Sudden scare and no danger

[johnalison]

Sailing happily towards the Swin from the Spitway. Glance down and see we are in five feet of water (it was long ago). Panic. 180 degree turn to find deep water. Notice the echo is a bit fuzzy (this is for old hands).

65 feet is plenty to sail in really. Things get exciting on the East Coast with an old Seafarer sounder.

 

[bikedaft]

Night, E of Arran, heading S. Head to head with a fishing boat about half a mile ahead, passing port to port ok. No other boats about. Then looked again, new boat moving swiftly (15-20 knots) from left to right, passed between us about 150m off our bow, same off fishing boat bow. Only nav lights, no deck lights etc.

How had I not seen it? Had the new fast boat come all the way from Ayr etc without me seeing her? Am I really that blind?

She then crossed the moonbeam - submarine! Then she put on her flashing orange light. I thought there was a 1km exclusion zone around subs? Guess not if they surface 400m from you and cut across your bow

Brown trouser moment. Engine was on, as was our nav lights, so I guess he saw us and did it for a laugh. Wish I had shone my big torch on him as he passed in front tho...

 

[Roberto]

moon

yes I too forgot about the rising moon.
A very bright orange, the same flashy orange used to paint the burning pipe tobacco in those... erm paintings about fishermen

The first time it took about one minute to understand what it was. The sad thing is the second time it took about the same time

 

[Stemar]

Jissel was living on a mooring in Portsmouth Harbour on the Gosport side, anywhere from 100 to 500 yards from the edge of the water, depending on tide. I arrived after dark in the flubber and stepped onto the boarding ladder, unhooked the cockpit cover and lifted it when something leapt out of the gap and scuttled off forward.

When the gasping & breathlessness subsided & my heartbeat dropped below 200, I investigated and found a grey squirrel.

Next morning I tried to catch it to take it ashore, but it jumped ship and was last seen heading for Portchester. I'd love to know how it got there and, even more, why.

 

[marktrigg]

Sudden scare and no danger ...... well, not really

Posted originally by chinita

One dark night, sitting in the cockpit minding my own business, nearly shat myself as I jumped up and swung the wheel violently to starboard to avoid the red light of a port hand buoy.

It was, in fact, my own port navigation light.

Brilliant ..... laughed outloud, reading this one !!

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Dozing in my bunk at around midnight (off watch, out from Troon, heading round the Kintyre penninsula for Port Ellen on Islay) ...

... the scary bit, awakening to become aware the watch-leader - on helm - has sent his co-watch down to check the chartplotter at the chart table :

Watch-leader : " So ... if we continue on this course, will we miss the headland ?? "

Co-watch reply : " No !! "

Watch-leader : " Well, tell me then ... where exactly does the chartplotter show our 'course' would cross the headland ?? "

Co-watch reply : " About ten miles inland !! "

The skipper ... up from 'sleeping' : " Eh up lads, whats going on ... ?? "

Me (from my bunk near the chart table) : " What's happenning ?? "

Co-watch : " We're going to have to gybe, to get round the headland. "

Me (still bleary-eyed in my bunk) : " Do you need any help ?? "


Luckily for me (tucked up in my warm bunk) the on-watch - and the skipper - had it under control, so I was able to carry on dozing a bit longer.

 

[Seajet]

Jissel was living on a mooring in Portsmouth Harbour on the Gosport side, anywhere from 100 to 500 yards from the edge of the water, depending on tide. I arrived after dark in the flubber and stepped onto the boarding ladder, unhooked the cockpit cover and lifted it when something leapt out of the gap and scuttled off forward.

When the gasping & breathlessness subsided & my heartbeat dropped below 200, I investigated and found a grey squirrel.

Next morning I tried to catch it to take it ashore, but it jumped ship and was last seen heading for Portchester. I'd love to know how it got there and, even more, why.

A friend had a very similar experience when he took the cover off his little fishing boat at Portscatho, Cornwall - on a permanently afloat mooring - and a Mink shot out like a rocket, these predatory things being kindly released by the 'Animal Rights' people...

Peter was a big bloke but reckoned it would have had him by the throat if he'd been in its' path !

 

[colhel]

When sailing in deep water suddenly realising how far down the seabed is.

I know what you mean Had a swim mid-Atlantic, felt a bit weird

 

[Seajet]

I know what you mean Had a swim mid-Atlantic, felt a bit weird

Ditto,

when in clear water a feeling of being suspended as if in mid air, like vertigo.

Cold water causing one to hyper-ventilate doesn't help either.

 

[Roberto]

I know what you mean Had a swim mid-Atlantic, felt a bit weird

Reminds me of another one, courtesy of Steven Spielberg: I once was swimming, well taking a bath being gently towed by the boat, when I saw a passing white shape, underwater just in front of me.
I skyrocketed out of the sea like a champagne cork, heartbeat in the upper 200s

A couple of minutes later we saw some dolphins playing here and there.

 

[kds]

Soul mates !

May 2010 - solo overnight passage from Milford Haven to S. Coast of Ireland - about 4 hours out, so about 0200. Had enjoyed the company of half a dozen dolphins for over an hour as they glided along and quietly "slurped" when they dived close under the transom.
I left the tiller to go below and do some chart-work.
5 minutes later and all hell breaks loose in the water behind the transom. 2 dolphins almost on their tails and almost looking into the cockpit, gave me quite a fright as I shot up the companionway.
Were they looking for me - were they worried by my absence - did they just miss my company - or what ?
Ken

 

[Tricia]

Love this thread!

One night, sleeping in v berth, I woke up 'coz something was in my hair. I screamed (Rob nearly died of fright) 'GET IT OUT! IT'S IN MY HAIR! GET IT OUT!!' 'What's in your hair? There's nothing there' Rob replied, whilst trying to calm me down. 'AAAAAAAAAGH! THERE IS GET IT, GET IT' I carried on shrieking. Rob finally found 'it'. It was a fish! Think it had been chased by a bigger fish and, jumping to escape, had come in through the fore hatch and landed on me.

 

[Sybarite]

I get that one sometimes; it is worst when I MIGHT be in shallow water (by Clyde standards!)

And when your sounder is reading 10m and you see the bottom at about 3m..?

Thank you Stowe - now changed.

 

[Sybarite]

Running at night in a long narrow fairway with lots of green, red and white lights in front of me from different small harbour entrances and other fixed objects like port and starbord bouys.

I stayed to starboard side of the fairway like supposed to. Went down to put a toast on, and then just wanted to have a quick look up straight ahead again, and then half of the horizon was black, but then a green and a red light and realising also a whitelight between the two, my god! Its a big cargoship heading direct my way, just out of nowhere, haddent seen it. I had to look up to see the white light, thats how close it was. I bear off and we pass eachother nicely. Afterwards I just sat there wondering where it came from and why I did not see it sooner?

It was very scary the way it was hidden in all the other lights right up the finish. I am pleased to have gotten an AIS since then.

Coming back into Lorient at about midnight with a red and green showing coming towards me. No problem it's small plenty of room - then the submarine slipped past!

 

[phanakapan]

One dark night, sitting in the cockpit minding my own business, nearly shat myself as I jumped up and swung the wheel violently to starboard to avoid the red light of a port hand buoy.

It was, in fact, my own port navigation light.

I've done that so many times!!

 

[phanakapan]

Sailing along happily when I realised that the group of seagulls ahead were standing up near some withies. Two miles off Littlehampton? There are two sorts of table; this was of the kitchen type, legs uppermost, but a useful rest for the gulls.

aww- pretty, interesting looking seagulls directly ahead...
aaagh- they're standing up!!
nah - s'allright,they're standing on a floating 'thing',
aaaaagh!!! the floating thing has floating rope streaming out from it which is going to wrap round our prop....
whew.... missed it

 

[TSB240]

Woke up with a start very early morning after a quiet night at anchor.

What the heck is that bubbling noise.

In seconds I had checked the sea toilet,seacocks, bilge is dry so no leaks found, Bubbling stops.

Back to sleep. Just dropping off again when bubbling restarts and seems to be coming from under stern near the bilge outlet.

Leap out of bunk and into cockpit to come face to face with small Seal trying to get in through empty outboard well.

The admiral reckons it was my snoring that attracted it in the first place.

 

[ianfr]

A few years back when I had a Silhouette, I was rafted up in Tollesbury north channel with a number of other club boats. At about 05:00 the boat lurched and a loud thump woke me up. As I rolled out of the bunk and looked through the hatch (top washboard out) I came face to face with a Seal in the cockpit.

We looked at each other and I was frantically feeling around for the camera, as soon as I looked down it slipped over the side. The seal played around the raft for some time afterwards, climbing into another boats dinghy and generally being nosey .

After a while it spotted something more interesting up the creek, and swam away.

Magical few minutes.

Regards

Ian

 

[FistralG]

Brilliant thread!

I've not had anything quite so exciting as some on here.

My heart stopping moments are confined to dropping the filler cap to the fresh water tank and watching it bounce across the deck towards the side and watery oblivion.

Only to be relieved as it hit the stanchion and came to rest in the scuppers.



There was that time when we approached the white sand shore of a beautiful, deserted, tropical island, in the tender, with a little bit of a swell running.

Timed my approach perfectly to run the dinghly onto the sand on the back of a wave.

Just about to get out when the following wave, much larger than the others, turned us broadside, lifted the port side sponson and flipped the boat over dumping myself, g/f, aged parents and a carefully prepared picnic into the surf!

Fortunately no damage done, other than one US camera from salt water ingress, a pair of cheap sunglasses last seen disappearing out to sea, a missing bottle of Sauvignon blanc and an inedible picnic (although the tuna salad, previously unseasoned, did taste OK.)

It took a few minutes to recover from that one!

 

[prv]

My heart stopping moments are confined to dropping the filler cap to the fresh water tank and watching it bounce across the deck towards the side and watery oblivion.

The water and fuel caps on KS are on chains and well inside the substantial toe-rails. But I looked at a Fulmar as possible replacement which had a simple screw-on water cap on the transom, with no chain or possibility of fitting one. Although we didn't end up buying that boat, I did look up an online seller of spare caps, and would have put one on board straight away - the chance of losing the original was just too high!

Pete

 

[SteveTibbetts]

Having waited 3 tides in below freezing temperatures for the boat to de-neap herself (2 mooring lines chafed through but she neatly parked herself on the beach) and spent some time tidying the mess of ropes left over and locking up I looked for the dinghy in its customary position tied to the stbd quarter. It wasn't there. As I was in the middle of the estuary moorings by now, with all my provisions and clothes in the dinghy, it's minus 3 and a moonless night, this caused some mild panic.
I had, of course, tied the dinghy on a short line to the port side midships to avoid the boat tripping over it when I manoeuvred off the beach