[quote=Dogboy]Sailing in big waves definitely requires a lot more steering input than in flat water. Usually when going upwind, you have to ease the boat into the wind a little as you reach the top of the wave (swell) so the boat doesn’t pop out of the water. Then bear off as you accelerate down the wave and the apparent wind shifts forward. I’m talking about larger ocean rollers in this case. For pointier, stacked up waves like bay chop, generally your best bet is to take a step back on the boat, bear off a little, and just power through the best that you can. Waves like that are generally smaller than ocean waves, but can pack enough punch to nearly stop your boat in its tracks.
Downwind sailing in waves, regardless of size, is generally a matter of keeping speed up and doing your best to steer to avoid sticking the bows into the back of waves. Its unavoidable to some degree, but the more you minimize planting the bow, the more comfortable you’ll be.
Launching and landing seems like your biggest issue. Does the beach have a gradual take off, or do large waves break right on the beach (shore break)? If large waves are right on the beach, combined with onshore wind and rocks, that sounds like an invitation for disaster. Might be better off finding a more suitable launch area. And I’m not sure how the anchoring setup you mentioned is laid out, but again, that seems pretty sketchy if there are waves breaking at your anchorage.
sm[/quote]
No HTML tags allowed (except inside [code][/code] tags)
