dralex
Well-Known Member
We didn't get to France for our holiday, despite the best laid plans. Here's the run down.
Plan A- If the weather was settled and nice, then I would leave for Brest on the weekend before out holiday and leave the boat there. The return flights were booked.
Problem- family wedding in the way and of course the weather was beautiful with perfect winds for a reach across.
Plan B- leave at 0000 on Wednesday before flights for family to fly out, leaving us 48 hours to get there.
Problem- it was the blackest night ever with F6 SSW/SW winds, and no hint of the bit of west I was hoping for. I had 2 strong, experienced, but not regular passage making sailors with me. Sea sickness hit them hard, and despite medication got no better. The galley was full of vomit ( sorry skipper, but if I have a bucket, it will make me puke more!!??) We were sailing well, but not really making any west. We could have made St Peter Port, but this would have been useless in terms of my family joining us and me having to pay for crew to get back. I was knackered having been on watch since joining the boat. It was a hard decision to turn back, but in the end we sailed 90NM from Torbay to Dartmouth! ( Normally 14NM).
Lessons learnt.
-We should have gone when the weather was perfect for the crossing.
-Despite having experienced sailors as crew, I still don't think I had stressed enough how long the passage was going to be, despite going though all the charts and navigation with them.
-The wind will always come from the perfect wrong direction and not give you a break.
-Perhaps long passages should be started in daylight to allow crew time to acclimatise to the motion of the boat while being able to see a horizon.
-In future, I will not take no for an answer when offering people sea sickness treatment before they are sick. I will also insist that vomiting is done over the side, in the heads or in a bucket, not the galley sink!
-I will try to do some night sailing with crew before doing something longer.
The Solution
Returned home and was a generally grumpy b****** for a few days waiting for the UK weather to improve and perhaps do some UK sailing with wife and toddler. It didn't improve, therefore booked a late deal on an AWB in Turkey for a week. It was lovely- I'd forgotten what it was like to be overpowered and have a fixed 3 blade prop and hot water.
Plan A- If the weather was settled and nice, then I would leave for Brest on the weekend before out holiday and leave the boat there. The return flights were booked.
Problem- family wedding in the way and of course the weather was beautiful with perfect winds for a reach across.
Plan B- leave at 0000 on Wednesday before flights for family to fly out, leaving us 48 hours to get there.
Problem- it was the blackest night ever with F6 SSW/SW winds, and no hint of the bit of west I was hoping for. I had 2 strong, experienced, but not regular passage making sailors with me. Sea sickness hit them hard, and despite medication got no better. The galley was full of vomit ( sorry skipper, but if I have a bucket, it will make me puke more!!??) We were sailing well, but not really making any west. We could have made St Peter Port, but this would have been useless in terms of my family joining us and me having to pay for crew to get back. I was knackered having been on watch since joining the boat. It was a hard decision to turn back, but in the end we sailed 90NM from Torbay to Dartmouth! ( Normally 14NM).
Lessons learnt.
-We should have gone when the weather was perfect for the crossing.
-Despite having experienced sailors as crew, I still don't think I had stressed enough how long the passage was going to be, despite going though all the charts and navigation with them.
-The wind will always come from the perfect wrong direction and not give you a break.
-Perhaps long passages should be started in daylight to allow crew time to acclimatise to the motion of the boat while being able to see a horizon.
-In future, I will not take no for an answer when offering people sea sickness treatment before they are sick. I will also insist that vomiting is done over the side, in the heads or in a bucket, not the galley sink!
-I will try to do some night sailing with crew before doing something longer.
The Solution
Returned home and was a generally grumpy b****** for a few days waiting for the UK weather to improve and perhaps do some UK sailing with wife and toddler. It didn't improve, therefore booked a late deal on an AWB in Turkey for a week. It was lovely- I'd forgotten what it was like to be overpowered and have a fixed 3 blade prop and hot water.
