First Knock Down!

[nosinglesource]

Well, at least we got it over with sooner rather than later. Lessons learned? Using a tiller is counterintuitive and will take some getting used to. Also...don't "learn" with guests on the boat (my Dad and his wife). They were very good sports about it and said they'd not had so much excitement in a long time, but still...

(Cindi)

[capn_billl]

You never forget your first.

[zeehag]

come on--please tell the story and let us know how much fun ye had--sorry ye had a knockdown--but gload ye have learned about them..i am still only just close--i hope it remains that way... always reef when yer lil inner instinct says REEEEFFFFF!!!!!
welcome to cf

[nosinglesource]

No, we'll certainly NOT be forgetting it! lol I'll let Matt tell the story, as he was in charge that day, but I'll say this...it wouldn't have been quite as exciting for me as it was, if I'd remembered that we weren't going to sink as a result! And also: baklava doesn't like being wet.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by nosinglesource

Well, at least we got it over with sooner rather than later. Lessons learned? Using a tiller is counterintuitive and will take some getting used to. Also...don't "learn" with guests on the boat (my Dad and his wife). They were very good sports about it and said they'd not had so much excitement in a long time, but still...

(Cindi)

That happened to me the first time i was on a sailboat. Long story but the boat was leaking and it went over the opposite side of where it should have and i landed in the water with the sail on top of me, which terrified me until I realized I could raise the sail off the water and get air with one finger ...

and I sailed again. Some will after something like that and some won't. We fixed the leak (we'd just bought the boat) and kept on sailing. But yah, it's pretty scary.

[nosinglesource]

We'll have to do some drills, I think, to avoid having what happened to me, happen again - where SHTF and stuff that I knew flies right out of my head. There's a reason we drilled and practiced so much in the military, eh? lol

All's well that ended well though..nobody was hurt and nothing was broken. Even us being soaked was likely more due to the rain/hail we experienced immediately prior than anything. It was beautiful and sunny as we motored back in to our slip. Of course! haha So we sat and ate some cake, bid my Dad & his wife a safe trip home (in their nice dry car and then motored back out to a nearby mooring to relax. As well as being our first knockdown, that was also the first time we'd ever hoisted the main. We'll be giving it another shot the next time we get out there!

[rtbates]

In a knock down the fastest way to recovery is usually to release the mainsheet AND the tiller. The hull really wants to point into the wind. All it needs it less pressure on the sail from the wind.

Biggest lesson should concern the rain /hail that came right before the wind. I bet in retrospect you saw it coming but just didn't realize it at the time..

You sound like you have the right attitude... some of the best lessons in my 30+ years of sailing have been 'the hard way'. Usually only takes one ans they tend to stick..

happy sailing

[nosinglesource]

(M writing) So we got back out again! It took a little courage to raise that mainsail again but, with a full understanding of what went wrong last time, a week's worth of dedicated reading of 'Sailpower', and a deep breath, we hoisted and got under way. With much trepidation we eased into our first bonafide sail and survived to tell the tale! We felt the wind actually moving us, fiddled with a bit of trim, and tacked successfully a couple of times (we're sailors now baby! lol) However with a few left over butterlfies in the belly as I was not comfy running, on top of the winds being a bit gusty, and the 'training' area on that portion of the river being a bit small, I decided we should douse and motor down a ways so we could get a longer upwind run. Also noticed the wind picking up more so we decided to...drumroll please..REEF! Booyashaka! Learning from experience is a good thing.
Had a nice little time after that, tacking and even running a bit now that we were a bit more comfy with less sail up. All and all a fantastic day! That knockdown was a lovely gift that brought a healthy dose of caution to our learning (with a nifty side of wheee!)
I won't bore you with what I did wrong that first day; you only need to read a 'learn to sail' book, then note the opposite of everything written and you'll pretty much have the gist. Thanks, and a bit more wine, went to Poseidon (and whatever other aquatic deities live down there) that all went well in our first harrowing brush with death on that fateful outing.

Now...to find a way to sail everyday....

[hummingway]

Thanks for sharing your story and the good chuckle. Nice that it worked out so well.

[zeehag]

awesome work!!

[nosinglesource]

Thanks for the support!

[Wattsailing]

So knock downs happen to other ppl as well cool, my family and I where out in the southern ocean off the western AUstralian coast we where out there with our new sailing instructor onboard we had never sailed in the ocean before or at night so this was to be all very new to us, an over night sail back at the dock by 9 ,short story three knock downs in 47 to 50 plus wind and 7 to 8 meter sea and three days and nights later we arrived back. The instructor said he would,t charge for the heavy weather training lol
Peter

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by Wattsailing

So knock downs happen to other ppl as well cool, my family and I where out in the southern ocean off the western AUstralian coast we where out there with our new sailing instructor onboard we had never sailed in the ocean before or at night so this was to be all very new to us, an over night sail back at the dock by 9 ,short story three knock downs in 47 to 50 plus wind and 7 to 8 meter sea and three days and nights later we arrived back. The instructor said he would,t charge for the heavy weather training lol
Peter

They just went for a 3 hour tour.

[SkiprJohn]

I remember my first time in a capsize. Had 3 others aboard and it was embarrassing. Just jibed in a bit of a gust and someone was standing on the mainsheet and the boom couldn't get the mainsail out fast enough. That's all it took in a Rebel 16. Everyone went for a swim.
kind regards,

[carstenb]

About knock-downs. I convinced my wife we should buy a sailboat, which we did and sailing it back home (in early March in Denmark - slush ice in the harbor) I raised the spinnaker and a few minutes later got knocked down when at strong gust pushed us right over.

So - wife never got near a boat again - right? Wrong - she an avid sailor and has her Yachtmaster Offshore certificate. We've had another knockdown since then (squall came out of nowhere) but now we know what to look for in the weather patterns