What's your biggest bonehead move sailing?

[sandinmytea]

So, I got out of the service last year, and bought a boat in April. I sailed her all summer without an outhaul. The 36 year old mainsail had this huge belly in it. All my friends would ask "Hey, is it really supposed to heel over this much?!?" and I'd just respond "YEAH! STOP WUSSING OUT!"

I thought it was cool that I was heeling 30 degrees all the time, all summer long. Slowly reading over books on sailing, I realize its time to invest in a new mainsail and an outhaul =)

[sailingdog]

good call... having no outhaul and blown out sails is actually a serious danger, since it makes the boat much more difficult to handle in heavy winds.

Originally Posted by sandinmytea

So, I got out of the service last year, and bought a boat in April. I sailed her all summer without an outhaul. The 36 year old mainsail had this huge belly in it. All my friends would ask "Hey, is it really supposed to heel over this much?!?" and I'd just respond "YEAH! STOP WUSSING OUT!"

I thought it was cool that I was heeling 30 degrees all the time, all summer long. Slowly reading over books on sailing, I realize its time to invest in a new mainsail and an outhaul =)

[mackconsult]

I have another one to share.

1997-2000 I partnered on a melges 24 (hull #38) campaign here in PNW. "Rental Car" as it was named was on its second regatta up in Seattle doing a PSSR's regatta so we were on the north course and the dinghies were on the south course.

We were sailing out on port tack and I handed the helm over to one of the owners to take care of some things below. 5 seconds later we got T-boned by a santana 20 on starboard .

I didn't get hit with the bill, but I sure felt bad about it .

[sandinmytea]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

good call... having no outhaul and blown out sails is actually a serious danger, since it makes the boat much more difficult to handle in heavy winds.

Boy are you right! It trained me well though. I spent most of my time sailing with the mainsheet in my hand. I did most of my sailing by the seat of my pants, with no real training, but I really got a great feel for the boat. I can't imagine how well she will sail with a new main and outhaul. Great boat.

[strenue]

Mine was yesterday, mackconsult, you'll appreciate the location. It is amazing how errors compound!

I was sailing my Ranger 22, Kemosabe, in gusty conditions without a depth sounder on the Willamette River just south of the Willamette Sailing Club, literally 150 yards from my home. No crew, just me, on a beat from the east side to the west side of the river. One particularly strong gust, and I took my eye off the rapidly closing rocks on the west side of the river to assess what I could do to depower and keep control.

'Thunk-crunnnch' and I am aground. Fortunately the gust had passed, but I had to drop the sails and get the motor in the water quickly. Which first, sails or motor? OK, motor it is. I dive under the stern rail and reach for the release catch of my honda 5 horse with my left hand, expecting to slowly lower it into the water with my right hand.

Um, no. Somehow, I released the engine with my left thumb between the bracket and the powerhead. Many choice words and a lot of blood.

Now our feckless hero is aground, bleeding profusely, is being blown further onto whatever underwater obstacle he ran aground on in the first place, with an un-started motor. Uh-oh. First order of business, get the motor started - I managed to do that pretty quickly. Next, drop the sails. First, my 130 genoa, then the main. Later, my mother-in-law asked 'how did you get blood all over the boat' - this is how. I figured with my size, and the Ranger's light weight (2,200 pounds), I would have little problem rocking the boat free. I still hadn't gone below to check the bilge, but it didn't feel like the boat was getting heavier, and given the distance to home(floating home), I felt it would be better to get there and then assess the damage.

Running up to the bow helped me rock the boat a bit, and together with liberal application of reverse on the engine, I freed her so I could get back home. Getting her the short distance back to the dock was almost impossible, but on the bright side, after a quick trip to the emergency room, I will not have to clip my thumb nail for 6 months.

So my bonehead move cost me a great day of sailing, my nail, a broken bone in my thumb, and no doubt some fairing and fiberglass work when I haul the Ranger in the next few months. I also joined that elite sailing group, Those Who Have, as 'those who have run aground'. I am sorry, Kemosabe. This one will not be forgotten...

[sailjunkie]

As far as I know, I may be the only person to have done a 360 degree donut in a Catalina 27'.

In the spring of 1996, I was out with a senior member of our Co-op, practicing for the CYA Basic final on-the-water session. We went to do a tack, and the next I know, we went a full 360 degrees. My wife was astonished. The aforementioned senior member merely shook his head and asked if I went hot rodding very often. To this day, I can only speculate that it was one heck of a broach. Because I have never done it again, I'll never know for sure.

Fortunately, I became better as I acquired more experience. My wife no longer breaks out the prayer beads when we go out; and the senior member has become a mentor and good sailing buddy.

As I gained experience, I still made mistakes, even touching bottom with no harm. However, the 360 in the Catalina still stands out.

[Simes]

Yarmouth Harbour, Isle of Wight UK. Bank holiday weekend. Sunday AM, spring tide flooding in.
We (I) am moored at the uptide end of a long line of sail boats this line curves to port with the tide flowing under it.
I decide to spring the stern out and then go ahead and motor down the line of vessels before turning round at the end and motoring up the other side of the line of moored vessels.
So I spring the stern out, no problem, the tide grabs the rudder and the keel and we move sideways down the line of moored vessels. Crack we hit the first one a good solid thump on its port hand side midships, I throw us into astern, prop' walk starts us turning the bow away, the next yacht we just rub all along her topsides (sounds of splintering GRP) the next yacht stops us as we crash into her stern, the tide still has us in its grip and now pulls the stern passed our temporarily hooked up bow. Using the bow as a fulcrum we rub all along the side of this nice yacht that had momentarily stopped us and bring up against the steel mooring pile at the end of the line.
So before 08:00 we (I) have hit three boats (one of them twice!) and rammed our pride and joy into a big steel mooring pile.
I then had to pull us off the pile and motor back up passed each of the vessels we had hit passing out business card and apologising.

I should have used more revs and driven hard in astern, passed the moorings, and in to clear water.

[davidpm]

I jumped off the dock unexpectedly. New couple I'm taking out sailing for the second time. I step off the boat onto the dock with bow line in hand. I'm guiding the boat in no problem, bend down to cleat off and next I know I'm in the drink. Still don't know what happened. Must have tripped.

[David3]

Put a Thistle in the water, once, without first installing the drain plugs.

It fills up amazingly fast.

[futureshock999]

Hmmm, it's embarrassing when you can't even put "being aground x times" as your worst stunt.

I would have to say the time I rented a Hobie 16 off the beach in Barbados, on a day that was so windy that all the other rentals shops where closed, lots of white caps, some roughish seas. But, hey, one guy would rent me his (old looking) Hobie, I had wanted to do some sailing and hadn't had a chance all week (being busy proposing to my pregnant fiancee of two days!). My fiancee was game, had some faith in my sailing abilities, so off we went...

Headed downwind off the beach, nice broad runs...too windy to risk gybing safely, so I did 270s when I needed to change tacks. Actually, a very nice sail - until it became time to come back up the beach. Lulled by the lack of apparent wind, riding on the waves rather than crashing into them, I was rather shocked by the steepness of the whitecaps I was now driving into. Still, I have been on Hobies in rough conditions on Lake Michigan, so I knew to bear away to keep my speed up, angle appropriately, and..., er, pray a lot.

This was all working as planned for a good half hour or more, as we angled back up the beach towards our rental location. We had angled a bit offshore on our last long tack, so we were nearly up to it, but a bit distant offshore...when I saw them. Three successive whitecaps, each larger than what we had been experiencing. I had my finacee move back, I powered up and bore off, and we crashed over the first of them. Real white knuckle time...we slow considerably, but pick up speed off the back of it..then WHAM, the second wave, larger than the first, stops us dead.

And then I see the third one coming at us, knowing I have no helm control to even point the bow to it, and we capsize...

Normally, you EXPECT to capsize in a Hobie, and I certainly know how to right them, and my fiancee is rather athletic even when pregnant. But despite all our efforts, it wouldn't turn. And now it was beginning to turn darker. At least we had PFDs...

After another half hour, we see a jetski coming towards us, and the owner as a passenger. He hops off, waves to his friend goodbye, and after a dressing down from this rather large Barbados guy we all three try to right her....without success. So now there are three of us on the hulls, it's REALLY getting dark, and we have no way to right her.

Finally, after what felt an eternity but was probably less than an hour, a Barbados Coast Guard skiff finds us...Coast Guard in this case means anti-drug patrol, as evidenced by the .50 cal machine gun prominent in the bow. They secured a pair of lines, and with their twin Mercury outboards they...did nothing. Couldn't right her - because the danged hulls were old and cracked, and at least partially waterlogged. At least my financee could get out of the water and warm, and they called for a fishing boat to tow the crippled Hobie into port, still upside down...it was a rather tense ride back, with the owner accusing me of ruining his craft, while I knew full well _I_ didn't crack those hulls and waterlog the foam. For restitution, he stole my wallet, which had little cash, and cards that I cancelled immediately. Thankfully it was the last day of vacation, and we flew out the next morning...