I almost died on a sailboat...

[Zen]

It does happen ... not just on TV...

How is that for a story opening  :D

I was down at s/v on Sunday doing some prep work for the maidien voyage this coming Sat. I was thinking back on my first or second I forget which time being on a sail boat. A group of post-hippie friends and myself are off for a weekend adventure. A friend invites us to go to Catalina on s/v Sansusi. This was no small pocket boat. THis was a 45- 50 foot ketch. Formally belong to the 50 film star Jane Mansfield. Like her it was full and glamores.

So we set on our adventure, making a night run to the island. I was at the helm. I knew NOTHING about sailboat or boats at the time. but they ran under wind or engine. We were motoring along.  Ron, the skipper says, this is the radar, if something shows up there call me. So we go along, and shortly see a dot on the radar, So I look around and see nothing. I call someone over, who was also suppose to help take turns. We see the screen dot, then we see two lights, one to the left one to the right 2 & 10 o'clock, but only 1 dot on screen, we talk about it bit then call Ron.   :o "OH MY GOD!!!"    :o he says and starts turning the wheel hard. My friend and I   ??? still see nothing so we go below... a few minutes later, what looked from the ports below a hotel goes by...close. :o :o :o
My friend and I looked at each other in shock, WOW!!!   :o WTF was that.
We became aware quickly, we were almost fish food! Years later after I learned about green & red lights. it was the red/green marker lights of a tanker that I saw off to the port and starboard of us that night. We were headed direct into a tanker. It would have run us over and not even felt it!!!
It does happen...not just on TV  ;D

[xroyal]

Wow! Probably gave you a few early grey hairs. What was your skipper smoking?

I sailed a lot on San Francisco Bay, dodging loads of freighter, tanker, etc traffic. To the less experienced a frieghter 10 miles away looks innocent enough...until it's breathing down your neck in no time flat.  ;)

[Pixie Dust]

Zen, Zen, Zen, 
would have been the Has Been!!    :( :o :)
You were only how many feet from the bottom?  ;D

[hearsejr]

if this ever happens again again here is the way out of it. cut off the motor, raise the sail, and shout out "I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY!" even if you realy don't atleast some of those with out too much knoledge will think you you are a super duper captain type dude..
lololololol ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

[Adam]

Yeah, the are deceptively fast! But they're not ALL oblivious to traffic around them. I was crossing over the gulf stream, headed to Cat Cay, and saw a tanker on the horizon, getting larger quickly. Then over the radio, I head in heavily accented English: "Little sailboat at N:xxxx by W:xxxxx , we show you oh a heading of XXX degrees, verify your speed to be 5.2 knots"  I affirmed to them that that was indead our heading and speed, and they came back with "We're calculating conflicting courses. Be advised that we will turn to a heading of xxx to pass on your stern"  I was shocked! So I thanked them, and the guy on the radio said "Thank our captain, he loves sailing around on your little baby boats"..

  :D

Adam

[AdriftAtSea]

Part of the problem is that the really big freighters and tankers have a huge blind spot in front of them.  Over 600 yards in some cases.  It may not be that they aren't paying attention, but that you've come into their blind spot, and most sailboats, being made mostly of plastic, are not really good radar subjects... so many times, they won't spot you on radar either.

Two pieces of advice:  1) Assume they don't see you, and take action to avoid them early; 2) Hoist a good radar reflector.  The Davis is less than $60 or so.

The one I use is located at:  http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|17|82825&id=82889

[AllAboutMe]

Last year, I crewed on a friend's Columbia 26, in the Good Old Boats Regatta in Annapolis. We planned to sail from Pikesville,Md, just above Baltimore, to Annapolis.
We left Pikesville later than planned on Friday, with the intent of making Annapolis in about 4 1/2 hours. There was light rain when  we left, and the wind was on our beam. As we motored into the Bay, the rain started coming down in sheets, the wind picked up to about 20 knots, and we were nose on with 4 and 5 foot wave breaking over the bow.
Keep in mind that this was my first time on the boat, and with this skipper. I didn't have a problem with the weather, as we were in sight of land the entire trip, and had planned several hidey holes if the weather got to rough to continue.
We decided to motor the entire way, as we were headed due south, and the wind was dead from the south. The best speed we could make was about 2 knots, and as we approached Baltimore light above the Magothy River, the motor quit. We quickly determined that we were out of gas, and the skipper went about changing to a fresh tank. We were to the West of the shipping lanes, about 200 yards outside. The wind and current was pushing us towards the center of the bay at a fast clip though. I happened to look aft, and there was a container ship coming down on our stern, about a mile back, travelling about 15 knots. Visibility was about 2 miles, and we had no radar deflector. The tank changeover was taking longer than it should have, and I could see the ship closing on us, and I  was watching the gps showing us moving into the shipping lane. It was obvious that the ship didn't see us, and we couldn't do anything more than we were. The skipper was only slightly aware of the situation, as he was concentrating on attaching the new tank fitting to an unfamiliar engine. He'd just bought it and this was his first trip with it.
I finally got his attention, and stressed the importance of getting the D**k out Fodge!!! He looked up, said something to the effect of Oh S**t!!! just as the container ship bow passed our stern, about 200 feet away. By the time the engine started, we could count rivets on the hull of the ship, and if it had been 20 feet longer, we probably would have been sucked into the stern wave, and swamped. We got control of the tiller, and veered off just before we hit the side of the ship. The ship's bow wave gave us some extra momentum, and we were clear. I thanked God for sparing my life, and offered to throw the skipper overboard if he'd just get me safely to shore.
This is not the end of the tale, but I'll pause, and start again in the next reply.
Larry Wilson

[AllAboutMe]

To continue:
As we approached the Route 301 bridge, the storm worsened, wind picked up, rain increased, and visibility dropped to about 1/2 mile. We could see the lights on the center span of the bridge, but couldn't see the pilings, or the bridge itself. The wind shifted, and we gybed, almost broaching, and found ourselves heading dead east towards the Eastern shore. The skipper managed to get us turned around, but we had crossed the entire width of the shipping lane again, and as we headed West, I looked to the South, and saw a huge array of lights, looking like a large Christmas tree coming right at us.  I screamed at the skipper that there was a ship, and we were directly in its path. He looked up calmly and said, "Not to worry, it's just the light house." I screamed again, "Do @#$%^&* lighthouses move? " We gybed back over, just in time to miss being broadsided by a roughly 100 foot barge pusher doing about 20 knots.
Now, I know that this a really long post, and I apologise, but it isn't over yet. So that I don't totally fill up individual band width though, I'll break here, and start another reply.
Larry Wilson

[AllAboutMe]

To continue:
Now, the gods that control the Bay, obviously hadn't believed me when I offered up the skipper for sacrifice.
We decided that we couldn't navigate thru the bridge, and turned back North, towards the Magothy River for a hidey hole, behind Dobbins Island. The trip there was uneventful, almost relaxing, after our two close calls. I really thought I was going to die, not once, but twice, within an hour.
We made it to the lee side of Dobbins, and were sheltered from the wind, and the worst of the waves. I dropped anchor, and the skipper came forward to make sure it was holding. It seemed to be dragging, so I retrieved it, we circled back around, and I dropped it again, letting out about 60 feet of rode. We were in less than 6 feet of water, so I felt this was plenty. The skipper though, wasn't convinced, so he went into the cabin to forage for a messenger to send down the rode to help set the anchor. He had to move the cabin stairs to access the storage area, and in the interest of time, climbed out of the cabin with out putting them back in place.
Mission accomplished, anchor set, he went back to the cabin, forgetting that he had removed the steps. As he went in head first, he caught his inner thigh on the steel "L" bracket that held the steps in place. He just missed severing his femoral artery, but opened a gash about 16 inches long, and about an inch deep. He yelled for help, and just before I followed his dive into the cabin, warned me that the stairs were out of place and told me what had happened. I asked how bad the wound was, and he replied that he would need stitches. There was blood everywhere, he was going into shock, and all I could think was that he expected me to sew him up. I asked him if that was what he wanted, and he looked at me, and said, "no stupid, call the Coast Guard!!!"
I did, and gave them our location, with difficulty, as the island was blocking the signal from my handheld VHS. We finally got connected via Cell phone, and the Coast Guard dispatcher broadcast a "boater in need" announcement.
It was now 9 hours since we'd left the dock. We'd travelled about 15 miles, nearly been run down twice, and now it looked as though the skipper was going to bleed to death. We applied compresses (wadded paper towels) to slow the bleeding, and waited. About fifteen minutes after I called, I heard a hailer calling the boats name. The first boat on the scene was a Maryland Dept of Resources Patrol boat. Both officers on board were young women, and to give them credit, both were very professional, and remained very calm. They told us that a fire/rescure boat was on the way with an EMT on board, and asked if we were holding up okay. I replied that we were doing alright under the circumstances, but to hurry the rescue boat because the skipper's shock was worsening.
Well, within about five minutes, the fire rescue boat arrived, but we were anchored on a shoal, with less than four feet of water all around us. The rescue boat drew over five feet. The MDR boat went out, and picked up the EMT, and brought him to us. He did a quick assessment, bound up the skipper's wound, and with assistance, transferred him to the MDR boat, and then to the Rescue vessel. The Coast Guard had sent a Patrol vessel in the meantime, but that boat had an  even deeper draft, so it had to stand by well off the shoal. I stayed with the boat, and they took the skipper to the hospital. It was now after midnite and the storm hadn't let up.
I'll break here, and start another reply. Apologies again for the length of the post.
Larry

[AllAboutMe]

Continuing:
Next morning, Saturday, the storm had let up, but the fog had rolled in, and visibility was about zero. The boat was surrounded on three sides by shoals and mud flats, and I didn't have charts. I had a rough idea of how we had gotten in, but moving the boat was going to tricky. The skipper had been to the hospital, gotten his 60 or so stitches, and was now home. He called on the cell phone, and I explained the situation. He check his charts, and gave me a course to get out from behind the island, should the fog lift. He also gave me locations and phone numbers for a couple of marinas, almost within sight of where I was.
Okay, story is long enough. I made the marina, he got back on the boat Sunday morning, we got to Annapolis. We raced. Sort of. The race had a time limit of 3 1/2 hours. It took us 6 hours. The commitee boat had told us to write down our time, and let them know, as they wouldn't be there when we crossed the finish line.
But, finish we did, we motored to the party, arriving well after the majority of the regatta had left for home, but still in time for some beer and hot dogs.
darn!!!! I can't wait til September when I can register for the 2006 version of the Good Old Boats Regatta!!!

Larry, with apologies.

[AdriftAtSea]

Did the captain survive, or did you kill them later?  I don't blame you for wanting to kill them, probably slowly and painfully.   In my book, the captain's responsibility to the crew is to keep them and the boat safe, or at least make a reasonable attempt at doing so—it doesn't sound like he did any of that.

[Pixie Dust]

Larry, unbelievable story.  I went between disbelief in the Skippers decision making  >:( and feeling your fear :o :o.  WOW.  Don't apologize for length.  If you shortened it, you would have left out the juice.   :)

[s/v Faith]

Larry,

  Thanks for the good read.  Makes most days on the water seem like the good days that they really are.  ;D

  Good point about the steps too, I bet that causes more injuries then most would expect.



 

[oded kishony]

Wow Larry, this is the kind of story you tell your grandkids.  :o

I've never had any such close calls. I've wondered sometimes just how dangerous IS  coastal sailing vs blue water sailing? Anyone have stats or opinions?


Oded

[AdriftAtSea]

Personally, I think that coastal sailing is much more dangerous than bluewater sailing.  Let's take a quick look at the reasons:

1)  Much higher traffic density in coastal areas.  Shipping channels tend to concentrate the boats, and there are a lot of boats that in coastal waters that you won't see in bluewater...like most of the recreational powerboats.  Also, the knowledge and skill levels of the "captains" is on average much lower....mainly due to the recreational powerboats.

2)  More hazards to navigation—channels, buoys, rocks, shallow areas, sandbars...etc.

3)  Winds are less reliable in many coastal areas due to effects of landscape, terrain, man-made artifacts.

[Captain Smollett]

As well as the 'lee shore' in rougher weather.

[Fortis]

Open oceon is also a more regular motion. For about three or four km from a shore you get catabatic wave action, where the energy form waves hitting the cliffs is reflected and makes for a mucky sea state.

We were in a yacht race of the coast of New South Wales, taking the inner course was theoretically quicker but everyone including the old hands were busilly chumming the waters as the sea state was so uncomfortable...and the boom was flapping about in 20 knot winds as the boat pendulumed. We struck further out and found that 12kms further out, the sea state was pleasent, the winds were constant and steady and we grabbed hold of the Great East Coast Current.  So we ended up going further out and back in then the length of race along the coast, but we won our devision and had a much more pleasent trip.


My encounters with major shipping can wait for another time...Suffice to say I did once may a radio call that went "Pan Pan, Pan Pan, Spirit of tasmania, Spirit of Tasmania, this is the little blue speedhump directly in your path..."


Two years later, it still amazes me how many people were tuned in and heard (and oh god, remember) that call going out. ("Oh...That was YOU!")


Alex.

[Captain Smollett]

Alex,

Any chance you can make the chat tonight?  We usually get going between 9-10 Eastern Daylight Time (0100-0200 UTC).  Last week, on one of the chats, we chatted about the thankfully professionalism of most of the pro mariners along the US Gulf Coast, as well as how the big guys really like to hear bridge-to-bridge with us tiny holes in the water.

It would be interesting to hear some of your other encounters.

--JR

[Fortis]

I'm not sure. Last I checked, we are 18 hours ahead of Alaska here...so the east coast would add about 3 or four hours to that?

Anyway, I just logged in to chat when I saw the message and was the loneliest little boat owner.... So obviously that wasn't the time.
:)

My schedule is pretty full and erratic at the moment (somewhat equivalent to juggling a large anvil, a ferrel rabbid cat and a raw egg), but when I have a spare moment I will check in as it would be good to say hello to folks.

I do not have that many "stories", the above mentioned radio call was form the time we were a delivering a boat which was at the time of the radio call, stranded in the middle fo Melbournes major shipping channel (the point at which three channels come to an apex), disabled and sinking from having the stern gland blow out. My 8 1/2 month pregnant wife was on board with me. It was a lovely morning!

Alex.