I completed the 2012 Texas 200, and somehow I'm still alive. Several "what if" questions from several post can now be answered. I didn't have as easy a time as last year, but my DS2 survived the 200 mile sail up the coast. My new rudder head/tiller worked very well and kept the rudder blade out of the mud while beached in shallow water. Last year my rudder head broke due to the blade not being allowed to get high enough.
After we launched the boat at Port Isabel on Saturday the 9th, we noticed that the starboard spreader was broken, hadn't noticed it while putting up yhe mast. I had a spare with me and with some help it was repaired. We started sailing Monday morning with 31 other boats. In the early afternoon we had a mishap. We were running basically downwind on a starboard tack, the wind was near 20 knots coming from our stern starboard quarter. Waves hitting us the same way. Suddenly we got hit squarely broadside by a large "rouge" wave. This was not the wake of a large boat or ship, none were around. We got hit by the trough and the rise of the wave started to capsize us to starboard where the wind was coming from. I suddenly saw my cousin Bill fall out of the boat. I had time to yell "Bill", then I fell out backwards. The boat righted itself and started to sail away. I somehow, and I don't know how, grabbed the stern. I tried to turn the rudder and head the boat into the wind to stop it. I looked around for Bill who was about 500 yards away. I yelled and waved for help. Another boat saw me wave and headed for me. After some effort and the failure of my self-rescue device they got me aboard. It was then I noticed Bill's life jacket was in the boat. Scanning the water, we noticed another boat had already pulled Bill out of the water. They got Bill over to us. Bill and I drifted for about 15 minutes before raising the sails and continuing on. What a humbling experience.
By the time we got to Port Mansfield, our first night's camp, the wind was up to about 25 knots. It proved to be a hard harbor entry, but we made it. Tuesday was a fairly easy sail, lighter winds. A couple boats ran aground on the shallow side of the Intracoastal Waterway (Ditch). We got to the camp at Happ's Cut without incident. Wednesday, the fleet was still 32 boats. We headed for the Padre Island Yacht Club near Corpus Christi. Winds were 15-20 knots, light for the Tx200. We passed another boat that had gone aground. When we arrived at PIYC the wind had strengthed and was out of the east. PIYC has a east-west narrow channel to get in and out of. We had trouble with the channel, ran aground and finally had to get a tow to the docks. At PIYC we had a dinner provided, hot showers, and were allowed to sleep in the club house for the night. Thursday's sail was going to be the first of our navigational challenges. First sailing across Corpus Christi Bay, the down the Corpus Christi Channel, past the ferries at the state highway crossing, then up Lydia Ann Channel, around Mud Island to our camp at Paul's Mott. We made it to near Paul's Mott when disaster struck.
Bill was at the helm again, I was navigating with GPS. The wind was coming straight from where our camp was going to be. We had to sail a way out from camp due to a reef, causing us to tack our way into camp. We were on a port tack when I noticed the starboard stay was off the chain plate. I moved to the starboard side and grabbed the stay. The clevis pin was caught on the chain plate. I got the pin in and yelled to Bill to release the main sheet to level us out until I could get a cotter pin in to attach the stay. I knew we might be in danger of loosing the mast if we tacked without the stay in place. He didn't release the main. I looked over to him a second time to release the sheet, he leaned to starboard. That's all it took, we went over. I came up under the sail and got out from under it as soon as possible. The floatation in the mast head worked, didn't go turtle. As I moved to the centerboard, I yelled to Bill to release the main sheet and the come to the centerboard to help me right the boat. I waited a while, then moved around to the cockpit side to find what was taking so long. I uncleated the main, then looked for Bill. He was swimming for shore. I went back to the centerboard. Got up on it once, but slide off. Plan B, wait for the boat to swamp more and try righting again, get in, bail and sail. While I worked on Plan B, the first rescue boat showed up. I waved to them and asked if they were enjoying themselves. Before rescue could proceed, they had to take pictures. Andy Linn then dove in the water to assist me. With his help we righted the boat. Boat wasn't completely swamped, but full of water. Those 60 pool noodles did their job. Boat was taken under tow, I had them just drag me to shore since my boarding method had failed on Monday. Bailed the boat once we were close to the beach. Someone got a split ring in the clevis pin for me. Once the cockpit was empty, we opened an inspection port and water gushed out. In the capsize I lost several things from the cockpit, VHF radio, small electric cooler, battery attached to my solar cell. Solar cell still works, bed boards and oars stayed with the boat. We didn't loose anything in the cuddy cabin due my hatch that I made.
Even tho the boat swamped, she stayed afloat with the pool noodles in the bilge, I also had about 100 empty water bottles (with lids on) in the bilge from the 2011 event. I found that in the swamped condition the CB uphaul hole is below the waterline. It needs something stuffed in it to stop water flow. Remember this boat was heavily loaded for this trip with camping gear, clothing, and supplies. We still had about 5 gallons of freash water on board. The posts asking if the boat will stay afloatif swamped can be answered as yes.
Thursday evening there was a wedding of a couple that met on the 2009 Tx200. Andy, the man who made a magnificant dive into the water to help me right the boat was the minister. He had come down from Oregon to sail in the event.
Thursday night was not a good nights sleep. Almost everything I had was wet from the capsize. Even my "dry bag" got water in it.
Friday morning we headed for Seadrift and the end of the trip. We sailed a little causiously for the first couple hours, reefed main only. We later put up the jib. I took the helm for the sail accross San Antonio Bay. We got into Seadrift without incident, well we did have to dodge a dredge in the channel, but it wasn't difficult.
Friday evening was the "end of event" shrimp boil, we headed home Saturday. Time to work on a new re-boarding system.
John