bbg
Well-Known Member
I like that.
Crew panic
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
C08
Well-Known Member
When I first started sailing a number of more experienced types were recounting tales of Carnarfon Bar. One boat grounded and was neaped for 3 days and lost one keel and the rudder before being eventually pulled off by a lifeboat's 2nd attempt, the 1st one failed when the lifeboat warp broke! During the 3 days one of the crew reteated to his bunk and pulled the covers over his head.
A hugely repected sailor in my club in Wales at that time confessed that he totally lost it on the C. Bar in a very small boat (I think a West Wight Potter) and things got so bad all he could think of doing was going below to polish the saloon table-verified by his wife who said she was not frightened as she did not really understand the situation.
A hugely repected sailor in my club in Wales at that time confessed that he totally lost it on the C. Bar in a very small boat (I think a West Wight Potter) and things got so bad all he could think of doing was going below to polish the saloon table-verified by his wife who said she was not frightened as she did not really understand the situation.
maby
Well-Known Member
Never happened to us, but I guess it must be strongly linked to the duration of the conditions. We've been caught in sudden very strong squals and knocked down - training takes over and you get the boat stable again, then get on with cleaning up. We've never got caught out in dangerous conditions that lasted more than a few minutes and I can imagine that could be a lot more difficult to cope with.
Swanrad2
Well-Known Member
Answered earlier in the thread and then starting thinking through my sailing past. I was on a boat that was dismasted on my second trip to sea (round the Isle of Man race in a 31ft racing boat - probably not a great choice with hindsight). The experienced crew jumped to action with bolt cutters and lump hammers and the rig sank safely, the boat didnt. The waves were kind of square in shape and the motion was horrible - I don't think I froze, someone gave me the tiller and I did what I could with no way on to keep us head into the waves (clever on their part I think), I just genuinely had no idea what to do.
This, as a sudden event had me overwhelmed, maybe the burrowing crew is just a 'chronic' version of the same thing. The solution being to give them something to do that they can do - unplug the autopilot and chuck the tiller at them?
This, as a sudden event had me overwhelmed, maybe the burrowing crew is just a 'chronic' version of the same thing. The solution being to give them something to do that they can do - unplug the autopilot and chuck the tiller at them?
Babylon
Well-Known Member
Excellent thread.
Seasickness (very rare) makes me want to want to give up sailing, but once I've puked that ludicrous sentiment passes.
For a bloke who at home needs an entire pot of tea to get going in the mornings and has an overactive imagination (not useful at sea!), physically challenging situations fire up in me a sort of gritty determination and ability to focus clearly on the essentials. (My ex-wife used to say that I was 'very good in an emergency'.) But how long I can sustain this I don't know. Crashing singlehanded for ten hours across Lyme Bay in unpleasant conditions I found an 'inner sergeant-major' kept me going. Whether I have an 'inner RSM' to discipline me in a crisis which endures longer than that - several days? - I don't yet know.
Although there are no doubt exceptions to the rule, I can only imagine that training and experience reduces the possibility of funk. Novices need special care, not just because they don't yet clearly understand the hazards and the nature of sailing on the sea, but because they haven't learnt to have confidence in a well-found boat.
Seasickness (very rare) makes me want to want to give up sailing, but once I've puked that ludicrous sentiment passes.
For a bloke who at home needs an entire pot of tea to get going in the mornings and has an overactive imagination (not useful at sea!), physically challenging situations fire up in me a sort of gritty determination and ability to focus clearly on the essentials. (My ex-wife used to say that I was 'very good in an emergency'.) But how long I can sustain this I don't know. Crashing singlehanded for ten hours across Lyme Bay in unpleasant conditions I found an 'inner sergeant-major' kept me going. Whether I have an 'inner RSM' to discipline me in a crisis which endures longer than that - several days? - I don't yet know.
Although there are no doubt exceptions to the rule, I can only imagine that training and experience reduces the possibility of funk. Novices need special care, not just because they don't yet clearly understand the hazards and the nature of sailing on the sea, but because they haven't learnt to have confidence in a well-found boat.
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Daedelus
Well-Known Member
SWMBO & I got caught in a channel crossing where the weather forecast was inaccurate to put it mildly. I thought the sea would calm down when we got wind a bit more with tide - it didn't.
I was worried rather than scared as the direction we were going meant that the autopilot couldn't cope and SWMBO did her best but the constant helm alterations meant she could do perhaps quarter of an hour at a time (darned welcome nonetheless) but I wondered how long I might have to stay on the helm. But it seemed a lot less awful when I went below to plot position and see how much longer it might be.
Darn near broached at one point with boom hitting the water and SWMBO being thrown from one side of cockpit to the other. Her comment - some 5 minutes later - was "I was going to say something, but I took one look at your face and decided it would be superfluous".
Finally experimented by turning the boat onto close hauled and she coped far better than going downwind and the autopilot handled it with no trouble which basically relieved concerns as we'd then only got to keep a lookout and manually steer to avoid any of the big stuff.
Finally got into Cherbourg and the pair of us slept an uninterrupted 12 hours solid. Totally knackering experience.
I was worried rather than scared as the direction we were going meant that the autopilot couldn't cope and SWMBO did her best but the constant helm alterations meant she could do perhaps quarter of an hour at a time (darned welcome nonetheless) but I wondered how long I might have to stay on the helm. But it seemed a lot less awful when I went below to plot position and see how much longer it might be.
Darn near broached at one point with boom hitting the water and SWMBO being thrown from one side of cockpit to the other. Her comment - some 5 minutes later - was "I was going to say something, but I took one look at your face and decided it would be superfluous".
Finally experimented by turning the boat onto close hauled and she coped far better than going downwind and the autopilot handled it with no trouble which basically relieved concerns as we'd then only got to keep a lookout and manually steer to avoid any of the big stuff.
Finally got into Cherbourg and the pair of us slept an uninterrupted 12 hours solid. Totally knackering experience.
Talulah
Well-Known Member
Cross Channel. Gosport to Honfleur.
Fine weather. Calm seas, Little wind.
Crew member panicked at loss of sight of land.
Had to turn back. Runined the Easter break.
Fine weather. Calm seas, Little wind.
Crew member panicked at loss of sight of land.
Had to turn back. Runined the Easter break.
laika
Well-Known Member
I suspect that knowing from experience and reading that plastic boats can generally take an absurd amount of abuse before they sink helps. The crewmate in my anecdote was convinced that the boat would be snapped in half because of the various creakings.
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Le Havre to Portsmouth, glass smooth sea, motoring.
Mid channel I suddenly got that deep stomach churn that comes with fear of heights. I was feeling the boat 100 or so feet above the 'earth' suspended on the surface of the water. It lasted for a couple of hours and was very unsettling. Couldn't talk about it to anyone, they would have thought I'd lost the plot completely. It's the only time it has ever happened.
maby
Well-Known Member
I hate being dependent on the engine. Even though it's not much more than a year old with a couple of hundred hours on the clock, I'm always convinced that it's going to fail - much happier when there's enough wind to get me home without it!
Tidewaiter2
Well-Known Member
I think a a lot of how you react when it all goes serious comes down to the following
I can only speak for myself, in the situations ashore and afloat I have experienced, and I just worked out I've used up 13 or 14 of my 9 lives so far.
1) Personal character, drive, determination, perhaps just plain courage/stubborness-'Never say die"?
As in;
"..... physically challenging situations fire up in me a sort of gritty determination and ability to focus clearly on the essentials. (My ex-wife used to say that I was 'very good in an emergency'.) ......I found an 'inner sergeant-major' kept me going......"
+1 deffo on this- from in front and by example, other people depending/looking to you.
2) "Although there are no doubt exceptions to the rule, I can only imagine that training and experience reduces the possibility of funk."
Like some other posters here, I have found myself in my early and very early pre GPS offshore days sailing with Skippers/+Crews who lost the plot(literally) and it all lands on you.
You just do the best you can, even if it is 36hrs straight on the helm, while everyone else stays below, on a Dunkerque to Maldon trip.
It comes back down to 1) above, maybe? Made me determined to get some RYA quals, so I could argue the posn. with more than just commonsense and relevant experience/knowledge.
3)"I acted as if nothing had happened but my legs were shaking for a good half hour afterwards."
A big +1 on this one. I've had my knees run a 1000m sprint after a bad one, while my feet and body never actually moved. Sheer relief at having got everyone back safe, and I was OK.
4) "I suggest that the nutters are not the ones who freak out under those conditions, but the ones who don't."
Have to disagree on this one, when it's really bad, you are usually too busy reacting to the situation, and organising damage control measures, etc, to lose the plot( Well, so far- pitchers and wells, after all.)
Keep everyone busy, less chance of them losing it.
BTW, this DOES NOT mean you don't get absolutely spannered:very_drunk: first chance you get when everything/everyone safe. See also re knees in 3) above
I can only speak for myself, in the situations ashore and afloat I have experienced, and I just worked out I've used up 13 or 14 of my 9 lives so far.
1) Personal character, drive, determination, perhaps just plain courage/stubborness-'Never say die"?
As in;
"..... physically challenging situations fire up in me a sort of gritty determination and ability to focus clearly on the essentials. (My ex-wife used to say that I was 'very good in an emergency'.) ......I found an 'inner sergeant-major' kept me going......"
+1 deffo on this- from in front and by example, other people depending/looking to you.
2) "Although there are no doubt exceptions to the rule, I can only imagine that training and experience reduces the possibility of funk."
Like some other posters here, I have found myself in my early and very early pre GPS offshore days sailing with Skippers/+Crews who lost the plot(literally) and it all lands on you.
You just do the best you can, even if it is 36hrs straight on the helm, while everyone else stays below, on a Dunkerque to Maldon trip.
It comes back down to 1) above, maybe? Made me determined to get some RYA quals, so I could argue the posn. with more than just commonsense and relevant experience/knowledge.
3)"I acted as if nothing had happened but my legs were shaking for a good half hour afterwards."
A big +1 on this one. I've had my knees run a 1000m sprint after a bad one, while my feet and body never actually moved. Sheer relief at having got everyone back safe, and I was OK.
4) "I suggest that the nutters are not the ones who freak out under those conditions, but the ones who don't."
Have to disagree on this one, when it's really bad, you are usually too busy reacting to the situation, and organising damage control measures, etc, to lose the plot( Well, so far- pitchers and wells, after all.)
Keep everyone busy, less chance of them losing it.
BTW, this DOES NOT mean you don't get absolutely spannered:very_drunk: first chance you get when everything/everyone safe. See also re knees in 3) above
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NUTMEG
Well-Known Member
Had this precise sensation myself. When mentioned it to crew at the time got 'that look' complete,with raised eyebrows! I am sure others have had vertigo afloat, we can not be the only ones. I had to make a real effort to stop thinking about it and the thin fibreglass sheet that kept me thus suspended. Strangest sensation.
Thanks mate for posting
chrisbitz
Well-Known Member
Had this precise sensation myself. When mentioned it to crew at the time got 'that look' complete,with raised eyebrows! I am sure others have had vertigo afloat, we can not be the only ones. I had to make a real effort to stop thinking about it and the thin fibreglass sheet that kept me thus suspended. Strangest sensation.
Thanks mate for posting
Actually, now I remember, I had a similar one - when I was 20 and had even less clue about sailing, I hired a boat (wayfarer sort of size) on a Spanish beach, sailed out and capsized. It felt at the time like a genuine life or death situation, and I remember looking down, and seeing the sail just fade away and disappear into the depths. That gave me the real willies, swimming in water that was potentially 100 miles deep.
Fortunately, I had the sensible idea that panicking while treading water at what felt like 100 miles out to sea was pretty much the worst thing to do, so guessed at the best way to right the boat, calmly told my girlfriend in a voice that clearly showed that I knew what I was doing, and ducked under the boat (terrifying her) to push the centreboard up.
We got the boat back to the beach eventually, but really felt like we'd just survived a life or death situation!
Summer Sailor
Well-Known Member
Sounds like my ex-husband.
