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

[DefinitelyMe]

Sailing is so broad and varied and there are so many variables that you could do it for ten lifetimes and still, every now and then, you'd £#@& up. :-)

[DEAN2140]

There are two kinds of sailors: those who have run aground and those who lie about it.

[Bawlmer]

HA! Far better than my first season. I think you did quite well.

[johnn33]

I had never heard the phrase range lghts so found this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_lights
Yes, some lights are moved as are cardinal marks as sand and thus channels move with wave and storm forces.
John

[Chotu]

I remember the grand finale of an awful early season.

Had the motor quit on an outgoing tide flushing me out into awful seas. Spent all day sailing back to my port. Was having a miserable time overall.

After getting back, Pissed off, i tossed a fire extinguisher that was giving me grief rolling around in the cockpit into the cabin onto a settee.

I’m sure you can guess what’s next. Boom! The thing exploded and covered every inch of the interior with white powder.

Wonderful way to cap off a miserable early season of cutting my teeth learning what not to do.

[MikeHoncho]

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?

All normal and preventable. Prevent it next time and move on.

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by Mrkva

But honestly, I'm worried about all the mistakes I've made. Is it normal? How was your first season on the water?

This is EXPERIENCE!!! You will never make those mistakes again, and every project you tackle will make you better at handling emergencies when they pop up. I will not tell you what I did. But I can tell you that I got my fair share of teasing... and I learned big time. Many good sailors got to where they are by ;earning the hard way... many are silent...

[Curmugeon]

People tell me I must be an experienced sailor, yes, I have had many experiences and even learned from some of them......

[David B]

Slow down, visualise what's about to happen, go through those things in your mind, test everything before you let the lines go, and you will be fine.

When underway, keep checking, keep looking.

When mooring or berthing, observe what's happening in the area you are about to enter.
Wind, water, other boats etc

There will be mistakes, but that is part of learning - lean from them, and you probably wont make the same mistake again.

Help yourself with little 'failsafes' One example - most of us have heard of people taking off from a dock with their power cable still attached (marinas don't take kindly to their pedestals being ripped off the dock .....).
It's never happened to us, and I hope that remains the case, but one little help, is that I have a metre of 6mm red double braid, looped onto the power cable at the point it comes aboard. This length of line is cleated off over the stern line on that side of the boat, so it holds the power cable up, but as importantly, you cannot untie the stern line to leave, until you have untied that red line to remove/disconnect your power cable.

Give yourself a hand with little things like that around the boat, and go sailing.

[dhenline]

"I have very good judgment which is based on my broad experience. Unfortunately, my experience is based on my prior bad judgment"
don

[Mithril Bham]

Sounds like you've been sailing.
There are two type of sailors:
Those who have run aground and those who will run aground.

[Group9]

I could write a pretty decent book about the mistakes I've made while boating and sailing.

[Redline452]

Originally Posted by Mrkva

But honestly, I'm worried about all the mistakes I've made. Is it normal? How was your first season on the water?

From my flying days, the Aviation Safety Newsletter had the byline


"Learn from the mistakes of others - you'll not live long enough to make them all yourself".



But learning from your own mistakes is good, too. What's important is to look back at each event and ask yourself "what went wrong" (which you did in your post) and more importantly, "what did I learn from that and what will I do differently next time?"


Then go out and enjoy the learning.

[Kd9truck]

Keep it up, own your mistakes, you paid for them at above fair market value, yes you want to learn from others, just keep reading this forum, I’ve been sailing my hole life I am 56 now, I am still baffled, amused, and sometimes surprised at the sh!+ I get my self in too.
Just remember to laugh, it will all be over soon enough.

[Lexi22]