the most wind u been caught in

[fishman7]

hi guys
just wondering what the most wind you have been caught in.my self about 15 yrs ago we were fishing off ulladulla and a fresh westly come up we were 15 miles out i was on a 85ft boat we could only go slow because the wind was 50 kts + and the wave were big a couple of other boats broke some windows.about 6mts ago i was in batemans bay on a 32ft and 50 +kt of nw hit i could only go slow because i couldnt see out the windows because of the water.beening fishing all my life i had gotting in a few good blows.
have you got any good storys
cheers
danny

[Fishinmishin]

Back before I payed any respect to the weather in my begining days on the water I got stuck in a good one :P. There were weather sec-ur-etay callings going over the radio all day but I turned it off as I wasn't really listening and the day was looking great and flat around Peel ::). Next thing I see this very thick, black line of clouds rolling towards us from the south and building in the background (a squall) :-?. I decide we got time to land a couple more as the bite was hot (as it usually is before a good storm). We then decided to head down to bananna bank to get our pots and back to wello jetty. Only 1/2 way to bananna bank it was just rolling over us. The winds got ice cold and sheared in all directions. Then as quick as that it was ontop us :o. It got so dark so quick and the rain was pelting down so hard and thick that we lost all sight of any land or anything past 10 meters infront of us except when the awsome cracks of lightining gave as a flash. Some of the beacons lit but you could only see them when very close on them. The seas, even though just in the south bay, were peaking and breaking like surf at times and the surface had a glow like cloud effect from the rain breaking up all the surface. I just attempted to point into the waves and try to ride to land but it was slow as when we came over one, the nose would dive under the next. Let me say I was scared :'( :o and my mate was in fetal position on the floor. Jackets were under the seats but I wasn't letting go of the wheel and my mate became useless. I finally spotted some land and headed for it. I saw the closest beacon to the right and followed it to eventually get into cleveland jetty. Pulled the boat up to the sand and called for a taxi to get me to go get my car from wello. People who were securing there boats at the ramp enjoyed a good laugh of 'Did you get stuck out in that?'.
Now it was no perfect storm, but for a begginer to boating it taught me a valuable lesson. It is a good idea to have a glance at weather reports or the sky when on the water ::). Noadays I could prob handle myself better in ugly conditions but for my skills at the time, it is the worst I think a storm will ever get me.
Looking back, with how little experience I had on the water, it was probably a little shower overhead with winds gusting at 20knots and seas just a bit choppy ;D ;D.
Cheers, Jay

[Jitlands]

The worst wind I have ever been caught in was after we took my Granma out to an indian restaurant.

She really blew on the trip home in the car

[Scott15]

50+knots in the middle of tasmin sea :o :o

[bigmack]

lived in Wellington for 2 years and they dont call it the windy city for nothing. Sailed out of Royal Port Nick yacht Club on a Young 99 for quite a while and did quite a few Cook Straight Crossings - no dramas. Worst weather for sure was opening day / Commodores Race and fleet hit by about 50knots plus in Wellington Harbour - scary stuff.........at 45knots the wind picks up the back of the wave in little whirlies and sitting on the windward rail in full wet weather gear and boots was like being hit with ice cold bulletts. Owners and crew said did we scare you (first race with them) ........no problems with a confident crew and skipper who knew what they were doing. Other races similar, when the local N/West that funnels through cook straight builds to gale force on a small offshore race; we headed out Wellington Heads past the beacon known as Moaning Minnie carrying a number 2 kite; 35ft yacht is planing at 17 -18 knots and we are all whooping for excitement and shaking from hanging on and being on the edge shit scared of broaching or something letting go. Got so windy we ended up breaking spinnaker pole, down to a number 3 or 4 blade and a couple of reefs to survive and get home.

Rum and lots of it is the salvation of the yachtie and boatie in Wellington - many many good stories. Saw one bloke come back from that race with only half a hand - got it caught in the winch. Went over for a look see and went oh goodness me as the ambo took the towel off to get a better look. Other than that - seen some excellent southerly busters in Sydney on the Harbour and caught once fishing Broughton Island off Pt Stephens in a 14ft Easy Rider - big westerly came through and luckily for us a 28ft Berty came past and we chased along in his wake as he smoothed a path home for us.

[Hoges]

A few years ago taking a 40ft yacht from Melb to Brisbane. We had spent the whole day motoring towards Gabo in absolute calm conditions when about 8 miles off Gabo in the evening all hell broke loose.
Out of nowhere we were hit with winds of 55kts +. All hands on deck to drop sails and then proceeded to slowly bash into it all night heading to Eden. The biggest gusts were up around 80kts.
It certainly was not the most comfortable of nights and at times it felt as if we were going backwards.
Arrived in Eden the next evening and the only damage was a main sheet halyard stuck at the top of the mast.
Never have enjoyed a hot shower so much!

[Hoges]

and caught once fishing Broughton Island off Pt Stephens in a 14ft Easy Rider - big westerly came through and luckily for us a 28ft Berty came past and we chased along in his wake as he smoothed a path home for us.



:)
We came out of Port Stephens back in 1983 in a 30ft yacht heading to QLD when we going past Broughton Island the wind gusted up that strong we were doing 6 knots under bare poles. No idea of the wind speed but always are reminded of this everytime I see or hear of Broughton Island.
::)

[HAZY]

Frazer Island about 8 years ago got caught in a storm out on nth gardiner banks 45knot + winds 5mtr seas :o on our way back through the storm just missed a water spout and came across a boat upside down with two blokes standing on the hull waving like mad and i mean like mad :o hooked up to here boat they didnt need much of a hand to get into ours and took 6 hours to get back to Waddy point just in time for weigh in.... :P what a day

[2iar]

[

:)[color=#000000]We came out of Port Stephens back in 1883


Hoges,

Was this a former life, or are you the oldest living Ausfisher ? :D

Mike

[INDULGENCE]

Like you Hoges everytime I see Broughton Island mentioned it reminds me of the night coming home from the shoals in one hell of a storm.
Pouring down rain and strong breeze out of the south west
The 2 deckies screaming at me not to venture inside Broughton but I could see a deck light off in the distance in front.
It was the shortest way back home,I was right until we landed high and wet on the Island, the light was a guy walking the inside rocks.
Lucky the boat was plate and other than big scratches on the boat and us all was well.
Wally

[HORTO]

in august last year i was on a research trip for uni on a 35m stern trawler and we had winds of 67knts, when we were crossing banks strait (in between flinders and the north east of tas). it was kinda interesting observing most of my class mates and lecturers turning green ;D. i'm one of the lucky ones it doesn't affect not so far anyway.

[Hoges]

[ :)[color=#000000]We came out of Port Stephens back in 1883


Hoges,

Was this a former life, or are you the oldest living Ausfisher ? :D

Mike


Thanks Mike, I turned a young 55 last week. only 18 years ahead of you. LOL
Cheers
Pete

EDIT: Strewth it took a couple of drinks to see that I had typed 1883 instead of 1983.
:'(

[Hoges]

Like you Hoges everytime I see Broughton Island mentioned it reminds me of the night coming home from the shoals in one hell of a storm.
Pouring down rain and strong breeze out of the south west
The 2 deckies screaming at me not to venture inside Broughton but I could see a deck light off in the distance in front.
It was the shortest way back home,I was right until we landed high and wet on the Island, the light was a guy walking the inside rocks.
Lucky the boat was plate and other than big scratches on the boat and us all was well.
Wally

Oops best to around and not over. LOL

Just after I posted about Broughton Island mate whose yacht it was rang me from Brissie about another matter. I forgot to mention about this post so I might email the link to him.
He still has the same boat to this day. It is a Ron Swanson Carmen class 30ft double ender yacht. In fact it is called Carmen and is the original first one built.

[Maria]

Last Meet n Greet at Jacob's Well, on the Friday evening wind was blowing over 50kts. Damn pity that....had to sit there watching the Parramatta vs Sydney City game in Touchy's shack having a few ales ;)

[devocean]

Got caught 14km offshore in 3.95 tinny with father in law first trip I took him out. Blew up 20knots took over an hour to get home and I ended up wqearing goggles but we caught some nice trout

[GBC]

Cyclone bitchface or something off Bundy about 1991, looking for the Rockin Robin and two Yank sheilas with a cat. 20m trawler that needed kicking straps and hiking boards. Another time off weipa about midafternoon, woke up to a horrendous sound and saw the Raptis boat about 100m away at anchor being savaged by a water spout. If it wasn't so dangerous it would have been the funniest thing I've ever seen - like a dog with a toy. Thank Christ the boat was airconditioned and the bulkhead doors were closed so the boys could sleep. Skipper had fun explaining the loss of just about everything apart from the hull but......

[Seamus]

Had just finished the Bay to Bay yacht race (Tin Can to Hervey Bay) with the finish line being off Kingfisher Bay. On an RL24 trailer sailer and doing a nice leisurely run down the outside of Big Woody island to Hervey Bay, when glanced over my shoulder back to where Fraser should have been, to be met by an ugly dark grey wall into which the coastline of Biggy Woody disappeared. Holy crap !! Spinaker down in record time and reefed the mainsail lickety split then it was on us. Reading Fishinmishin's story was spot on. Dark, real cold, real wet-real quick. The centre board was raised/lowered by a stainless wire running to the bottom trailing edge, and normally it was a faint hum under way as it passed through the water, but right then it may as well have been a symphony orchestra! It was bloody humming along as the boat planed like never before or since! The four of us were at the back of the boat trying to distribute our weight so we didn't go tits up, and then it was just a matter of sitting back, enjoying the ride :D and hoping the mast didn't feel particulary conductive :-[.
No electronics on board to guage speed, but one hell of a ride none the less, at least it was until we reached the top mark at the top of Big Woody and we had to jibe, but that's another one

Seamus

[RobSee]

the last day of the most recent Flattie Classic was nasty. I wanted to stay in bed but the missus insisted we go out and have a crack (howzat?!?)

Must have been 40-45 kts at least. I have never been wetter without scuba gear on.

[wiseguy67]

Socotra; western horn of africa 40 to 45 steady with gust well above, 3m to 5m seas to match, 5kn current fortuneatly in our favor, sailing vessel 40' C&C sloop, storm sail and white knuckles for 8 hrs. We mangaged to get around the horn with no damage.
Two weeks later midway up the red sea engine problems due to dirty fuel banging head winds to 30 when the steering cable breaks at 3am four hours later back under way with emergency steering in place. never a dull moment on the big blue.
Twenty years ago I was working a longliner out of port lincoln we were out on the drop off fishing tuna got hit by a storm that lasted 2 days, gets a bit scary when walls of water bury the entire bow of a 150' motor vessel. The worse was when 20tons of frozen tuna shifted in the cargo and we were listed about 10+ degrees
It took us 7 hours to restack the tuna, no easy task in big seas and the fact that below decks is a constant -20C
We had shot the main line the day the storm warning came in and as the fishing was very good the fishing master said shoot the line. The main line is 55KM long with 3000 branch, 300 buoys, 12 light buoys and four radio buoys, takes 5 hours to shoot and under normal fishing 16 hrs to haul in. The storm hit us when we had managed to get 20km back on deck. Three days later after the storm died down and the corgo was in order we found the rest on the line all 35km with branch lines tuna half eaten by sharks, sharks dead form being on the line too long and so on. Took us four days all hands on deck 24 hrs a day to get the mess back in order. Some where I have a photo of the deck with 4' deep mess of main line and branch lines, biggest tangle i have ever seen! :-X The fishing master caught a bit of flack from that. >:(
Fair winds and blue skies :)

heres is a photo a mate sent me. he didn't take it. Its just what you don't want to be sailing towards! ;)

[Gbanger]

got caught in the broadwater about 2 weeks ago with hail the thickest ive ever seen it, boat came out without a scratch, but got back to the ramp to see my car dinged to buggery

[Seamus]

wise67

That is an awesome photo - scary but awe inspiring.

Seamus

[Hoges]

wise67

That is an awesome photo - scary but awe inspiring.

Seamus

Certainly is a great photo. It has been doing the rounds on the net and in emails lately.

[Hoges]

The photo below is one of three I spotted for sale on the net.

3D SeaStorm Screensaver - Watch a true sea storm on your desktop. This incredible saver shows you a stormy ocean surface with swirls over it, complete with sunset sky and lightnings. The realistic 3D environment and stereo sound FX makes it amazing.
http://www.3d-screensaver-downloads.com/seastorm-screensaver.php

Download the free version and try it but be careful if you are prone to sea sickness! LOL
Only thing with the free version after a short while a floating registration dialogue box will appear.

[Dug]

We took a coast guard 27 ft shark-cat out into 50+kt blow.

A 40 ft trawler had swamped and sunk when they stayed out to long.

The conditions were Extreme and we were going full speed. We got knocked over once and had green water spilling in the navigators window and over the side as we went down the side of a wave sideways.

It was pretty wild, they lost 2 crew from the trawler to sharks one survived.

[tshort]

Weekend trip to Maaroom. Mate had been drinking heavily for 1 1/2 days, started farting at about 3 am and didnt let up till 7. Had to open all doors and evacuate to shed verandah.

[SCOTTYGC]

Last Meet n Greet at Jacob's Well, on the Friday evening wind was blowing over 50kts. Damn pity that....had to sit there watching the Parramatta vs Sydney City game in Touchy's shack having a few ales #;)


oh i remember it well

the wind outside had nothing on the snoring going on later that night

lucky for me i had a few rums to help me sleep

[smiley=snore.gif] [smiley=snore.gif] [smiley=snore.gif] [smiley=snore.gif]

you know who you are

scotty

[gunna]

I got caught on my maiden voyage in the new boat in the Hawkesbury. #I had worked my way downriver and we had watched these huge clouds developing behind us. #No worries says I - we are in a river system. #Turned back upstream to head home. #For those that don't know the Hawkesbury, #the stretch of water was not much different from travelling from the Seaway up past Crab. #The storm hit and we suddenly had these steep faced mongrel waves just far enough apart that the nose would come down and part bury in the face of each wave. #We crawled along with nowhere to go - pretty much crapping ourselves for the 15 minutes or so that it lasted. #Howling wind, driving rain and lightning. Got back up to Bar Pt to find the local rescue boat upside down in mid-stream. #Got turned over trying to help someone. #Nasty day and a good lesson on showing respect even in enclosed waters.

PS - dunno what Somerset gets like but it sure makes you realise how people get into strife in places like Eucumbene.

[Reidy]

It was 1997 an I was on a tucker trip with a orange roughy boat called the Corvina its a big boat at a guess 130 ft anyway we were about 500 miles south of hobart and we copped a huge storm it was scary the waves were breaking over the top of the boat the ocean was white not a scerrick of colour just white, the only time the colour changed was when we went through a wave, I was on watch with another deckie and we were both worried, then to top it off we got word over the radio that there was a ice berg in our area. At a guess 10 to 12 mtr swell only a guess!

I was glad to see land after that trip needless to say never again southern waters are best left to the penguins.