Adrift in movies tonight ...

[Will Gilmore]

Tami suggested they "tack" to head north to avoid the storm

This reminded me of Joseph Conrad's story 'Typhoon', where captain MacWherr argues with his first officer about tacking to go around a storm that they haven't seen. The first officer is fresh out of the academy and is using new weather science to determine there is a huge storm approaching. He advises adjusting course to sail around it. Captain MacWherr refuses because he can't know for sure the storm is real. He actually believes what his first officer is telling him, he just doesn't feel he can justify it. His argument is that it would add 3 or 4 days to their trip and the company owners would be angry at the loss of time. MacWhirr tells the young officer that the owners of the company will ask him why he decided to take the longer route and MacWhirr would answer, "to avoid the storm." MacWhirr tells his first, "they would say, 'It must have been a big storm for you to change course like that.' And I would have to answer, 'I don't know, we went around it.'"
They sailed into the worst typhoon ever recorded in the Indian ocean. Not only were they many days behind schedule, but the ship was dismasted and very badly damaged.
You should read it, if you haven't already.
I read an excerp of that scene to the high school I worked for to illustrate the types of unseen obstacles one must navigate through in this World. One of my favorite stories.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Kermit]

I had nightmares just watching the trailer.

Does that mean you slept through it?

 

[Ron20324]

Maybe I'll watch it after we retire from sailing, I had nightmares just watching the trailer.

Maybe you should see the movie.Your trailer is not going anywhere

 

[Kings Gambit]

They sailed into the worst typhoon ever recorded in the Indian ocean.

Apparently, this same thing that happened to Admiral Halsey and the Third Fleet (Read in Halsey's Tyhoon). Did not know the actual location of the typhoon; ended up sailing into it (in the western Pacific) rather than away from it. Fascinating story.

 

[Franklin]

I think you guys are forgetting that winds change at sea when a storm is approaching. The trades are not the winds they were sailing in, but the storm winds.

Also, wave heights have been recorded OVER 100 feet on oil rigs and some rigs have the damage to prove it, so I do not consider a 100' steep wave to be impossible. If I also remember, scientist argued 100' waves were impossible but were shocked to see when they did a study via satellites that not only do they exists, but many more than they thought, and they lasted longer than thought with most being near Cape Good Hope.

And I can tell you from experience, when at sea and tired and it's the middle of the night, things get real confusing when the shit hits the fan.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but so far what I've read here sounds a lot like Monday morning couch QBing.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I think you guys are forgetting that winds change at sea when a storm is approaching. The trades are not the winds they were sailing in, but the storm winds.

Good point! But to head north on a port tack in the North Pacific, the cyclone (storm winds) would have to be arriving from west of their position, it seems. It was not clear from the movie the location of the storm.

 

[Leeward Rail]

What!? Star Wars? Are you kidding?

I watched that movie at the Fox Theater in Santa Barbara in 1977 when I was 11.Just the opening scene had me wide-eyed and yelling "Wow! Wow!" Along with the rest of the audience.

I was 12. During the death star fight I loudly yelled "Look out Luke !!!!" and was shushed by my buddy.
I was so into the movie I forgot where I was.

Not only was it the best movie ever, we took the bus downtown without adults, to see it.
We were given notes to where to catch each bus. How times have changed

------

As to taking SOME GF's and wives to a sailing "disaster" movie.... why would anyone do that ?

They need to make more movies where..
A couple buys old boat.... they enjoy getting covered in toxic sanding debris, while their bank is account shrinking... then sail into the sunset while kissing and drinking champagne.
Movie paid for by marine industry companies.
"See honey.... that's why we need a boat"

 

[john renfro]

(showing my arrogance), ADRIFT, I read steven calllahan's book "Adrift, seventy six days lost at sea" he had no females to keep him company. trans atlantic race, he hit something, boat sank, he bailed out into a rubber raft. interesting story, I bet the movie is different.

 

[Bob S]

I saw it this weekend, my wife's idea. Agree it was a Hollywood take on a real event. Got a kick out of both of them going forward without being tethered, riding out a hurricane with two reefed sails. As Don pointed out there were a lot of flaws in the movie but it is a true story from 1983 and she did survive 40+ days and somehow found her way to Hawaii! Not something many of us can say. The movie was OK and my wife loved the love story. I enjoy youtube sailing adventures so seeing a Hollywood version was better than watching TV

 

[Sailm8]

Jeez guys lighten up. It was a MOVIE after all. There are hundreds of reasons why they did what they did in making decisions about the look of the movie. I would guess all of them would be because of the budget. It wasn't a documentary. The real couple

 

[Kings Gambit]

... and somehow found her way to Hawaii! Not something many of us can say.

A drifting log can find its way to Hawaii if in the trade winds belt. Captain Cook found it and he did not even know it was there!

 

[Kermit]

A drifting log can find its way to Hawaii if in the trade winds belt. Captain Cook found it and he did not even know it was there!

He must not have read the travel guides.

 

[All U Get]

Maybe you should see the movie.Your trailer is not going anywhere

Maybe but I'll need plenty of rum. I still see Pennywise by my bed at night.

 

[ToddS]

I actually read the book THE WAVE which has the author searching for the abnormal waves. I think this is it.
https://www.abebooks.com/Wave-Casey-Susan/16985564497/bd?cm_mmc=msn-_-used-_-PLA-_-v01&cm_mmc=msn-_-Bing+US+Shopping-_-Ad+group+#1-_-{product_groups}

I also read that book and loved it... more of a focus on surfing than sailing, but a fascinating study of waves.

 

[tipsyravensailing]

i went to go see it, my girlfriend would not. The trailer terrified her a bit.

When i came home i put the offshore pfd in her hands and asked her to point out the features. When she got to the rings on the belt for clipping yourself to the boat, i asked her why she'd have to do such a thing. She quickly realized and asked if either of the people were secured to the boat. simple answer was no. in the movie the gal literally shouts at him to clip himself in. In the story they saw the storm coming from miles away and were taking action. I can't imagine for the life of me not being clipped to a safety line in any kind of weather.

Either way, my gf found out he wasn't excercising safety, laughed and the movie no longer terrifies her. said, like others have, that it was decades ago and where as there's still plenty of threat and risk, that she's not worried about it. which is good. i'm full steam ahead on my own processes to get us out into blue water.

I haven't been on any wave like that before but i imagine coming down one crest sititng in the cockpit while the next crest is in front of you, that oncoming wave might look pretty damn big - the movie is after all all about the psychology of the experience. besides the wave is there to cause sensation at the door for the movie. i appreciate the whole thing as a proper warning to do departure planning, share route plans, exercise safety protocols, ensure disaster recovery plans and materials are in place, and just go sailing

 

[Justin_NSA]

Maybe you should see the movie.Your trailer is not going anywhere

rimshot! (I got it)

 

[25yearslater]

I read the book and then saw the movie last night. The movie was like watching a Wimbledon match. Very choppy with the jumping between events on the timeline. I can respect artistic license but I can't abide poor filmmaking. An overabundance of the characters nipples and ass was getting tedious. The poor sail trim evident throughout caused more than one cringe. Then for a serious offshore sailor never to have heard the adage, "IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT REEFING IT IS PROBABLY TOO LATE," was the death knell for me.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I agree that the continuity was poor. I don't really cringe at the faulty technical details, those are all besides the point. The only aspect of the film that frustrated me is that they gave no sense of HOW did they get into that circumstance. As a sailor, I could have breezed thru the early scenes about them meeting, falling in love, and deciding to make this passage. But then, I would have preferred to see more development about how they got into trouble. What decisions did they make? Which were the wrong decisions? For instance, why did they seem to cross the equator during the northern Pacific hurricane season? Why did they decide to turn north as they headed into the storm? What information did they have? What information were they missing? What was unpredictable? After I looked at the tracks of hurricanes in 1983, it would seem that they should have known (if previous years tracks were any indication) that the storm would track north right into their path. Were sailors in 1983 unaware of the likely tracks? If they made the movie more coherent during the pre-storm set-up, they could have done less of the post-storm agony, in my opinion. I guess the agony is what most movie goers might be more interested in, but I thought it didn't need to be sooo dragged out. To me, it seemed like they just dropped them into the storm without any development of the impending danger, which would have been much more interesting to me. It seems that it is just never going to be likely that producers and directors will ever tailor a movie for the eyes of sailors. They are just more tuned into the general movie-going public.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Then for a serious offshore sailor never to have heard the adage, "IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT REEFING IT IS PROBABLY TOO LATE," was the death knell for me.

Yeah, but where does this "adage" come from? What validity does it actually have? Anyway, that's not the version I've heard. It's more like: "If you're thinking about reefing then you probably should be doing it, etc." and "Reef early." However, "serious sailors" probably do not pay much attention to the "guidelines" and "adages" expressed by the dilettantes.

There's a whole other point of view out there derived from the clipper sailors and since them, racers; namely, you should carry all the sail that the rig can bear [to make destination in good time.] You even hear in Mutiny on the Bounty, Capt'n Bligh (Laughton): "No change of sail without my order."

 

[Kings Gambit]

As I said above--it followed the format of your basic disaster movie--on-going love story (to keep interest) while awaiting the disaster. But I agree w/ T-Bird; better development of the decisions made detailing how they got into trouble would have been much more interesting to me. I don't know many 30-something year-olds who would be studying weather patterns while having a love affair w/a new girlfriend, etc. It's all a form of shangri la to them. Most of the time, they do not know what they do not know.