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cathyoz · 01-04-2008, 13:38

run aground on a big catamaram
stack for few days between Brisbane and South Port
and the only think stopping us to be towed out was the rudders......
the guys even used to plate or pot trying to dig a chanel for the rudders..( still got pictures !!)
helicopter where overing above us , to come and report for the news for 3 or 4 days..
it was a famous catamaran 'eye wistess new " ...sponshort by chanel 10 TV
and Rob Mundle ( the skipper ) telling me to "behave " and wear "my top ".. this was the mid 80' and topless was a no -no in Qld ..
but i just arrived from France , and I did not have a "top" anyway in the beach of Nice where i teach windsurfing.
what was all the fuss about ?? we where coming back from the Fun race in Airlie ,an the girls are topless there >> it is not so ???

lesson learn

great to have a cat , but with kitting out rudder , a must !!!

did not bother me much to be stuck , i had my future husband onbaord and was " in love"...

cathyoz · 01-04-2008, 13:57

listen to your gust feeling
to my experienced on a sailing boat.

it something is hard to pull , something must be stuck , and find it , or else it break.
and when in route , if you are confused with direction,marks ..stop ( if you can )and think , an process only until you are shorted out and precised.

if it is night , aboard the landing , wait for day litgh..
but really , our gust feeling is our best friend..
we should listen to it ..
and do not rely on electronic too much..
learn to read and observe weather and seas around you ..

it seams more people have they nose in the computer than out there..

Morgan Paul · 01-04-2008, 14:27

WOW!! Cathy you are on a roll. Keep posting, I love your posts

.

Paul

cathyoz · 01-04-2008, 14:57

great to have a cat , but with kitting out rudder ,
-----------------------------------------------------

sorry , my dislexsia again
i mean kicking rudders
or lift up rudders...

of a catamaran ..

**GordMay** · 17-04-2008, 03:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathyoz

grounding a zodiac..
how to nearly lose a big zodiac on a paradise beach..

... " i pull up the zodiac as far as i can on the beach ( not far !) and off i go exploring....
but when i came back , just like 30 minutes later ( i think)
the waves where filling up the zodiac and the tide coming up fast over the transom, and filling the zodiac with sand too !!!!!!!!!
i could not move the thing...
but i learn my lesson ..

I am easily confused.
I have to wonder why the Zodiac didn’t float on the rising tide?
I also have to wonder what lesson you learned?

senormechanico · 17-04-2008, 12:31

Gord,
A steep beach with rising tide with wind onshore will do it.

Steve B.

Bear Essentials · 18-04-2008, 10:47

A problem befell us between Chubb and Cat Cay, heading back to Miami. We were cruising along on plane with heavy rain closing in on starboard side. It was late afternoon and we were optimistically thinking that we could possibly make Miami that night.

All of a sudden the port engine lost about 2/3s power. We dropped from about 18 knots to six very quickly and began to skew as the starboard engine continued to run at full power. I pulled back on both throttles and put them in idle. After a bit, I ran them up again, with no real power to speak of on the port engine at all.

I asked my wife to hold a steady course after bringing the starboard engine down to synchronize with the port. All she had to do was keep it pointed generally due west.

The combination of the late afternoon and gathering storm made things pretty dark, so I grabbed a flashlight and lifted the floor plates covering the engine room. Yup, the port RACOR looked pretty foul and the starboard didn’t look all that healthy either.

Went back to the flybridge and gave my wife the bad news, we would have to (hopefully) limp into Cat Cay and pray that the motors didn’t die on the way there. By this time a pretty good squall line was on us which just added to our misery.

Four hours later, the story ended. We successfully docked at Cat Cay and we were able to switch out both RACORs the next morning. The subsequent return to Miami was uneventful.

I’m sure most of you are thinking “Why didn’t the clown just go below and change the RACORs while out at sea?” Simple – at 6’4” I couldn’t fit in between the engine and the forward wall where the RACOR was mounted. Especially with the engines being hot from running all day.

My wife, Lord Love Her, is very, very mechanically inclined and a lot smaller. The next day, after the engines had cooled down, got into the engine room and replaced the filters, allowing us to get under way.

We now have a new boat and one of the first things I looked at when first looking her over was the placement of the RACORs. They are mounted in a wide open space and, immediately after running her from Tampa to Miami, installed a duplicate set of RACORs. Now if one shuts down due to sludge in the fuel, I simply throw a lever and we can at least get to the closest port, even with bad fuel.

BTW – it was bad fuel that killed us out there that night. I checked the glass in both filters that morning before starting out and they were both clear. When my wife cracked the offending filter open at Cat Cay, there was so much sludge in it that it took almost a gallon of clean fuel to wash it all out.

cathyoz · 18-04-2008, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordMay

I am easily confused.
I have to wonder why the Zodiac didn’t float on the rising tide?
I also have to wonder what lesson you learned?

it was a big zodiac and a big heavy engine, and the tides come with waves up the beach , not just gently !!!
so the waves bounce in the transon and fill up the zodiac,you will be surprised how fast that happen, we have strong tides here , up to 6 meters sometimes..
well i learn that i should have anchor the zodiac indeed of just pulling up the beach, and not to take alone a big zodiac like that if i can not pull it alone ashore proprely.

**GordMay** · 25-04-2008, 04:18

Thanks Cathyoz, I suspected as much ...

Robertcateran · 25-04-2008, 06:29

I was sailing at night , going from Port Moresby towards Yule island, and my dead reckoning was about 10 miles less than real. I saw what I thought was the navigation beacons on top of an island. I didn't check the timing, and found the water getting very skinny. The tide dropped and I had to wait for the next high. In the morning the village kids were having a giggle.
Lesson learnt ass u me and time the beacons,
Robert

Slangevar48 · 03-05-2008, 23:06

My first overnighter in my new cruiser was a disaster! Lake Erie, just my Lady friend and me, her second time out onboard. The perfect afternoon, light winds (for her)clam seas, 78-80 degrees until 10 pm, beautiful sunset! A quiet and serene monday afternoon and evening, warm water,3 miles out, good food and plenty of beverages and a clear forecast for the day and overnight- absolutely perfect! In the bunk by midnight- then it hit! some freakish storm gradually blew in at 3:30, increasing in intensity until by 4:30 the boom was rocking so hard back and forth it broke loose from the traveler. Still a bit intoxicated I got up and found the loose parts and fixed it, then realised we were dragging anchors and the waves had climbed to 3-4 ft peaks and the winds must have increased from dead calm earlier to 15-20 kts. I figured we'd better get the hell to the harbor and into a safer situation- easier said than done. Not ever had a situation this extreme in my experience- I was scared, my lady having no experience at this at all was near panic! I needed her to try and keep us into the wind and waves using our little 7hp outboard and head up and take the tension off the anchor line so I could haul it in. Between the increasing winds, white capped waves and spray, nausea and the motor dipping in and out of the water and cavitating so forward progress was impossible. I was lashed myself to the mast, straining to get the 2 anchor lines (300 ft of line) in as the bow dipped and pitched into the crests, my arms cramping with charlie horses trying to get the anchors in. Finally got them in, almost fell overboard and stubbed my toe on a cleat, blood flowing all over the deck, Cindy is totally panicked and crying screaming. I hauled up the mainsail to the first reef point and took the tiller and we were making progress at last! I sat cindy down next to me to calm her (and besides I needed more rail meat) and she got a grip again. we sailed and things were feeling under control. I hauled the main all the way up and we had a beautiful exhilarating morning ride for another 2 hours. then as we were nearing the narrow entrance to the harbor I had to drop the main and get the motor running- but before that was accomplished, cindy lost control and we jibed, snapping 5 of the slides out of the sail- that was quite a jolt and I'm luck not to have snapped the stick! I thought Cindy would refuse to ride on the boat again after this fiasco, but to my surprise she quickly got over the trauma- and by the time we had docked and started unloading gear, she was saying how it all wasn't so bad and she'd be ready for the next adventure- wiser and more confident. What I learned: Train and drill your crew in emergency assist procedures to have them ready and confident in their abilities to the task, check the weather again before going to bed-and wear deck shoes! safety first.

Marsh · 18-05-2008, 08:41

This is my worst one. I wish it were the only one but it is definitely not.

We were racing on the Chesapeake in a 33 footer. Our captain was someone who later said that she had only sailed in Long Island Sound and had no idea that freighters moved so fast.

We were crossing the bay under spinnaker and saw a freighter coming south from Baltimore. As usual it didn't look as though it was moving fast but of course was actually going at tremendous speed compared to a 33 foot sailboat. Several of the crew including me said, said, "no you can't beat a freighter, steer behind". Our captain said no problem, we will be well ahead of it.

As the freighter drew near, the depth marks on the bow became huge. I went to the bow to take the spinnaker because the air mass (and water mass) ahead of the freighter had taken all our wind and we were left sitting there. I grabbed a shroud and held on as the bow came toward us. The freighter hit the sailboat midship and the boat heeled way over and then righted with the end of the boom (vanged on the freighter side) running down the side of the freighter. the lower 3/4 of the spinnaker was left on the bow of the freighter and the top 3/4 flew like a flag on the sailboat mast. As the boat went down the side, a voice from above on the freighter said " is everyone alright? "

We looked around and saw that we were missing our intrepid captain and one other crew. In seconds, it seemed we were behind the freighter and looking at the flat water that follows one. Then one after the other, the captain and the other crew's heads popped up. We picked up one and another boat picked up the other.

The "never try to out run a freighter" is engraved on my mind.

I still get disbelief when I tell the story, but I figure the reason we are alive is that the freighter pushes a tremendous amount of water ahead of it, so we were pushed along and when we hit we were traveling (sideways almost as fast as the freighter). It explains why our sails also went dead when the freighter was still blocks away. We went to the offices of the freighter company two weeks later and picked up the lower 3/4 of the spinnaker.