Heavy Weather Tactics Using Sea Anchors and Drogues

Book excerpt: Just as self-steering systems and autopilots have given the offshore seaman another pair of hands to steer the boat, so sea anchors and drogues have provided another means of handling threatening seas. Heavy Weather Tactics: Using Sea Anchors & Drogues is a classic; the last word on a subject of very great concern to leisure boaters and professional seamen alike, providing the reader with in-depth advice and analysis about: How deep water and coastal waves behave; How to deploy a sea anchor or drogue, and how it works; Different designs and their merits; What size of drag device is needed for a yacht, multihull, motorboat, fishing boat or working craft; Sea anchors for life rafts; How to make a makeshift sea anchor from whatever is at hand.This is the most detailed study available of a highly effective strategy for dealing with severe weather. Anyone putting to sea in a yacht or power driven vessel should carry a copy on board.