Strangest thing you’ve seen offshore

[LittleWing77]

Not strange, but totally cool.

We were just coming off of 4 days' gale and this sooty tern flew close, checking out our boat. I extended my hand and s/he landed (pic) and I gently lowered it to a spot below the helming seat where it was sheltered. We provided water, but s/he wouldn't eat anything. After a few watches' rest, the tern crept out of the sheltered spot and flew on.

LittleWing77

[carstenb]

A humpback whale gave birth just a few meters from our boat while at anchor at Maui. The baby humpback then proceed to breech multiple times while the mother applauded by slapping her fins on the surface

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by carstenb

A humpback whale gave birth just a few meters from our boat while at anchor at Maui. The baby humpback then proceed to breech multiple times while the mother applauded by slapping her fins on the surface

Wow!!!! SO cool!

LittleWing77

[MV Caroline]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

I’ve seen an inversion twice.

First time at a waterfront park on race evening. I was shocked that the course was less than a mile offshore and four miles from port. Then I realized that in the distance I could see the real race.

Two years ago on Lake Ontario at sodus the bluffs near Fairhaven (12 mi) which can barely be seen appeared to be about four miles away and very large. The lighthouse at Oswego (28 mi) which cannot be seen from Sodus appeared in the lake about four miles distant. I got photos but not here on my phone.


One more. Two years ago while driving home from the boat following a T storm there was a beautiful and close rainbow. As I drove it came closer then intersected the road. There it was massive. I had no idea one could actually find the end of a rainbow.

I've actually seen these inversions five or six more times since that first encounter with one. Even though I know what it is, it's still a bit eerie.

[redhead]

I was going to post about seeing a periscope cross about 200' off my bow and when I looked through the binoculars, the periscope was looking right at me. (I was in a bikini at the time). Well, that's what I was going to post.

But my story in nothing compared to the other submarine stories. I had no idea how common it is. Amazing.

Oh, and I love the Ted story. Something to think about.

[Cheechako]

Let's see... some weird things... to me anyway...
-A ball of sea snakes in Mexico, probably 2-3 ft diameter churning at the surface.
-Huge Mantas leaping out of the water and turning a somersault!
-Sailing at night with a lot of phosphorescence and watching all the critters that follow a boat in the wake!
- After crossing the Mona and anchored in Puerto Rico. A huge Snook came right up to the boat repeatedly, like he was begging.
-Sailing at night a Boobie kept flying at our main sail, he would fly up close to the sail from behind and then "swoop the arc" of the sail. Over and over for maybe 20-30 minutes.
-Once at night in the middle of the Sea of Cortez, it had stormed hard 50-100 miles north of us. An hour later we smelled the desert and mesquite strongly out there on the water.
-Sailing at night 2 or 3 whales came up and swam along with us. They were right alongside the boat, so close their breath was terrible and fishy! I tried to get them to go away by playing the stereo loud and idling the engine in neutral. Didn't work. They left maybe 1.5 hours later.
-On the inside passage in BC, we were anchored in a bay when the tide changed. At peak flow there was a 2-3 ft waterfall across the wide channel, just two levels of water meeting one above the other going different directions!
-Marlin fishing in Mexico we came upon a huge Marlin laying on it's side on the surface of the water sleeping... I had no idea...

[Montanan]

My face in the mirror after two days of being sea sick in rough conditions.

[sailingabe41ds]

Several weeks ago while anchored on a moonless night on the far side of Santa Cruz Isl, Channel Isl, So California with another couple and no other boats, a string of 60 lights flew overhead in a straight line lower, brighter, and faster than a satellite. My wife is screaming aliens, aliens, aliens! The fact that we had been talking about aliens and had a little too much to drink did no help the situation.
We had no internet or phone reception to verify what we saw. We wrote down what we saw just in case they abducted us overnight and erased our memories.
On the way back the next day we had learned it was the Musk's Starlink satellites. I think I need to start keeping up with new technology stories.

Abe

[Scorpius]

JUST NOW! We're sitting in Calm Channel waiting for the tide to turn so we can head north through the Yuculta rapids - when two humpback whales came alongside and started playing with us for half an hour - scratching their backs on our (long) keel and spy hopping right beside the cockpit so they could look us in the eye. More than once I got quite the shower as I looked straight down over the lifeline into a blowhole and one exhaled right into my face. Good thing I have a very poor sense of smell!

Incredible! Like nothing I've ever experienced before!

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/s/?...attd&safe=1&zw

[Shanachie]

During the mid '80s, while helping a friend move his sailboat from Pompano Beach to Stuart, Fl., we came across a huge bale of "square grouper" floating north in the Gulfstream.


Being relatively young at the time, we estimated that garbage bag-covered bale was probably 80 pounds and calculated that we could make many thousands of dollars selling it.


Then reality set in. Did he really want to risk having his newly bought sailboat confiscated by the police? How about the stink that wet bale would make in his new marina? And we didn't know anyone who would want to buy that much marijuana.


So we just watched the bale float by and disappear into the distance ...

[Smokeys Kitchen]

On a trip up the Inside Passage near the northern end of Vancouver Island, we watched an eagle dive and get a very large salmon in its talons. It was way to heavy for the eagle to take off and after several attempts to surface and swim to shore we watched the eagle go under water and not resurface.

[RaymondR]

An iron and an ironing board on a monohull??

[LoudMusic]

I woke up and found my wife sitting casually at the helm as we surfed down an 8 foot wave with the SOG showing 16.4 kts. She usually starts to lose her **** around 7 kts in flat water. Craziest thing I've ever seen at sea.

[sailingabe41ds]

Few years ago while anchored in Santa Barbara Isl, So California we thought we ran aground in the middle of the night when were were woken up by loud noises banging against our hull. Turns out that fish and squid were attracted by the light reflecting on our hull from distant fishing vessel. That attracted the sea lions who could not clearly see our hull and kept banging against it while chasing the fish/squid.

Abe

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

During the mid '80s, while helping a friend move his sailboat from Pompano Beach to Stuart, Fl., we came across a huge bale of "square grouper" floating north in the Gulfstream.

Being relatively young at the time, we estimated that garbage bag-covered bale was probably 80 pounds and calculated that we could make many thousands of dollars selling it.

Then reality set in. Did he really want to risk having his newly bought sailboat confiscated by the police? How about the stink that wet bale would make in his new marina? And we didn't know anyone who would want to buy that much marijuana.

So we just watched the bale float by and disappear into the distance ...

Ha! Ive run across "square grouper" and "white lobster" before too...and watched that bag full of trouble float on by. In Belize, when the locals find them on the beach, they call them "gifts from the sea".

Living for many years in the W Carib near major drug transhipment routes, Ive also got a few stories about people who didnt watch them float by. The outcomes Ive seen are:

- Get away with it. Someone finds a bail on the beach and sells it cheap to avoid drawing much attention. They are rich for a few months, blow it all, and then are back to bumming beer money off you. Note this usually only works with one bale, more draws too much attention.

- Hold the property for its owner. I know someone, formerly a poor local fisherman, who found a BUNCH of bails while fishing. He collected them all, held them, and put the word out that he was holding the property for its owner. Sure enough, the owner's representatives showed up, collected the property, and tipped him handsomely. Enough so that he bought some land and became a respected local rancher!

- Get into the drug biz. I knew (yes, past tense) one bone head who also found a bunch of bails and decided it was a good business opportunity. He very openely and amatuerishly went into the drug biz. The owner of the merchandise didnt like that. His representatives paid bone head a visit, retrieved the remaining product, and left a graphic reminder for any other foolish wannabe entreprenuers.

- Go Straight To Jail. Its not uncommon that the local drug interdiction forces know those bails were dumped and are watching to see who comes to pick them up. If thats you, then guess who is going to jail. I know of a case where this happened and they tried to claim they were bringing it ashore to turn over to the cops...yeah right...didnt work out well for them. I was actually on a small island once when the men in black showed up there at night for just such an exercise...watching the bales. No one showed up to collect them that night so the men in black went out the next morning and retrieved them. Think about that before you pick that bale up!