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beneteau-500 · 25-04-2011, 04:45

after yrs of sailing in the med ie Greece i have never experienced wind weather and sea conditions of last week from 17th to 21st of april before and yes i am use to the meltime but this was not hot winds from the north as many who sail the area would know we left Zea marina ( me and 13 yr old daughter ) with a quick shake down sail to ageania and sailed in fairly light winds of only 15 to 18 knts and as marina was full we sailed another 16 nm to the south end of agistri Island to a little bay called limmera great anchoring in all weather by late evening wind was up to 23 to 28 n,ne direction next day head of and checked weather forecast on windfinder .com of which i have found reliable source of info but just after passing the southern tip of ageana the wind picked up to gusting from 27 to 33 decided with daughter onboard not to make the long run to syros but to head to suonion for the night and anchored right in front of chaple as per greek waters guide never moved an inch but was buffeted about with winds hitting 28 during the night,

by 6am next morning winds had died down so we set of with full set of sails up in good 22 knt wind and slight sea but all hell broke loose by the time we reached kea the seas started to get choppy with a wave height of 3m plus and not a prob for my yacht but then with in passing kea all hell broke loose the sea just changed the waves where close set and it became hard to pic which way they where running and by this time wind went from gusting to 28 to just a sheer blow of 46knts and at this point i had to make a decision head back into kea or continue to finakas harbour on syros ,

decided the later not long after making this decision we where hit from a wave from know where the bow dissappeared under the sea and port side just rolled under the water and my daughter dissappered ( safety line attached ) and for me the next 2mins which seemed an eternity i was wondering where i was and was spitting out half the med i had swallowed and at this point in all my life i was so scared of which never happened before.

then two minutes later of which we had seen a boat some miles of Greek navy called me to ask if ok i replied yes yacht all ok he replied he cant understand how we did no capsize or sink he said the wave just picked us up and dumped us some three hrs later reached finakas just behind a brand new jenneau 58 with all its rigging busted spreaders just sheared of the mast in pieces.

would i trade in my 21 yr old beneteau not on your Nelly she has shown me what she can do and after 21 yrs she still has origanal rigging and a slighty shreaded main sail ,

my daughter said next day after arriving can we do that again i checked forecast and said NO its blowing f8 lets go see the sites of syros instead

**Hud3** · 25-04-2011, 05:01

Wow, some story! Your daughter is like mine. When she was a teenager, she'd sail with me in any kind of weather, including hiked out on our Hobie 16 in 25 knots on a screaming beam reach. No fear cells!