Swimming in the Ocean

[steamgoat]

Just checked my old log,26yrs ago this week, singlehanded, 1000 miles out of Canaries, becalmed, sails down, jumped over the side, SCARY,got back on board real quick !! Bruce,

[Giulietta]

YouTube - Velejando com os Golfinhos da Costa Alentejana - Sailing with Dolphins

[Bash]

Hot day, light air, spinnaker drawing with three knots from 150 degrees relative. Wonderblond says it's too hot not to swim. I insist she wear a harness and tether herself to the boat. She thinks I'm goofy until I remind her that I have no idea how to do a crew overboard maneuver with the chute up when I'm the only guy left on the boat. Even in light air.

She braids her hair and then extends the swim ladder. Clips into a harness and lowers herself into the water, complaining that it's too warm in the water as well. Then, grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder, she streams behind the boat, losing the bottom of her bikini in quick order.

I'm enjoying this. Especially the part where I remind her that it's a good thing she's at least wearing a harness.

She fatigues after about five minutes, but is having a difficult time pulling herself back up the ladder. I assist, finally, by hauling on the bitter end of the tether.

Once she's back on board, we agree that it might not be a good idea for me to take a turn. There are some things that shouldn't be done with the chute up. I grab the bucket, pour two gallons of tepid seawater over my head, and tell her that this is all I need.

[Lady Circumnavi]

Becalmed in the doldrums of the S. Atlantic, my husband jumped in to spear some tuna that were hovering in our shadow. It didn't take long for a large shark to hear the commotion and come out nowhere to take a look. After that, the water didn't look so inviting. Some friends had a similar expereince. He jumped in to scrape some goose barnacles off the hull. Within fifteen minurtes a large pelagic shark got curious. Even though one rarely sees sharks at sea, they are attracted to noise, and in the big ocean, swimming is an invitation.

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Pretty common during my Navy days for them to stop the ship and have swim call whenever the schedule allowed. One thing that surprised me was how much current can be at the surface - so be sure to have a floating tether or someone who stays aboard and can maneuver to retrieve ya.

I only had one swim call, but it was over the Marianas Trench. Weird feeling knowing you are floating in water 6 1/2 miles deep! I too was surprised by the current.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Oceanic whitetip is my favorite shark, I have never seen one in real life. Where is a cage when you need one


BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Thanks for the Link.

Extemp.

[cabron99]

In the early 70's I had a small boat repair business in Kona (Big Island) with a buddy. Mostly wooden fishing boats. A 51 ft ferro-cement ketch became detached from her mooring and landed on the rocks in Keahou Bay. We had connections with a tug from Honolulu so ended up with the salvage rights. We stripped most of the usable stuff in about 15 ft of water. Part of the deal was we had to scuttle the hull a couple miles out. Well, we floated her, sinking 55 gal drums, inserting and tying them on and then pumping them full of air. Once afloat a simple matter of towing out and pumping the cans full of holes with 12 gauge slugs. Hey, we were just kids!! I'm not defending this, just telling about it. Once the cement hulk started going, we jumped in with masks to watch. Now, I'd spent a lot of time in deep water, spinnaker sailing and larking about without a thought. We could hear the metal drums crushing under the pressure as the 51 foot hull shrank in our view. Smaller, smaller and still smaller. I could still see it clearly as it appeared about 1 inch long, at arm's length! Looking down, I felt a feeling of vertigo. My main sensation was the fear of falling!! That ended my days of really enjoying being "in" deep water. I can still force myself to get wet, but the joy is gone. I am currently happy sailing on the waters of the Channels Islands off SoCal. On the water, that is.

Pat