My Latest Misadventures

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Jd1

I can recommend passing close to a channel marker and finding a couple of big rocks as a much more attention grabbing method. It really helps when the boat lurches up too .... and oh yes, doing it on a Sunday afternoon when it's like rush hour in the harbour entrance is perfect for timing !

Sad to say ... been there, done that. On the list of "shocks to the system" it ranks pretty high.

[minaret]

I once had an engine crap out just as I was pulling out of a marina and had to quickly hoist sail to get out of a tight spot in the fairway. We shaved a high dock so closely the many people standing on it could have reached out and grabbed the rigging, though they were standing thirty feet above us. Some very big eyes on that dock as we came within an inch or two of hitting it with the rig, also some very fast moving and angry fishermen. My buddy who is good crew saved me, as everyone else just stood and looked aghast when the engine died and I hollered "hoist the jib" as I scrambled for the main.

[hummingway]

It all comes out in the wash I figure. Sometimes we're the entertainment and sometimes the entertained.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by hummingway

It all comes out in the wash I figure. Sometimes we're the entertainment and sometimes the entertained.

That's for sure! My last slip which I had for a year and a half was directly across from the fuel docks. Drinks in the cockpit were great, as hilarious hi jinks were almost guaranteed!

[gjordan]

Humminway, Excelent seamanship!!!. Dead engine with no wind, Number 1 get an anchor ready ,Number 2 tie dink along side and fire it up to get you out of danger or (if enough fuel) to your nearest port. You did the right things and there is nothing to be embarrased about( except maybe the pillow thing). It is a technique that should be taught in all sailing schools. GOOD ON YOU________Grant.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by gjordan

Humminway, Excelent seamanship!!!. Dead engine with no wind, Number 1 get an anchor ready ,Number 2 tie dink along side and fire it up to get you out of danger or (if enough fuel) to your nearest port. You did the right things and there is nothing to be embarrased about( except maybe the pillow thing). It is a technique that should be taught in all sailing schools. GOOD ON YOU________Grant.

Thanks Grant. Kind words. I have to say I was really proud of the way my son managed the helm.

[bobconnie]

AHHH You guy's are just making us homesick !!!! We miss the PNW so much!! Our new to us boat will be great when we get back there in a couple of years !! From Seattle up is some of our favorite places to slowly cruise from anchorage to anchorage one day at a time !! new views every evening! oysters, clams, salmon, halibut, even shrimp if ya know how!! LOL of course the sea food is not the ONLY reason we love it up there !LOL The folks seem to be just a little more inviting up north !! well thats what we think LOL O well we will see yall in a couple of years and will have some of our private stock Rum from our last trip to Jamaica !! and some Special Takillya from a hiddin distillery in Can Coon LOL ( dark aged in oak) Have fun we always do !!

[cburger]

Great story about the otter.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

AHHH You guy's are just making us homesick !!!! We miss the PNW so much!! Our new to us boat will be great when we get back there in a couple of years !! From Seattle up is some of our favorite places to slowly cruise from anchorage to anchorage one day at a time !! new views every evening! oysters, clams, salmon, halibut, even shrimp if ya know how!! LOL of course the sea food is not the ONLY reason we love it up there !LOL The folks seem to be just a little more inviting up north !! well thats what we think LOL O well we will see yall in a couple of years and will have some of our private stock Rum from our last trip to Jamaica !! and some Special Takillya from a hiddin distillery in Can Coon LOL ( dark aged in oak) Have fun we always do !!

I love old tequila! While the weather isn't its best feature the PNW does provide for some great anchoring opportunities, just don't forget your woolies and foulies!

[bobconnie]

Got all that stuff in our sea bags LOL along with a wood stove in the saloon!! LOL We are always ready for COOL weather altho we never see any of that down here LOL

[Ex-Calif]

Great sailing story. Thanks for sharing!

[gjordan]

My best/worst misadventure was during a delivery from Morro Bay to San Francisco. I sailed into Monterey with a dead engine and had to leave the boat there on a side tie until the next weekend. Got the engine problem sorted out(thats another story) and was ready to leave the dock. My crew cast off the bow line and I cast of the stern line. I didnt make ten feet before a big gust hit us just off of the bow. I knew we were out of control almost immediatly. There was a restaurant on the other side of this narrow channel and I was headed for it. I threw it in full reverse and with the engine roaring and black smoke pouring out of the exhaust, and me watching behind to make sure I didnt run it into the dock, we did an uncontrolled 180 degree turn. I managed to motor out of the harbor, and head north. My crew came back to the cockpit with eyes as big as saucers and said DID YOU HEAR ALL THE SCREAMING. I hadnt heard a thing over the engine. She said that the bowsprit was headed towards the plate glass windows of the restaurant and that people were diving away from the windows and screaming, and that she could hear the sound of glass breaking inside. OH SH#@. I spent the next hour with channel 16 on dreading a call from the Coast Guard to return to harbor. Nothing ever came of it, but it took me half way to SF to get my heart rate back to normal. I will bet that there are people that still tell how that crazy guy in the boat tried to kill them when they were eating dinner. God I love sailing._____Grant.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by hummingway

I love old tequila! While the weather isn't its best feature the PNW does provide for some great anchoring opportunities, just don't forget your woolies and foulies!

Have you tried del Maguey? Small batches only from small villages at different altitudes, it is true Mescal made in the worlds oldest still. The Spaniards brought it over from China in the 17th century, and it was ancient then. Tony Bourdain had it in one of his episodes. It's like no other liquor I the world. You can order a bottle online, but it ain't cheap. If you develop a taste for it you are screwed, as there are a number of varietals all made in the same still.

[shorebird]

Ah yes, the adventures and misadventures of sailing. While you were shooing otters off your boat, we were nearby, at Secret Cove on the Sunshine Coast. In the middle of the night, after hearing pitter patter in the cockpit, I looked out the window smack into the face of a juvenile racoon, whose face was not six inches from my own. It jumped, I jumped, its mom and the rest of the critters beat a hasty retreat. Not long after, attempting to anchor at the same cove, my remote for the windlass failed. After finally setting the anchor by hand, and with much fanfare and yelling, er, speaking loudly, to my wife, we got the anchor set to close to another boat, so more yelling, gyrations, and hauling a 20 lbs bruce with 100' of chain off the bottom, it became obvious to all boaters in the marina, the couple attempting to anchor were, well... not REALLY HIGHLY experienced... now as it turns out, we later discovered a cockpit switch which we had previously pondered its intention and use turned out to be, well, a windlass switch,y'know, in case the remote failed. "We have seen the enemy, and they is us."

[bobconnie]

The still in this place is a 100 yrs newer LOL and then they age it 5 yrs in oak barrels from kentucky ! They say it's Mens Takillya, women should not touch it LOL !! Connie hates it she has her own, the Womens stuff its almost blue! O well thats another story !! ( like the time I took the ell off the fuel dock in Sitka, with an Atlas 6 cyl LOL)