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**Paul Elliott** · 01-11-2008, 15:37

Not the worst perhaps, but the most exciting; we sideswiped a humpback whale about 40 miles offshore of San Francisco.

We were shooting video of some dolphins at the time and managed to capture the whale encounter:
VALIS Photo Album

The whale's flukes whacked us at the shrouds above the lifelines, but there was no damage to boat or whale.

johnnyreno13 · 08-11-2008, 10:06

Great video and photo's.

**s/v Beth** · 08-11-2008, 18:15

I ran into the ICW one day, forgot about Red to land and instead read "Red right returning" All of the powerboats had a good laugh. ;0

Fishman · 03-12-2008, 11:47

We were watching my mate Jeffrey helping to manuevre a friends inflatable RIB powerboat onto a trailer at a notorious boat launch, he gave a bit too much throttle and drove the rib right onto the roof of his friends hatchback car. It was hilarious. Claimed that the throttle got stuck in wide open. It was an awesome trick, Jeff became a legend after that.

Being a fly on the wall (with beer in hand) at any busy power boat launch is really good value. It deserves a seperate topic actually.

anglooff · 03-12-2008, 14:07

SCOTLAND..... I was not the captain

bill352 · 04-12-2008, 11:01

- fortunately, I was on a US Navy carrier at the time.

More to the point of this forum, I was working the foredeck in a race on the upwind leg, starboard tack, standing by the mast on the high side and generally enjoying life, when we got hit by another boat in the race. I was vaguely aware that everyone in the afterguard was yelling "Starboard!", but - let's face it - who really knows what goes on back there, anyway? If you work the foredeck, the cockpit is just somewhere you have to go through to reach the pointy end. Oh, and that's where lunch comes from. But I digress.

So the whole thing took me by surprise. The only thing I saw was the other boat's bow come up through the jib, whip by my face just the other side of the mast, scrape down the boom splitting the bottom of the main, and disappear off the stern. Missed all the crew, although I heard later that a couple of trimmers had to be pretty nimble.

Oh, and it took out all the shrouds on the port side. We loosed the sheets in time to save the mast, but it's amazing how far that thing will bend before it breaks.

Also hit the New Jersey beach at full speed one night, but that was on purpose because the boat was sinking. Doesn't really count. And, of course, "Not my boat - the boss's boat."

Quote:

Originally Posted by David M

I frequently hit sturgeon while running in shallow waters up in the San Pablo Bay area of the SF Bay. .

David - Not to be critical, but your sturgeon are poorly trained. Down here we teach them to wait for speeding jetskis and jump out of the water in front of them. This is how we enforce the no-wake zones and general peace and quiet.

CR Kitten · 27-12-2008, 21:36

I had the opportunity to join my husband to crew on a vessel traveling from St. Thomas to Baltimore. It was a mixed experience with a number of less than enjoyable happenings but the big news to me was there's lots of "stuff" out there in the big blue. We were about 500 miles off shore and probably 4 days out of St. Thomas when (I was on watch and it was mid day, bright and sunny, mild wind) I kept seeing a "flash" of light on the horizon right in line with our heading. Nothing showed up on radar and it was not easy to see with glasses. As we got closer, the container got larger and larger, showed up on radar. The reason it looked like a small cape cod was it was heeled over on one corner but it was riding high in all its glory. We tried to contact USCG to advise the hazard to navigation...no feedback there. Then when we got up to it we noted the id numbers and photographed the container. The pictures were printed in "Ocean Navigator". We knew we could not bring it along with us but were worried about leaving it there so we tried to open the hatch (door) so it would sink. The reality was that the hatch was already open and water was sloshing around in the container but since this was a refrigerated container, it appeared that the insulation kept that box floating high. The box was owned by a company in Bermuda. We continued on our way, leaving the host of fish (shark included) hanging out under the shade of the container.

The next night, at dusk, as we were still making our way north, three green flares were seen off our port side off a couple of miles. As we were wondering what green flares were all about, a submarine (we never saw the sub) launched a missile that blasted out of the surface of the water and proceeded over our heads and off towards Africa. Yikes! Were they shooting at us? No one answered our radio calls. That is when I decided that there is more to look for than other vessels, fish, mammals and birds. Did you ever see the paint jobs that were done on ships during WWI and II that looked like geometric shapes? It was the realization that I needed to keep my eye open for the unexpected that was a big lession I took away. Thank goodness we did not hit any of these things. I would probably not be around to send this note.

Fair Winds, Happy New Year and watch out for those green flares!!

Leslie
s/v Tango, CR 34
Kent Island, MD

twisty · 19-01-2009, 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishman

Being a fly on the wall (with beer in hand) at any busy power boat launch is really good value. It deserves a seperate topic actually.

OMG we used to have a picnic table on the pier just for this fly on the wall purpose. I can't even begin to count the afternoons we spent out there. It as notiriously steep, slick as.. er crap and the current a half mile from the inlet was enough to carry off even the stoutest of men.

if this is any indiction, we made really big signs with numbers and rated everyones failu... I mean load.

BadFish · 19-01-2009, 22:22

Worst thing I ever hit was an off-duty policeman.

Started a fight with me at a bar, didn't know he was a cop. Took some tricky lawyering and hefty fines to get outta it.

On me boat, worst thing hit has been the ground... Not as exciting of a story though.

Cheers

Bill

johnnyreno13 · 21-01-2009, 05:57

The Policeman must of been in Spain. They seem to always argue. lol

fvdorisjean · 23-01-2009, 14:47

One time I was dragging for scallops about 70 miles off Cape May out in Hudson Canyon and I hit a piling it was loud but the boat was ok.In the spring time when the docks are being fixed up I think some lazy workers just let them float away I am not the only one who has hit one.Oh I hit the beach once. I will post later if someone wants to hear about that.

No Survivors · 24-01-2009, 21:08

A few years ago my brother and I were being highly irresponsible in a secluded lake in eastern WA. The lake consists almost entirely of soft sand. We had a few drinks and could no longer safely pilot his vessel (a 20 some odd foot Hawaiin jet boat), so captain Morgan offered to take the wheel for us. Boy were we in for a suprise! The first thing this crazy guy does is attempt to "jump" a sand dune that is about 20 feet across.
Lesson learned, never allow the captain steer your ship!

Captn_Black · 28-01-2009, 06:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyreno13

The Policeman must of been in Spain. They seem to always argue. lol

I can also vouch for the bloody-mindedness of Spanish cops, though I here the Portuguese are no better. A bit of humility when dealing with them is whats needed, or they will make your lives as difficult as they can...