[Paddlewise] FW: Instability with a flooded cockpit.

> Robert,
> 
> Thanks for your reply.
> 
>> ...  With your permission, I will post
>> it to Paddlwise for all to read.
> 
> Fine by me.


Peter Carter wrote: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 06:59:33 +1030
To: "Robert C. Cline" <rccline_at_swbell.net>
Subject: Re: Instability with a flooded cockpit.

Robert,

Thanks for your message. I'm not a subscriber to the PaddleWise list, so I
haven't been following the thread. (And I gave up on the Wave~Length list
ages ago, as the signal:noise ratio wasn't to my liking.) To respond...

>I have been wondering what to do about this in my boat, a Romany Explorer.
>The Romany has a bit of a flat bottom, and in rough water, with the cockpit
>flooded, the sloshing motion becomes very unstablilizing.  Do I reduce
>cockpit volume?  Add baffles?  A sea sock?  Or, trade it in on a Nordkapp
>Jubilee?

My method (as with my old Nordkapp) is to fit buoyancy material (I use
expanded polyethylene) along the sides of the cockpit. Shape it to fit, and
fix in place: I use studs through the hull. Pack some more beneath the
seat, and fill any space fwd of the footrest. The space behind the seat can
be taken up with a suitable bag, buoyancy material, or a third bulkhead.

>...   I was thinking about gluing something in
>the floor of the cockpit to reduce the sloshing and further reduce the
>cockpit volume.  Doing that however would preclude being able to carry the
>watertight zip-bag.

Is there room beneath the deck, between the knees? This space can often be
used for storage. (Voyager has a box, accessible through a hole in the
deck.)

>Carter also posits that the re-enter and roll is a necessary skill.  Forget
>Paddle floats Carter says.  What about the situation when even with a
>perfected re-enter and roll, there is an injury?  Wouldn't you want a paddle
>float alternative?

When did the injury occur? If you're paddling with a known injury I think
there's something amiss with your seamanship. If the injury was caused by
capsize, collision, or whatever, you have a problem even with a paddle
float. The downfall of the paddle float is that you've lost the use of your
paddle: you're at mercy of wind, wave and current with no means of
propulsion.

>I don't know how ambitious an assignment it is to add the re-entry and roll
>to the repertoire.  I think Doug Lloyd posted about this issue some time
>ago.

Not difficult, but like everything else, needs current practice.


Cheers,
Peter
pcarter_at_acslink.net.au
allegedly <www.acslink.net.au/~pcarter>
temporarily <usrwww.mpx.com.au/~pcarter>
34deg 55' 30" S 138deg 32' 4" E



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