The most adventurous (stupid) first ever sail?

[yodave]

With hindsight, I now concede that our first ever sailing experience was perhaps a bit over-adventurous. When I say 'first', I mean the very first time on a sailing boat ever for either of us ...not crewing, not even tagging along for the ride previously.

Okay, we weren't completely bonkers as we hired a skipper and had completed our RYA Day Skipper theory, however our first ever experience of sailing was over Easter 2011 travelling non-stop from Naarden (East of Amsterdam) over to the Forth in Scotland. ( Photos here: http://macwester.wordpress.com/north-sea-passage/ )

24/7 it took us four days and nights. At the time we just crossed our fingers, knuckled-down, and threw ourselves in at the deep end, but now that we've had a full season under our belts, we look back on it and can't help but feel that we were a tad naive/ambitious.

We were very lucky with the weather, and with hindsight accept that we weren't experienced enough to deal with some of the many things that could have gone wrong.

So ...anyone out there been more "adventurous" than that and prepared to share?

 

[jimi]

Chay Blyth takes some beating, setting off solo on the round the world race with absolutely no sailing experience and getting as far as the Cape of Good Hope before retiring.

 

[E39mad]

Chay Blyth takes some beating, setting off solo on the round the world race with absolutely no sailing experience and getting as far as the Cape of Good Hope before retiring.

In a bilge keel Kingfisher 30 that had no control at all with big following seas - no wonder he turned it around and retired.

 

[PetiteFleur]

The first time I hired a sailing boat was when I was 18 together with 4 friends, from Poole. I was the only one with any sailing experience, dinghy sailing only, nearly ran aground on the Brambles bank, but managed to get to Lulworth Cove and Weymouth, a winch ripped out of the mast and went swimming, but we did learn a lot very quickly. I wince when I think about it now. It was a 27' wooden yacht with the sail number '1968' out of Poole - can't remember it's name - anyone know it?

 

[Downsman]

1961, I was 17 and had just paid off with wages from first my ship. Bought an old clinker built ship's lifeboat which someone had decked over and I converted it to Gunter rig. Sailed it singlehanded from Sussex to Harwich..well eventually. I put her aground, tired, slightly lost, pitch dark and unable to start the Kelvin petrol/paraffin engine on a shoal South of the Medusa Bouy in the Harwich approaches. Spent a tide laying over on her bilge but floated off without damage, managed to start the Kelvin and got alongside Halfpenny Pier in Daylight the next morning..
I'd just come back from the Aussie-Kiwi run and thought I was Capt Bligh..

 

[tom_sail]

Hats off to your sir. Great achievement for a novice! wish I had the courage to do this sort of passage. Thank you for the excellent read too

 

[Woodlouse]

Chay Blyth takes some beating, setting off solo on the round the world race with absolutely no sailing experience and getting as far as the Cape of Good Hope before retiring.

I think this is will always be the winner for jumping in at the deep end of sailing. He even needed his friends to hoist the sails for him as he was setting off. That he got as far as the Cape of Good Hope in a boat that was so inappropriate that it was ripping it's chainplates out of the deck is truly remarkable.

 

[little_roundtop]

There are old sailors and there are bold sailors, but there are few old bold sailors!

 

[bedouin]

Tania Aebi has to be right up there

 

[Downsman]

There are old sailors and there are bold sailors, but there are few old bold sailors!

That's gets more true as the years go by...now it's much more commonly...
Zero to Hero to Helio..

 

[yodave]

Chay Blyth takes some beating, setting off solo on the round the world race with absolutely no sailing experience and getting as far as the Cape of Good Hope before retiring.

Thanks for all the comments.

'Chay Blyth' ...yes; although given that he had crossed the Atlantic two years earlier I'm not sure that he'd qualify as a total novice with absolutely no experience as a mariner in my books.

'Tania Aebi' sounds like a prime candidate, if a bit ill-advised. What was she thinking???

I guess I was thinking less about adventurers and explorers that made it into the record books...and more first-hand stuff along the lines of members in the forum like PetiteFleur & Downsman comments.

Thanks to you all ...and of course thanks to tom_sail for the kind words.

 

[V1701]

My first sail was 1500 miles across the Indian Ocean (Thailand to Maldives). I was crewing for a guy who was doing RTW, two of us on a Rival 38. We took almost exactly 10 days, of course I wouldn't have dreamed of doing it were it not for the fact that the guy was an experienced skipper...

 

[NPMR]

This guy surely has to beat all? Unless you know better?

You're all way off the limits!

Anyone read "Desperate Voyage" by John Caldwell?

Here's a man, who'd never sailed (Merchant Navy though) who wanted to get from S. America to Australia at the end of the war to get back to his wife.

Waiting for a ship to take him, was going to be about 5 years, so he bought a sailing boat.

From starting the voyage, where he ran aground in the harbour and even threw the anchor overboard but forgot to let go and went with it!!!! he eventually got to Australia, some 5 years (shark attacks/ food shortages etc etc) or so later after shipwreck on deserted island.

True story and he lived to tell the tale.

I keep lending the book to people and they never give it back. Just discovered I have to go and buy ANOTHER Copy!

 

[reginaldon]

Not to mention Shane Acton, who taught himself to sail & navigate after leaving his home port Cambridge! for a circumnavigation - 18' Caprice I - did use the Suez & Panama however.

 

[Talbot]

The "Bumfuzzle" saga where they set of around the world with zero knowledge should be a great resource for learning, except their blog is an altar to the lack of need for knowledge, rather than an explanation of where they lacked knowledge, and how they acquired it.

The attitude that the best culinary experience appears to be a Mcdonald burger also reduces my interest in their exploits.

 

[Niall1975]

John caldwell's story is good. My partner liked the Bumfuzzle story but i haven't read it. We ( Both full day skippers) sailed our first (and current) boat (47ft Oceanis 473) from Yalikavik to Corfu 2 days after we picked her up for the first time. Was good apart from the first attempt at stern to in 25kn cross wind.

Niall