How to Sail in Bad Weather

Sailing in bad weather can easily become a sailor's worst and most frightful nightmare. Following these simple steps, however, can go a long way in ensuring that your bad weather sailing experience is as safe and painless as it can possibly be.

Instructions

1. Avoid sailing in bad weather completely. The best way to sail in bad weather is to simply not sail in bad weather. Not only does bad weather have the obvious dangers of lightning, tornadoes and squalls, but there are the less obvious dangers of hypothermia, heat stroke and dehydration. Avoiding bad weather is not always possible, but keeping current with local weather forecasts is the best way to avoid bad weather disasters at sea.

2. Reduce your sails. Give more time for tacks, jibes and sail changes in high winds. Understand that the boat is more difficult to control near other boats or docks. Try to use smaller sails if possible.

3. Drop all of your sails. This is often called "lying ahull." Drop all sails, and fix the helm to a set position to allow the boat to drift for a while. This method is not advised in heavy weather since the boat is entirely at the mercy of the storm.

4. Use the anchor. Dropping your sea anchor or para-anchor keeps the boat pointed in one direction, slowing the boat's progress against the storm.

5. Trail warps or drogues. Long ropes can be let out the back of the boat in order to slow it down. Ideally, they should be in a loop and reach two wavelengths back if possible. The idea is to stop the boat from surfing faster than the waves. Similarly, small drogues, similar to small sea anchors, can accomplish pretty much the same purpose.