What are your worst fear sailing events

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

No wind, flat seas, a willing partner, and running out of viagra.

Running out of Viagra. HA

Not a big deal if one is a single hander!....or maybe it could be. hmmmm


Fear?.....MOB and lost at sea would be a bad event.....treading water as the large pelagic sharks slowly get closer and closer and closer....cue Jaws music....

Decision time as panic sets it, knowing you will soon be torn to pieces in a frenzy of feeding, painfully ripped apart as you watch your body parts being devoured as you are being eaten alive...........BIG shudder......

What to do, what to do as the pelagics draw nearer and nearer.......another BIG shudder......end jaws music.

Nah, actually I think running out of Viagra would be worse.

[SaltyMetals]

I think you worry too much. Sure we all need to be well prepared when sailing and calmly face challenging events if they happen, but relax. enjoy yr sailing instead of terrorising yrself with the unlikely.
Andrew

[Jackz]

I used to worry about things like that until I had a late night conversation with an old salt who told me to worry about that kind of thing while you're on the dock or the hook, prepare yourself and the boat. As soon as you cast off leave the worries behind.

[charris]

Getting T Boned by some idiot driver on the freeway while I'm heading to the marina...

[grantmc]

My worst fear is someone falling off the boat and not being able to find them and so having to face their family and explain why it happened. So I mitigate by insisting on life jackets on deck and tethers during night time, ensure everyone understands where hand holds are and the need to stay seated at all times (so boom misses their head).

All scenarios suggested by Op and others can be mitigated with good maintenance and preconsidedred options, and a good lockout.

But as Charris suggests, crashing the car on the way to the marina is far more likely.

And I take great pleasure in watching the water flowing freely through the toilet.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Docking

SNIP

Me too, hate docking and I have a cat with twin screws amidships I can crab crawl with.

[Hudson Force]

We had two small fires on board,...'stayed small because we caught them quickly.

We lost power while motoring next to rocks in wind and current.

We had two occasions of taking on water above the floor boards.

We lost hydraulic steering and had to maneuver to a dock with one of us steering below
decks with an emergency tiller.

We lost our anchor and drifted out the Cape Fear River at night with remnants of the rode wrapped on our prop.

We were blown aground onto a lee shore in the Florida Keys during a tropical wave.

We were knocked down by surprising winds and sudden water spouts on Grand Bahama Bank that left us with tattered sails.

These events were spread out over 45 years of cruising,- 'sometimes anxious, but no real fear. We were always comfortable with the risk of losing possessions and never felt a risk of life.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

If you are afraid of sailing, why are you doing it?

I don't think sailing was the Question.
It's a what is your most revelant fear?

One for me is losing engine while in a heavy current area.
Say, transiting Deception Pass, loss of engine in the middle.
Rock walls both sides, little room, none for turning.
Ughhh!

[StoneCrab]

Pirates with guns

[CassidyNZ]

No.1 - a broken limb which no matter how well splinted is going to be hell for the rest of the trip.

No. 2 - 🔥 because it means you could soon be swimming or dead.

No.3 - falling overboard and watching the boat sail away.

I’ve discovered that fear is a highly perishable emotion. When something scares you, the fear will only last until you understand the outcome then it goes away. Example: if you are caught in a very bad storm, the fear only last until you set about dealing with it.

But when something happens (like examples above) where the outcome obviates the ability to deal with it, fear remains.

Consequently my focus when at sea is unerringly on those three eventualities and in that order since likelihood is relative.

[Group9]

Nothing, really. If sailing scared me, I wouldn't do it. That's why I don't mountain climb, or sky dive, because that would scare me.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

No.3 - falling overboard and watching the boat sail away.

I go with this one. I suspect I'd be regretting my stupidity - for a while at least.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by MccNeo

The events I believe I fear most (in order) are:
1. Death / very severe injury (e.g. broken back, heart attack, stroke, etc.)
2. Sinking (due to collision, fire, grounding, broken hull penetration, swamping, etc,
3. Severe fire
4. Loss of keel
5. Dismasting
6. Loss of rudder

Some of the above, I can foresee how I likely would respond, some not. Some may have legal implications that must be addressed (reporting death, severe injury, environmental impacts, reporting maritime event of high $$$$ consequence).

I realize many events may be exacerbated by multiple failures/weather/ events. These situations compound the confusion and certainly complicate the event response.

I have had two of the above event under conditions that were in reality pretty mundane / under perfect conditions with no complications.

I have been
1. Dismasted
2. Lost of steering under sail due to cable failure inside the binnacle (rudder remained attached).

Numbers 4 and 6 are no concern with internal ballast and rudder shoe.

My biggest fear are those things that can't be managed i.e. I need surgery that I have to perform on myself due to inaccessibility. I admit being eaten alive also doesn't appeal to me but through preventative measures can be managed.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[JPA Cate]

The possible event that haunts me is being on a passage, and waking up late for my watch, realizing Jim did not wake me on time, suiting up, and not finding Jim above or below decks. It is in the wee hours of the morning, and no idea where along our track he might be.

Plan is to turn the boat around and commence back along our route. It will take a while to get reefed down, or if necessary, furl, and take down, check for lines in the water, and get the engine going. Our course was in the deck log, so easy to find the reciprocal.

Knowing this is probably a hopeless errand would make it very emotional, AND, gotta be done.

Once started, it's least likely to find a body right away (he'd have got me up on time, as is our practice), so that's when I'd get on the ham radio and broadcast about the MOB., and note in ships log (a legal document, which will be checked by the authorities) when search commenced, to whom I spoke via radio, etc. The ham who took my mayday call would be asked to inform the authorities (Customs and MARSA) because my arrival would be delayed, and they might send out a search plane when it became light.

After that, I would proceed back to our last recorded position, and I would be looking, looking, looking. I would check in on the morning ham net that we participate in, and keep them informed. I would tell them what was going on, and I'd be playing it by ear. That would depend a lot on weather and what was the closest land. I'd have to make up the rest of my life as I went.

We're talking here about nightmare fantasies, and I'm betting the intent for the thread wasn't sharing fears, but sharing plans to cope with the fears.

*******

Rudder loss: Chuck Hawley sailed a keel-less boat back to HI in an extraordinary feat of seamanship. I'm sure we could find materials aboard to make up a makeshift rudder. We carry stuff for steering cables. We'd try to sail a keel-less boat too, don't know if it'd be a feat or a disaster!

Fire. Fire blanket for stove, fire extinguishers in all cabins.

Already wrote about dismasting.

Sinking, mostly a lack of maintenance issue, or contact with something that rips a hole in the boat. Certainly could leave us drowning, but might be able to survive.

Fire is possibly the best excuse for carrying a life raft.

Sailing in really cold water, possibly might want survival suits aboard.

I think death is probably the top of my list, and serious injury close behind. I'm not a singlehander. There are challenges with both, and there are some laws to be followed. And, a lot of paper work. Having instructions in your will that coincide with what you have asked your partner to do for you should help with some of the hurdles. If death occurs at sea, each of us want our body to go over the side. This is a practical choice, but requires documentation, including how you checked that so and so is really dead before ditching the body, and the lat/lon for where it occurred. When you're out there, you can't carry the body for days. However, you might be instructed to keep it aboard, and the authorities would come to you and remove it.

All of it is easier if you are just coastal. You can use the mobile phone for a lot of what needs to be done, including medical advice. You can arrange for an ambulance; and the time blocks would be shorter, easier to handle physically....

I would respectfully suggest that we just face our fears, and take the actions to deal with the causes in the most practical way, and not worry ourselves about them. Maintain the boat well, address your concerns, and enjoy your sailing. ...and quit if it stops being fun.

Ann

[Montanan]

Unexpected arrival of guests.
https://media.giphy.com/media/eNphYH5FiKYQE/giphy.gif

Fear is just an emotion; get over it! Me.

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott

It’s okay to be a little afraid, it just means you’re about to learn something. Thibaut

We suffer more in imagination than in reality. Seneca

Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind. Dale Carnegie

The beautiful thing about fear is, when you run to it, it runs away. Robin Sharma

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less. Marie Curie

What the mind doesn’t understand, it worships or fears. Alice Walker

There is no illusion greater than fear. Lao Tzu

Your choices define you. Don’t let fear be your definition. Tom Bilyeu

Fear has a large shadow, but he himself is small. Ruth Gendler

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Babe Ruth

Of all the hazards, fear is the worst. Sam Snead (Professional golfer)

I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. My hopes indeed sometimes fail, but not oftener than the forebodings of the gloomy. Thomas Jefferson

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Franklin D. Roosevelt

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt