First season mistakes (or should I give up before I kill someone?)

[Tanqueray]

Originally Posted by GBR134

I
1. I have a stupid cock up virtually every trip but am more confident to live with them.

Keep going, own your cock-ups and remember to have fun whilst staying alive!

Must be a Brit thing...

But I suppose I have had plenty of “cock-ups” too...

Wrapped a tow line around my prop and disabled my tranny approaching the harbor...

Drained the batteries when I filled the while sailing...no way to start the engine...

Put the boat cross-ways in the slip trying to dock single handed in a really strong cross wind...

Kissed up against my slip neighbors 40’ power cruiser returning from a solo sail in strong cross winds ( it at least I had the foresight to put fenders out on that side of the boat before heading into the harbor...no damage done).

Noticed one of the leeward shrouds completely blowing in the wind one day...good thing I saw it before I tacked!

Forgot to remove a spring line and as I was backing out of the slip...and all of the sudden the boat lurches in the wrong direction!

Leaving the slip, strong cross wind, and I pinned my boat on thr end of my finger pier and my (other...not the one above) neighbors stern.

But hey, learned something for all of those...

Cheers,

Greg

[CappyMac]

While training new sailors on how to operate their new boats, I would often have them do two practices that seemed to both build competence and confidence. 1st - Pick a fixed marker (not a buoy) with ample water depth on all sides, and from every direction of wind and current, practice bringing the boat to a dead stop exactly at the wheel/tiller location without touching the mark - as if you were pulling into a slip. This can take all afternoon and builds the skill set need to get the boat where you need it under control. Advance this practice to the slip, 1st on a calm day - practice in and out of the slip over and over. Bow in, Bow out, cross winds etc... then practice it singlehanded... when you have crew, it will be a cake walk. Finally, back to the marker in the first example, do it under sail power only - the day will come when you need to pull that off. Keep Smiling and Keep Sailing - you will get there.

[roscheetham]

I’ve sailed around the world without a mishap and almost ran aground entering a local marina last year. These things happen. If no one was injured and the boat is fine then just chalk it up to experience and get on with next season - having learned from the mistakes.

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by Mrkva

So, in autumn 2019 I've bought a boat boat together with my friend.
I'm no seasoned skipper, but I've crewed a couple of times on a charter boat and got my European equivalent of ICC.
I've had a tremendous amount of fun in the 2020 season (even though it had been cut short due to covid).

The thing is, when looking at the log for the season, I'm not sure I'm up to it. The list of incidents for my first season as a skipper is:
1) When putting boat back in the water, I've noticed water ingress (read: gushing water) from one seacock with removed hose - the seacock (well, ball valve) had handle in the closed position, but the internal mechanism broke off from the handle, so it wasn't possible to close it at all). So, the boat went back out of the water to replace the valve. What's interesting is that it was fine in the autumn, because I had to use the same seacock as a raw water intake for an engine (the intake through saildrive has been frozen shut with growth/mineral deposits) and I was able to close it just fine.

2) I have not correctly predicted the wind change once, and we had to return during the night. Our marina is in a narrow and somewhat curvy channel, and I ****ed up navigation by two lights aft - not sure what's the correct terminology here. there were two flashing lights behind the boat (on a poles) which are one behind other during when sailing the correct course. I almost ran aground, we had around 30cm of water below, keel. (there was no chart plotter aboard at that time)

3) When leaving the marina for the last time this season, in a strong crosswind, I forgot to pull up the mooring line, which got wrapped up in the propeller. We had not crashed into the breakwater only thanks to the favorable wind.

4) Docking at the slip (or leaving) still makes me worried I'll hit some other boat or the breakwater.

That's about it. The boat ended the season in significantly better shape than when launching (considering she was leaking through saildrive seal, raw water intake hose, engine anti-siphon valve....). But honestly, I'm worried about all the mistakes I've made. Is it normal? How was your first season on the water?

And you think you had it bad??!! Its the rites of passage.
What you had is what most of us went through when we started sailing.
The key is learn from it and do better next time.
It is helpful to be systematic and to think through the tasks.
Enjoy sailing.

Ken Y

[Leatherman]

Hi Mrkva,

If those are the only mishaps you had in your first season I would say you are lucky. Most of us have similar experiences; some of mine are worse (more expensive!).

The best way to learn in sailing is through experience - there’s really no substitute for it.

Keep it up and we’ll see you out on the water some day.

Best wishes,

Leatherman

[subie]

I have not correctly predicted the wind change once

Sorry this is funny to me. Weather forecasts gets it right only sometimes.
Us newbie sailors will get it wrong most of the time . Here in South Africa
I pay close attention to the weather. The fear from the last trip caught out
in unexpected weather make me watch the weather with great interest all the time

[sail4evr]

take sailing lessons. For general power boat issues take the free Power Squadron course. Take the series of sailing courses from Keelboat up to bareboat chartering and you will get a thorogh instruction. As you finish each course you will find yourself more in control of your boat. You've had a series of learning experiences. Don't push your luck. Find a local sailing club and offer to crew. They most likely will be glad to have you alog. More experience on OPB (other peoples boats) Bring that experience home to your boat.

[MHTinkler]

Sounds normal to me. Everyone makes mistakes and forgets things. Personally, I leave notes on critical "to do" things. Like - if you close your engine raw water seacock, immediately put a note on your ignition switch - "Open Seacock!". Works for me. Your mileage may vary.
No chartplotter in coastal waters? Unnecessary shortcoming. A chartplotter is essential equipment, but easily solved.
Got a tablet or smartphone? Download "Navionics" or "AquaMaps". Instant chartplotter almost for free.
I use both a tablet and smartphone running these programs at the helm, as well as the built in Garmin chartplotter.
I mostly refer to Navionics for depth contours (seems very accurate) and crosscheck with Garmin and Aquamaps for position.
Garmin is sometimes NOT accurate (probably due to lack of updates (expensive and a pain)
Navionics and Aquamaps are easily updated (many times daily) at the touch of a button.

[Sailmon]

I agree with those who have recommended you keep sailing & learning. I also agree with the notion of starting out in small boats to learn the ropes, dynamics & forces at play. I have a further suggestion. Many sailors take boating classes when they start out. We believe it is a good idea to follow up group classes with one-on-one coaching that can take place on YOUR boat and from YOUR dock or mooring. Coaching allows you to practice specific skills of your choosing. We happen to offer these services in US (Ohio in summer, Florida in winter). Sounds like you live across the pond. I’m sure there are people who offer same in Europe/UK. As part of our service we offer a comprehensive safety inspection which identifies potential hazards & helps owner better understand their boat.

[Mrkva]

Wow, thanks everyone for support, and a ton of educative stories! I had no idea it would explode to over 6 pages!


I see there was some misunderstanding about leading lights/range lights. Of course I knew what they are, I knew where to look for them, I had seen them in paper chart. I just had no idea what is the correct English word was.


Yeah, for the next season, I (assuming I'll get to the boat because of covid) plan to spend at least a day or two practicing things I'm least sure about - docking and various close quarters maneuvers. To be honest, I had no illusions about the course / lessons, but on my first day on my own I've probably learned more than during the whole course. I guess it's the same as learning to drive - most people are lousy drivers when they get out of the driving school, and it takes them a lot of driving to get better.


In the meantime, my TODO list of boat works had grown to over 50 items. Yay...

[JebLostInSpace]

I absolutely agree with the flood of posts encouraging you to keep learning and keep sailing. I also agree with all the sentiments of the nature "any landing you can walk away from is a good landing"

However, I feel like it's worth saying you don't want to lose your appreciation for the potential impact of a bad mistake. Boating mistakes often cost money. Occasionally they cost lots and lots of money. It is possible that they can cost life/limb. A crew overboard in rough conditions, or a foolish jump between the boat and the dock, or a limb wrapped in a line that is suddenly tensioned, or a hard grounding that leads to sinking the boat, or, or, or, or, or. Your post makes it sound like you have a healthy respect for these worst-case consequences. That's good and it will make you careful. The other posters are right that it shouldn't make you so fearful you give up, just don't lose sight that some mistakes can get really ugly.

Grim reminders aside, you've seen that pretty much every sailor has a list of stories earned the hard way. Cocking up is a natural part of life, particularly as a sailor. Doing what you can to keep everyone safe and learning from your mistakes is all anyone can ask.

My list of cock-ups from my first year of cruising full time below. Most are funny in retrospect. A couple are scary. I'm getting smarter all the time, but I doubt I'll ever run out of ways to be stupid.

Grounding because I put the green markers to starboard on my way in from sea. (Still can't quite understand how I convinced myself that was what I wanted to do lol I literally said to myself "red right returning, so I'll put those green cans on my right")

Drastically mis-judging the cross current when approaching a dock. Bounced off my neighbor's dinghy quite hard. This one could easily have ended in the "costs lots and lots of money" category, but the inflatable dinghy acted as a huge fender and we all escaped without damage

Tried to leave my dinghy on a mooring ball and go out for a day sail. But I left it on a long lead line, which I promptly ran over and caught on the keel. Sat there getting blown onto the line, afraid to back off of it in case the line got in my prop. Jumped down in the dinghy and cut the line, then raced to catch up to the boat (I had crew on board thankfully)

Made a bad choice of anchorage and rode out 3 days of 40+kts with much less protection than my "Plan B" would have afforded. Not a whole lot of sleep those days, and dragged the anchor about 100 ft. Finding shelter in bad weather is now a much higher priority.

Had a diver change out my prop while at anchor. Decided it would be fine if he left me with no prop installed for a day while the new one was adjusted. Promptly got hit by a severe thunderstorm that could have easily dragged the anchor again... Luckily this time the anchor held firm

More instances of bumping a dock than I can recount. Low speed impacts and no damage, but still felt like a dummy.

Let a completely inexperienced guest take the helm through a real shallow bit on the icw. He ran us aground but we were going slow and it was mud. Just served as a reminder that folks who don't know what they're doing don't, in fact, know what they're doing lol

Changed up the wiring on my battery charging setup and promptly blew up my start battery

Replaced a perfectly good start battery because I didn't understand what my root problem was

Very often neglect to shut seacocks when leaving the boat on a dock. For whatever reason I can't drill this one into my head. So far I haven't had an issue but it's just a matter of time...

Neglected to put a stopper-knot on a jib sheet, which promptly ran out, fell in the water, and fouled the prop.

Ran over two different lobster pots in Maine (luckily neither fouled the prop. Plus, in Maine the pots are freaking everywhere, so hitting only 2 could be considered a huge success)

Lost my throw buoy cause I bumped it with my shoulder while messing about with dock lines. It disappeared remarkably fast. Good reminder of how fast a man overboard could disappear...

Called SeaTow cause my engine was overheating. It just needed a new impeller installed, but I had never replaced one before so I panicked.

Ignored diesel in my bilge for longer than was safe or responsible

These are all just what I remembered right this second.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by JebLostInSpace

I Grounding because I put the green markers to starboard on my way in from sea. (Still can't quite understand how I convinced myself that was what I wanted to do lol I literally said to myself "red right returning, so I'll put those green cans on my right")



.

While red right return is what you usually see in the US as you come into a port, it’s not always that way. It’s really easy to remember and say and seems to make people feel more secure, but relying on that “rule” isn’t a good idea at all. There’s just no easy rule or substitute for constantly visualizing where you are on the chart and verifying that by cross checking outside visual references as well as your depth sounder. Dead reckoning in your head, constantly. Chartplotters make it super easy to do this (you’ve got to actually look at it though) but using paper charts it’s the same sort of thing in that you constantly visualize where you think you are on the chart and if visual references don’t seem to agree you stop and investigate why, right now.
Here in Maine where we have so many islands it’s not at all uncommon to discover that the guy who laid out the nav buoys must have been “returning” from somewhere other than where you are “returning” from. So the only way to avoid falling into this trap is to visualize where you think you are and constantly cross check everything you are seeing outside, including the buoys but also terrain features and whether your depth sounder approximately agrees with where you think you are on the chart. I realize that in most places the good old red right return will get you by, but there are places where relying on that will cost you your boat and maybe even more.

[JebLostInSpace]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

While red right return is what you usually see in the US as you come into a port, it’s not always that way. It’s really easy to remember and say and seems to make people feel more secure, but relying on that “rule” isn’t a good idea at all. There’s just no easy rule or substitute for constantly visualizing where you are on the chart and verifying that by cross checking outside visual references as well as your depth sounder. Dead reckoning in your head, constantly. Chartplotters make it super easy to do this (you’ve got to actually look at it though) but using paper charts it’s the same sort of thing in that you constantly visualize where you think you are on the chart and if visual references don’t seem to agree you stop and investigate why, right now.
Here in Maine where we have so many islands it’s not at all uncommon to discover that the guy who laid out the nav buoys must have been “returning” from somewhere other than where you are “returning” from. So the only way to avoid falling into this trap is to visualize where you think you are and constantly cross check everything you are seeing outside, including the buoys but also terrain features and whether your depth sounder approximately agrees with where you think you are on the chart. I realize that in most places the good old red right return will get you by, but there are places where relying on that will cost you your boat and maybe even more.

All fair points. This example was really just meant to be about a time I screwed up in a situation where it was easy to get it right. The old red right returning did apply in this area. In fact, it was a totally non-confusing channel entrance. It was charted correctly, the markers were visible and unambiguous, they used the standard convention, my chartplotter clearly showed me leaving the channel, and my brain still decided the obvious move was to put the green markers on my starboard. Sometimes we just screw up for no good reason. Usually it works out okay

[MarkSF]

You shouldn't ever have a seacock with no hose attached, as you have discovered.

If it's redundant, better to remove it and fill in the hole in the hull.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

While red right return is what you usually see in the US as you come into a port, it’s not always that way. It’s really easy to remember and say and seems to make people feel more secure, but relying on that “rule” isn’t a good idea at all. There’s just no easy rule or substitute for constantly visualizing where you are on the chart and verifying that by cross checking outside visual references as well as your depth sounder. Dead reckoning in your head, constantly. Chartplotters make it super easy to do this (you’ve got to actually look at it though) but using paper charts it’s the same sort of thing in that you constantly visualize where you think you are on the chart and if visual references don’t seem to agree you stop and investigate why, right now.
Here in Maine where we have so many islands it’s not at all uncommon to discover that the guy who laid out the nav buoys must have been “returning” from somewhere other than where you are “returning” from. So the only way to avoid falling into this trap is to visualize where you think you are and constantly cross check everything you are seeing outside, including the buoys but also terrain features and whether your depth sounder approximately agrees with where you think you are on the chart. I realize that in most places the good old red right return will get you by, but there are places where relying on that will cost you your boat and maybe even more.

A-yuh, re: Maine waters.
This is not directed at Jeb, who was just encouraging the OP by showing we're all human, but a great example of where you need to abandon the red-right-returning rule is the jaunt from Boston to Quincy, where at some point, you're entering Quincy, not leaving Boston.

It just happens to be a narrow channel with tricky currents, a bit of a rip, and obstructions on either side.

That's when the contours matter more than the color of the buoys. I see sailboats grounded there about once a season.