Sailing in Big Seas

Well the entire point was that "being uncomfortable is a good thing" (see very early vids before they even got Uma back in the water).
 
Sailing a tallship in the Southern Ocean.

Holding on to the yards while setting sail with the ship bouncing in big waves.

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GHA said:
Maybe showed the stress more than many youtubes, of being out there for hours in the noise and waves over the boat. Lonely place.
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I don't know what the fuss is about. It was only a F7. You'd surely have to be prepared for worse than that on an Atlantic crossing?

I thought it seemed impressively quiet below. The boat didn't seem to be rolling or jumping about much, considering - there were plant pots standing on a ledge, and they didn't seem to have any trouble standing and talking to the camera.

You could see that they were at risk of getting pooped. Maybe it was the editing, but this seemed to come as a surprise to them.

The 'real time' weather info on his phone, with their position shown, was impressive. Anyone know what this was?

p.s. Yes, re halyard!
 
Crossing the Atlamtic we a had a 12 foot swell from behind us, a 2 foot swell from a gale in the South Atlantic and a 3 foot swell from the North Atlantic gale , that made the boat corkscrew so we had to hold on all the time so no food or anything else.
 
I just left Scarborough for GY at 0800, and the waves were much huger than expected, so I came back in.
When the tide turns later, it will be unpleasant, with a risk of damage or injury, wind over tide south of Flamborough head.
Nowhere to go back to for, those guys out there.. but also, not on a lee shore with breakers rolling in..
 
LittleSister said:
Pray tell.
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Well Im sure it was a lot bouncier down below than the vid shows. To get the real feel mebbe put the camera on gimbals. Winds of 40 knots sustained is always gonna kick off a big sea. Did you see some of them starting to break? The vid shows after effect of one that had niped into the cockpit to say hello.

Ive been in seas like that....and more...a fair few times as have a number of others on here. Can be worrying for people have not experienced it before and not to be taken lightly. Its difficult to relax, get fed and even the simplest thing takes ages. So one has to readjust ones life a bit. Sometimes flippin exciting though......:cool:

Stand out ones, massive following sea south of Sicily. Absolute monsters, Gibsea 92 with broken tiller pilot in the dark. Swampy.

Mid Atlantic, 40 foot FP Lavezzi Catamaran. 45 up to 55 knots, big cross seas but boat handled it really well.

Southbound down Moroccan coast, Jenneau 45. Had a northbound tanker close us to see if we were ok! We were but scary seas.

Best ones coz the sea is blue and the sun is hot, surfing towards Panama from the Windies on two different Bavarias, a 48 and (I think) a 44.

Oh and getting a mahoosive wave from astern into the centre cockpit of ouy liveaboard Moody 33 just south of San Miguel in the Azores.

Why do we do it?? ;)
 
capnsensible said:
Well Im sure it was a lot bouncier down below than the vid shows. To get the real feel mebbe put the camera on gimbals. Winds of 40 knots sustained is always gonna kick off a big sea. Did you see some of them starting to break? The vid shows after effect of one that had niped into the cockpit to say hello.

Ive been in seas like that....and more...a fair few times as have a number of others on here. Can be worrying for people have not experienced it before and not to be taken lightly. Its difficult to relax, get fed and even the simplest thing takes ages. So one has to readjust ones life a bit. Sometimes flippin exciting though......:cool:

Stand out ones, massive following sea south of Sicily. Absolute monsters, Gibsea 92 with broken tiller pilot in the dark. Swampy.

Mid Atlantic, 40 foot FP Lavezzi Catamaran. 45 up to 55 knots, big cross seas but boat handled it really well.

Southbound down Moroccan coast, Jenneau 45. Had a northbound tanker close us to see if we were ok! We were but scary seas.

Best ones coz the sea is blue and the sun is hot, surfing towards Panama from the Windies on two different Bavarias, a 48 and (I think) a 44.

Oh and getting a mahoosive wave from astern into the centre cockpit of ouy liveaboard Moody 33 just south of San Miguel in the Azores.

Why do we do it?? ;)
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Because it makes us feel strangely alive? :D

Yes, I know just how it is below in rough weather, it just didn't seem that bad in the vid. I'm not knocking them - good on 'em - and I neither think it should be taken lightly nor underestimate how worrying it can be, but I thought the reaction on here was as if it was phenomenal, when it didn't seem it to me.

The seas might have been from 40 knot winds nearby or previously, but IIRC they were getting 30 knots gusting 37.

Most of my sailing has been in smaller boats, where it doesn't take much weather to make it much worse than that below. I've been in an Atlantic gale, but the conditions were in that instance much more benign than lesser winds I've experienced in coastal waters, and I've been in a huge swell (in the Western Approaches) that must have neared or perhaps exceeded what they showed (though I know how photography tends to flatten the waves) but the wind wasn't at all bad at the time (otherwise we wouldn't have willingly been there), so the swell was long and rounded, and it was like an amusing roller coaster.

What I've never experienced (thankfully) is waves of that size breaking, but they didn't seem to appreciate the danger of them starting to do that (as opposed to the size of the waves, which they did comment on), and even when they got a cockpit full seemed surprisingly sanguine about it, perhaps oblivious to how the danger was ramping up.

Getting your cockpit 'pooped' in a centre-cockpit boat is quite an achievement. I think there ought to be some sort of medal for that! :)
 
For a bumpy sea challenge, try keeping an SSN at periscope depth oop north in winter storms. It will involve some flowery language from your Captain and the occasional identified flying object. Which may take human form....
 
capnsensible said:
Stand out ones, massive following sea south of Sicily. Absolute monsters, Gibsea 92 with broken tiller pilot in the dark. Swampy.
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Funny you should mention that area, I was helping a guy get a Contest ketch from Patras to Gibraltar in November some years ago and we got into a massive storm in that area - maybe a bit to the north east, (as we had intended going through the straights of Messina).

It came up in the night and was very confused but by midday the 10m waves had formed into a perfect pattern that stretched to the horizon. They had been breaking but now they were smooth and all perfectly the same. It was the most amazing site - like computer graphics but for real. Bright blue clear skies.

Making sure we did not accelerate too much on the way down was the trick.

And yes I did not take any pictures- why, why, why I have repeatedly asked myself since. Its an image that will never leave me - awesome.

We lost the engine and coasted into Syracuse on the lightest breeze - an amazing 24 hours.
 
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