Craziest things and objects encountered on the water

[MamaKube]

Similar to Ken Z... we saw two kayakers off the coast of Croatia in the early morning. Knew they had been out all night. They hailed us over, and we were a bit concerned about their safety and ours. Turns out they were requesting a weather report. 😳

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Djarraluda

Viking longboat in English Channel...

You mean like this:

Saw that one on the St. Lawrence just downriver from Sorel.

The freakiest such encounter was on the Hudson. You don't have to go too far North of NYC before it becomes almost primitive looking, with the Palisades on one side and just trees visible on the other. Out of the mist came a wooden sailing ship, no lights, no name, no sign of any technology newer than the 1500's.

For a moment I seriously wondered if I'd been transported back in time! The juxtaposition after transiting past Manhattan was striking.

It turned out the be a replica of Henry Hudson's "Half Moon" giving tours. But for just a second there it was genuinely spooky.

[siamese]

Back in the eighties, eight miles out in Lake Michigan sailing from Whitehall to Pentwater, with a friend on my Grampian 26. Yeah, it can get boring out there, and we were talking about what scared us. I said I don't like heights or spiders. Nothing severe, but enough to avoid climbing the mast until absolutely necessary. And in Michigan, if you really fear spiders, forget about even setting foot on a boat.

My friend thought about it, and declared that there is nothing he's frightened of. Really, are you sure?....nothing? Nothing.

Within the hour, on a sunny afternoon, a bat flew to the boat, circled it a couple times, and landed on our mainsail, clinging to one of the reefing lines on the sail. Having secured a good grip on the line, he hung upside down, and wrapped his wings around his little bat body and started taking a snooze.

My fearless friend totally lost it. I was embarrassed for him as he screamed like a little girl and begged me to get the bat of the sail. I wasn't about to disturb the bat, and my friend was too frightened to do anything to dislodge the bat.

The bat must have found himself far from home, got tired, and our boat was the only place where he could rest and regain his strength. After a couple hours, he finally woke up, stretched his wings, and flew toward shore.

Oh, and then there was this squid, and a whale, having a fight with a UFO while being towed by a navy destroyer.

[Hartleyg]

Heading down Chesapeake Bay in the fall of 2016, picked up a target 5 miles behind, closing at 26 knots! After some discussion on the radio, this is what went zooming by..

Hartley
S/V Atsa

[SFS]

The Zumwalt? Commanded by captain James Kirk.

[Cormorant]

I thought those things weren't supposed to show up on radar?

[Hartleyg]

Well, I didn't have the radar on, but the AIS beacon she had was working...

Had some overhead accompaniment as well:

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Hartleyg

Well, I didn't have the radar on, but the AIS beacon she had was working...

Had some overhead accompaniment as well:

Where did you get that picture?
It sort of looks like an F-22,but I thought all its weapons were internal?

[a64pilot]

Never mind it’s an F-35,but where did you see it?

[puffcard]

First, in the 80's. Middle of the Atlantic, motoring dead clam found an overturned racing tri. Later found out all saved. Flipped in a double hander race from France to Bermuda and back nonstop. Only French go to Bermuda and not stop.

Another. Racing to Newport, 50 miles off Montauk Pt, daybreak in a dead clam a 27ft Great White swam up to the boat and went under between the keel and rudder. Had a 6ft wheel on the boat and the shark was bigger around than the wheel.

The most dangerous, in the Chesapeake Bay, found this 4ft by 10ft by 5ft steel box floating just below the surface. It was a fuel tank, full, with the sharpest corners you'll ever seen. Tried to tow it, with my 18ft fishing cat. Wouldn't move. Tied a white fender to it and called the USCG and Army Corps of Eng.

[Hartleyg]

A64Pilot, it was doing passes over the DDG-1000, along with this more ordinary fellow:



My theory is that these two were involved with the Commissioning shindig the Zumwalt had just participated in - but I really don't know. There was a C-130 buzzing around as well, but I KNOW what he was doing because I saw the official Navy pictures they were taking from it

Hartley

[cyan]

Late 80's, Bahamas. West of Nassau, trying to make Morgan's Bluff with only sails but fighting a stubborn Northerly and a bit too far south and a bit late in the day. Ken starts screaming from the fore deck. Couldn't understand him as he was pointing to the starboard sky. Mind you, Ken was always full of funny nonsense which may have been drug-induced. Not sure.

Ken kept shouting and never let his arm drop, as if conducting a MOB drill. Following his arm, we eventually saw what looked like a big log drop onto its side from the heavens, right into the windward sea with a big splash, maybe 100 meters away. Whale? No. I didn't see anything ABOVE the splash, until we were buzzed by a really low helicopter a few seconds after the splash. Some guy's legs were hanging out of the chopper.

We kept sailing away as we were buzzed a couple more times, low and aggressive. I was guessing that it was some sort of rocket booster that splashed down, until Ken came back to the cockpit and told his story. He swore that he saw that "big log" shoot vertically right out of the sea, achieving a parabolic peak of at least two hundred feet. Maybe it was a sub-launched missile test, but there was no thrust. (?) It seemed far too skinny and long for that. Dunno. For weeks afterward, Ken had this weird expression when looking out at the horizon, as if someone was going to shoot another "big log" at us.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Sounds like a huge seiche Val. There must have been some serious weather on the other side of the lake. All the Great Lakes have these things, although Lake Erie is particularly sensitive due to its shallowness.

One night I was sitting in my borrowed Mirage 26 up a river on Lake Superior. A massive thunder storm system was raging far in the distance. Suddenly I feel the keel land on the bottom, and then the boat fell over. Luckily it fell towards the dock. I hopped out and we were high and dry. Wish I had got pics...

Yep. We were familiar with them but usually 6-12". This one was a good 8 feet.

Lots of monohulls fell over and lots of cleats torn out as they never expected that kind of drop.

[K_V_B]

Weirdest thing I encountered on the water: A section of the "Piet Hein Tunnel".

When that tunnel was built the tunnel construction yard in Barendrecht was already busy with another tunnel, so it was contracted out to a yard in Antwerpen. The sections were towed to Amsterdam via the North Sea.
It was a weird sight. As most of the structure floated more or less just below the surface, with two towers, one at each end, aiding in seeing where it really was.

[rhubstuff]

In 1974, forty+ miles out of Morehead City, NC, headed for Charleston, we spotted a white/orange striped parachute with a rocket suspended below it. Went to investigate--the chute was about 20+ feet in diameter and the rocket maybe 6-8 feet long and 6-8 inches in diameter. I reported it to CG Morehead City and continued on. Never heard what it was. Any ideas anyone?