My P-14 Flipper (hull 230) and I do most of our sailing on Monterey Bay. In October 1993 my brother Bruce and I went out on a blustery afternoon to see what my new little boat would do. It was our third time out. I was still getting acquainted with Flipper. Bruce had little sailing experience and I wasn't much better off having only been sailing a couple of years.
After an hour of bouncing around in 6-8 foot seas and 15-20 mph winds, losing our jib sheets (no stopper knots), missing several tacks, and a hilarious reefing exercise, we finally settled down to some pretty clean and safe sailing. Under reefed main and jib and with both of us on the weather rail we were under control. We were bouncing, the spray was flying, and we were having a ball. In the gusts Flipper would heel much like the Moore 24's ( a racing keelboat I had a little experience with) and I was not particularly apprehensive. In fact I was pretty impressed with the way Flipper was handling the conditions and our lack of experience.
We headed upwind and got about a mile offshore. It was blowing a little harder and the shorts we started off in started not to be warm enough. Bruce ducked into the cabin to grab our wind pants, while I cleated off the main in anticipation of putting on warmer clothes. That's exactly when the gust hit.
There was no feeling the edge. There was no pushing the envelope. We simply rolled right over into the water and turned turtle, the mast down and the centerboard high in the air. The main hatch was of course wide open with Bruce still half inside, and the lazarette was not latched.
We both floated free and were hanging onto the gunwales. I had had some instruction in righting dinghies and quite calmly (I thought) called to Bruce to free the main which I had so thoughtfully cleated. He on his part was only too happy to have some direction even if it involved having to dive down to find the boom. I then clambered onto the gunwale, grabbed the centerboard (which was locked in the down position), forced the board to horizontal, climbed on and got Flipper righted. Sort of.
One characteristic of the Potters which I had admired was that the positive floatation wouldn't permit the boat to sink. The picture in the brochure of the Potter with the holes drilled in the bottom and the pretty girl standing confidently in the cockpit had given me unwavering confidence that I could go pretty much anywhere I pleased.
It is true. Flipper did not sink. It is also true that it did not float anywhere near as level as the boat in the brochure. With all the water that had entered through the main hatch and the lazarette it wallowed around in the tossing seas ass end down. A bucket for bailing was just about the only piece of gear that wasn't floating around us. And it wouldn't have made any difference if we could have found one. We tried climbing out onto the bow to counterbalance the water and only succeeded in rolling the boat over again. We could "right" it but we couldn't get it bailed, floated and sailing again.
The water temperature was about 58 degrees. We were a mile out, cold and tired out trying to get righted. I don't think either of us could have swum to shore. The only reason I'm here to write this is that one of the only other boats out that day saw us go over and radioed to the Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol. They got to us in another 10-15 minutes and took me aboard. Bruce managed to get a line around the mast and while the patrol boat tugged, Bruce stood in the cockpit and balanced the boat to keep it from rolling while it still floated ass end down.
We survived; Flipper survived. Only due to good fortune and the skill of the Harbor Patrol.
Lessons learned:
I have made a couple of modifications to Flipper as a result of the capsize. I installed extra floatation in the form of twin size air beds stuffed under the cockpit seats and inflated. This should provide enough floatation in the stern especially if I heed rule #3. I also installed a 1-1/2-inch cockpit drain. This will drain about 80% of a cockpit full of water in about one minute. No bailers, no buckets, no effort, no fail.
I also bought a Crewfit inflatable PFD/harness and wear it with a 12-foot lanyard attaching me to the boat. I made it long enough so that if I get off balance and start to go over I will go all the way without getting caught halfway and capsizing the boat. I have a strobe light attached to the PFD.
I really hope I never have to use any of this stuff. But having experienced how helpless we were to get ourselves out of the mess we put ourselves into, I'd rather do it differently if there is a next time.
You probably guessed by now how Flipper got its name.