Worst condition you've been in?

Caught in a squall in our saily boat just past Start point - 35kts+SW winds, big waves and much howling and splashing. Only lasted about 45 mins - seemed like an age at the time. Took refuge under the spray hood a few times from the green stuff. When we finally got to Dartmouth and moored, I only got 2 lines on our pontoon berth before flaking out with relief and drinking a stiff brandy.
 
During the delivery trip of my current boat from Holland to Norway (a 38' trawler) we passed through the (wrong) edge of a weather front off the north east coast of Denmark.

It was an intense two hours that was the top of it before it got better. In relative shallow water the biggest waves was breaking and as we went down nose first from a 4-5 meter wave, sometimes the next one came crashing down on the foredeck from above. Green water covered the front windows a few times.
We lost our navigations lights at this point. The next day I found out why. A short circuit on the forward facing light above the radar 5 meters above the water line. Full of salt water.

Somebody who followed us on AIS looked up a wind meter on a harbor we passed and it was reading 25/26 meters a second that's about 90 km/h I think.

In hindsight it's good to know the boat can take it and that it probably never will see conditions like that again.
 
Robg71 said:
Around 30m significant wave height. Even in a big boat at work, there always comes a point where the ship feels suddenly very very small.......
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Wow 30 m must be something I've been out in 15m in a 100m ish DSV & that was enough to drop the transit speed down to 1.5kts can't imagine what 30m would be like
 
About 30 years ago but it feels like last week....

SW F6 or thereabouts. We were entering Menai straight from South without detailed charts in squally weather with poor vis in 50 foot wooden Malahide mobo.

My dear departed father thought it would be fine if we just followed the buoys in. We soon lost our way in poor vis.

We then ran aground on the beach with waves hitting stern of boat and spray/wash going right over the top. Couldn't see much. The keel bounced on the beach as 50 tons of wood pounded on the sand. I think I can still feel it in my teeth now if I concentrate.

Amazingly we managed to reverse off the sand on the top of a few bigger waves that picked the whole boat up, and get back out to sea. The wind picked up a bit to probably F7 and was on the beam as we went round to Holyhead but the normally frightening rolling of the heavy wooden boat was a pleasure after being on the beach.

it made me realise that it doesn't need to be that windy to get yourself in danger at sea (or on a beach!).

Garold
 
Sailing down to the Falklands in 1982 on a flat bottomed boat in 40ft waves, Not being in the Royal Navy, I did not particularly like it :) I often wondered why they kept on about the roaring 40's I thought it was an era like the roaring 20's, I soon found out it wasn't, how naïve was I. :rolleyes:
 
prv said:
Force 10 in a square-rigged ship crossing Biscay.

The seas were an impressive sight, but never a worry that the ship couldn't take it. Main and fore lower topsails, fore topmast staysail, possibly the inner jib as well, I don't remember. The lower topsail sheets are made of chain, and the canvas is four times thicker than on the lighter sails, so they'll stand almost anything.

The lee side-deck was underwater much of the time, the pantry and mess-room doors to the deck are weatherproof but not fully waterproof, so there was a constant dribble in through them. At one point the bosun and the second officer waded down there to secure some of the pilot boarding gear that was in danger of being washed away - coincidentally the galley crew chose that moment to ditch a load of gash without looking (overboard disposal of non-plastics still allowed off the continental shelf at the time) so as they were up to their waists in water outside, a scuttle suddenly opened and they were pelted with old tin-cans!

Fortunately no real work was needed during the height of the gale, but as it built through F9 the deckhands (of which I was one on that trip) were called up to stow the upper topsails at 2am because it was deemed too dangerous for the voyage crew. The exhilaration you feel on getting back down on deck after stowing a topsail on your own in the dark in a force 9 Atlantic hailstorm is quite something! During the day I also went out on the bowsprit to re-lash the flying jib and outer jib which were coming loose, and managed to slice the back of my leg open on a split-pin. Fortunately the cold meant I couldn't feel it, and didn't notice until I saw the blood on the deck. I then ended up bent over the wardroom table with my trousers round my ankles, holding the first-aid box to stop it sliding away due to the 40° heel, while the captain and a member of voyage crew who happened to be a nurse debated whether I needed stitches. The captain was amused to spot me in the mess in my pants half an hour later, sewing up the rip in my trousers as I didn't deem an 8-inch slash sufficient damage to break out my only spare pair.

Pete
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read this, thought of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfW9znJYjw
 
Some of you buggers must be mad, this is meant to be just a fun hobby! ;)

The one that sticks in my mind is going out of Chichester, probably a force 6 but keen to get out for our weeks holiday. At the bar the waves were mad with waves coming over the top of the boat and being chucked all over the place. Managed to turn her round and get her back in but SWMBO was not amused at all!
 
ricky_s said:
Some of you buggers must be mad, this is meant to be just a fun hobby! ;)
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Ricky, you are so right... my Dad was (and still is) a very keen sailor... this meant that when growing up every holiday, weekend, half term etc etc we would be straight off on some adventure, we covered thousands of miles and I always remember lying in my bunk and hearing the shipping forecast and I knew that if the forecast said anything less that a F8 we would go, anything more and we would say put unless it was F8 and decreasing and we would still be off. I have so many memories of being scared witless, from starting to sink (water above cabin floor) when 40 miles from land in a brand new Moody 419, surfing through the Needles channel in a F10 wind over tide...( not clever and not recommended), picking our way though rocks a few feet away from us around the west coast of Brittany because my dad (hanging off the forestay) couldn't pick up the RDF signals to find out where the hell we were.... anyway I kind of promised myself that I would not put my family through the same horrors...although got to say I did learn a thing or two!
 
Fastnet Race 1979. We were in a 37 foot yacht. No injuries to any of us and no damage to the boat. It was a pretty unpleasant night. We didnt know exactly how windy it was as the wind instrument was stuck on its max of 64 kts for over 9 hours.

Not an experience I wish to repeat!
 
lionelz said:
Sailing down to the Falklands in 1982 on a flat bottomed boat in 40ft waves, Not being in the Royal Navy, I did not particularly like it :) I often wondered why they kept on about the roaring 40's I thought it was an era like the roaring 20's, I soon found out it wasn't, how naïve was I. :rolleyes:
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Some of my room mates went twice in those conditions. When I got to go down there the airport had opened the week before.

I have just read an Ellen McArthur book on her record round the world trip. Some of the stuff she had to endure was horrendous. Although she was on a big Cat she was on her own. These people are to be admired and then locked up for their own safety. ;) I wouldn't dream of setting off knowing that you were gong to run into horrendous conditions at some point. No thanks.
 
Two boats left Penton Hook on the Thames bound for Holland each with a crew of four on board. The idea being to leave one in Holland ready for the owners holiday and all come back on the other. One was a 45 footer built by the owner and the other an Ocean 37. First stop after Teddington was Ramsgate and the weather really deteriorated when we arrived and stayed that way. Calls daily to an increasingly irate weather man at Manston who continually assured us the weather was improving which seemed at odds with the view we had over the harbour wall. After a few days most guys had to head back to work which just left the owner and my Dad on the larger boat and me and the owner on the Ocean 37. Being constrained by time ourselves it was a case of either go for it or leave the boats in Ramsgate. Manston guaranteed it was dropping to a F4 so we left.

By the time we got somewhere close to Dover it was horrendous and we were heading into huge seas. Brian (the owner of the bigger boat) radioed to say we'd take refuge in Dover but having to throttle back due to the conditions we weren't making much headway. Around this time the MF set on the Ocean packed up. Graham (the owner) had had problems with it before and found re-seating the aerial fixed it. I went out on deck but loosening and tightening the whip aerial made no difference so we had no option but to play follow the leader and go where Brian went. Attempts to get into Dover was impossible, and Brian's boat nearly got run down by a ferry intent on going through the gate flat out and worrying about stopping when he got in the harbour. Brian eventually turned out to deep water and not knowing what he had in mind we followed. Certainly neither boat fancied trying to turn about in those seas.

It seemed we were heading for Calais, and what followed was a journey across a relatively short strip of water that took literally hours. Between 5 and 6 if memory serves me well. Mid Channel the troughs were deep enough that sometimes Brian's 45 footer with a fixed wheelhouse topped by two 18ft whip aerials, we lost sight of him completely. On the Ocean 37 visibility from the lower helm position was impossible so Graham and I were on the outside helm and as he only had a tonneau and no canopy we were getting seriously wet and increasingly cold. Not that we really noticed at the time as we were too busy concentrating on keeping it all together.

Somewhere mid channel we lost our steering - it had jammed. Graham was doing the best he could to control the boat and follow Brian just using the throttles. Not wanting to leave the helm Graham asked me to go below to see what I could do. Down below it was a mess, stuff had got thrown everywhere. In the aft cabin I cleared enough to get to the rudders but nothing obvious looked wrong and to be honest the boat movement and the bilge smells were making me feel really ill. I just had to leave it and get some fresh air. It was only as I made my way up the steps into the saloon I saw the problem. A couple of the cupboard doors had flown open and the one nearest the lower helm had jammed itself between the spokes of the wheel. Shutting the door solved the problem and we were back in business.

We eventually made Calais and on the approach with the seas on our stern I grabbed my camera and took a photo of Brian's 45 footer surfing on the way in. I still have it at home somewhere. Safe and secure in Calais' outer harbour we still managed to break two mooring lines overnight but the conditions did change dramatically by the morning which dawned with crystal clear blue skies and perfect sunshine. After a serious tidy up and breakfast we made our way to Vlissingen in conditions that were about as much the opposite to the previous day as was possible. My saturated jacket was aboard Brian's boat wrapped around his hot water tank. By the time we made Vlissingen it was dry but so full of salt it stood up on its own. It got binned.

Apparently it was F9 when we made our crossing and looking back it was an experience I wouldn't want to repeat but in many ways I learned so much way back then. Especially as I was only 13 at the time.
 
Coming back across the Atlantic four days out from Florida heading for Falmouth Uk we found ourselves in five days of intense storms. Winds often peaking over 75 knots, lightning all around. Thank goodness the boat coped extremely well, us not quite so good! Just the two of us onboard. Fortunately we have seen a fair bit of heavy weather before so managed to keep ourselves fed and reasonably rested- mind you sleeping in the pipe cots in soaking oilies is not so much fun by day three. My partner is an excellent sailor, always calm and logical and i have great faith in his abilities. I knew things were bad when I looked up from the galley to see him white knuckled singing hymns at the wheel - never seen it before or since, thank god....
We sat lashed on behind the wheel to keep each other company as day five dawned. The massive lightning storm around us threatening to hit us at any moment and the rain lashing down we kept our spirits up by talking about what we would have to eat when we made landfall (fish and chips and chocolate digestives being favourite). Then we heard a massive bang as the mainsail split on its top section- three reefs in.
That was the final blast of the final storm on the final day! We changed our course and headed for Bermuda. Hearing the radio station calling us as we approached in the still of the night a couple of days later was pure magic. Although we were both fine and so was the boat it was such a joy to hear a strong Devonian voice booming out in the darkness, a moment that stays with me always! We stayed a month in Bermuda resting and repairing the sails, the staysail had also taken a beating. We made great friends on the island and it turned into one of the highlights of our cruises!
 
Up a Cardinal Buoy tower in a hurricane 11 with the third mate of our tender ship, at night, somewhere in the channel, trying to relight the gas lamp. We got onto the buoy from the 20 foot ships motor boat which was launched from davitts. Now that was a long time ago, gas fuelled lights on buoys......
Not mid ocean and not in isolation as our 2000 ton 'mum' was only a couple of hundred yards away, shining her big search lights on us ;-)
 
These tales are fantastic.

A mixture of "Daring Do" and "Bravery"

From my own brief experience of rough seas the thing that still remains with me is how scared I was at the time, it's easy to look back with hind sight as to how it really was but that dry mouth and sweaty palms will stay with me for a very long time.

Also interesting is how well boats are built, I guess the crew tends to fail before the boat.

Great stories, please keep them coming
 
for me last saterday it was it was calm and quiet at the villa ,started taking on fluid then bang. the 6 pints of san miguel and arf a bottle of red , set in when stoke scored the winner .sorry
 
came back from IOW to Weymouth in a f6 this summer on my 40ft flybridge waves coming over the top of the fly never again will I do that sh%t the life out of me and put the wife off boating for life we found it very scary but the boat never faulted or felt like it was struggling once but my wife was in tears as we entered the shelter of Weymouth harbour
 
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lanerboy said:
came back from IOW to Weymouth in a f6 this summer on my 40ft flybridge waves coming over the top of the fly never again will I do that sh%t the life out of me and put the wife of boating for life we found it very scary but the boat never faulted or felt like it was struggling once but my wife was in tears as we entered the shelter of Weymouth harbour
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Amen to that!
 
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