Have you set out only to turn back?

[dunedin]

Have you ever set out on a trip, only to turn back or into a safe haven ... I don't mean a "planned" change of course - more a use of bolt holes for un-expected weather ...

Frequently - its part of our aversion to advance passage plans

I tend to think that anybody who hasn't changed their mind and destination must be either
(a) very timid - never try anything at all ambitious (and nothing wrong with that); or
(b) sado-masochist - inflicting pain (or worse) on themselves and crew

Isn't that why ships always set off heading "towards" an envisaged destination?

 

[prv]

(b) sado-masochist - inflicting pain (or worse) on themselves and crew

This is one reason I'm often more relaxed sailing on my own. No need to worry if I'm causing someone else to be scared/uncomfortable/bored/tired/etc. If I'm happy to go on, I go on.

Not that I don't also enjoy having friends aboard, of course

Pete

 

[Searush]

Twice I can remember & I make a point of fair weather sailing! So definitely a wimp & happy to stay a wimp who has never needed RNLI help in 30 years. I just hope I can maintain that record.

I am not a racer, I go cruising for fun, & if it isn't fun I'm doing it wrong.

 

[bobgarrett]

Once. Nearly two hours out from Cherbourg returning to Chichester we heard a worsening forecast from Solent Coastguard and headed back. Then got the ferry across as we needed to be in work - only to find the weather in the Solent fine.
Took the ferry back the next weekend and sailed back with a good forecast only to have F6+ from the north as we approached. Passage took a lot longer than it should have and we were exhausted but the boat took it all.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Twice on setting out for Cherbourg.

First time, the forecast to come back 3 days later was even worse than the lumpy outbound trip. Second time, the forecast for fog patches was wrong - it was one big patch for the first 12 miles so we came back on the flood through Hurst in 50yds vis and dark, too.

 

[Elessar]

Running on from the rescue services incident this morning - with a sail boat out in distress in a F11 within the English Channel ...

Have you ever set out on a trip, only to turn back or into a safe haven ... I don't mean a "planned" change of course - more a use of bolt holes for un-expected weather ...

I've turned back once - we were supposed to do a "round the cans" type sail in a timed event - with guests aboard ... whilst it was sailable, we decided that the conditions were not suitable for the crew onboard - so we went back to the mooring for lunch instead ...

I planned a bolthole and considered using it - F7 Southerly and was going to enter Chi Harbour - if my trip there had been slow then it would've meant entering on an Ebb tide - which I wasn't prepared to do ... as it happened we got there in plenty of time - only to record 40kts across the deck ..... I had to put a bit of Genoa away !!

Who hasn't? Last year can think of the forum trip to Beauliau that I failed to make. I Made it to the river entrance but thought it unsafe to enter. Plus running to Tunisia to anchor (in a 60 tonne boat) when I thought we couldn't cope with the next headland with an increasing 1/4ing sea en route to Malta. (just about when you were turning back in a boat for other reasons )

 

[Aries]

Turning back?

Thinking about it, we have number of times.

Left Eastbourne for Dover with too much east in the wind. Boat was a 25ft. We spent a long time getting to Bexhill and not very long getting back.

Came out of Dunkirk after two days of northerly winds. Having cleared the breakwaters the wave height was very big and we did not fancy bouncing all the way to Dover, so back to the berth we had just left. The next day it had calmed down and we had a good crossing to Dover.

Discretion when involving an unforgiving sea is the mark of a sailor - but there are a few other times when perhaps we should have turned back, but we all learn!

 

[sarabande]

yes. In 1974, I was the navigator on the yacht Loujaine which was based in Cowes, whose owner had a long affiliation and loyalty with Burnham. So we 'did' Burnham Week, and came away with the Town Cup, which quite pleased the owner.

I was due to bring the boat back to Cowes for the family holiday with a couple of spare crew, and we decided to make a bit of a race with Morning Cloud, also returning to the Island.


Weather forecasting in those days was not quite so developed, and the regular radio sessions were a key point of the day for me. We had an intimation of F6 or 7 from round Kent onwards, but hey, we're a top crew and our sister ship is with us too.

By the time we got to N Foreland, the figures from the forecast were getting a bit bigger, and the isobars on the synoptic chart I drew up were a bit squeezed all along the S Coast. I don't know what really tipped the coin over, except perhaps a sense of something deep and uncomfortable about the sky. Anyway, I popped my head up through the hatch and told the crew to get the spinnaker ready as we were heading back to the Crouch as we were a bit short handed for a real flog. There was a moment's hesitation, but around we came, and hammered back towards the river.

The next morning I went ashore and phoned the owner to tell him we would be a day later than planned back towards Cowes. There was a sense of strain, as he said, "Thank God you are all OK. We lost Cloud last night, and Ted's gone to see his godson's family."

To this day, the thinking process to turn back is a mystery; just a nagging voice, the wind against tide, pencil lines on the forecast chart, perhaps a partial hangover. A feeling that all was not going to be within our capability.


I am a great believer in instincts and feelings at sea.

 

[Simondjuk]

Yes.

We were headed to Rota and had a good 6 and large swell on the beam, but nothing more than forecast. SWMBO was in charge on the day and went to check her nav' and make an entry in the log. She returned on deck and reported a falling glass.

I'd already thought it a rather strange feeling day, with an odd and slightly sinister smoothness to the sea in spite of the big swell. I struck me as so peculiar that I even took a seemingly pointless camera phone snap of it...
View attachment 15392

We were some hours from Rota, due to arrive in the small hours of the morning, so SWMBO decided that she'd watch the baro' for another hour and make her call then. An hour later, with the baro still falling but no change in the forecast, she decided we'd make all haste towards Mazagon.

At dinner time we were safely in a berth wondering if we'd been a little paranoid. By midnight, we were out on the pontoon doubling the lines with 60 plus knots and blinding spears of horizontal rain howling through the marina.

 

[OGITD]

Who needs one anyway!?

Many times.
From Portimao when the alternator failed.

My alternator packed in and I couldn’t source a replacement or repair until the following week… so we set off without one and had a great weekend around the Clyde with pictures and videos of two pods of Dolphins to prove it.
Started the engine several times without an issue (good batteries)....

But!…. there was also the time after about an hour under engine it (the diesel) just came to a gentle stop. Nothing I did resulted in combustion so we returned to our home port where I was so confident that I could resolve any issue within a couple of hours…… how wrong was I?..
Both the lift and the injector pumps had decided to fail in a joint mutiny, so to cut a long two week story short, all fuel pipes, banjo unions, filters, lift pump and injector replaced. Injector pump professionally reconditioned (broken internal springs etc), and the pre-combustion chamber reseated with a / that new (expensive & unusual) washer for the injector… (runs like a wee-sweetie now).....

 

[aquaholic]

Not often turn back, normally a bolt hole.

Newhaven after leaving Brighton, left after 3 days of SW gales, was a great sunny day with little wind but the swell was still immense! (Lesson learned)

Dunkerque after leaving Ostende, wind changed, F7 on the nose not comfy!

Eastbourne after leaving Brighton, planned to plug our way to dover after being stuck there, forecast light N'E so motoring was the plan, turned out to be 20knts constant, decided to wait for the forecast SW that arrived the following day.

Diverted to Ramsgate en route to Calais more times than I care to mention due to weather and other reasons!!!!

Diverted to Dunkerque from Calais after engine failure.

Turned back once, en route to Cherbourg, 22 miles south of the needles got caught on a line of some description was a complete nightmare, ended up back in the Solent.

 

[fireball]

(just about when you were turning back in a boat for other reasons )

Ah - yes, but I didn't count that cos I ended up at the final destination - just missed out the via points!!

 

[Blueboatman]

Some of these are going to seem
very smug after yesterday's aborted Excel delivery trip and lifeboat shout.
I would be a rubbish commercial skipper as I know how easy it is to frighten novices and put em off for life, so hey ho, as a self indulgent and self funding yottie:
I've turned back into Dartmouth ( when you had to notify customs of yer intended departure/ re-arrival) simply because there wasn't enough convincing wind for a swift singlehanded sail to the channel islands and I doubted the wee seagull outboards ability to do it. Next day the perfect w3-4 materialised.
I've turned back into the Dominion Republic ( customs even worse)after 10 miles of fast wet reaching to the N across a building 'norther'. The boat was small and strong but sailing into coral infested Turks n Caicos didn't seem smart- too little margin for error if something went wrong.
Have departed Belle Isle for Spain and upon hearing the forecast, turned the bosts heading back N again-for12 hours only-as the weather developed further N than forecast so sailing S became, once again, sensible. Light airs then made that a v slow passage, hey ho but so what?
Couple of times I have popped out to 'have a look at it' and carried on, notably from Lagos ended up in Lanzarote-so you never know!

 

[Robin]

Usually when we have gone out for a look see we have carried on but yes we have turned back on a few occasions.

Once left Cherbourg for Poole in a Liz 30 with an experienced skipper as my crew, forecast was SW6-8. We were doing fine about 10mls out when we got a new gale warning SW8 backing NW9 'imminent', so more wind and moving to come from ahead. We went back and went home on the ferry (it was a weekend trip and we had to go to work) and guess what the wind dropped rather than increased, bummer.

Turned back on a friends Seahawk on a lads weekend to Cherbourg, wind W8 (confirmed by Portland CG when we called in) but again a new gale warning predicting it moving to head us instead of on the beam had us turning back. Hardest bit was parking the Seahawk in the marina.

Turned back on our W33 having sat out two really bad gales in L'Aberwrac'h, despite a fair UK forecast Meteo France gave another gale warning via Ushant Traffic. Spoke to Ushant on VHF and they confirmed it, despite having just heard the latest UK Shipping Forecast. So having then sat out a third gale in L'Aberwrac'h (French were right) we left with all saying OK and....ended up with F9 on the tail all the way to St Peter Port. The promised SW4-5 started out as 3-4 and we had all sail up, then a secondary low appeared and we had conditions I guess like they did on Liquid Vortex especially when the North Brittany tides were running into those winds. Not often a W33 surfs at over 10kts. There was just me and SWBO and the boat was fine, although I had to hand steer for some 13 hours as the pilot wasn't quick enough to avoid a wave induced broach. SWMBO could only steer for short periods whilst I ate or peed, as the W33 helm was never light, but she kept up a constant supply of hot food, soup and coffees and did all the plotting. This was pre-GPS days, but we did have Decca. The big difference with the current incident is that this was in August not January.

 

[Moonshining]

Running on from the rescue services incident this morning - with a sail boat out in distress in a F11 within the English Channel ...

Have you ever set out on a trip, only to turn back or into a safe haven ... I don't mean a "planned" change of course - more a use of bolt holes for un-expected weather ...

I've turned back once - we were supposed to do a "round the cans" type sail in a timed event - with guests aboard ... whilst it was sailable, we decided that the conditions were not suitable for the crew onboard - so we went back to the mooring for lunch instead ...

I planned a bolthole and considered using it - F7 Southerly and was going to enter Chi Harbour - if my trip there had been slow then it would've meant entering on an Ebb tide - which I wasn't prepared to do ... as it happened we got there in plenty of time - only to record 40kts across the deck ..... I had to put a bit of Genoa away !!

Only turned back once? We're always doing it! Generally it's when we get out of Chichester Harbour and either SWMBO or the dawg start to look a bit green. Recent occasions have been; being late out of the marina on the ebb with a Southerly wind creating a nasty swell over the bar that had us pitching up and down like crazy; turning towards Bembridge and realising that wind and swell behind us were going to have us rolling horribly for a couple of hours, and also turning right past West Pole and realising that we'd have the wind right on the nose all the way to Cowes. On each occasion, fish and chips at the Ship in Itchenor looked much more like fun than the alternative.

 

[Searush]

Only turned back once? We're always doing it! Generally it's when we get out of Chichester Harbour and either SWMBO or the dawg start to look a bit green. Recent occasions have been; being late out of the marina on the ebb with a Southerly wind creating a nasty swell over the bar that had us pitching up and down like crazy; turning towards Bembridge and realising that wind and swell behind us were going to have us rolling horribly for a couple of hours, and also turning right past West Pole and realising that we'd have the wind right on the nose all the way to Cowes. On each occasion, fish and chips at the Ship in Itchenor looked much more like fun than the alternative.

That's the point isn't it? Looking at a couple of hours of discomfort & saying - sod that! Cruising & pottering around the coast, then that's the essence of the experience. Different situation if racing or ocean crossing, some discomfort may be acceptable & the alternatives may not be simply a pleasant trip to the pub.

We all sail different boats, different places with different crews so why is it surprising we have different experiences & needs?

 

[fireball]

Only turned back once? We're always doing it!

I suppose the difference is that I've already looked at the weather and altered the planned trip accordingly - usually reasonably conservative on the predicted weather - so I'm not including the "heading to Yarmouth, but stopped off at Cowes because we'd had enough" ...

There's plenty of times where I'd wish we'd gone but hadn't ... whilst disappointing at the time it's best to be that way round!

Don't think I'm a fair weather sailor ... I've helped a neighbour take his boat out for a pre-season shakedown sail in a F8-9 ... taken a single handed racing dinghy out for the first time in a F7, teamraced in a F7, surfed both our 30'er and 37'er in channel crossings ... but I'm careful to pick the best available weather or have a good backup plan ... that doesn't involve calling the rescue services ...

IMHO, calling the rescue services (for myself/crew) is the last item on the list - when all my other plans have gone to pot. The rescue services really should be for the unforeseeable incidents.

 

[Boathook]

Many years ago ...
Left Dix Cart bay Sark for Alderney in a flat calm. Previous forecasts had been for winds to increase but this became E/NE F10. We then altered course to St Peter Port and drifted motored in a flat calm. That afternoon / evening it was a rush of boats entering, all for the 'marina'. Next day it was very wet and the wind blew from the E/NE. Being on a pontoon in the harbour we took the dinghy ashore and had to use the ferry back as the wind had increased so much. It reached around 40 knots and this was in the shelter of the harbour.

 

[Poignard]

Many years ago ...
Left Dix Cart bay Sark for Alderney in a flat calm. Previous forecasts had been for winds to increase but this became E/NE F10. We then altered course to St Peter Port and drifted motored in a flat calm. That afternoon / evening it was a rush of boats entering, all for the 'marina'. Next day it was very wet and the wind blew from the E/NE. Being on a pontoon in the harbour we took the dinghy ashore and had to use the ferry back as the wind had increased so much. It reached around 40 knots and this was in the shelter of the harbour.

I remember that. We arrived and rafted up on a catmaran on one of the outside pontoons. HM came along and said he had room for us (28') inside. We were tucked into the corner of the marina near Marks & Spencers. A German took our lines and handed me a can of beer. Later that day, when it was beginning to blow, a tiny French yacht came in and rafted up on us. Couple and two kids on board. He had one tiny fender and only two warps, which he secured to the wooden handrails on my coachroof.

Later on we walked up on the seawall and saw that things were pretty bad on the outside pontoons. They were bucking up and down like wild horses and boats were breaking adrift. The HM's team were marvellous - helping latecomers to berth and generally coping with problems.

 

[bbg]

Errm - never. But then I've only left the harbour about a dozen times this year, and half of those were day-sails.

Must get out more.