Daft thing you've done ---- while sailing / on boat !

ProDave said:
Every narrowboat I have been on has a "unique" rudder, some work better than others, some heavier than others, some well ballanced. But I have never found one that will steer going backwards.
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No, reversing a few miles because you missed a winding hole is a lot of fun. The best trick (bar bow thrusters) is to have someone on the front dragging the barge pole
 
This was a hire boat, I was intirgued because as soon as I let the tiller go it went hard over, I would have expected the rudder, which sticks out visibly behind the stern, to stream straight.

pretty much as the image here:
narrowboat bottom - Google Search

I was impressed by the engine, 42hp Isuzu, looked like a proper job rather than botched road engine.
 
I was remembering today as I slid down the bank and got me feet wet ... (was cleaning up my Daysailer) ....

Years ago - my Wife in UK was on my Snapdragon and had returned to mooring after a days sail ... While I was securing cover and sorting boat to leave on the mooring ... wife was standing in the dinghy alongside ... I politely advised her to Sit Down ..... but wives know better !! She stayed standing and dinghy started to move out ... she hung on desperately with both hands to the toerail of the boat ...
There's nothing I can do ... as wife literally ends up with feet over gunwhale of dinghy .... 'tits' touching the wave tops ... hands white with gripping the boat toerail .... I just said - You have to let go lass ... there's no way I can lift you from here ...

She had her bouyancy aid on ..... and she could swim ... it wasn't such a bad day ... but she was determined NOT to go swimming ...

If I had not seen it with own eyes - I would never believe it ... but she managed to slowly get that dinghy back in again and slide back into it ... all the while cursing in a very lady like terms (my ex rarely used bad language .. honest).

SHE SAT DOWN then !! With a few words of course for uncaring hubby who couldn't stop laughing !! I wish I could have video'd it ... even she later on laughed about it ..
 
1972, January, rain sleet, freezing cold alongside Flushing quay at 7pm. I'd splashed out, at last, on a full length oilskin smock, proper knee length, over thigh boots, I was congratulating myself on being warm and dry for the first time in months as I stepped across from one foredeck to the next. My skirt didn't reach and I dropped gracefully into the water, only by hanging on to both rails didn't quite disappear.
 
Feb 1973. We had fallen out with our venture on the Twilight, a 1902 pilchard driver. Mate had, with help of a new prospective crewman, ex-army, recent tour of NI, taken her from newlyn round to Falmouth, on the way they couldn't start the wing engine, a temperamental 1936 petrol/TVO Kelvin Ricardo, so swaddie took a sledgehammer to it and chucked the bits overboard. It only needed talking to......
They left her at Penryn Quay, where I found her next day, badly moored, listing away from the next boat, and filling up through the hole where the exhaust had been. I scrambled aboard, floundered about the half flooded engine room, found a bit of bar in the ballast and jammed a rag in the hole, then set to with the pump. Original 1902, open topped lead pipe set in the deck with a wood plunger and a T bar , after a few strokes the T bar detached and over I went, chucking the T bar over my head for good measure. Very wet and muddy, at least since the water was nearly over the deck I was able to get back aboard, I couldn't give up, found a long gaff, got the bar back by some miracle, re-assembled the pump, and after another half hour or so got her back up.
Then, since matey had the truck, I had to hitch hike home.

This is the boat:
Echo Fishing
 
First trip on my first boat and me with no experience so I got an expert to come along. As it involved a few miles along the North Sea coast and the weather was rough it was debatable as to whether we should go but we did ...with reefed sails and assistance from the engine. My expert helmed and set engine speed and once we had entered the home estuary he asked me to reduce the engine speed. I noticed that it had been on max. power for over a hour. ....a good test, I thought. At the end of the season I decided that the engine deserved a new fuel pipe as the existing one looked so ropey. Found that I couldn't turn off the fuel tap. Marine engineer told me that Westerly fuel taps worked in the opposite way to normal ie. turn anticlockwise for "off". I then discovered that the fuel tap had been closed all season but leaked enough fuel through to supply max. power for over an hour on that first trip and any other useage during the season.
 
going out in the evening to lay a conger trot----greve de lecq jersey which had a ruined harbour wall----the last section was about 4 metres square and awash-----wasn t looking---suddenly stopped --sitting on harbour wall----luckly the keel was lower than the out board prop----next wave lifted me up with the motor still turning and away i went----tried to appear nonchalont----oldtimers were watching me from the slip
 
side trawling --------with side trawling you have to turn 3 times 360 to set your trawl-----turned once --net still on the surface-----straightened up and got the net round the prop----rigged a line so i could could get back aboard ---stripped off and went over the side with a knife --- didn t need it -----net came off reasonably easy------luckily it was night time so i was spared the extra embaressment of showing my bare arse off to the solent navy
 
Non boaty but stupid enough.

Many many years ago, as a P.L.B. (Practical Little Boy, not yet P.B.O.) I wanted to make an arc light.

I needed two coal electrodes. I slit open two old 2R10 batteries, pulled out the central electrode – a 3/16” diameter coal bar –, took an electrode in each hand, went to a wall socket, touched the then well visible female contacts with the electrode ends and of course got a strong shock.

I had no consequencies: the mains voltage was then “only” 165 V and my finger skin might have been very dry.

The immediate afterthought was: “How can I be so stupid to do such a nonsense?”

Sandro
 
Oh yes, conger fishing with a longline. Ten coils of 8mm rope, every 9ft is an 'ossel', 3ft strop of 4mm nylon, with a large hook and swivel. If conditions allow, you can trundle along slowly, baiting the hooks with mackerel chunks as the line pays out. Otherwise the hooks are baited first and slung out at speed. either way, you have a knife handy in case you get a snag, or worse hooked through a finger.
So I carefully slid a knife into the gap between the knee and the thwart, the point hit a rivet and my forefinger slid up the length of the blade. What with all the mess and cleaning up, by the time I came to shoot away I had strayed from the slack water into the start of the ebb off Bass Point. Trying to bait the hooks with a bandaged finger (should have given up before this) then the next hook came far too quickly, cut the ossel, then didn't get the next, cut another, oh bugger, cut the rope and gave it up before I got ripped over the side.
Used to love that job, bit more actual brainwork fishing rather than industrial work. Half a ton of conger plus a nice 6kg turbot one day, hand hauling.
 
Sandro said:
Non boaty but stupid enough.

Many many years ago, as a P.L.B. (Practical Little Boy, not yet P.B.O.) I wanted to make an arc light.

I needed two coal electrodes. I slit open two old 2R10 batteries, pulled out the central electrode – a 3/16” diameter coal bar –, took an electrode in each hand, went to a wall socket, touched the then well visible female contacts with the electrode ends and of course got a strong shock.

I had no consequencies: the mains voltage was then “only” 165 V and my finger skin might have been very dry.

The immediate afterthought was: “How can I be so stupid to do such a nonsense?”

Sandro
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Had a nightlight when i was four. Wanted to relight it in the early morning. Had seen my mum light a paper spill on the electric fire, so tried the same, with silver paper. There was a bang and the lights went out, I scuttled off back to bed where I lay looking innocent.
 
Silly thing we do as kids ....

I had an old fluid lighter and was filling it in the bedroom ... (I have no idea why I had it then ... I did smoke an occasional 'fag' from my brothers ... but why a lighter ????) ....

The fluid overflowed into my hand and wrist .... I put down the 'can' and stupidly flicked the lighter ...

WOMP .... that was all the hair of my hands .. arm and eyebrows .. fringe .... GONE !! Luckily most of the fluid had evaporated before saving the carpet etc. !!
 
I seem to have lived a quiet sailing life compared to many on here (touch wood).
There was one occasion when I was crewing on a friend's Impala 28 on a cross-channel race. Just getting dark and we were close hauled on port tack, quite hard pressed with all six of us on the upwind side. Skipper says "Has anyone checked under the genny recently?" (this boat had quite a large genoa for its size so visibility in that direction was zero). Being the lightest, I moved to the leeside and had a good look - to see we were about 30 seconds away from being cut in half by a Nicholson 55 on starboard tack, also oblivious of us. Luckily the Impala was very maneuverable so we avoided the collision, and 20+ years later I still keep a good lookout under the genny.
 
Did a bit of work to make the sliding seat move more freely: Hornet no. 263, out on the end one day, shifted my weight ever so slightly, the seat dropped into the water lee side....I stood on the gunnel balanced for a few milliseconds, seemed like ages, but inevitably the boat tripped over the seat and I pitched into the sail...again.
Bro on the helm was a flat out or stopped merchant, no finesse and regularly sailed us to a standstill, so we were always capsizing.
 
fisherman said:
Feb 1973. We had fallen out with our venture on the Twilight, a 1902 pilchard driver. Mate had, with help of a new prospective crewman, ex-army, recent tour of NI, taken her from newlyn round to Falmouth, on the way they couldn't start the wing engine, a temperamental 1936 petrol/TVO Kelvin Ricardo, so swaddie took a sledgehammer to it and chucked the bits overboard. It only needed talking to......
They left her at Penryn Quay, where I found her next day, badly moored, listing away from the next boat, and filling up through the hole where the exhaust had been. I scrambled aboard, floundered about the half flooded engine room, found a bit of bar in the ballast and jammed a rag in the hole, then set to with the pump. Original 1902, open topped lead pipe set in the deck with a wood plunger and a T bar , after a few strokes the T bar detached and over I went, chucking the T bar over my head for good measure. Very wet and muddy, at least since the water was nearly over the deck I was able to get back aboard, I couldn't give up, found a long gaff, got the bar back by some miracle, re-assembled the pump, and after another half hour or so got her back up.
Then, since matey had the truck, I had to hitch hike home.

This is the boat:
Echo Fishing
Click to expand...
I love the fisherman tales!
 
My first time sailing on the east coast. I'm helming a friend's boat and we're heading up the Stour, approaching Wrabness. There's a green buoy ahead of me and a bit to port, It's more convenient to leave it to port so, being used to the Solent, where buoys are generally for the big boys, not small fry like us, I do.

The log read "Stopped, dropped anchor, had lunch" Fortunately, the tide was rising, so it wasn't too long to wait.
 
Stemar said:
My first time sailing on the east coast. I'm helming a friend's boat and we're heading up the Stour, approaching Wrabness. There's a green buoy ahead of me and a bit to port, It's more convenient to leave it to port so, being used to the Solent, where buoys are generally for the big boys, not small fry like us, I do.

The log read "Stopped, dropped anchor, had lunch" Fortunately, the tide was rising, so it wasn't too long to wait.
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Yes - the East Coast can be most unforgiving !!
 
Refueler said:
Yes - the East Coast can be most unforgiving !!
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As I discovered on leaving Lowestoft on the final leg of bringing Capricious to Titchmarsh from the Clyde! For some reason I thought this'll be easy (the previous leg was from Whitby to Lowestoft!) and failed to check the route carefully. About a mile outside Lowestoft harbour I found a nice little patch of sand! Fortunately, the crew were on the mark and put the engine into reverse promptly, so we got off. I also went aground on Harwich Shelf last year - embarrassingly, with guests aboard. We got off by moving everyone to the downhill side, heeling her just enough to get her off.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
As I discovered on leaving Lowestoft on the final leg of bringing Capricious to Titchmarsh from the Clyde! For some reason I thought this'll be easy (the previous leg was from Whitby to Lowestoft!) and failed to check the route carefully. About a mile outside Lowestoft harbour I found a nice little patch of sand! Fortunately, the crew were on the mark and put the engine into reverse promptly, so we got off. I also went aground on Harwich Shelf last year - embarrassingly, with guests aboard. We got off by moving everyone to the downhill side, heeling her just enough to get her off.
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Great Yarmouth ... the big sands just outside the entrance with narrow cut through .... I used to take the WESGECO vessel in through there ... Master who was not regular there sat back ... just let me get on with it ...

Lowestoft ... interesting riding the Ship to Ship service boats going out from there !
 
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