[Classic30]

Accidents can happen.. but this guy was lucky:

WA yachtsman Geoff Hunter forced to swim three hours to shore

 

[ScottUK]

Here is another lucky guy.

Man forced to swim for hours - national | Stuff.co.nz

 

[Omatako]

Here is another lucky guy.

Man forced to swim for hours - national | Stuff.co.nz

The lucky ones in this story are the guys left on the boat without a watch and not getting run down by a very large ship.

Whangarei is the busy anchorage for oil tankers discharging cargo at New Zealand's only refinery.

 

[ScottUK]

That is true. I was up there a couple of months ago and a container ship came up behind me so I gave him plenty of room to proceed up the channel. He then started to make some erratic moves before coming adjacent to me outside the channel to meet a rib to transfer a pilot. Though having the radio on I never received a call. Made my wife quite edgy.

 

[travlin-easy]

In 60 years on the water I've only had a single call from a commercial vessel, and that was to warn me of a distant, severe storm he saw on radar, which I did not have on the boat. The storm packed 75 MPH winds and was about 25 miles away and headed straight for me. I managed to duck into a sheltered cove, drop two hooks and take cover just before it slammed me. For the next hour I was pounded, lightning crashed down all round me in sheets, and the storm ended as if someone had flipped a switch. The winds went dead calm, the seas flattened and the sun came out. I crossed Chesapeake Bay to Point Lookout, a distance of about 12 miles, loaded the boat on the trailer and a second, nasty storm struck just as I started the truck engine. What a day that was. I was sure glad that commercial guy called.

Gary

 

[ScottUK]

I wasn't really expecting a call. I did it to placate my wife. If I had been an obstacle I'm sure I would have heard the mandatory 5 toots though I had given him plenty of room so wasn't too worried.