What's the Worst Thing You've Ever Hit?

[Exocet]

Hit bottom at Minto Lake, New Brunswick, Canad. Mucking about in a 45 foot schooner buit in 1914 at Alberts cove newfoundland. We were all getting drunk and trailed a 200 foot line astern in case someone fell overboard. End of day came and started the 3 cylinder Lister, put it in gear, forgot to pull in the trailing line, fouled the prop. It was getting dark so decided to drop anchor and clear the line in the morning. Set one anchor astern, one over the bow. With everyone feeling the effects of the Rum, we all went below for the evening. Sometime late that night the boat was taking the waves quite a bit differently, went up top and found that the bow anchor line had chaffed on the mast and snapped, now we only had the stern anchor. Being new to this game called sailing, we did not know better, or just were not thinking, and left the stern anchor were it was instead of moving it up to the bow. Well the anchor dragged, and at 5 am the boat started hitting bottom. A real bad feeling, as each wave would first lift us, and then drop us on the lake floor. The only positive was a sandy bottom. Well it was a horrible sight in the morning,nose first into the beach. Well it took a full day, and about 5 powerboats to yank us off, but in the end no damage other than the ego's. Well that was way back in 1984, and I am sure the Winnie & Eric (name of schooner) is still mucking about the maritimes.
Now a quick question along the vain of hitting things. Do tugs pulling barges trail a line off the last barge. I was told once that they do this in order to retrive the barge if it breaks loose from the tow line. In any case I always make sure to pass these barges leaving at least 300 ft between us.

[Sea ya]

The most damaging thing I've hit was the submerged tip of a rock near the middle of a narrow channel on a Nova Scotia lake. The water was 30+ feet all around by my sounder and I curled a blade on a new prop. Thank goodness I was going Idleing. The skeg did not protect the prop as it was mostly missing (from the previous owner).
The most interesting thing I've hit was a large fish in Lake Ontario. I was on my way back to dock, running at 25mph, and I felt a large bump. I turned around quickly and saw a large (3-4 ft), white crescent shape sinking into the depths.

wayne

[Sailndive345]

Opportunities for "contact" abound....

Shortly after purchasing one of my previous sailboats (during late 1980s, a Beneteau 30'), sailing in Galveston Bay, TX, on the East side of the Houston ship channel, I was tacking back and forth waiting for enough space to cross the (very) busy channel and saw a small red float buoy that I didn't recognize - much to my horror, when I got closer, I read "WR" indicating a wreck on it... About a second or two later we made contact with the metal outrigger of a sunken shrimper just under the water surface. It gouged the hull about 3/4" deep, several feet long - thankfully no hole!

On another occasion (same boat) during a sail from Port Aransas back to Galveston Bay, in the Gulf of Mexico, we ran head on into a very large tree trunk that was mostly submerged... Big noise, very scary and thankfully no damage.. It turns out the recent floods in the area had washed large floating objects (like the tree trunk) down the rivers and into the Gulf.

Fair winds and no obstructions!

Sailndive

[Talbot]

Worst thing I have heard about happened to an aquaintance. He was driving a rib when one of the crew fell overboard due to a rather violent manoeuvre.

Trouble was the boat was doing 55 kts and the crew's rifle crashed into his face as he fell into the water. (no prize for guessing this is a military story)

Hitting the water was like hitting concrete, and the combination of that and the rifle knocked him unconcious and fractured the whole of the front of his face.

Luckily his auto lifejacket kept him from breathing too much water.

A badly broken nose will bleed everywhere!

[Sea ya]

Originally Posted by Sailndive345

Opportunities for "contact" abound....

On another occasion (same boat) during a sail from Port Aransas back to Galveston Bay, in the Gulf of Mexico, we ran head on into a very large tree trunk that was mostly submerged... Big noise, very scary and thankfully no damage.. It turns out the recent floods in the area had washed large floating objects (like the tree trunk) down the rivers and into the Gulf.

Fair winds and no obstructions!

Sailndive

Probably the first thing I've noticed when I started boating out here is that there is a large number of telephone pole sized logs out here, due to the logging industry. Some days it seems like they're everywhere. I will not go boating at night just for that reason.

[MoonlightShadow]

An Gas Rig in the North Sea.

They make a very loud "Bong"ing noise.

Especially embarassing, if you are "The Safety Boat"

[Karletto]

a collision with another boat at the fuel station. of course not by my mistake and of course it just happened to be a powerboater

[MoonlightShadow]

Well naturally, of course.

[Cacique]

"Singlehanded up the east coast of Bali through the Lombok Straight. Next morning with the tide and moon right we shot through the Bali Straight across the open water beyond and through the next straight. By 0740 the next day I'd been on deck for 25 hours avoiding the throngs of small fishing craft but I was feeling great - I'd been thinking about freinds. The morning was bright and sunny, we'd cleared the hazards of straights and fishermen, the wind was 12 knots astern and the only ship in view was going well clear. I went below to rest feeling a warm glow.
The windmills of the gods creaked.
Twenty minuites later the hairs on my neck stood up and I shot out of the companionway. Too late! The ship had changed course and steamed straigt across our bows. 'Cacique' afronted by the intrusion, rammed the freighter in the middle of its starboard side trying to shunt it out of the way. By the time I had checked we weren't sinking and collected the jib the freighter was out of name-reading distance. I started the engine and gave chase. after about 15 mins of chasing I realised my body was hurting badly and I jury rigged the forestay and lifelines. I ignored the anchoring equipment which would need a workshop." A quote from the skipper of Cacique November 92.

[offrd2001]

I know this might not count since I was in a R.I.B. (The little black boat that Navy seals use). We were coming in after doing an excercise off the coast of Coronado Island. We motored in thru San Diego Bay. Full speed....skimming across the top of the water, our boat came to a grinding hault, engine flew up out of the water and all the marines traded its place...right into the soup. Not sure what it was but we all think it was a huge seal.

[roger.waite]

My lifeboat had an interesting callout to a longliner a few years ago. The skipper was running on autopilot, and so busy baiting hooks that he went full noise onto an island three miles long with escarpments over a hundred feet high! Clear skies, full daylight.

He was so far up the beach that our 500 HP couldn't pull him off ...

Now that would be an embarassing thing for a professional skipper to explain to New Zealand's Maritime Safety Authority.

[John P]

1st sail on my boat when I bought in 2005. The girlfriend and I went out into Lake Champlain for a leisure saturday sail. I was just sailing around in a small area wanting to avoid the East side of the lake as there were several "reefs". Sure enough, I went aground. No big deal, I hopped in the water and was able to "walk" the boat off the reef. Had it been a stronger wind, I would have had trouble. Not too shaken, we sailed around a little more and then headed home. Our marina is actually in a river that feeds tha lake and the entrance is in bad need of a dredge. We were moring back into the mouth and the current was running South to North, so I was just a tad North of the center (judging by the buoys). "WHAM" I hit something that just knocked my teeth together. I had hit a concrete block anchor for one of the buoys. The rode on the buoy was quite long and when I thought I was in the middle of the channel was not true. I was almost half-way between the buoys, but actually, over top the anchors for the Norther buoys. The Anchors were not in the deep part of the trench, but on the shallow ledge. I learned a lot on that trip. The damage was covered by insurance, to the tune of $3000. The impact split the glass on the leading edge of the keel, but did not get the metal.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

A friend of mine took his dad's nice Pearson out for a day sail to some off shore islands. (I was on the boat, so I think it counts)

Since it was his dad's boat, and he was very experienced, he was the captain that day and I was crew, along with a few other people.

There was a pretty dense fog bank between us and our destination - a set of islands about 6 miles offshore. You could see the fog bank was simply a bank and we weren't "socked in", so we did some dead reckoning and compass work across it and over to the islands... or so we thought.

As we got out to the marker where we set the final course for the islands (think compass and stuff... not GPS), the captain told the helmsman (another friend of mine) the course to steer - 200deg mag. The helmsman did his part and did a great job steering 200. I volunteered for "bow watch" watching for any other boats, sounding the horn, etc... while we crossed the fog bank.

While on watch, I heard the odd sound of waves crashing. I though I was going nuts (as you do in fog), but sure enough, a few moments later, I saw waves crashing on a hard, granite shore. (New England)

As soon as I could yell out "LAND!!!", BANG!!! We hit a rock - HARD. Everyone did "Star Trek" (you know... what the bridge on the Enterprise looks like when they are getting attacked - they fly all around).

We backed every so carefully off the rock, and motored out at a reciprocal course to our entry to land.

So as it turns out, the kid whose dad's boat it was had smoked a little something before the trip and he read the DEPTH on the chart as the HEADING!!! The numbers were quite close in proximity and you could almost see how he did it, but still...

Anyway, we hit a hard granite rock at about 4-5 knots that day.

Only damage? Some scratches on the keel at haul out that fall. The dad thought the yard did it. The son was too frightened to say anything.

Your friend was lucky as all h*ll. Such a mistake could easily result in sinking and the loss of all hands. No one should smoke any wacky tobaccy and then take command of any vessel.

Goes to show though also the tremendous strength of traditionally built fiberglass boats. A French production boat would have probably shattered into pieces.

Coincidentally, my dad also has a Pearson --- in good conditions I'd rather be sailing in a Beneteau; the Pearson is real tub upwind, you could probably row it faster than it sails. But it is built like a brick s**thouse -- a real honest, heavy, immensely strong piece of work -- and if you were to hit a rock, or get caught out in big storm, that's what you'd want to be on.

[talks2horses]

Wow!! cool guys, some of the best reading I've done in years, accept for the nosebleed lecturing about drinking, and smoking,,,,accidents happens regardless of sobriety,,,,Love the storie, and I hate reading, but I read every one, word for word,,,,

I was attempting to motor out of Hudson Florida, to try my hand at sailing in my 24' buccaneer(never been on a sailboat in my life), being careful to stay in what they called a "chanel' ha ha,, I guess the jokes on me ,,

The tide was running out aong with me and I had my 9.9 yammy to the floor fixing to engage in some NICE RELAXING SAING ON THE GULF OF MEXICO...... when BOOOOOOOM, SCREEEECH, SCRAPE, TWISTING, COMING UP OUT OF THE WATER, SHIPTURNING ON HER SIDE, MOUTH WIDE OPEN, FROZEN , NOT KNOWING IF I WAS FIXING TO CAPSIZE, AND EXECUTING A FLAWLESS 180, when she finally came to a halt, me frozen with my mouth wide open, stearn sticking up in the air with the outboard out of the water running wide open., boat leaning to her port...I idled the motor down (not shutting it off,stupid but i had other things on my mind) getting ready to get'n the soup to try and dis-lodge her,,,,my cell rings, I go in the cabin to get the phone,,it's my girlfriend...I told her "I'm in the middle of something right now, I'll call you back", I put the phone in my pocket and proceeded to jump in the water,,,bye bye phone,,,and bye bye hands, the oysters on my boat sliced me like a veggie on a late night infomercial,,, hour went by, and about 3 more inches of tide,I was STUCK, and it was getting worse as the tide went out

,,,A jetskier finallycame and helped get me off,,, chanel my butt!!!!,, even after I got the hull off of the Rock Of Gibraltar, it just to seem to get shallower and shallower the furter out in the Gulf I got. Needless to say, I turned back, only to spin the hub on the prop,,, after using part of the sheet to "tie" the prop together, I had bottomed out again, another hour getting off,,, and whew WOW,,,nothing like sailing I tell ya...

[sartorst]

went to a new lake to do some fishing it was night when we arrived looked at the map ok straight across the lake at 40mph wham!!! we are high and dry well away from the waters edge later found out the lake was 10 12 feet from being full long night and day