Stopping Wave Strikes While Heaved-To

As we discussed in this post, heaving-to is only safe as long as the boat does not forereach out from behind her own slick. It is the slick that causes waves to break before they reach the boat. In this post we looked at some alternatives to stop the wave strikes we were experiencing while heaved-to in a gale but that we rejected because they did not meet our goals for a heavy weather strategy. In this post we will look at what we eventually did, how it worked and how it has become an integral part of our heavy weather strategy—I know, some of you thought I would never get to the payoff.