A tale of an Ocean Safari - Snooze 'n Cruise Spring 2013

Hassan’s account: I am sure Tom would be interested in telling the tale in his own very capable words, and I would be happy to contribute to it. I would just say, since you asked, that not all parts of the story are glorious, and maybe even a bit embarrassing at times. In short, we first capsized when I reached inside the cockpit to adjust the jib car position while Tom was on the wire and I at the helm, which resulted in our losing the heel and tea-bagging Tom. I tried to right the boat after dry-capsize, but the centerboard - which had been constantly giving us grief in the past - broke off right at its base by the hull, resulting in turtling the boat and putting me in the water. The scary part came next, when Tom almost drowned because he was still clipped to the trapeze wire (his harness remains permanently clipped, unless he releases it manually). Luckily he was able to bring his face to the surface, take a breath and release himself.

Then, on the way back to the WAC while being towed by Frenesi, the boat capsized again between the Ballard and Fremont bridges, this time with its sails unrigged. This was partly because the 470 bow was filled with water and so very low to the surface. During the capsize the main sail was lost, which was Tom's second least favorite part of the boat (after the centerboard). The moral of the story is that Tom managed to get rid of the two parts that bugged him the most, on the dinghy that he loves the most (recently named Ocean Safari).

Tom’s comments:  Hassan's account is accurate and reasonably complete.  I would add a few points, though. When Frenesi (with Hassan and me aboard) was towing the 470 out in the Sound, the boat tracked reasonably well and did not have any obvious problems with hull trim.  We towed her across some large freighter wakes without incident.  Consequently, I figured we ought to have no trouble at all while towing her through the ship canal, and I was not nervous about leaving the sails inside the cockpit.  While in the locks, I rerigged the lines centering the tiller.  When we left the locks, although the tiller appeared reasonably well centered, the boat was tracking off to the starboard side.  This undoubtedly caused, or at least contributed to, the subsequent capsize.  We were traveling fast enough that the tow line parted close to the center.  We saw the mainsail and jib fall from the cockpit, and I urged Evan to circle back as quickly as possible.  Of course, Frenesi does not turn on a dime, and the mainsail sank too rapidly to retrieve.  I managed at the last possible second to snag the jib with a boat hook.

Although it is true that the centerboard and mainsail were my two least favorite parts of that boat, that should not be construed to mean that I actually wanted to lose either of them.  My fear is that now the boat might be on its way to 470 Heaven or some alternative afterlife.