That didn't go well!
Discussion
To test the water (excuse the pun!) with wife and daughter I chartered a yacht and skipper last Friday (a 30 year old, 42ft Moody). We arrived on the Thursday evening to spend the night on the boat before the day sailing on Friday. First impressions from the family were guarded: claustrophobic. The skipper stayed with us in the rear cabin. Daughter got a bunk bed and wife and I were upfront. Not a good start as the bed was quite high and as my wife (and her bladder) are tiny she struggled to clamber up onto the bed...and because of her bladder was getting a lot of practice. She wasn't that impressed with having to manually pump the toilet. Despite those inconveniences we had a good night overall as the skipper was friendly, we had some good fish and chips and it was all washed down with the beer and wine (that always helps). Wasn't the best night's sleep I've had but it was nice looking up through the open hatch at the stars. Started the day with a bacon sandwich and mug of tea. What more could you want?
Day was definitely in two halves. Spent the morning sailing upstream on the River Orwell towards Ipswich marina. That part went very well. After a brief shower in the morning we had sunny weather and the water was calm. We all had a go at steering and daughter and I were helping out with the sailing. I think my wife was quite enjoying it as relaxing. We stopped for a cold buffet and then headed back down river and out to sea. That is where it went a bit pear-shaped. We had noticed some black clouds on the horizon but weren't prepared to get caught in a short but rather violent squall. One minute it was quite bumpy with the boat leaning over and water spraying over the deck...the next it got quite violent and I thought from a moment we were in danger of capsizing! We managed to get the genoa (spelling?) back down and then we had got out of it. Apparently we had briefly experienced "force 8" winds. Skipper seemed a little shaken. After that we sailed south to escape the weather but after half an hour we needed to turn around to get back into harbour. It was a bit rough on the way back in but nothing like we had experienced on the way out.
None of us got seasick. I found that whilst up on deck, even when it was rough, I didn't have a problem. However, as soon as I went down below deck (when out at sea) I started to feel a bit queasy.
Overall conclusion from my family: daughter - it was a bit boring except for the storm, wife: parts were okay, parts of it were terrifying, and no way she would want to spend a week in such cramped conditions and with that toilet! Also, although my wife was okay being a passenger she didn't have any interest in actually sailing (the opposite to myself).
In retrospect perhaps not the best introduction for them! Not sure what to do now. I think flotilla next year is out. However, we usually holiday near the sea in the Med and I think they would be up for a day's skippered chartering out there.
Day was definitely in two halves. Spent the morning sailing upstream on the River Orwell towards Ipswich marina. That part went very well. After a brief shower in the morning we had sunny weather and the water was calm. We all had a go at steering and daughter and I were helping out with the sailing. I think my wife was quite enjoying it as relaxing. We stopped for a cold buffet and then headed back down river and out to sea. That is where it went a bit pear-shaped. We had noticed some black clouds on the horizon but weren't prepared to get caught in a short but rather violent squall. One minute it was quite bumpy with the boat leaning over and water spraying over the deck...the next it got quite violent and I thought from a moment we were in danger of capsizing! We managed to get the genoa (spelling?) back down and then we had got out of it. Apparently we had briefly experienced "force 8" winds. Skipper seemed a little shaken. After that we sailed south to escape the weather but after half an hour we needed to turn around to get back into harbour. It was a bit rough on the way back in but nothing like we had experienced on the way out.
None of us got seasick. I found that whilst up on deck, even when it was rough, I didn't have a problem. However, as soon as I went down below deck (when out at sea) I started to feel a bit queasy.
Overall conclusion from my family: daughter - it was a bit boring except for the storm, wife: parts were okay, parts of it were terrifying, and no way she would want to spend a week in such cramped conditions and with that toilet! Also, although my wife was okay being a passenger she didn't have any interest in actually sailing (the opposite to myself).
In retrospect perhaps not the best introduction for them! Not sure what to do now. I think flotilla next year is out. However, we usually holiday near the sea in the Med and I think they would be up for a day's skippered chartering out there.
The skipper being a bit shaken is a bit of a worry, surely he would have checked the weather forecast for where he was going sailing? That's number one on any sailors checklist so to you put you into a force 8 was pretty irresponsible IMO.
A flotilla in the Med will be a totally different experience.
A flotilla in the Med will be a totally different experience.
My 1st thought is where you booked your weekend and with whom?
If a reputable sailing school/company I'm amazed that the "skipper" stayed on board as with a minor on board that's a minefield and secondly "accidentally sailing in to a F8 squall and then being shaken by it".... the 1st can happen with poor planning and observation the 2nd if the skipper is qualified should not happen.
If a reputable sailing school/company I'm amazed that the "skipper" stayed on board as with a minor on board that's a minefield and secondly "accidentally sailing in to a F8 squall and then being shaken by it".... the 1st can happen with poor planning and observation the 2nd if the skipper is qualified should not happen.
That's pretty much a normal sailing weekend in this country.
Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
Nice of the skipper to take the (relatively) palatial aft cabin which would have been a better experience for your wife.
What about this:
https://www.neilson.co.uk/beach/greece/vounaki-bea...
Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
Nice of the skipper to take the (relatively) palatial aft cabin which would have been a better experience for your wife.
What about this:
https://www.neilson.co.uk/beach/greece/vounaki-bea...
notsofast said:
That's pretty much a normal sailing weekend in this country.
Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
That was my thinking. We have experienced similar conditions in those waters. One minute you are pottering along nice and steady, the next, everything is blowing and you are hanging on only for 10 minutes to pass and it to be all calm once again. Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
Rule 1 is reef early. sounds like a bit of a rookie mistake.
notsofast said:
Nice of the skipper to take the (relatively) palatial aft cabin which would have been a better experience for your wife.
Again, I would have expected the skipper to rough it especially as there was room for all aboard.Bob
fat80b said:
notsofast said:
That's pretty much a normal sailing weekend in this country.
Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
That was my thinking. We have experienced similar conditions in those waters. One minute you are pottering along nice and steady, the next, everything is blowing and you are hanging on only for 10 minutes to pass and it to be all calm once again. Squalls aren't forecasted but they are not a rare event and somewhat obvious as an approaching curtain of cloud and rain. Skipper should have seen it coming and reefed accordingly.
Rule 1 is reef early. sounds like a bit of a rookie mistake.
notsofast said:
Nice of the skipper to take the (relatively) palatial aft cabin which would have been a better experience for your wife.
Again, I would have expected the skipper to rough it especially as there was room for all aboard.Bob
In retrospect he should have given us the main cabin and should not have slept on the boat. We would have felt more comfortable.
Looking forward I might organise the start sailing course for daughter and myself when we are staying at a villa on the Med. With perhaps chartering a boat for one day for the whole family.
Sounds exactly like a family flotilla holiday I went on in years past...
Parent's spent a week learning to sail the yacht whilst my brother and I messed about with dinghys and windsurfers.
Get on the yacht for week two - a tranquil flotilla cruise and the parents reveal that they hadn't paid much attention as my brother and I were in sea scouts and a 40ft yacht is the same as a 14ft dinghy right?
Highlights of the week included
Parent's spent a week learning to sail the yacht whilst my brother and I messed about with dinghys and windsurfers.
Get on the yacht for week two - a tranquil flotilla cruise and the parents reveal that they hadn't paid much attention as my brother and I were in sea scouts and a 40ft yacht is the same as a 14ft dinghy right?
Highlights of the week included
- repeatedly dragging the anchor and waking up rather far from where we had anchored
- having the parents ignore a weather warning that saw every other yacht in safe harbour and us trying to reef the mainsail and furl the genoa in force 9 conditions whilst getting blown onto a rocky outcropping
- having to make a for real mayday call in said storm due to our inexperience
- discovering that vhf radios are fallible and that sometimes no-one can hear your mayday call
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