[oceangirl]

I was thinking about how many stories we swap about fun times, hardship, repairs, even scary times and I thought to try to start a thread focusing on a beautiful offshore experience. I’ve never started a thread before and I am new to this web forum thingy stuff so I hope this is okay.

Here is one of the many times God has knocked my socks off while sailing offshore.

One day in the Atlantic, I was sailing along with seas off the beam, my boat fell off an especially large wave into a trough. In the trough, we were surrounded by a wall of deep blue water about as high as the spreaders (beautiful!). Anyways, it was a bright sunny day, we fell off this big wave into a trough, and off my beam in the wall of the next wave is a 20 ft pilot whale. The whale was above me looking down into the cockpit, and I was looking up at him into the wave. He was maybe 15 feet away, running parallel to the boat, his head even with the cockpit. I had the pilot whale’s complete profile from nose to tail and our eyes met! Never in all my imagination would I of thought I’d have to look up to see a whale. That is the great thing about the ocean, it defies even my wildest imagination.

 

[SecondWindNC]

There's nothing like being offshore, with nothing but water and sky as far as the eye can see, to give you a little perspective. Especially at night, for some reason. It just always makes me realize how small I am and reminds me to just relish every moment that I'm here.

Geez, I'm sorry. I usually try not to be that sappy about it. :laugher

 

[AjariBonten]

What a fantastic story! You never know what the ocean is going to give you.................

 

[imagine2frolic]

What a fantastic story! You never know what the ocean is going to give you.................

Or take from you There are so many I can't do the most beautiful, or scariest. I have had a number of both. I can only confess that I keep returning, and it's never soon enough. Even after almost being killed

Ajari have you been in lock down? Long time no read your typing.:laugher ......i2f

 

[Cruisingdad]

Same thing happened to us (but it was Dolphin). We were about 120 miles offshore of FL and in these square waves the gulf is known for in a northern. Woke up the next morning to watch dolphin eye to eye with us as the waves passed under. It was almost like you could reach out and touch them. We tried shooting pictures of it but the camera was caoted with sea spray and they came out terrible!!

Funny thing was that on our way back from the Tortugas, we had to motor the whole way!!!! Flattest seas I have ever seen. It was like a swimming pool.

Here is the ride back... look at how flat those seas are!!!

Picture perfect memory.

- CD

 

[sailortjk1]

Do you mind if I share a story from the Great Lakes?<O</O
Not off shore, but still relevant in my opinion.<O</O
<O</O

Every season we return at least twice to our home Port; it is an 85nautical mile sail. One season, I don't even remember which one it was, we were sailing home, and I always leave after midnight and sail all night to arrive the next day. We always enjoy the night sky and love to watch the stars.
On this particular night, I go on deck to relieve my wife Julie in the cockpit; she explains to me how wonderful the starts are tonight. I sheepishly nod my head and mumble a "I bet they are." No, No really. She says look up.<O</O
<O</O

I turned my head to the heavens and I was in awe. <O</O
I have never seen anything like it in my life and I have never seen anything like it again.
<O</O

We did not see "Stars", we saw the entire Milky Way. I cannot describe it other than to say that what I saw was a "White Cloud" of heaven. You simply did not see individual stars, but we saw a “Cloud”. The cockpit was lit up as if we had an LED in our rigging. You could read a book with out any assistance. It was amazing, a once in a lifetime experience; words do not do justice to the experince.<O</O

 

[Cruisingdad]

Do you mind if I share a story from the Great Lakes?<O</O
Not off shore, but still relevant in my opinion.<O</O
<O</O

Every season we return at least twice to our home Port; it is an 85nautical mile sail. One season, I don't even remember which one it was, we were sailing home, and I always leave after midnight and sail all night to arrive the next day. We always enjoy the night sky and love to watch the stars.
On this particular night, I go on deck to relieve my wife Julie in the cockpit; she explains to me how wonderful the starts are tonight. I sheepishly nod my head and mumble a "I bet they are." No, No really. She says look up.<O</O
<O</O

I turned my head to the heavens and I was in awe. <O</O
I have never seen anything like it in my life and I have never seen anything like it again.
<O</O

We did not see "Stars", we saw the entire Milky Way. I cannot describe it other than to say that what I saw was a "White Cloud" of heaven. You simply did not see individual stars, but we saw a “Cloud”. The cockpit was lit up as if we had an LED in our rigging. You could read a book with out any assistance. It was amazing, a once in a lifetime experience; words do not do justice to the experince.<O</O

Very Cool!!!

Brian

 

[painkiller]

I was thinking about how many stories we swap about fun times, hardship, repairs, even scary times and I thought to try to start a thread focusing on a beautiful offshore experience. I’ve never started a thread before and I am new to this web forum thingy stuff so I hope this is okay.

Here is one of the many times God has knocked my socks off while sailing offshore.

One day in the Atlantic, I was sailing along with seas off the beam, my boat fell off an especially large wave into a trough. In the trough, we were surrounded by a wall of deep blue water about as high as the spreaders (beautiful!). Anyways, it was a bright sunny day, we fell off this big wave into a trough, and off my beam in the wall of the next wave is a 20 ft pilot whale. The whale was above me looking down into the cockpit, and I was looking up at him into the wave. He was maybe 15 feet away, running parallel to the boat, his head even with the cockpit. I had the pilot whale’s complete profile from nose to tail and our eyes met! Never in all my imagination would I of thought I’d have to look up to see a whale. That is the great thing about the ocean, it defies even my wildest imagination.

The same thing happened to me once! But I was at an aquarium. I still get goosebumps, though.

 

[smackdaddy]

Gaaaaaaaaa! It's PAINKILLER!

He is aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

(Sorry - that's all I got. I sail in a lake. Maybe a carp in a ripple?)

 

[painkiller]

Those ripple carps are scary. Sometimes that carp he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a ripple carp... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'.

 

[smackdaddy]

Damn straight lad. I've got a scar I can show ya from when the USS Sheboigan went down in our lake....

Sorry Ocean. I'll leave now.

 

[JewelledJester]

We're gonna need a bigger boat!

 

[fullkeel7]

This thread reminds of a reoccurring dream similar to Oceangirl's description, only mine was a shark...looking down on me like some tasty soft morsel in a hard shell, the sharks smile always woke me up! Guess that doesn't count...

I've only had one 'true' offshore experience, a 1200 nm passage from the Bahamas to St. Thomas...seven hundred nm due east to pick up the trades, then into the islands. Two man crew, 4 on 4 off, so there was a couple clear nights with opportunities to watch the masts do their little dance with the Milky Way. A man could easily just lay back in awe and choke on his own spit at this awesome site. Don't ask how I know. Truely privileged viewing.

What was so unsettling for me, was just the opposite of the other's experience. For the entire passage, we never saw one bird, fish or turtle until nearing St. Thomas. Luck of the draw, I suppose. Anyway, we experienced some of the same conditions OG described and with my reoccurring dream in mind, I searched the waves above for my shark. Didn't happen...and I've never had that dream again.

 

[oceangirl]

You guys are a hoot.

Shark week on the discovery channel, sleep with a night light

 

[Omatako]

1) Green flash - I was always sceptical until we saw it about 900nm out from San Diego. Never saw it before or since - just the once.

2) A light show about 50m under water - about 2:00am - flashing lights of subtely different colours flashing quite brightly. It was so unusual I went and woke up the others on the boat and we watched it for about an hour. Sometimes the flashes were bright enough to reflect off the side of the boat! We only discovered some time later that the source was a shoal (?) of giant squid that use flashing light in their bodies apparently to disorientate their prey during attacks but we have also heard it said (National Geographic) that they use the flashes to communicate. I think if we had known that we would have been more circumspect about hanging over the side of the boat watching!! About 500nm east of the Kermadec Islands. See it here: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Large squid lights up for attack

 

[oceangirl]

urgo

I bet that was gorgeous! I love squid and octopuses but would never want to be in the water with the big guys!

In the gulf of mexico I saw some unusual glowing objects and still don't know what it was. It was a moonless night and the phosphorescence were so active it seemed like you could see the breaking waves from horizon to horizon. The first URGO ( Unidentified Round Glowing Object for you civilians out there) was about 15-20 ft diameter. We passed so close to it that I thought to myself “wow! glad I didn’t hit that sleeping whale” but it was too round for a whale. In fact, it was almost perfectly round and the surface had imperfections like freckles (some area dimmer than others), it was defiantly solid not just a glob of phosphorescence. It was stationary in the water, very near the surface say five feet. We sailed on and I spotted another one but it was smaller and deeper maybe 20 feet down and only about 10 feet in diameter. I’ve racked my brain trying to imagine what it was, Submarine? Submerged oil platform? It seemed organic Giant Squid? Giant jellyfish?

 

[bloodhunter]

Perfect

It was warm with a steady breeze that cloudless evening in mid-June. We'd just crossed the stream on our way to Bermuda. The sun was near the horizon and the evening star was bright in the sky. I'd just come up to take an evening sight. As I sat on the cabin top, I could hear the rush of the water and the wind in the rigging; I could smell dinner cooking in the galley.
Then Joey, in the cockpit began to play Shenandoah on his harmonica.
I just sat there, lost in the moment.
It was almost as if the powers that be had scripted the perfect sailing moment and presented it to us as a gift.
There have been many other moments of joy and terror, but nothing to quite equal the perfection of that June evening.