New Scary Experience In the Marina
- Thread starter patrickfarley
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I generally tie mine off too (after seeing them drop into the drink). More often or not it happened at the point we fired up the motor and pointed into the wind when the jib is loose and flapping and ready to be dropped. We never got them wrapped on the motor but it could have happened.
About 10 years ago while sailing in Norway i made a big mistake, one that almost cost me my boat and my life...
The Norwegian Fjords is majestic with isolated groups of islands, most of which are nothing more than huge rock walls jutting out of the sea. The sea it self is relatively calm, even glass like at time. However, it can be quite dangerous due to constantly changing wind directions as you round one island to another.
Its also isolated and very cold. If you go overboard there is no one around to help you, nor would simply swimming if you can survive the current to one of the island groups. There simply is not anyone on most of them.
My mistake came when I decided to take my boat out for a solo cruise. It started off peaceful enough, but then I had the bright idea of raising my spinnaker. In itself, it would have worked out well enough (not a bright idea), but my sheet became tangled while raising the sail. The timing was worse... I had just rounded the calm protection of an island into a strong cross wind.
Now my sheet was tangled, and the spinnaker was suddenly off the side of the boat locked in and pulling me over on my side. I had no option but to run up the hull of the boat (its pulled over) and release my sheet. Of course when I did this the boat instantly righted it self. I swear if it wasn't for a safety line I'd have been in the water and would have frozen to death.
Lets just say this taught me a valuable lesson.
The Norwegian Fjords is majestic with isolated groups of islands, most of which are nothing more than huge rock walls jutting out of the sea. The sea it self is relatively calm, even glass like at time. However, it can be quite dangerous due to constantly changing wind directions as you round one island to another.
Its also isolated and very cold. If you go overboard there is no one around to help you, nor would simply swimming if you can survive the current to one of the island groups. There simply is not anyone on most of them.
My mistake came when I decided to take my boat out for a solo cruise. It started off peaceful enough, but then I had the bright idea of raising my spinnaker. In itself, it would have worked out well enough (not a bright idea), but my sheet became tangled while raising the sail. The timing was worse... I had just rounded the calm protection of an island into a strong cross wind.
Now my sheet was tangled, and the spinnaker was suddenly off the side of the boat locked in and pulling me over on my side. I had no option but to run up the hull of the boat (its pulled over) and release my sheet. Of course when I did this the boat instantly righted it self. I swear if it wasn't for a safety line I'd have been in the water and would have frozen to death.
Lets just say this taught me a valuable lesson.
Need a GO PRO camera mounted. Especially since I will never make this mistake again.
This is a very educational thread!
I had a scary - actually, more mortifying than scary - marina experience last week. I was coming in running dead slow, so slow that I barely had steerage way. The channel is only 100' wide, with the docks to stbd and shallow water, marked with a line of buoys, to port. I am still getting used to handling my new-to-me Pearson 26 which is a very heavy boat compared to my little centerboarder. The wind outside was blowing about 15-20 kn but it was fairly still in the cove which is pretty well sheltered. I was a little ways to port of the centerline of the channel, preparing to swing 90 degrees to stbd to go down to my slip, when the breeze picked up on the stbd bow - between windage and lack of sufficient speed the wind was pushing me over further to the port side of the channel - I had the tiller down to port trying to round up into the wind (much like being stuck in irons) but she just wouldn't turn and I kept sliding over towards the buoys. I didn't feel like I had time or room to jump back and throttle up the outboard. So I thought, maybe with the wind already pushing, I could reverse the helm and make a 270 to port, so i put the tiller over to stbd. I almost made it, another 10 feet of searoom and I would've been home free, but no - I'm coming around, hoping and praying - made it 180 degrees and I have a marker buoy on my port bow - crunch! not only aground but wiith the buoy's mooring chain wrapped around the keel.
This was Labor Day weekend and everybody and their dog was down at the lake, so I had a good crowd on shore and a veritable parade of passing pontoon boats and jet skis to witness the guy in the sailboat turning the wrong way and grounding his boat. There may even be a You Tube or two documenting the whole inglorious episode.
The marina sent out a work boat which towed me back off stern first. The grounding occurred in slow motion so I don't think it did any damage, but the buoy's mooring chain could have damaged the knot meter impeller.
I had a scary - actually, more mortifying than scary - marina experience last week. I was coming in running dead slow, so slow that I barely had steerage way. The channel is only 100' wide, with the docks to stbd and shallow water, marked with a line of buoys, to port. I am still getting used to handling my new-to-me Pearson 26 which is a very heavy boat compared to my little centerboarder. The wind outside was blowing about 15-20 kn but it was fairly still in the cove which is pretty well sheltered. I was a little ways to port of the centerline of the channel, preparing to swing 90 degrees to stbd to go down to my slip, when the breeze picked up on the stbd bow - between windage and lack of sufficient speed the wind was pushing me over further to the port side of the channel - I had the tiller down to port trying to round up into the wind (much like being stuck in irons) but she just wouldn't turn and I kept sliding over towards the buoys. I didn't feel like I had time or room to jump back and throttle up the outboard. So I thought, maybe with the wind already pushing, I could reverse the helm and make a 270 to port, so i put the tiller over to stbd. I almost made it, another 10 feet of searoom and I would've been home free, but no - I'm coming around, hoping and praying - made it 180 degrees and I have a marker buoy on my port bow - crunch! not only aground but wiith the buoy's mooring chain wrapped around the keel.
This was Labor Day weekend and everybody and their dog was down at the lake, so I had a good crowd on shore and a veritable parade of passing pontoon boats and jet skis to witness the guy in the sailboat turning the wrong way and grounding his boat. There may even be a You Tube or two documenting the whole inglorious episode.
The marina sent out a work boat which towed me back off stern first. The grounding occurred in slow motion so I don't think it did any damage, but the buoy's mooring chain could have damaged the knot meter impeller.
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