Towing A Disabled Boat At Sea: Part 1 | DrakeParagon Sailing

Today is October 4th, 2023 and we’re in a marina called Marina Yates Del Principado in the city of Gijon, Spain. I’m making this video vlog entry so that I can tell the whole story of what happened yesterday because while we did do some filming, we weren’t really able to focus too much on filming as we were dealing with the situation at hand.

Starting the Day

We started the day off with having our good friend Hazel from sailing vessel Alana Wle over to Paragon for a last check of the weather before pushing off. We call this meeting a ‘weather huddle’ where we run the PredictWind offshore app and I have a route already put in from here to Karuna which is a big city with three marinas and a little anchorage right up here.

The Weather Plan

We don’t exactly know where we’re going but we do know that we’re going today from here departing at 11:00. The forecast goes out for 10 days and includes our departure planning file which makes our little upwind animation only 2% today, which we really like. More than the other days because it’s a little more upwind on the other days. Today is definitely the windiest of the 4 days at 34% in winds above 20 knots but we’re never in winds above 15 knots while we’re going upwind.

The Start of The Journey

As we motored out of Gijon’s busy harbor, we had to change our course two or three times to get out of massive freighter ships that were being towed by tugboats and guided by Pilot boats. Gijon is a really busy harbor.

In the third paragraph of your text description (just under the Weather Plan header), mention the challenges faced when leaving the marina in regards to changing course due to freighter ships being towed and guided by Pilot boats.

Foggy Conditions

Sometime later as we were sailing, it got quite foggy which can make navigation a bit more challenging. Luckily, we have radar to help keep us on track.

In the fourth paragraph of your text description (just after heading ‘The Start of The Journey’), mention the sudden onset of fog and how it affects sailing conditions and visibility at sea.

Engine Trouble for Alana Wle

A couple of hours after leaving Gijon, Hazel texts us to tell us that her engine had overheated and cut out. We discuss our options but quickly realize we need to stick together as the wind was light and Hazel’s sailing progress was slow.

In the sixth paragraph of your text description (just after heading ‘Engine Trouble for Alana Wle’), mention that Hazel texts about engine overheating issues and the discussion among the crew regarding their options for ensuring safety in these challenging conditions at sea.

Towing a Disabled Boat at Sea

The remaining paragraphs of this post will cover part 1 of towing a disabled boat at sea, the decisions made by the crew to assist Hazel and their journey together under challenging conditions. Keep an eye out for part 2 where we’ll dive deeper into the adventure that follows as they continue sailing with engine trouble in tow.