miles fromL.A. Light on an average compass bearing of 2150M. A comparison with our position ofthe previous day at this time showed we had covered a distance of 143 nautical miles in thpast 24 hours with an average speed of 6 knots. The connection was excellent and Ireported all was well. In reality all was not well. In addition to our soaked interior, the seawere remaining exceptionally lumpy with numerous large "graybeards" frequently givingus great broadside "wacks" and 25 knot winds. Jack's long rest had not helped and hecontinued strenuous vomiting. Whenever he was able sit upright, Jack was constantly

trying to get into a position so that the pain in his chest was not so severe. The significancof this was unclear at this point, but it did concern me.

I attempted to get weather faxes using the SSB connected to a laptop computer using PCHF Facsimile Ver 8.0 This combination had always worked fine in the past, however thistime the computer refused to recognize the program, instead displaying curt andmeaningless messages. Consequently, we were never able to get weather fax information

A comparison of noon fixes at this time showed that

PANDA had just completed a noon to noon run of 144nautical miles. Of particular interest was the locationand movement of tropical storm Blas which wascoming up from the tip of Baja. We were able tocontact a passing U.S. warship on VHF Channel 16 at1:26 PM and they kindly gave us the latest scoop onBlas. We were informed that Blas was at 18.00N and122.00W and was moving in a direction of 250 degrees at 12 knots and was packing wind


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bury my best buddy at sea with his son watching.

We were 21 nautical miles closer to Los Angeles than to San Diego. At 6:30 PM wetacked PANDA, changing from starboard tack to port, and began heading back with acompass bearing of 42 degrees magnetic. Our position at this time was 31008.6 N and122045.3 W, a distance of 275 nautical miles from L.A. Light. At that point we were 1,968 nautical miles from Kaneohe Bay and that was as close as we were to get.

The return sail toward Los Angeles Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, July 1, wathrough rougher and sloppier seas. Winds were at 30 knots frequently gusting to 35 knotsJeff was clearly worried about his dad, repeatedly expressing his concern about his well-being. Jeff wasn't alone in his feelings; we were all apprehensive about Jack's condition.On port tack PANDA was clearly taking on more water. Being below decks was like beinin a tropical rain forest, except for the fact that it was cold. Duffel bags and the once dryclothing in those duffel bags were not merely damp, but soaked. I had spent the last 15hours in the cockpit, not wanting to leave Jeff or Aimee alone (they were alternating shift

covering for the ailing Jack).

Upon entering the main cabin at about 9:00 AM Wednesday morning, I discovered severainches of water covering the cabin sole. The water was sloshing about, staying mainly onthe starboard side of the vessel. We estimated the total volume to be about 20 gallons. Itwas difficult, if not impossible, for the bilge pump centered amidships to grab any of thiswater and pump it out as most of it tended to stay on the starboard side. In a vessel of thisdesign and under these conditions what is really needed is separate port and starboard bilgpumps as there is no deep centered bilge directly above the keel area that would enable th

centrally located bilge pump to remove the water. We began working with manual pumpsAfter a little more than an hour, most of the water was removed, but we could tell morewas continuing to come in.

All the seacocks and through hulls were examined, but no leaks were observed. I thennoticed that the bathroom shower sump was overflowing with water. Looking up, I quickdiscovered the reason why. Unbelievably, the port jib sheet had become caught under theexternal lip of the bathroom deck hatch and had actually lifted it up, even though the hatclatch or "dog" was still firmly in place. Unable to loosen the latch "dog" with bare hands,

pair of channel locks wasnecessary to do break loose the latch. The hatch was opened andthe jib sheet was freed. I then securely closed the hatch, thinking this freaky problemwould not likely occur again. What wishful thinking! About two hours later the hatch wascompletely opened by the same jib sheet, only this time the latch assembly was broken,lying in pieces on the floor.

At about 1:00 PM, concerned, I once again called CGSD simply to alert them to oursituation. I stated that we were in no immediate danger, but did want to establish


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communication with them as a safety measure. CGSD, remembering who we were fromour previous call the day before, took down all our pertinent information and our locationWe agreed to maintain 30-minute check-in periods.

We continued our 30-minute check-ins with CGSD,relating that water was coming in, but that we were ableto keep up with it. About once an hour we needed to

man the pump to remove the accumulated water. Atabout 2:30 PM, with our jury-rigged Monitor windvanesteering, a large wave hit PANDA and threw her offcourse, accompanied by a loud "whoomp." She did not,as usual, return to course. Jeff released control of theMonitor from the steering wheel and attempted tomanually steer the boat. It was immediately apparent that he had no control of the vessel.Upon opening the lazarette, it was clear that the steering was broken and not repairable.This was an Edson steering system and the cast aluminum conduit bracket had completely

snapped apart in two places, allowing the steering cables to fall off the radial drive wheelThis left us without any immediate way to control steering via the wheel. I handed Jeff themergency tiller and, sitting down on the floor of the cockpit and bracing himself, he wasable to continue sailing on course.

At this point I informed CGSD that we had the flooding situation under control, but hadlost our steering and were now using emergency tiller. CGSD responded, apparently aftersome thought, that they were sending a rescue helicopter to our location. I asked what thepurpose was and was told that the pilot and I would discuss that when they arrived on

scene. CGSD asked if there was high frequency (HF) radio capability on board. I replied the affirmative and was asked to turn on the SSB and switch to 2182 kHz. I turned on theSSB , however once on the requested frequency I noticed that the point of attachmentwhere the microphone joins into the body of the radio was snapped off. No HF today,folks! Returning to VHF, I informed CGSD that we would have to continue along onchannel 22A. Lucky for us, VHF communications continued to work fine.

At approximately 3:50 PM a Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, number 6008,arrived on site. Our location was 32017.9N, 120033.0W, approximately 143 nautical mile

from L.A. Light. We were instructed to drop all sails and maintain our vessel's speed anddirection under diesel power. The Harken roller furling refused to work and we wereunable to roll in the jib. Unknown to us at the time, the three torque tube screws hadmanaged to work themselves free and were long gone. This rendered the roller furlinguseless. We manually took down the jib sail and stored it below.


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At this point the pilot gave us two options. Option 1was to abandon ship. This option was stronglyencouraged as 35-knot winds and 20 foot seas werepredicted for that evening. We were told that it wouldbe much easier to rescue us at this moment than itwould be to do so at 2:00 AM that night in darknessand high seas. Option 2 was that they would drop us

two gasoline driven pumps and a rescue swimmer. The rescue swimmer would comeaboard and instruct us on how to operate the pumps. After giving us operation instructionhe would return to the helicopter, which would then return to its base.

In an earlier conversation with CGSD, we were informed that a Coast Guard vessel was oits way to our position in order to accompany us back to L.A. It was scheduled to arrive aour location sometime after midnight. Shortly thereafter CGSD canceled this missionbecause their vessel was encountering exceptionally rough seas and one member of thecrew had fallen and seriously injured himself. They had chosen to anchor off San

Clemente Island until things calmed down.

The pilot made it clear that the decision was completely ours, but his strongrecommendation was for us to select the first option. I decided to follow the Coast Guardrecommendation and after confering with the pilot told everyone we needed to get out ofour foul weather gear and put on life jackets as he requested. Once we agreed to go withOption 1, we were told to turn off the engine and deploy our four-person Givens life raft.After deploying the raft and bringing it as close as possible to the boat we then left via thestern rail and swam to and entered the raft.


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Fortunately, Jeff went first. I say fortunately because Jeff was anoutstanding water polo player and swimmer in high school and is intremendous physical shape. Opening and entering the Givens raft wasnot easy. The lettering on the entry door instructs you to "push" it open.This will not work at all. The Velcro seal would not give way. Jeff waspushing and shoving at the doorway, all the while in high seas. Jeffrealized that a tremendous full body wallop would be required to break

the Velcro seal. As a final supreme effort, Jeff soared up into the airand came down with all his might on to the door, plunging his fistdirectly into its center. Miraculously, the Velcro parted. Once the sealwas broken, the door opened readily and Jeff was able to enter the raft.Aimee went next, followed by Jack, and lastly by me.

It is interesting to note that not one of us was able to see or use theboarding ladder upon attempting to enter the Givens raft, which thisunit supposedly had. It probably was there, uselessly dangling. This

was unfortunate, as a boarding ladder would have been of great help inthis situation. Also, entering the raft while wearing a life preserver isno easy task. The two large packs on your chest make it difficult toslide yourself into the raft.

Prior to leaving PANDA, I activated the ACR Electronics 406 MHzEPIRB as requested by the CGSD. This would make it possible to trackthe movements ofPANDA. Using the knife included with the raft, theline connecting the raft to PANDA was severed and the raft containing

all four of us drifted out and away. Moments later we saw a snorkel go by the front of theraft and then a smiling and cheery face popped up. "Hello" he said. "My name is Eric andI'm your rescue swimmer. Are you having a good day?" This immediately broke thetension as we all burst out laughing, with Eric energetically shaking each of our hands.

One by one, Eric swam us to the rescue basket. We gointo the basket, momentarily ducked our heads, andwent for a quick one or two hundred foot ride into thehelicopter. First Jack went, then Aimee, and next Jeff.

While drifting about alone in the raft I made twoobservations. One, I looked at my watch and the timewas 4:20 PM. Secondly, I realized I wasn't at all scareBut I do get scared now, when I think about it, talkabout it, write about it, or watch the training videos th

Coast Guard made during the operation.

Just prior to my departure from the raft and swim to the rescue basket, Eric said he neede


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to sink the raft. He pulled out his knife and put large slits in the inflation tubes. The raftcontinued to float (it doesn't sink very rapidly) and I rolled out into the ocean and wentwith Eric to the rescue basket. Good-bye PANDA. It would be six anxiety filled days witha telephone stuck in my ear from dawn 'til dusk until I would see her again.

Off in the distance we saw a fixed-wing LC-130 Hercules circling about. It was acting as backup in case the helicopter experienced difficulties.

Once aboard the helicopter, we were cold as well aswet. We were given blankets, juices, candy and ourblood pressure was checked. Helicopters are incrediblynoisy and normal conversation was impossible. Wecommunicated by hand signals, written notes, andintercom head sets. We gave our home phone numbersso our spouses might pick us up at the San Diego CoastGuard station later that evening. The flight back to the

Coast Guard home base took about 45 minutes.

After landing we were requested to remain in the helicopter to allow time to prepare theCoast Guard personnel and officials for our arrival. We were told the press had found outabout the rescue and would want interviews. Once all was in place, we we disembarkedfrom the helicopter. We all had our "sea legs" by this time and found walking on landslightly awkward, but we got over that eventually.

We thanked all the Coast Guard people for their help and went on to get warm showers,

dry clothes and sandwiches, stopping on the way to be interviewed by reporters with theirmany microphones and video cameras. Each of us expressed our gratitude to all thepersonnel of helicopter 6008. Coast Guard personnel very kindly offered to do our laundrShowers completed and wearing Coast Guard jump suits, we were standing in the aircrafthanger area when we all caught a strong whiff of something reminiscent of brunt toast.The dryer with our clothes in it had just caught on fire! It was a symbolic grand finale tothis great adventure.

The following morning Jack was examined by his

physician. He was still having serious pain in the centeof his chest and experiencing inability to swallowsolids. The diagnosis was that Jack had a tear in hisesophagus caused by a combination of strenuousvomiting and stomach acid getting into the esophagusA friend who is a physician and a gastroenterologist,informed me that about 10% of these cases prove fatalNot good odds at all in my book. A week after leaving


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PANDA at sea, Jack was still having difficulty in swallowing, but improving daily. A littlover a month later Jack was given a clean bill of health by his physician.

PANDA continued to drift about on her own for days and was observed at various times bmilitary as well as private aircraft. Without going into endless detail, and it is endless, Iwill simply state two points. Point one is that it is not an easy task to get an insuranceclaims adjuster, insurance surveyor, United States Coast Guard, and a private tow

company to all speak on the same wavelength. Trying to do it on a July 4th weekendmakes it all the more challenging.

Point two is that that there were "pirates" out there trying their utmost to find and claimPANDA as their own (for salvage rights). Some reputable and very well knoworganizations were going out to get her, indeed even after they were told to "lay off"because another commercial towing service had been contracted to retrieve the vessel. Tothis they responded "may the best man win." Leaving your boat alone and out at sea is avery serious and high-risk business. Even after the Coast Guard specifically states that the

vessel is not abandoned and her recovery is in progress, there are those who wish to reapgreat profits at the misfortunes of others. This is especially incongruous when their ads insailing publications and brochures in chandlries would have you believe they are yourboating friend.

Luckily, the story ends happily. PANDA was finally found by the contracted commercialtowing service, using the services of a spotter aircraft, on Sunday, July 5 at 2:30 PM. Herposition at that time was 30032.34 N and 119037.64 W, 203 nautical miles from L.A.Light. She had been wandering out in the ocean for 4 days and was 116 nautical miles SS

from where we initially parted. PANDA was back in her original slip at Yacht HavenMarina in Wilmington by noon, Tuesday, July 7, 1998.

Considering what she had been through, PANDA was in amazingly great shape. There wasome damage to the dodger, the cellular phone was soaked with salt water and beyondrepair, the ICOM M-710 SSB has no sound (an installed and functional microphone isrequired for operation), and all cushions need professional cleaning. A vertical member othe stern rail on the port side had snapped off at the base. Could the fact that we had anoutboard motor and a spare forty-pound propane container hanging there plus using it as

an attachment point for the roller furling as well as the Monitor windvane have caused thito occur? Probably!

Two final interesting facts: One, we noticed during our voyage that the water in our houswater tanks was tasting particularly salty. Pretty yucky! We all speculated as to how thiscame to be. Days later, back in port, Jack was doing a wash down and noticed that waterflowing over the end of the gunwale on the port side had bubbles in it, right by the freshwater inlet fill cap. When he stopped pouring water down the gunwale he noticed that the


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water standing over the fresh water inlet rapidly disappeared. Conclusion: a leaky freshwater cap, sans o-ring, allowed the salt water contamination of all 48 gallons of housewater. Secondly, in an effort to hold the rudder amidships during the return tow back toLos Angeles, the salvers tied off the tubular aluminum emergency tiller in the amidshipsposition. After a few miles the emergency tiller snapped in half. Just another of the manysailing gotchas.

Ending on a positive note, Jeff summed it up best for all of us when he said "This was thefinest sailing I've ever experienced and some of the scenes were just beautiful!" Aimee'scomment was "It's too bad the adults were worried. Jeff and I were having a great time!"

So, what did you do that was interesting and different this summer?

Doug Ritter's Analysis

NOTE: Further information about the incident and comments about lessonslearned below were obtained via a series of email exchanges with the authorafter receipt of the story above.

All's well that ends well certainly describes this adventure. No lives or even a boat lost ansome excellent lessons learned. Said Rowe, "This is an experience that I think aboutalmost on a daily basis. I'm constantly reviewing the entire experience over in my mind,replaying each step, each new development and how I might have handled things in adifferent manner."

Preparation is always critical. The further offshore you venture, the more critical itbecomes. It is clear that Rowe took pains to make sure that they were equipped with bettequality safety and survival equipment and that safety overall was a serious consideration.Witness the expense of the Givens life raft, 406 MHz EPIRB, professionally assembledmedical kit and the strict PFD/harness rules to name but a few obvious clues about such aattitude for which Rowe is to be commended,

However well prepared they were in other areas, PANDA herself turned out to be not quitup to the challenge of blue water sailing. While every long passage seems to bring its shaof failures and annoying inconveniences, in this instance many would appear, with thebenefit of 20/20 hindsight, to have been preventable. Pre-departure checklists are availablfrom a variety of sources, but they are just a place to start. Bottom line is that the boatneeds to be gone over with a fine tooth comb from bow to stern, leaving not even thesmallest piece of equipment uninspected or renewed, as appropriate.

Some of the failures were issues of maintenance, such as the missing o-ring on the freshwater tank filler cap. Had the voyage continued, this would certainly have created a


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difficult situation. In a few more days their only potable water would have been what wasin the plastic jerry cans on deck. Rowe was wise to have provided that additional water inauxiliary containers. It is always a good idea to have multiple separate sources of freshwater (a desalinator is another viable option as a redundant source to stored water) in caseone or more becomes contaminated, by whatever means. Note however, that in extremeconditions anything stored on deck may be lost. Something to consider if you know astorm is on its way.

Some failures, such as the port jib sheet catching and lifting up the bathroom deck hatcheven when it was dogged down tight, should have been discovered during a shakedowncruise. All too often such cruises are little more than fair weather sails of limited durationThat's not unexpected, it's human nature at work. It's the rare person who goes looking fopoor weather in which to go to sea. Unfortunately, fair weather and short trips won't reveaproblems that will only occur under worse conditions or extended cruises. The leaks as aresult of water on deck are another example of this sort of problem that can be discoveredand cured with a properly challenging shakedown. As Rowe noted, these were not

conditions he'd ever experienced before with PANDA, but it is one that could almost beguaranteed on a trans-Pacific cruise, and one that often shows up such deficiencies. Rowenoted, "the obvious things such a leaky deck to hull joint, leaky ports, etc, ... should havebeen looked at much harder."

Steering Failure

What about the steering failure? Rowe commented,"The steering failure was what turned out to be the last

straw and was something I should have been betterprepared to deal with." He went on later to note,"steering via the emergency steering rudder (thealuminum tube which broke in half during the tow backto port) is very difficult. Although in great physicalshape, Jeff was getting tired after 30 minutes of steering."

How many sailors have actually tested their emergency steering gear, let alone inchallenging conditions? Most emergency gear has limitations that you will be better able deal with or that you can address beforehand if you have used the equipment prior to theemergency. Don't allow your "last chance" gear to surprise you in an emergency. Knowhow to use it, know its limitations, and if possible, work out ahead of time a solution toany deficiencies. In this example, an emergency tiller can generally be rigged to takeadvantage of winches or some line and pulleys and the like to ease the physical burden. Itlots easier if you are set up and prepared to do so ahead of time.


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When buying a boat (or any other mechanical or electricalequipment for that matter) it is always a good idea to checkwith the manufacturer to see if there have been any recalls orrecommended upgrades. It is also important to ensure you arelisted as the owner so that you will receive notification of anyfuture actions regarding the product. That's the real reason youwant to fill out and return those warranty cards. You don't nee

to provide them requested demographic data, but you do wantto be able to be notified in case of a recall.

Such a precaution might have prevented Rowe's steering failualtogether, as he discovered later, "in 1984, the year PANDAwas built, Catalina Yachts came out with a retrofit bracket toreinforce the support for the steering bracket itself. I assumethey must have realized that their original configuration as we

as thickness of the aft bulkhead to which the steering bracket is attached was inadequate.

They say their records show that this retrofit was sent out to the owner of record.Unfortunately, it was never installed. Subsequent Catalina yachts which are newer andeven those und er 36' have an aft bulkhead twice the thickness of mine and are equippedwith the same steering mechanism."

Givens Life Raft

Rowe's preparations for possible deployment of the rawent far beyond that of many life raft owners, for

which he is to be commended. "When the raft waschecked out at a facility in Wilmington, California, Iwas present as the raft was removed from the canisterand inflated. All items were removed from the raft andI took photos so other crewmembers could see what whad and how it all looked. Prior to departure, allcrewmembers were briefed on how to deploy the raftand what they could expect when this was

accomplished. However, when it came to using the raft under actual rescue conditions, wwere all neophytes."

Despite these efforts, entering the raft presented a formidable challenge. Whateverinformation was gleaned during the servicing of the raft, how to open the door from thewater, a critical bit of information, was apparently not covered. There is a provided meanto open the raft door from the water (images at right and below are from the 6-personGivens raft we tested in 2000, all Givens entries are nearly identical), however the placardnoting this is small, off to the side and not very noticeable among the profusion of placard


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at the entry to the raft. When you consider the size and conspicuousness of the instructionprinted upon the door itself, actually only aimed at those entering directly from the vesselwhere it is expected someone could literally jump through the door, it's not at all surprisinthat the survivors didn't notice it.

This line might also prove difficult to use in frigidconditions with cold hands and the Velcro securing the

line end could be saturated with water and quicklyfreeze in very cold conditions.

Rowe commented, "We later learned there is a line onthe side of the door that when pulled will open thedoor. None of us has any recollection of ever noticingsuch a line. I did read the manual for the raft; I supposean explanation is in there someplace." The Given's raft manual does not, in fact, containsuch information. Besides, that manual is located inside the raft, you have to open the doo

to get at it, so it would be worthless even if it was there, unless you had a chance to reviewa manual ahead of time, which isn't a bad idea, by the way. Nor is it mentioned in thedeployment instructions on the Givens canister. If someone hasn't instructed you in its usethe odds of discovering it on your own during an emergency deployment are slim. Rowecommented, "leaving your vessel and entering a raft under less than optimal conditions isstressful experience. All items for entering the raft should be clearly marked and readilyaccessible. We all fault Givens on that one."

The situation with the Givens life raft entry has been noted previously in the ETS/Belvoir

Publications life raft evaluations (published in the May, June and July issues ofPracticalSailor and Powerboat Reports and it will be expounded upon further in our upcoming ETreview). This real life experience simply validates our findings that the closed entry upondeployment presents a potentially formidable barrier, not only visually, but also physicallparticularly for entry from the water where a survivor is unlikely to notice the alternatemeans of opening the door.


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We noted also that the entry aids were inadequate andthat one volunteer tester was unable to board the raft.We concluded that the Givens raft is far too difficult toenter from the water, potentially impossible, and thisexperience also bears this out.

Rowe remarked, "the so-called boarding ladder was

totally useless. This is a cloth affair with about 3 or 4rungs (Actually only 2 - Ed.)sewn into it. In rough seasit must simply be swirling around. Not one of us wasable to find it and help ourselves into the raft. I was thelast person to leave PANDA and swim to the raft. Uponarriving at the raft, I deliberately stayed outside in thewater and while hanging felt around with my legs searching for the 'ladder.' I was neverable to find it. With help, I was pulled and climbed into the raft. Again, we all fault Givenon a worthless boarding ladder."

Note also that the conditions at the time were not extreme and it only serves to punctuateour assessment regarding these deficiencies and their potentially adverse impact in anemergency.

Whenever possible, you want to enter the life raft directly from the vessel. Dryer is betterthan soaking wet and even the best rafts can be difficult to enter from the water in extremconditions. This requires that the raft be brought alongside. However that's not alwayspossible Rowe noted, "Jack mentioned later how hard it was to hold on to the painter to th

raft and how difficult it was to pull the raft to within about 30 feet or so of the transom."Rowe went on to explain, "(the raft) opened up as expected but immediately began to drifaway very rapidly. As a result of hanging onto the painter as it slipped through his hands,he received rope burns on this palms and fingers. He then went back to the port side ofPANDA in the cockpit and wrapped the painter around a primary winch."

PANDA was drifting in bouncing seas at this point and the the raft was acting as a seaanchor. As Jack began to work the winch to pull the raft in closer he noticed that PANDAbegan rocking back and forth more violently. He was concerned that if he pulled the raft i

closer that PANDA would come down on the raft and sink it, so he let more line out inorder to keep it away. He got the raft as close to PANDA as he felt he safely could, so weswam to the raft.

With a life raft equipped with good ballast, and the Givens raft with its hemisphericalballast is as well equipped as it gets, there is considerable drag. Most rafts are alsoequipped with a drogue (also referred to as a "sea anchor") designed to stabilize the raftand slow its drift rate. His difficulty pulling in the raft under those conditions isn't


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surprising.

If you examine the images of the raft deployment takefrom the Coast Guard video, you'll note that the lowerportion of the canister (the small white form near theraft) is retained on the painter. This is another less thandesireable feature found on many rafts, the Givens

included, that we noted in our tests. Anyone swimminto the raft can be injured by this chunk of heavy,somewhat rough-edged fiberglass, and if could even

harm the raft itself in some circumstances. It's better if the canister falls away completelyafter deployment. If your life raft canister has a hole that the painter exits from (as opposeto a slot), keep this in mind if you ever find yourself abandoning ship, so that it doesn'tsurprise you as you make your way to the raft.

Just to reiterate a most important point, the painter should always be secured to the vessel

before deployment of the raft over the side. That is an absolute. No one can hold onto araft in even the most moderate conditions.

Most marine rafts have fairly long painters, as Jack discovered. Unless extraordinaryconditions warrant it or this is no time to do otherwise, don't simply tie off the end of thepainter (or it may be already attached in many installations) and deploy the raft. In mostcircumstances you will have to pull out the excess length of painter until you reach the enand the raft deploys, as Jack experienced. It may require a sharp jerk on the painter toactivate the inflation mechanism if conditions are not extreme and the raft canister or

valise isn't being carried away from the boat. When you see a deployment demonstration a boat show or safety at sea seminar, this is typically how it is done with the demonstratorflailing away as they pull out a seemingly never ending length of painter. All well andgood on dry land, but not the best strategy in actual circumstances

If at all possible, use some means, another cleat for example, or a winch, to shorten thepainter up as much as possible as you deploy the raft and pull out the painter. It is a loteasier than trying to bring the raft back to the boat. In most circumstances you can expectthe deployed raft to quickly be left behind as the boat drifts faster than the raft, witness th

incident as typical. Also, as Jack discovered, it helps if you, and all the crew, wear glovesNot only to protect your hands during the deployment, but especially so that you can moreasily grasp the painter and the raft's entry aids.

Jack's use of the winch to pull the raft back to the vessel was exactly the right tactic. Youare unlikely to be able to drag it closer to the boat by brute strength alone unless conditionare dead calm.


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While it is generally recommended that a life raft be deployed off the stern of the vessel,this raft was deployed off the port side ofPANDA right next to where the life raft wasstored on the deck in its cradle, aft of and to the port side of the mast. Jack explained toRowe that he had little other choice as he recalled that PANDA was rocking violently toand fro, port to starboard, and that there was no way he was going to carry or somehowmove the raft to another position on deck for launching. He also noted that where helaunched the raft there was little rigging in the way and he felt that he had a clear shot to

get the raft into the water. Something to keep in mind when you select a life raft and itsplacement on deck. Both the weight and location bear on your ability to launch the raftwhere you'd prefer, as opposed to where you can.

If you must swim to the raft, it is important to have a secure hold of the painter. In verypoor conditions drift could take the raft and boat away from you at a pace faster than youcan swim in your clothing and PFD.

Rowe did exactly the right thing sending Jeff out first. Most recreational life rafts are

difficult to board. Some are damn near impossible to board. Adverse conditions only makmatters worse. It only makes sense for the first person to be the strongest and mostcapable. Once on board, he or she can then assist others who may have a much moredifficult time of it without help. It's much easier to give assistance from inside than it is totry and boost someone on board from the water.

Two tips: One, (assuming the person in the water is wearing a PFD!) after warning themwhat you're going to do, you can push the person down into the water, then when they boto the surface continue the upward motion pulling them on board. Two, avoid pulling them

on board backwards, despite what you may read or see elsewhere. Humans don't bend inthat direction and injury could conceivably result. Have them face the raft with their faceturned to the side as you pull them on board. With one person assisting, grab either thePFD straps or under the arms and pull them up and over the raft buoyancy tube(s), fallingback yourself and pulling them over on top of you. With two persons to assist, have one oeither side, grabbing hold with the interior hand so the person being brought on boardcomes over between the two of you.

Rowe concluded, "once we were all inside the raft it was cozy, but roomy enough for all o

us. As Jack cut the painter attaching us to PANDA and we floated away, I felt secure in thraft. The bottom line is it did perform when needed, but we were lucky to have Jeff aboarto lead the way for the rest of us."

Communications


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Rowe was lucky that his VHF radio proved adequate tocommunicate with the Coast Guard. At those distances,it would not have been a reliable means, "had I beenthinking, I instead would have used the HF radio. Wewere off shore about 300 NMi at this point andtheoretically VHF is line of sight only. Luckily, VHFworked." Rowe remembers, "initially comms with the

Coast Guard were very poor. Then the Coast Guardoperator changed some operating parameters (switchedantennas or rotated the antenna) and comms were greatly improved. Thank goodness fortropospheric ducting!"

The HF failure wasn't the sort that might normally have been forseen, but its likely causemight encourage you to take a closer look at your set up. "The connection of themicrophone jack to the HF radio was solid prior to departure...I called home using theIcom M-710 HF rig via KMI in San Francisco...I suspect that one of the crew accidentally

leaned against or backed into the face of the HF radio and unknowingly snapped off the 8pin jack going from the microphone cable to the radio."

Rowe has learned his lesson the hard way, luckily with nothing lost, "I have now installeda protective bar across the face of the radio to prevent this from happening again.Additionally, I now carry a spare microphone in a vacuum-sealed bag aboard PANDA.This $90 investment is worthwhile for the peace of mind it brings." Murphy is an everpresent stowaway aboard all vessels. If something critical can be broken off a device, youcan bet that sooner or later it will happen; something to consider as you organize your

equipment installation.

Many electronic devices have peculiarities that aren'tapparent initially. Rowe continued, "When I noticedthat the mike was broken off the HF radio, I knew wewere not going to be transmitting. I never suspectedthat this would also prevent us from receiving as well."While most of us tend to give short shrift to instructionmanuals, if your life may depend upon a device it is

well worth the time and effort to thoroughly review theentire manual. Sometimes important information is buried in places you might notnormally look. The listed specifications often contain such hidden information.

The question of what spares to carry bedevils anyone who sets out on an adventure, nomatter the means of transport. You simply cannot carry spares for everything. We balancewhat we carry with the potential ultimate cost of not having a spare when we need it, andoften the price of the spare itself enters into the equation. Experience is your only guide,


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both your own experience and that of others who have made similar trips or used similarequipment. Some manufacturers have recommended spares they suggest you carry, listsdeveloped from experience. Unfortunately, such companies are relatively scarce, few liketo admit their products can fail. With the Internet, finding others with experience hasbecome immeasurably easier, albeit it generally requires a significant investment in timeand effort--well worth it in my opinion.

I should also make note that any spares you carry must be protected from the elements, asin the example of Rowe vacuum packing his spare microphone, and many have limitedshelf life. Seals and such made of rubber, as well as many adhesives, tend to have limitedshelf lives.

Medical Problems

Sometimes it isn't easy to abandon a long sought after goal in which you have a lotinvested, both financially and emotionally (such as sailing to Hawaii). There is sometime

a fine line between what's doable, and prudent, and what is carrying things too far. Evenwith the Coast Guard's advice to return immediately to port because of Jacks' medicalcondition, some discussion ensued and Jack was reluctant to give up.

As for Jack's condition, was it prudent to continue in the first place in light of such seriouseasickness? What about once he started complaining about chest pains? Many have beenviolently seasick at the start of a cruise; it's not much concern unless it continues unabatedfor a number of days. Having said that, if the scopolamine patch wasn't effective initiallyit is unlikely to do better later on. Oral medication at this point was futile. Not only is the

patient unlikely to keep it down, as was the case, but traditional anti-emetics are virtuallyuseless after the fact. Without some signs of improvement within a couple days, you'dneed to seriously question continuing the journey.

However, chest pain of any kind is potentially serious, even more so in older individuals.I'd be inclined to suggest that absent some other mitigating circumstances, it would beprudent to immediately contact medical assistance for consultation.

Finally, with regards the seasickness issue, it's not a bad idea to have some more powerfu

medications that don't require consumption available in case of an emergency. Remarkingon the anti-emetic situation, Rowe noted, "My medical bag now contains phenergransuppositories for this very reason." Also, there are alternative treatments that many findeffective, in many cases even after the nausea begins. Some of these don't requireconsumption either, making them particularly appropriate under such circumstances. Themay be worth having aboard, just in case. Anyone can become seasick--anyone!


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became popular after the tragic 1979 Fastnet yacht race where numerous abandoned yachwere later found intact and some lives lost after abandonment, "step up into your life raft.The point is to suggest that you shouldn't normally abandon ship until the boat is actuallysinking underneath your feet (an out of control fire on board being the most likelyexception). Many boats have survived after a premature abandonment.

The boat was still afloat and steerable and was taking on only fairly

small quantities of water, it was not gushing in by way of a holebelow the waterline. A gas driven pump could have been dropped bythe Coast Guard to alleviate the need to manually pump out theincoming water. With that taken care of, forecast conditions, whileuncomfortable, were unlikely to threaten the boat if the steeringsituation was resolved or, at least, mitigated. However, even acomplete steering failure wouldn't necessarily doom the boat inforecast conditions, the boat survived no one at the tiller, after all. Finally, they wereequipped with a 406 EPIRB and a better quality life raft that despite its deficiencies was

certainly capable of saving their lives in forecast conditions once they boarded it.

Please note that I'm not suggesting that they should have continued on to Hawaii had theyjust disembarked Jack. At a certain point you have to admit that problems are piling up,you're merely a couple hundred miles offshore and there's a long, long way to go in avessel that's already not so subtly letting you know she's not really as prepared for theadventure as believed. There are situations where you have few choices other than tocontinue on. This was certainly not one of them.

As Rowe concluded, "Most all of the issues that faced us were troublesome, but only oneor two would have stopped us from reaching our goal." It only takes one. It often takesmore courage to turn back than to continue.

If you or someone you know has experienced a survival situation,please see how you can share it to benefit others.

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Sailing to Hawaii...the First Attempt by Arnold Rowe