Taking the train to NYC and went over the East River. I wondered if I could sail the cat up it, not that I would, too dirty. Got me wondering what are the craziest / hairest places you have sailed.

In 8 foot swells on Long Island Sound was mine. 40 ish knot wind. Nearly barfed. Lost the main halyard reefing but made it back to port. Scary.



Edited by ctcataman on Mar 08, 2016 - 10:20 PM.

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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I have sailed/raced (on a mono) in the Mull of Kintyre Scotland with the RAF (Royal Air Force) /against the local Campbeltown Yacht Club. We fouled them, did penalty turns and came in last

I have also spent a week on a brand new 48' (i think) mono in the aegean sea sailing from Crete to Santarini and back.

I was hired on to help crew a Swan 65-1, sailed out of port, Durban, South Africa, 65' of beauty even for a mono-hull. We left in the evening and had a gentle on-shore breeze of 12-15 as we headed SW on a reach down to Port Elizabeth, perfect evening, ocean full of luminescent jelly-fish, when we hit them the stern of the boat would light up from the exploding luminescence. The 65' Swan had a flat area along the keel to help get the boat planing down waves, we had a stern swell that would creep up on the boat, lift the stern as it tried to pass under the keel, the boat would accelerate down the face of the wave and get planing, it became a contest to see who could surf the swell for the longest, many years of surfing gave me a distinct advantage. Because the swell was coming at a slight angle on the stern, the bow would "slew" off to port, the trick was to steer slightly to starboard as the wave lifted the stern to compensate and watch the speed accelerate from 8 knots up to 14 knots and try hold it there.
Arriving Port Elizabeth 2 days later, we found the mooring lines that had been stowed up forward on our departure from Durban had been fouled with algae, and the stench of rotting algae permeated the boat, so I hauled the lines out onto the dock, borrowed a power washer from a local fisherman and cleaned the lines, what a relief. Locals were very impressed by the yacht and would arrive to take pics and invite us for supper/drinks etc.
Next leg down to Cape Town, I was getting slightly bored, so I grabbed a fishing rod and some tackle I had seen stowed forward and dropped a line in the water, we were cruising at 12 knots and I did not think I would have any joy, but chancing on a bright pink lure I was into some Tuna, wound up with several 30lb fish which the on-board German Chef promptly turned into Sushi. That night was roused from sleep by a call for "all hands on deck", the clew plate on the jib had disintegrated and the jib was flailing in the wind, took 4 of us over an hour to subdue the jib, get it under control, and replace with spare. Arrived Cape Town Harbor with a Nor'easter clocking 40 knots, we tried to pull up to the dock but the wind kept catching the bow and swing us away, it was after midnight and there as no one around to throw a line to. After the 4th failed attempt I told the skipper I would go into the water and swim over to the dock, it had ladders into the water so I was able to get onto the dock, secure a mooring line thrown from the boat, attach it to a bollard and they were able to winch the Swan in and moor up to the dock. The next morning the Cape Yacht Club was buzzing about the late night visitor that had come in during a howling Nor'easter and had managed to moor without assistance. Many drinks were handed out during the regaling of that tale.
Unfortunately, I could not get a Visa for Brazil, the Swan was head over to Rio for Carnival, then after a few weeks cruising up the east coast of South America, the boat was going over to the Med for a year of pleasure cruising.
I still today wonder what became of that yacht, a 65' Swan called "Show Me", and how different my life would have been had I obtained that Visa to Brazil.

Renovator

the-renovator

I was hired on to help crew a Swan 65-1, sailed out of port, Durban, South Africa, 65' of beauty even for a mono-hull. We left in the evening and had a gentle on-shore breeze of 12-15 as we headed SW on a reach down to Port Elizabeth, perfect evening, ocean full of luminescent jelly-fish...

Great story Renovator, thanks for sharing.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Great sorry indeed - how do you follow that?!! This is nothing like as awesome, but it was definitely very funny! I used to sail a Hobie 16 off the south coast of England, and every now and then we would have an awesome onshore storm that dumped some big waves. A few hundred yards offshore there was a sandbar that created a great surf zone for playing around in.

This one particular day it was blowing a good force 5 - we were two up on the trapeze with one more on the tramp. I helmed and we kept switching off crew and passenger - always having me plus one experienced crew and one non-sailer as a ride-along/ballast. Getting out through the shore-break was fun of course - that taxed my boat and sail handling skills for sure! But the real fun and games was out on the sand bar in the surf.

With the wind-blown waves, we were surfing on a fairly deep reach and cranking along FAST. The one time it all nearly went pear-shaped I had my elder brother crewing and a girl on the tramp. He and I were out on the trapeze and WAAAAAY back to keep the nose up (this was a H16 after all). We'd made a few passes along the sandbar - surfing going in, jumping coming out, and on this one fateful starboard reach, heading down the waves, I "felt" this enormous presence behind me. I looked back to see a HUGE breaker just about to crest. I just had time to poke my brother to grab his attention when it broke over the rear quarter and completely swamped us. I swear I saw that wave hit the sail up by the numbers and it yanked me and my brother clean off the tramp.

Well, it was so windy that the cat just turned itself downwind with the boom against the side stay and my brother and I literally swinging from the top of the mast about 8 feet behind the boat! Both trap bungee cords had snapped so there was nothing to grab hold of to pull ourselves back in. After the initial shock everything settled out as the cat exited the sandbar back into deep water and big rolling swells.

So here's the scene: the cat is happily trimmed and charging downwind with a pronounced rearward lean since there are two dudes hanging in mid air from wires laughing hysterically! Our weight off the back and the main jammed on a run were perfectly in balance with the bows way up out of the water and handling the swell like a champ. Poor Fiona is clinging to the mast looking terrified while my brother and I try to get over our fit of laughing to see if we can recover before we pile into the beach on a kamikaze run (onshore wind, remember?) Everything ended up so stable and smooth that we had time to chat through a few options as we hung there and decided on the pendulum approach: I gave my brother an almighty shove towards the tramp which sent him forwards and me backwards. He made a grab for the tramp and then made a grab for me as I swung back in on the overshoot. it took a couple of goes, but we got back onboard to comfort our terrified passenger!!

I don't recommend this as an actual downwind technique, but trapping 8 feet off the back of the boat definitely saved our butts that day! I'm laughing about it now as I type - good times



Edited by sjbrit on Mar 10, 2016 - 05:43 PM.

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H16 back in the day
SC17 right now
Bradenton, FL
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Ctcataman, I wouldn't be shy about exploring the East River, it's really improved over the past few decades, traffic isn't nearly as bad as the Hudson and the barges and Ferrys move predictably. Make sure and sail by North Brother Island, you're not supposed to go on shore but it has an old hospital that I'm sure has to be haunted, also Hart Island has a creepy cemetery, you are allowed to make landfall on.

As far as stories, I fell off my Hobie 16 a few miles out, the main sheet got looped around the tiller and the boat sailed away in perfect trim, luckily it was the day before a windsurfing race and their were people out training, a flagged a windsurfer down,it took a few tries apparently because he thought I was a scuba diver. He had me sit
in a ball on the front of his board and got me to shore. By this point the boat was well out on the horizon. A man with an older model Irwin 24 offered to help me get it, but there was no way an old mono with an outboard was going to catch it. I decided I was going to call it a loss and go home and let the coasties know. At this point the whole beach knew what was going on, the marine patrol showed up and put me on their center console. We went wave jumping a few miles out, caught up to the boat, still in perfect trim. They matched their speed on the windward side and I jumped on. Sailed back on a setting sun. Got back to the beach at dark, pulled it up, dropped the sails and went home like nothing happend. I have never been able to get the boat to self steer as well as it did that day.

Ctcataman, I wouldn't be shy about exploring the East River, it's really improved over the past few decades, traffic isn't nearly as bad as the Hudson and the barges and Ferrys move predictably. Make sure and sail by North Brother Island, you're not supposed to go on shore but it has an old hospital that I'm sure has to be haunted, also Hart Island has a creepy cemetery, you are allowed to make landfall on.

As far as stories, I fell off my Hobie 16 a few miles out, the main sheet got looped around the tiller and the boat sailed away in perfect trim, luckily it was the day before a windsurfing race and their were people out training, a flagged a windsurfer down,it took a few tries apparently because he thought I was a scuba diver. He had me sit
in a ball on the front of his board and got me to shore. By this point the boat was well out on the horizon. A man with an older model Irwin 24 offered to help me get it, but there was no way an old mono with an outboard was going to catch it. I decided I was going to call it a loss and go home and let the coasties know. At this point the whole beach knew what was going on, the marine patrol showed up and put me on their center console. We went wave jumping a few miles out, caught up to the boat, still in perfect trim. They matched their speed on the windward side and I jumped on. Sailed back on a setting sun. Got back to the beach at dark, pulled it up, dropped the sails and went home like nothing happend. I have never been able to get the boat to self steer as well as it did that day.

jalex

Make sure and sail by North Brother Island, you're not supposed to go on shore but it has an old hospital that I'm sure has to be haunted,

North Brother Island looks like it was a busy place once upon a time.
Lots of buildings, and the dock is a travesty.
I checked it out using Google earth.

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Sheet In!
Bob
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Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
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AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
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Arizona, USA
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