Your Best Day in the Worst Place

[DMF Sailing]

Another thread has drifted in such a way as to inspire this new one.

We sailors have so many stories about bad days and bad weather. Arrr, it were a stiff sou'wester in me teeth, a full gale and waves so steep and so high the peregrine falcons were nestin in 'em, but I had it to do, mate, so I set out from Bah Hahbuh en route to Glostah...

Got it. Bin theyuh.

Tell us about a day when you were in a place known for terrible, terrifying, heart-stopping, Edward-Rowe-Snow-inspiring bad weather...

And you went through on a beautiful day when nothing happened.

Extra points for pictures

I kick it off with Pollock Rip, a nasty feature of navigating the long way around Cape Cod that was sooo bad the Pilgrims never made it to Virginia, and as a result, Massachusetts was the starting point for the Colonies...

It is sooo bad that it plays a prominent role in the ASA 105 navigation course and test.

Shifting sandbars, rip currents far offshore, square breakers... A 2.5-knot current flowing against the prevailing SW breeze, and interacting badly with the SE swells... Or, in a nor-easter, causing all manner of hell in the four hours it flows NE....

It is soooo bad they built a freakin' canal, guy, to avoid it, kehd!

One windless day, when I puttered through (pictured), it was so calm it looked like Lake Champlain after a scull from the University of Vermont crew team rowed by.

[sailorboy1]

Well I went through the Straights of Magellan in Chile on a submarine. I had heard stories for years by the crew that had done it the trip before about how bad it was. The boat was going to be on the surface and for those never been on a submarine, it is a round tube and rolls all over on surface and people get seasick because they aren't used to that. The night before hardly anyone came to dinner and was fried chicken, which an odd choice for the next day (I ate as never got seasick).

It turned out to be very boring passage and less roll than normal. The pilot that was on the boat for the passage said he had never in his career seen it so calm.

[boatman61]

Bass Strait.. mirror calm with dolphin's and seals gamboling about me..
Biscay.. mirror calm, 4 days motoring from Ushant to La Coruna.. couple of whale pods and porpoises along with some obligatory dolphins..

[Mike OReilly]

From that other thread...


The waters all Newfoundlanders dread: The Straight of Belle Isle. Funnelling winds, icy waters, and nasty tidal currents ... except when we passed through .

At least we saw our first iceberg.

[Tupaia]

Raz de Sein - October at night, 40kts of wind, big seas, both engines astern and still doing 13 knots, pleased that the lighthouse was there and working, no GPS in those days.
Raz de Sein - June many years later, sunny day, 10kts of wind, flat sea, light house looked really peaceful.

[goboatingnow]

Finisterre , ( to the Romans it was the end of the world ) in 2006 , f—ing hammered with two full knockdowns.

2016 , had to motor to Bayona , glass calm !!!

[guyrj33]

We left Nantucket a day early, heading back to Martha's Vineyard before a storm was due to roll in. Running downwind avoiding the shallows between the two islands. Big rollers from astern, low visibility and a nagging suspicion that the loran was off by miles. When dead reckoning brought us to our next mark we turned off the loran and continued with DR. It was a trip where you had to trust your own abilities.

Another day we were heading North across Massachusetts Bay to our home port in Magnolia when we were hit by a line squall. Reefed way down, donned the foulies and headed East to Provincetown as that where the wind wanted us to go. Spent a night in P town and sailed home the next day.

A different day when everything aligned Marion, Ma through the Cape Cod Canal to Manchester, Ma singlehanded in 10 hours. Then stripped the boat for hauling the following day.

Surfing down big rollers into Gloucester harbor with bare poles and a 40knt tailwind, running way over hull speed.

Gulfstream at night racing to Bermuda, again surfing down waves this time with full sails and occasionally jumping onto the wave in front of us.

[clakiep]

Its all about patience and stamina ! March 1974 we left Bermuda bound to Faial on the Azores. Altough we checked the weather at the airport on the second day we got 35 knots of wind right on the nose and steap seas building up. Pitching and shaking and getting soaked we reckond to make max. about 20 miles towards our destiny in 24 hours. Very frustrating. We had to buy new propan bottles in Bermuda because the station refused to fill our brazilian ones. They did not fit in our gasbox so we had to tie them by outside. Two days later, early in the morning we noticed they were gone. After the shouting for who was the ******* that didn't tye them properly, we realised : no more hot drinks or food. Shall we turn back ? We decided no. Instant coffe with condensd milk would be fine, and we had lots of eggs, vegetables and tinned food. Next day running the engine to charge batteries suddenly a strange noise and a 'clunk' - engine seized. No engine no problem, but in few days no eletricity ! Shall we turn back ? No ! Just using the compass light and having a flashlight ready, with improving weather we had our first candle light dinners in the saloon. Then almost 2 days totally becalmed. We had to take the sails down to avoid the flapping ripping them to pieces. When after 14 days the Island of Pico came in sight the satisfaction was great, also with the accuracy of our astronavigation. We got a tow from a fishing boat into the harbour. Never a dinner in a restaurant tasted, and a first hot shower ashore felt so good. 1974, no GPS, and we had no radios, be it SSB or VHF. Our good old Mercedes Diesel had a difuser bell in front of an injector nozzle desintegrated by fatigue. Three weeks for repair and lots of time to get to know the islands well.

[Tetepare]

Off Magnetic Island AUS I awoke and went on deck to pee. It was freezing! Well not quite but news reported 4 C. it was horrible for days.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Raz de Sein - October at night, 40kts of wind, big seas, both engines astern and still doing 13 knots, pleased that the lighthouse was there and working, no GPS in those days.
Raz de Sein - June many years later, sunny day, 10kts of wind, flat sea, light house looked really peaceful.

For those of you who had never heard of this place--as I had not--I post the picture below on one of those "big seas" days.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

We left Nantucket a day early, heading back to Martha's Vineyard before a storm was due to roll in. Running downwind avoiding the shallows between the two islands. Big rollers from astern, low visibility and a nagging suspicion that the loran was off by miles. When dead reckoning brought us to our next mark we turned off the loran and continued with DR. It was a trip where you had to trust your own abilities.

Another day we were heading North across Massachusetts Bay to our home port in Magnolia when we were hit by a line squall. Reefed way down, donned the foulies and headed East to Provincetown as that where the wind wanted us to go. Spent a night in P town and sailed home the next day.

A different day when everything aligned Marion, Ma through the Cape Cod Canal to Manchester, Ma singlehanded in 10 hours. Then stripped the boat for hauling the following day.

Surfing down big rollers into Gloucester harbor with bare poles and a 40knt tailwind, running way over hull speed.

Gulfstream at night racing to Bermuda, again surfing down waves this time with full sails and occasionally jumping onto the wave in front of us.

This is not quite the answer I was looking for, but it's fun to hear stories from my home waters. The ad hoc trip to P-town is particularly great. How long did that take you on those squalls (I assume 35-40 kts)?

Used to be based in Beverly.

[Don C L]

For me it was just an afternoon off Point Conception up the coast a bit here, that gets a bit rough at times. I was coming home, coming south, running, in the afternoon when things get kicked up there, in my 24 foot boat. I was enjoying it but my girlfriend was not... at all... curled up in the v-berth in the bow. It was noisy and there were plenty of breaking steep waves but the anchorage was not far off. In all the commotion a humpback whale surfaced not far from me just off my beam! He disappeared after that into all the racing hills and blowing spray, but that was even a better day as a result. That was 40 years ago and I remember it like it was just the other day.

[skipmac]

Went through the Windward Passage several times on the way back and forth to the Caribbean. Usually pretty boisterous, especially in the winters but one January trip south it was dead flat calm. You could literally see your reflection in the water. Dropped the sails and went swimming.