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Great sailingSeptember, 2001. We were in the rolly anchorage outside of the marina at Monterey, California, when we heard the forecast calling for 30 knot winds from the north. The anchorage would have been unpleasant in these conditions, so the choice was to move to a berth in the marina, or to continue south with 30 knot tailwinds. Of the five boats in the anchorage, three of us had decades of experience, and the other two were newbies. The three of us with lots of experience immediately called the marina and obtained berths inside. "Let's get some experience!"The two newbies thought, "Wow, this will be GREAT sailing, let's get some experience!" The couple from San Francisco had only sailed once, for about an hour, in light conditions on San Francisco Bay. They were about to venture into a gale. Now, you'd think the newbies would have wondered why those of us who had a few miles under our belts didn't take advantage of the favorable winds, but nope, they just carried on. Yo-ho-ho, and all that nautical stuff. About midnight, the guys from San Francisco were having a lot of trouble. The seas were rough, the wind howling, their autopilot wasn't working, the crew was hiding below, terrified, and it was impossible to get any sail up so they were motoring, having a lot of difficulty controlling the boat. They pushed the panic buttonThey called their buddy boat and told them they "wanted out of this" and were "heading for shore". The only thing wrong with this plan was, they were off the Big Sur coast and the only shelter available is behind rocks and kelp patches, and any navigational error would result in losing the boat. And, remember, these guys didn't have any experience at all and were not at all capable of getting in safely. Fortunately, their buddy-boat tried to talk them into remaining offshore where it was safer (unsuccessfully), and then offered to help guide them into an anchorage using their chartplotter and radar. Miraculously, they picked their way in behind a rocky reef and managed to get anchored up. Frankly, these guys were very, very lucky. They both could have lost their vessels, and potentially their lives. We ran into them again in La Paz, Mexico. They were far wiser and far, far more conservative about weather this time! "Good judgment comes from experience, and most experience comes from poor judgment."Ain't it the truth! |
