Sailing

You can sail a bilge keeler at sea no problem. There's just a few degrees knocked off your ability to sail upwind, and I think the motion in the water is a little different. But we took our bilge keeled Westerly Centaur on many a successful sea journey.

"Heaving to" "hove to" all the same thing. You configure the sails and tiller/wheel of your boat so that if any speed was gained forwards due to wind in the sail, your boat would round-up into the wind. Result is a stable state pointing slightly up wind, while you drift slowly slightly down wind. The boat reduces how much it's bobbing about and tends to be facing at an angle into waves which is quite good. I've heard that heaving to is a good technique for riding out a storm provided that you have plenty of sea room downwind of you. I've only done it once or twice myself, and then just for a few minutes to try it out and see how it works. So far I've avoided being in a situation where I needed to "use" it.

Technique to heave to is as follows (I think):

1. Go as if to make a slow tack, and let the bow pass across the wind, but leave the jib sheet as it is - ie ending up on the upwind side of the boat.

2. Let off the main sheet a bit (amount required varies boat to boat).

3. Once turned across the wind and when you have little speed, push the tiller/wheel all the way so the boat is trying to turn back the way you just came, and lash it there so it can't move.

4. Put your feet up and have a cup of tea.*