# “What’s The WORST Storm You’ve Seen?”



## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

"What's The WORST Storm You've Seen?" and sailed in?
For my it was this last March in the BVI. My first charter in the Caribbean. We had 3 day out of 8 with bad waves and wind. Bad Was like 28 to 33 knot winds with stronger gust. We had i know 8 foot to 10 foot behind Tortola while headed to Foxy's. We learned a great deal in a short amount of time. 
This short video was after the storm had pass.
Let me know what your worst day was?






Best regards,

LT

C&C 30-MK1 East Coast Lady

Port Royal,

South Carolina

[email protected]


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## Gladrags1 (Apr 9, 2003)

At anchor during the Derecho of a couple years ago. 2-1/2 hrs of intense, 50kn straight line winds that knocked us over before we weather vaned up. Anchor held, we had 150+ feet of chain in 8' of water. We were fine but people on land weren't!

Tod
Sailing the Chesapeake Bay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

ltgoshen said:


> "What's The WORST Storm You've Seen?" and sailed in?
> For my it was this last March in the BVI. My first charter in the Caribbean. We had 3 day out of 8 with bad waves and wind. Bad Was like 28 to 33 knot winds with stronger gust. We had i know 8 foot to 10 foot behind Tortola while headed to Foxy's. We learned a great deal in a short amount of time.
> This short video was after the storm had pass.
> Let me know what your worst day was?
> ...


I am not trying to belittle your experiences. These conditions are testing especially if you are used to light air sailing.

But here is a heads up for anybody thinking about chartering or coming sailing down here, they are normal conditions in the winter in the Eastern Caribbean. The weathermen call the condition reinforced trades, the locals call them the Christmas winds because it seems to occur at that time. But anytime from November to April we get periods when it blows 25 to 30 for a few days or a few weeks. Regulars just tuck in the third reef, make sure everything is safely stowed and go sailing. The good news is they are almost always steady so once you are away from the islands you can exhilarating inter island sailing.

Freaks the charters out though.


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## RonRelyea (Nov 18, 2009)

I was sailing Long Island Sound 24 June 2010 ... heard the warnings on VHF .... high-tailed it back to Manhasset Bay. Just picked up a mooring and got down below when this hit ....... luckily the mooring held just fine!



...MICROBURST /STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE/ CONFIRMED NEAR GREAT NECK
IN NASSAU COUNTY NY...
LOCATION...GREAT NECK IN NASSAU COUNTY NY
DATE...JUNE 24 2010
ESTIMATED TIME...250 PM EDT
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...100 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...0.75 STATUTE MILES
PATH LENGTH...0.75 STATUTE MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...40.80N / 73.74W
ENDING LAT/LON...40.80N / 73.73W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0
* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.
...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW YORK NY HAS CONFIRMED A
MICROBURST /STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE/ NEAR GREAT NECK IN NASSAU
COUNTY NY ON JUNE 24 2010.
AS A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST ACROSS NORTHERN
NASSAU COUNTY...IT PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT STRAIGHT LINE HIGH WINDS
THAT DOWNED


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## kjango (Apr 18, 2008)

Some sci-fi movie freak show middle of the night storm going around the corner in the Chesapeake between Point no Point & Point Lookout & I was onboard for Kyle & also Sandy to compare against .


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## Aaron42 (Jun 20, 2014)

Sunday night I attempted to go sailing in 30mph winds gusting to 40. Sailed about 100 yards out of the harbor and decided that even with a reefed main it wasn't going to be any fun so we headed back. Not a storm though... just slightly above average winds for Oklahoma.


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

TQA said:


> I am not trying to belittle your experiences. These conditions are testing especially if you are used to light air sailing.


How right you are. My sailing grounds Here in South Carolina we get 3 to 7 out of the south. Never 30 knots. So yea it was trying. But I knew it was going to challenge me that's why I went. I had a blast... No pun intended

So if that's your daily wind there what was your worst storm?

Peace


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## Scotty C-M (Aug 14, 2013)

Two stand out. One was in the Gulf of Tejuantapec (spelling) in Central America. I was on a 45' Choy Catamaran. The wind was gusting somewhere about 60 knots. We were close to land so we headed in (which is counter to the normal action of running with the wind), and got under the lee of a small headland. The sides of that boat were oil-canning so much you could see it. I thought we were going to die. The captain was tied into the helm, the other crew and I were hunched up down below. What a ride. Once we were in the lee we anchored in still water, with the wind blowing over the top for the rest of the day.
The other storm was when I was an engine room crewman aboard a 200' fishing vessel. We left Costa Rica and headed out to the Clipperton Fracture Zone, about 1000 miles out to sea. We stayed out for 5 months! One storm the waves had to be 50'. Truly huge. The guy on watch (helm) asked me if I wanted to take the helm while he ate dinner. Sure. Wow!!


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## HUGOSALT (Jun 15, 2004)

RonRelyea said:


> I was sailing Long Island Sound 24 June 2010 ... heard the warnings on VHF .... high-tailed it back to Manhasset Bay. Just picked up a mooring and got down below when this hit ....... luckily the mooring held just fine!
> 
> ...MICROBURST /STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE/ CONFIRMED NEAR GREAT NECK
> IN NASSAU COUNTY NY...
> ...


Remember that day well as hit my house (800 ft. west of manhasset bay and
100 ft above sea level) pretty good.
Happy you made it back to mooring, not all on the water were that lucky
that day.

As for me was early in my time in the navy, still don't know why they
had us in the north north Atlantic in February. 2 days 45-50 ft waves in a 200 ft. destroyer. As a 18 year old just out of high school, watch on the bridge included steering a compass course on the helm with screws out of the water half the time while captain and od talked of ships righting moment.


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## Puddin'_Tain (Feb 14, 2014)

ltgoshen said:


> "What's The WORST Storm You've Seen?" ...


My wife, when I told her how much the next haul-out is likely to cost.


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## newhaul (Feb 19, 2010)

Super typhoons Ophelia and Percy in 1990 in the south china sea


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

I was helping to deliver a boat back to NH and wound up in a nasty Nor'Easter which only later became known as "The Perfect Storm". It was very poorly predicted and in 40+ years I have never seen seas build as quickly or wind up as vertical in such a short period of time. Lots of cuts and bruises, some boat damage, lost rode etc. but we made it.. The term "young & dumb" best describes how that delivery went...


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## lancelot9898 (Dec 30, 2008)

The boat was brand new and we were anchored with a single 35 lb Cqr during a Cat 1 hurricane. Made it through the night...but never again.


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

What to do in a case like that? Big storm gets up quickly, Not reported early. You find your self in conditions bigger than you have been subjected to in your skippering career. Do you head for land? When I was in the Caribbean in 35 to 40 knots and 8 to 10 foot seas I felt safe and we done good. Its when we got close to land that we began to encounter white knuckle situations. That's when it became unsafe. Out to sea was almost fun, where land had all kind of hard stuff to hit. 

Do you run with the weather and turn out slowly? run in the other direction? Do you Heave- to and Waite it out? Go straight home and anchor out.

I guess ever circumstance is different. I would like to here what the rule is? then some exceptions to that. 

The rule "really" If the weather is bad or going bad dont go out sailing!!!


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Underway - F8 rising 9 for almost two days in the English Channel. Weren't making much progress to windward. Standing orders: "France is over there - don't hit it; England is over there - don't hit it."

At anchor - three hurricanes, none closer than 150 miles. Max wind about 65 kts.



ltgoshen said:


> What to do in a case like that?


"When in doubt go out." Get away from shallow water. Stay out of the Buys Ballot's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


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## aprilsails (Jul 24, 2013)

I spent one night in the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Tadoussac. I was on a 56' brigantine and the winds were sustained from the North at somewhere just below a Hurricane 1. The boat was basically laid over with a single staysail as the only canvas. We were making 7 - 8 knots with the current. All trainees were below deck with hypothermia from the first few buckets of spray that came in. I held the helm hard to port while going straight for 6 hours. Apparently it's a katabatic wind effect in that area that occurs in the early spring if the conditions are right. Saw stars the whole time.


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## killarney_sailor (May 4, 2006)

With all of the discussions on SN, it is fascinating how rarely anyone ever mentions katabatics.


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## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

we dont get katabatics here but similar prolonged microbursts...in fact one just hit that made a boat drag into mine ad ripped the whole damn pulpit off...

they can last anywhere from 2 minutes to 30min or an hour...

they are steady 40-60knot winds that if you are not used to them can do some major damage...

regarding the post about TEHUANTEPEC its in southern mexico, chiapas state not Central America.

we too got hit there and ripped an old jib

however we went offshore and werent close to shore...being closer would of been higher winds still...

different approaches to that jump to El Salvador.

other than that we didnt experience bad storms most of the way around...squalls and fronts yes, especially in the pacific...however I have not sailed either the north atlantic or north pacific...or souther ocean...soooooooooooooo that leaves a lot of the bad stuff out! jajaja

peace


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## Delezynski (Sep 27, 2013)

How about two hurricanes?

You can see the aftermath of one and the before and after of the next at;











Anchored through a couple of near misses more, but NO video of them! We were to busy taking care of business. 

Greg


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Delezynski said:


> How about two hurricanes?


1. Get off the dock

2. Minimize windage

3. Never be too proud to crawl


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## Scotty C-M (Aug 14, 2013)

Puddin' Tain:

+1


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## Delezynski (Sep 27, 2013)

SVAuspicious said:


> 1. Get off the dock
> 
> 2. Minimize windage
> 
> 3. Never be too proud to crawl


When out cruising there are so many variables to consider during weather preparation! Like everything else, as the captain you must decide and make the choice that is correct for your boat, the crew, and yourself.

Number 1 is easy to say, but not always the best choice for every situation. I refer to your point #3. 

As I said, we had 2 near misses at anchor also. The videos were just meant to illustrate point #2! 

Greg


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## nolatom (Jun 29, 2005)

Katrina. I didn't go sailing, buy my house sorta did.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

nolatom said:


> Katrina. I didn't go sailing, buy my house sorta did.


LOL! Yeah, I suppose I could say the same about Sandy...


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## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

man that sucks guys

hurricanes suck...


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Delezynski said:


> When out cruising there are so many variables to consider during weather preparation!


I agree with you in principle. As a matter of policy I get off the dock when weather is coming. YMMV.


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

I have a C&C 30 with a 5 ' draft. I have a QRC 45 and a danforth.
Anchor Size:	needed for a storm set? Is there some-ware to find what ground tackle I Should have or invest in?
Is this sound advise?

Anchor weight guide

Maybe thats for a differant thread.


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

Katrina hurt many people and there property. There was not an anchor made that would stopped this storm from the damage.


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

SVAuspicious said:


> Underway - F8 rising 9 for almost two days in the English Channel. Weren't making much progress to windward. Standing orders: "France is over there - don't hit it; England is over there - don't hit it."
> 
> At anchor - three hurricanes, none closer than 150 miles. Max wind about 65 kts.
> 
> "When in doubt go out." Get away from shallow water. Stay out of the Buys Ballot's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Dave-

With regards to Buys Ballot's Law, it states that the low pressure area is rarely at exactly right angles at the surface, due to friction and that this is especially true at low latitudes.

Is there any way to determine roughly how far off from a right angle, the low pressure center will be, at a given latitude?


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

BubbleheadMd said:


> Is there any way to determine roughly how far off from a right angle, the low pressure center will be, at a given latitude?


Not that I'm aware of. For me, "over there" is close enough for getting the heck out of the way in the best possible direction. If someone has something more deterministic I'd love to hear about it.


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## sailvayu (Feb 3, 2013)

Nor'easter in gulf stream 60 plus winds, 20 foot seas off Hatteras. Took a 120 degree knock down as in masts underwater. Had to abandon boat and had to be picked up by CG. Note to self never broken in 30 years since "do not do deliveries off Hatteras in the late fall."


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## Antibes (May 18, 2011)

Lake Michigan, June 2007, storm hit 12 hours earlier than predicted. 50+ peak winds, waves 10ft. Closest land was 20 miles away. Motored through it on the nose. Third day of sailing the boat


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

Antibes said:


> Lake Michigan, June 2007, storm hit 12 hours earlier than predicted. 50+ peak winds, waves 10ft. Closest land was 20 miles away. Motored through it on the nose. Third day of sailing the boat


Wow now that's crazy!!!
This is the kind of day that make or break the new guys. How did you get tied back up? were you on a ball or did you find a face dock somewhere for safety? were you by your self or was your wife on the boat? My wife would have killed me if the storm didn't...


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## Antibes (May 18, 2011)

The storm lasted an hour and half and then cleared out. 

The admiral was present and required that we call the coast guard and inform them of our location. The good news is she will go out on almost any day without fear now

The harbor was calm when we entered hours later.

The extra power in the Atomic 4 kept the boat pointing into the wind although I almost freaked when the GPS hit zero for a couple of seconds at full throttle


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## ccriders (Jul 8, 2006)

I was doing a PCS from Ft. Dix to the puzzle palace and was sailing my 22' Sailmaster to Shady Side, Md. I sailed (motored) down the Barnegat to Cape May via the ICW with the wind hard on my nose. I stayed in port at Cape May as the winds on the Delaware were predicted to be pretty high, at least high enough for me to take warning. So the late forecast for the next day was SE at 10 knots, just great for broad reaching up the Delaware to the C&D Canal. Left Cape May really early, still dark out, waited for the train to pass and the bridge to open and entered the Delaware just at sunrise. I remember it being a really beautiful and pleasant October morning. About an hour into the Delaware my nice 10k SEasterly veered clockwise to NW, turned really cold, and started pulsing like two wind gods dukeing it out. In just moments I became a white boat with white sails in white air on white water with the wind blowing me towards one of the most traveled waterways in America. In that instant a gust took out one of the seams in the main (I stupidly did not know how to inspect a sail), so I scrambled to lower and secure the main from further damage. With a NW wind and no main sail I could not maintain a course that would keep me out of the ship channel, so I tacked ENE, put on the engine and then dropped the jib. This was not the first time I thought covetously about roller furling. So I motored cautiously toward the Jersey shore, but since I could not see the bow of the boat I was very worried about running into something I couldn't see. When I felt I was out of any traffic danger I dropped the anchor and played out all of my rode. You would not believe what a bucking bronco that little sloop became when the anchor rode fetched up and dug into the mud. 
So there I was, didn't know very precisely where I was, torn sails, shrouded in sleet/fog/snow all the above, no visibility, no electronics, so I did the best thing I know, went down below and slept. Awakened every so often, heaved into the bucket, opened the hatch, saw that conditions remained the same, and went back to sleep. Finally at about 3 am the next day I saw stars, the wind still NW and cold, had moderated and was not gusting, so I hoisted the jib and started sailing to the C&D. I don't remember the name of the anchorage in the canal but got there that afternoon and spent the evening repairing the main. The cloth was still good, so just stitched through the old stitch holes. I think it started raining that night and would continue to do so all the way to Shady Side. 
I never knew how strong the wind blew or even how cold it got to be - there was ice on the decks, and weather radio never said a word about my storm either before, during or after.
So, you see, even a typical frontal passage can turn into a white knuckle event and the inexperienced ill-prepared can find themselves in a pickle.
John


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## GDTURU (Aug 12, 2014)

Caught in the beginning of Hurricane Allen years ago in Gulf of Mexico, we finally made it in port right in time, it was a very scary situation and i have been in many bad seas before but that one is most memorable


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## ltgoshen (Jan 5, 2009)

ccriders said:


> So, you see, even a typical frontal passage can turn into a white knuckle event and the inexperienced ill-prepared can find themselves in a pickle.
> John


Wow John. That sounds like a trip to remember. I'm glad you pulled threw it. Did it make you more confident in your self as a sailor? Did it keep you from going sailing for a while? Good thing you anchor set... 
Great story.
LT


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## Bob142 (May 27, 2012)

My first blue water experience was on a tramp freighter going to hawaii...caught the tail end of a typhon ...saw a lot of green water coming over the 14 feet of lumber that was stacked on deck... my fantasy of sailing around the world on a 40 foot boat just went away...that ocean can kill me any time that it decides to...skill and weather windows or not...


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## ccriders (Jul 8, 2006)

ltgoshen said:


> Wow John. That sounds like a trip to remember. I'm glad you pulled threw it. Did it make you more confident in your self as a sailor? Did it keep you from going sailing for a while? Good thing you anchor set...
> Great story.
> LT


You know, I was young, in the best physical condition and so hooked on sailing that I took the family out several times before we had to haul the boat in November. Since that was 35 years ago next month, I guess it is a story to remember!
Thanks,
John


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## Andrew65 (Dec 21, 2009)

"The Blizzard of 96" for 8 days. We (3 of us in a 29ft engineless sloop) got caught on the south side of its beginning in the gulf on our way home to florida. Lost the top half of the mast, secured what we could, then lost the lower half the next night, not a fun 16 day trip total. I've posted about it in Smackdaddy's Big Sails thread.

That's when sailing. As crew on Alaskan fishing boat is on a whole nuther level of storm.


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## cruisingdream (Feb 7, 2007)

1984 US Navy cruiser near the coast of England , 600 foot of boat just isn't big enough when the waves are 60' tall. Only time I ever felt the props come out of the water, and talk about trashing the cabin. Took two days of cleaning & re stowing equipment to clean up the mess from that storm. Learned some new respect for the sea and the straps that kept me in my bunk.


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## Chas H (Sep 6, 2013)

ltgoshen said:


> Do you run with the weather and turn out slowly? run in the other direction? Do you Heave- to and Waite it out? Go straight home and anchor out.
> 
> I guess ever circumstance is different. I would like to here what the rule is? then some exceptions to that.


Rule #1 which my dad taught me when sailing in a blow was: stay off a lee shore!
-CH


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

July 2007 - 400 miles SW of Raratonga headed for New Zealand we ran into a weather system known in NZ as a squash zone. It is a condition where a low pressure cell moving east stalls and a high pressure cell runs into it. So a counter-clockwise wind pattern meets a clockwise wind system and a venturi develops.

Our wind speed went from 20 knots at midday to 75 gusting 85 knots by 19:00 and this stayed with us until midday the next day. So short-lived but violent as hell and a sea state that is real scary.

We had 30 to 40 ft waves, tops of some breaking and spume everywhere screaming along at up to 90MPH and driving into the boat. Our deck enclosure got ripped off the deck and dumped in the sea and we were totally exposed whenever we came on deck. We wore diving masks on deck to protect our eyes and faces from the spray droplets.

We were knocked down twice, the second time nearly a roll-over with the anemometer at the top of the mast dipped into the water in the trough of the wave (destroyed the anemometer).

The legendary Eric Hiscock once wrote something like "No sailor willingly exposes his vessel to a violent storm but those that survive one emerge a lot stronger". I know that I did. Whilst I have no desire to experience something like that again, I'm no longer frightened of the prospect because I know with proper seamanship and a well found vessel one can survive most storms.

It is also said that a voyaging yachtsman will experience just one major weather event in his lifetime. I really hope that is true.


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## drosymor (Aug 6, 2014)

For me, terror wasn't a storm: quite the reverse. 1955, Bay of Biscay Thick fog; could not see the bow from midships.
Vessel: ss Nordflinge, built 1917, 8000tons, cargo 5000 tons of iron ore.
Instruments: compass, sextant, charts, MF radio.

I was in the engine room. If we hit anything we had about 30 seconds to get out (per watch engineer officer). So we stayed glued to the engine room telegraph hour after hour. Suddenly it rang. Monumental fear induced adrenalin rush. Was it full astern? were we about to collide. Full ahead, thank God.

I think that was the longest, most frightening time of my rather long life.

Paul


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## MarioG (Sep 6, 2009)

It was our coastal sail and we were a little clueless, NOAA was calling for a storm to hit around midnight, so I figure we could get across the Albermarle sound long before it hit. Long story short it was a nor easter 60+winds and 10'+waves that hit less then 30 min out. The outboard was useless and even thou I had the main reefed the sliders snapped and we were knocked down. Dealt with it for 4 hours before the 1st mate called the CG. We were dragged across a large shoal (Bull Bay) before they took us off the boat. When they got us to shore I was 1 degree from hypothermia.


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