Boating stories to celebrate 20 years of YBW please.

[t21]

I joined YBW probably around the time my boat was taken to southern France, by summer 1998. One of my earliest real-life contacts was Coliholic, and i helped him move his powerboat from Yarmouth to King’s Lynn. I also met JFM in er Lymington around then, I think. I was living in a roomy apartment in Central London at the time, so i took the bold step of inviting round a load (maybe 40 or so) hitherto unseen forumites (as well as JFM and Coliholic), probably around NYear 99 during the London Boat Show. And it was a very jolly do, starting friendships that I know continue to this day. I had several such parties, at least one including the sadly late Haydn of this parish, with his godawfully graphic requests for help and advice regarding his exploding bog. Another time that fabulously fool friend Tom passed away, truly sad and around 10 years ago now. But I suppose that Steve101 and Webby and many other variously sensible/loon contributors made it great fun. I kinda feel that some rot set in with Dateslip - it kept moronic but much-frequented posts to the top, and that gave the impression of an unchanging non-dynamic forum. It still does. Facebook doesn’t do it - new stuff is always above old stuff - that’s how we behave. We don’t say “no there hasn’t been anything more newsworthy in the last 100 years than the Nazis and 9/11 and that’s why those threads are top of the list” do we? No… except in YBW.

Anyway, aside from my carping, I think that some of the brightest boatie types (and probably brightest anyway) in the UK swapped info and jokes in a way that was unique - these days other “social media” holds sway - but I thihk that at least some of that YBW information exchange with real-life meet-up options remains an attractive and powerful feature of YBW. The stupid lounge was (IMHO) a culprit that split attention away from the main strips of yotties OR raggies. I loved questions about some possible merc runabout in the middle of a boating forum - it reflected what an ideal bar would be like - fluttering between boaty and not-boaty conversations, sometimes hurling back earlier stuff to particular contributors, and almost as 100% fun. I went sailing full-time in 2007, and I think those first ten years of YBW might have been YBW’s heyday, MirabellaV oh gawd, jimi’s holding tank …. but then I would think that, wouldn’t I? There’s lots of spin-off forums now, and just squllions of registered users - I heard of boat salespeople just referring newbies to YBW and “they’ll help sort you out” …. and it did, frequently. So perhaps YBW can continue to induce the wowser levels of helpful knowledge that was certainly on offer, and perhaps it still does. I really hope so.

Matts/tcm/t21 excuse typos ..

 

[StefenMaze]

hi
its been long time ago ...when i was a child i went with my parents to experience boating and it was my first experience ....my parents were there as water was not so deep but i got trapped in boat and suddenly i fall down from boat and i was in water for 5-10 minutes and my mom thought about i am dead but swimmers did there good work and saved me then my dad sent me to take proper training then.....
it was very dangerous but till now i laugh at the situation where i got stuck in very less water even

 

[t21]

Crossing Biscay:
On Friday the 4th 2004, about 8am, I woke Mike to report that the wind had been building steadily for some hours and was now 25 knots. Since it seemed likely the wind would keep building we decided to drop the main sail and continue reaching under mizzen and genoa. It was the correct decision as we had apparent wind speeds of 35 knots gusting 50 knots and big seas - brilliant sailing to start with, in bright sunshine under blue skies, but becoming ever more tiring. The winds continued through the day and night finally easing around 5am on the 5th. During the strong winds a cat hove to using both engines, a ketch ran off towing drogues and sadly local fishing boat was lost with all hands.

This was the first period of sustained strong winds we have sailed Kelly's Eye in and she behaved impeccably. With the wind vane driving, she just ploughed on, taking the odd wave over her - one of which curled over the boat and drenched me. Our problems were holding on and sleeping. The only damage suffered was a plate that decided to take flying lessons and failed.

The only drama we had during this period had nothing to do with the weather but happened as we crossed the shipping tracks north of Cape Finisterre. Mike was on watch at night and saw a red (port side) light with single white above it - a small ship moving right to left across our bows, but something didn't seem right and he called me up for a second opinion. I knew it was important because I asked if I had time to go to the loo before coming on deck and Mike said "no, get your wet weather gear on and get up here fast please". It was almost impossible to tell which way the ship was going so we had to make Kelly's Eye ready for fast evasive action (we have to take the wind vane down because the mizzen boom would destroy it during a major course change) and start hand steering. Eventually we went round the front of the ship and to our amazement saw that the ship's starboard light was also red (it should be green). Then as it went away from us we saw the stern light was also red and large (it should be white). Quite why a ship should be showing illegal and dangerous lights is beyond us but Mike would have happily killed the skipper.

Jeez. Bit boring. You went sailing to the Carib in a veritable auld wreck, and shat yersen is about the size of it. Sorry.

 

[Stingo]

Jeez. Bit boring. You went sailing to the Carib in a veritable auld wreck, and shat yersen is about the size of it. Sorry.

That's harsh.

 

[Tradewinds]

That's harsh.

Matt has never really liked Kelly'sEye

 

[Stingo]

Matt has never really liked Kelly'sEye

Matt is starting to sound like a judgemental type.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Matt is starting to sound like a judgemental type.

Gloriously so! Read a few more of his posts, and if you want more he used to be 'tcm'. Then read a few of Kelly's Eye's...

 

[Rum_Pirate]

This was recorded/written by me in 2007

Sailing on Kate

A 12 metre sister ship launched in 1908

It was a few years ago when I first saw Kate. She was upside down and the hull planking was being applied. I then saw her upright and her deck was being installed.
Then, in December 2006, I watched her being launched under the shadow of Brimstone Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on St.Kitts West Indies, for she is not truly a 1908 12 metre, but a faithful replica. On her arrival at Port Zante, I was privileged to go aboard. My son Christopher helped owner/builder Philip Walwyn raise the first flag.
When I learnt that there might be space on board for the St.Maarten - St.Martin 2007 Classic Yacht Regatta, I put in my application and found that, as there were no other applicants with better qualifications, I was accepted.

Wednesday 17 January
06:00. Crew mustered on the beach, with sleeping bags, some clothes and, in my case, three 1-litre bottles of Mount Gay Extra Old rum. There was Anthony – of middle eastern extraction; Bruce – a Jamaican; and myself – an Anguillian (one of my many nationalities). We set out in an inflatable of questionable age (to deter the more larceny minded) powered by a 9hp Mercury outboard.
The rest of the crew consisted of owner/captain Philip Walwyn – a Kittitian; Johnny – a Kittitian, who had helped Philip build Kate and James – out from the UK, who had all spent the night aboard.
07:00 All hands to action. No pleasure cruise this, No electric winches, no electric windlass, Philip is a real out and out purist and it was raw manpower all the way.

First up was the jib. Quite easy in the light morning breeze – more about that later. Then up with the main. Two men on the throat and one on the peak. A bit of sweating up (including mine) and it was done. Skipper was considerate enough to bear into the wind to ease the pressure on the sail to allow a bit more sweating. The staysail was next which was relatively easy to haul up.

After the ends of the halyards were tidied up we settled down on the first reach to Nag’s Head in the South East. St Maarten was to the north but, given the wind direction, it was determined that the best course was around Nag’s Head, in the south eastern peninsula and up the Narrows and along the windward side of St. Kitts, rather than the leeward side, and then through the Statia channel.

By mid morning the light morning breeze had increased and we were creaming along under full main. We should have taken in a reef, but ........

I then did a stint on the helm. Using a tiller – no wimpy wheel here. The wind increased and we were running with the rail under and occasionally the top wire of the safety lines. This also resulted in quite a bit of weather helm. It’s amazing how ‘frozen’ your muscles can become when kept continually tensed with quite a load on them. The sail was just plain enjoyable; sunshine, some fluffy white clouds and a moderate to calm sea.
On arrival, we anchored with a great big CQR and a decent sized Fortress the former being bloody heavy and the later being quite maneuverable. The Peg Leg Bar ended our day with a great meal and my drinking an enjoyable Belgian beer with a name somewhat like “Lette Blond”.

Thursday
Cracking of dawn was only just about to begin and we were all up and wide awake. Kate was being ‘presented’ that evening at the St. Maarten Yacht Club so the first order was to make sure that Kate was clean and tidy; I should say shipshape and Bristol fashion below. The decks were to receive another ‘oiling’.
There were a few items to be picked up at Island Waterworld, the local chandlery and, as I needed a boarding ladder for my own boat, I offered to go in with the dinghy. By the time we got back, after a nice leisurely breakfast on a dockside café, the deck had been almost all oiled. The rest of the chores were finished, without further delay, and it was time for a beer or two.
The St. Maarten Yacht Club is located just inside the lagoon at the Simpson Bay entrance. This entrance is 50’00” wide and has a lifting road bridge. The bridge opens twice a day and we were anchored just outside the entrance. Since Kate is a virtually exact replica, she does not have an engine. This, normally, requires above average seamanship, and sailing through the entrance is not permitted, so the dinghy “Panic Major” was pressed into bow/stern thruster duty and ‘96 Degrees’ a 25-foot Mako, powered by a 225 hp Yamaha, was lashed amidships, to serve as main propulsion. This was crewed by Pascal and Tuesday, who were very, very helpful throughout our stay. At 5:30pm, Kate joined the end of the queue of megayachts, not quite so megayachts and just yachts and proceeded into the lagoon. Loud prolonged cheers from a huge crowd at the Yacht Club greeted Kate. We were taken a bit by surprise, as the presentation was not meant to be until 9:00pm.
The ‘toe killer’ is a lead for the staysail and is positioned in the precise location to result in a mutilated toe; I wore shoes on deck, except in this picture. The rope coiled around the offending item was placed to minimise the hospital expenses for visitors that evening.
The evening was a great success and significant amounts of Heineken and other beers were consumed. The number and size of the megayachts was amazing. They included another classic, the vintage “gentleman’s” yacht Haida G, perhaps better known by her former name of Rosenkavalier. To paraphrase another destination “What happens in St. Maarten stays in St. Maarten.”

Friday
This morning the bridge opened especially for Kate at 7:30am. The first race was from Simpson Bay to Marigot Bay, but we knew this regatta was really a learning curve. Kate had only been in the water for about five weeks and the crew hadn’t had a chance to sail that much together. In fact, at this point we had only sailed about 80 miles as a team.
The start was just about perfect and Kate got into her stride and creamed away on a reach for Blowing Rock. The wind was supposed to stay in the north. Murphy’s law came into play and it shifted to the north-east.
As Kate rounded Blowing Rock, she then faced an uphill stride and I understand that beating to windward is not a gaff rigged vessel’s best point of sail. Our concentration was also, initially, disturbed by the camera persons, in a helicopter, and numerous power boats on all three days. In the end we came third on corrected time.
That night the swells picked up and rolled in from the North. Kate was subjected to their full force, so sleep was fitful.

Saturday
Another pre-dawn start aboard, saw morning aerobics comprised of hauling up the CQR and Fortress. We transferred the anchor rode to the stern, so we were able to sail away under control through the maze of yachts.
Start was good but not as good as the first day. A reach to Blowing Rock, then another to the leeward marker buoy, followed by a beat up to Philipsburg. Again the wind did not favour us and we finished in second place.
BBQ lunch was followed by a decision to move the top of the mast forward at 4:00pm. This entailed removing a chock – easier said than done - in the keelson, erecting a number of pulleys and a lot of winching.Led by Philip, everything went smoothly.
Then the Norse fittings, at the end of the stainless steel rigging to the bow sprit, needed to be shortened. Fortunately we were able to use a vice ashore. Two fittings were removed, the cabling shortened and fittings refitted. Work was halted at dusk, which comes down very quickly in the Caribbean. Then the beers set in.

Sunday
We had heard that the start was 10:00 am, but that was dashed when it was advised that it would be 9:00am as usual.
The cable to the last Norse fitting still needed to be shortened, so again, this time at 6:30am on a Sunday, we set out to use a vice ashore. No time for breakfast.
A fair start saw us again at the front of the pack. We then had to tack, repeatedly, up the coast of St.Maarten to Pelican Rockand it was on one of these tacks that my deck shoes slipped on the recently oiled deck. The fall
was not too great, but was enough to leave a dark 4” diameter black and blue area on my upper thigh.
The adjustment to the mast appeared to help, but it was not enough. There was a short downwind stretch, then a reach back to Simpson Bay. Kate gained ground on the reach, but despite constant attention to sail trimming we were beaten into third place by about a minute.

Monday

Another early start. Another hauling of the anchors. Another sweating up of the main, staysail and jib. The sea was fairly calm. We took in a reef and set off homeward bound.
As we passed along the coast, often less than 200 yards off shore, I was reminded of how beautiful the island of St.Kitts really is and how much I take it for granted.
If you ever have the opportunity to sail on a first rule twelve metre yacht, especially Kate, grab it with both hands. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The rum? The crew and guests finished that after the Saturday race.
The Regatta? I experienced a great adventure, of which I have nothing but wonderful memories, and I guess that goes for my fellow crew members.

 

[38mess]

A while ago in my capacity as Skipper of a small passenger ferry we had onboard a young engine room apprentice.
Anyway the chief engineer was forever playing tricks on the younger members of the crew.
One morning when I happened to be in the wheelhouse the young lad comes to the bridge and says chief engineer sends his regards but can we increase engine revs by 200 rpm so we can make use of the tops of the cylinders and spread the wear a bit please?.
So I say send the chief engineer my regards but we can only slow the revs down a bit to use the lower part of the bores.
It was a number of months of this before the penny dropped.?

 

[LittleSister]

Are people now getting their stories in early for the 25th anniversary of YBW?

 

[benjenbav]

Not to forget Mirabella V with TCM & Tome among others ;-)

Wasn’t there a connection between steve101 and mirabella V or is my memory playing tricks? Definitely remember the post-affair party at the PoW.

 

[jhr]

If memory serves, the Mirabella V sting involved the fiction of tcm having skippered a ship called St Eveio 1 (get it?) and running it on the rocks, as a major component of the bait to see if Joe V was really who he claimed to be. I seem to remember a subsequent pic of Tome's Oyster moored alongside M5, looking like a toy yacht in the bath.

They don't make 'em like they used to, although, like the Sixties, if you can remember it, you probably weren't there. I know I wasn't .....

 

[t21]

If memory serves, the Mirabella V sting involved the fiction of tcm having skippered a ship called St Eveio 1 (get it?) and running it on the rocks, as a major component of the bait to see if Joe V was really who he claimed to be. I seem to remember a subsequent pic of Tome's Oyster moored alongside M5, looking like a toy yacht in the bath.

They don't make 'em like they used to, although, like the Sixties, if you can remember it, you probably weren't there. I know I wasn't .....

Hum yes, I was definitely there but can’t fully remember the Stevie 1 wheeze. Anyway all good fun.

 

[sailing.duffer]

Crossing Biscay:
On Friday the 4th 2004, about 8am, I woke Mike to report that the wind had been building steadily for some hours and was now 25 knots. Since it seemed likely the wind would keep building we decided to drop the main sail and continue reaching under mizzen and genoa. It was the correct decision as we had apparent wind speeds of 35 knots gusting 50 knots and big seas - brilliant sailing to start with, in bright sunshine under blue skies, but becoming ever more tiring. The winds continued through the day and night finally easing around 5am on the 5th. During the strong winds a cat hove to using both engines, a ketch ran off towing drogues and sadly local fishing boat was lost with all hands.

This was the first period of sustained strong winds we have sailed Kelly's Eye in and she behaved impeccably. With the wind vane driving, she just ploughed on, taking the odd wave over her - one of which curled over the boat and drenched me. Our problems were holding on and sleeping. The only damage suffered was a plate that decided to take flying lessons and failed.

The only drama we had during this period had nothing to do with the weather but happened as we crossed the shipping tracks north of Cape Finisterre. Mike was on watch at night and saw a red (port side) light with single white above it - a small ship moving right to left across our bows, but something didn't seem right and he called me up for a second opinion. I knew it was important because I asked if I had time to go to the loo before coming on deck and Mike said "no, get your wet weather gear on and get up here fast please". It was almost impossible to tell which way the ship was going so we had to make Kelly's Eye ready for fast evasive action (we have to take the wind vane down because the mizzen boom would destroy it during a major course change) and start hand steering. Eventually we went round the front of the ship and to our amazement saw that the ship's starboard light was also red (it should be green). Then as it went away from us we saw the stern light was also red and large (it should be white). Quite why a ship should be showing illegal and dangerous lights is beyond us but Mike would have happily killed the skipper.

A true gentleman uses "please" even during a time of possible danger..hats off

 

[sailing.duffer]

You should be aware that I have been accused of stretching the truth when recounting a tale. I admit there may be some invention here, beyond the change of names... My memory isn't what it was.

A wonderful statement to open a recounting - I may borrow this now and again

 

[Birdseye]

me too

 

[DownWest]

I will try and rember this ploy...

 

[powerskipper]

Teaching a family with a pre teen boy who was scared every-time and boat bounced or thumped. Could I help..mmm So we went out boating and ever time we hit a wave , bounced or thumped I said yippee. it took about an hour before he started to join in, then mum and dad had to . By day 4 we had to go and find bounced and bumps to go over so he could shout yippee and mum and dad had to too. So if you see a boat going from wash to wash and hear yippee, its them.

 

[Alicatt]

Reading the sad news about Sir Sean today brings back this memory
Back, waaay back, in the deep dark 60s Dad took us out for a run to a little village called Crinan on the west coast of Scotland he had told us nothing about the trip. It was a long drive from our house near Loch Lomond but when we got there there were these great big huge boats on low loader trailers, well they were huge to this little lad, some had bad damage to them looking burned etc. When we parked up and got out the village was full of actors, stunt men and film people, they were in the middle of filming the helicopter and boat chase scenes for From Russia With Love.

A few years later dad again too me to Crinan, he was a bit agitated and pushing the speed hard - there was no limit at the time when we got there he said we were a bit late for the auction "what auction?" I said, "Oh the boat auction" he replied. Joy rippled through me, we were getting a boat, A Boat! Alas the one he was after, an 18ft clinker built one had already been sold and all that was left was a 30ft and a 12ft. The 30footer was too big for us and so my father bid for the 12ft clinker built tender, it was mahogany over oak with a Stuart Turner 1 1/2hp inboard engine built by H. Sykes in Hull she was called Handy Crinan all the boats that day were from the one estate and all called Handy "something" Dad paid £375 for her including the auction fee and we hauled her away on a speedboat trailer belonging to an uncle, it was for a Fletcher Arrow and it really did not fit the graceful lines of Handy Crinan.
We kept her for quite a few years and it was my job to strip and re varnish her every year ready for the summer. She proved to be a great sea boat and we putted around in all sorts of weather in her. We have ridden out the swell from submarines on Loch Fyne many a time and had a close look at the same when they were anchored up across the loch from us. Many a mackerel has been landed on her deck and enjoyed backed in the oven afterwards. So many happy memories of her.

We had a caravan at Battlefield caravan site about 3 miles outside Inveraray, on this particular day we knew bad weather was on the way later that afternoon, as we had to go into Inveraray in the morning we planned it to be back long before the bad weather. We went did the shopping etc. and headed back to the jetty to head back to the caravan site but when we got there two young lads from the caravan site were there in their pram dinghies, now normally those two little dinghies would run rings round our steady putt putt boat, the lads asked us to escort them back to the caravan site as they were a bit leery of the rising weather, which still was not that bad. So we agreed and set out on the 3 mile jaunt back south along Loch Fyne, I as usual was on the tiller and dad was on the throttle, one cannot be reached from the other position - a design flaw on the boat - Dad pushed the throttle open and took us out at the brisk speed of 5knots, she worked really well in salt water, much better than in fresh where she could do 3knots on a good day. The other two boats kept up with us with ease, with their 4.5hp outboards they could almost plane! One boat was made of flat sheets of varnished marine ply and the other was a fibreglass tub, then we got out the lee of the town and into the open water of the loch, the swell was running to about 3ft and getting bigger, as we started to rise up over the swell, which was nothing bad for our boat we noticed that the other two were dropping back, so we slowed off and let them catch up, they were flat out and struggling to keep up with us and we were on tick over, our boat could not go any slower. Dad managed the throttle and gear, our little Stuart Turner had an astern as well as a forward gear, luxury
The waves kept getting higher and steeper and those pram dinghies were flying, literally, it was the first time I seen a little boat like that get air! We were long overdue at the caravan site escorting those two boats back but we all got there safely, the guy in the plywood boat said that he was on full chat from getting out of Inveraray and that the tiller on his outboard was too hot to handle from the thrashing he gave it coming back.
Great little boat that could, Handy Crinan, there are other tales about her, like the shark attack and running aground in the middle of the deepest loch in Scotland but they are for another day.

I only have these two badly damaged pictures of Handy Crinan, both taken by my Mother while we were out on Loch Morar.
Left to right: Handy Crinan, Gary the Collie, Me, Dad, my younger brother.


Dad out on Loch Morar having a row


Apologies for the bad condition of the pictures, we had a water leak which ruined a lot of slides and all of our films

 

[davierobb]

A few years ago we signed up for the classic malts cruise, Oban, Skye and Islay plus stops of your own choosing on route. Our boat was a 60s Snapdragon 26', with four of us on board for two weeks then every bit of free space was used for storage.

My brother in law joined us in Oban and since he had been on the boat a few times then I skipped the loo demo, big mistake. We had anchored just off Oban sailing club on the Fri night. The following morning the cruise was scheduled to start and boats were being decorated with signal flags before a parade lap of Oban Bay.

I was sat in the cockpit trying to listen to the latest weather on the vhf and not really paying attention to the usual boat sounds when I became aware of the sound of the toilet being pumped with the valves still shut. Before I could intervene there was a very loud bang followed by much swearing from the loos occupant. The door opened and out came the brother in law looking like a swamp monster and dripping everywhere. It was easy to see from the debris pattern on his face that he had obviously been facing the toilet when it exploded, As a non swimmer then throwing him in wasn't an option so we rinsed him down with buckets of salt water before sending him ashore for a shower, talk about a walk of shame.

The heads on the snapdragon is huge and we had filled it with all the foul weather gear and much of our provisions for the trip, the inside of the heads and all items stored there were completely covered with the loo contents. We had to wash everything with sea water and had to hang up loads of items on the rigging to dry off.

As we were doing this the parade of yachts passed within a few yards of us, the loo was in the cockpit for open heart surgery as they passed. We got loads of strange looks from the passing yachts. The one way valve had inverted under the pressure and was easily fixed. It was a Simpson Lawrence 401 and forever after it was known as the Shit Slinger 401.

Some time later my brother in law confirmed our suspensions that his lips were not sealed tight when the explosion occurred.