Caught in Irons
(a nautical term of vague origin, loosely translated as ‘screwed up again, haven’t you)
A common occurance on barges, rafts, square sails, and of course catacondo's.
You apparently tried to tack and did not get the bow to go over far enough or fast enough.
To confirm you are caught in irons check the following (in order):
1) You are not moving or are moving backwards.
2) You are not tied to the pier.
3) The sails are up, one is on the left, the other on the right, the forward one is back winded (see glossary) - and the motor is not running.
If all the above is true, yep, you've screwed up again.
You either just tried to tack or weren’t paying attention and sailed straight into the wind, again.
If no one else is onboard you are safe and might not have to admit your mistake .
If only the Admiral is onboard tell her you intended it for practice purposes and invite her to try to rectify the situation for ‘learning’ (well it worked last time).
If the Admiral was steering the boat and caused it then congratulate her for achieving a perfect ‘hove to’ condition and ask politely (without sarcasm) if you should bring lunch now.
Actions to take:
Do an immediate scan of your surroundings, i.e., look for other boats, hard pointy land based objects etc.
Reason: If you do not see any boats that you know, you do not have to admit your mistake.
If you are drifting in a manner that means you will collide with something or someone put your ego aside and start the motor, then drive the boat to safety.
It’s time to assess the situation. Make sure your drink is topped off, iced down etc. Smoke a cigarette and relax as this is going to take some effort to fix.
Okay, if you are rested up here’s the deal: you’re screwed.
You see..the sails are all out of whack, discombobulated and weird. Again. No, don't panic and go all funny again.
You’ve got to get the boat moving again so you can steer because sailboats don’t turn unless they are moving, but you can’t it get moving because you can’t steer…Chicken, egg, omelet.
Ponder this chicken and egg scenario while having another cigarette. Refill your drink since after all you aren't exactly moving now are you?
If it is a good spot for anchoring do so, then drop the sails acting just like you had planned on this to happen.
Not a good anchorage? Continue being screwed:
Reassess how far you have drifted, scan for boats etc..If you have run aground the situation is resolved – you can either get out and push the bow around or call for a taxi home.
Still on the water?
You could call TowboatUS again, but they were really pissed last time.
Let’s fix the problem instead, it’s the ‘sailor’ like thing to do.
Put down the drink, put out the cigarette and put a resolved look on your face. Thinking of how Popeye would fix this helps so does squinting and flexing your biceps.
Loosen the jib sheet and remove it from the winch. Let the jib sail flap in the wind – it’s too complicated to work both sails at once in a time like this.
We are going to fix this by turning the wheel to the center and pushing the mainsail out into the wind, that WILL get the boat moving backwards.
It’s also too complicated to try and make sure you end up going in the direction you wanted to tack to, if you could do that you would not have gotten caught in irons, admit it, and live with it.
Go up on the side of the boat and to the back, grasp the boom (see glossary if needed) and push it out (forward) until it fills with wind. Hold unto something with one hand – not your drink, you were supposed to put that down.
When the boat is moving backwards at 1 knot or better you can let go of the boom and go turn the wheel so the boat turns sideways to the wind.
If you pushed the boom to the left, turn the wheel to the RIGHT, if you pushed the boom to the right, turn the wheel to the LEFT. If that does not work, try it the other way. Scowling at the sails doesn’t work, but does help.
That should, eventually, get you going backwards, then stopped, then moving forward. It’s complicated but the good news is it works, sometimes. Well, at least once.
Once moving forward you can trim sails (see ‘trimming the sails’) and get moving like normal.
If that doesn’t work, pull the mainsheet tight, drop the drive leg, start the motor and fix it like last time – motorsail
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