I have many sea stories to tell, but one of the most memorable is that first shakedown cruise after I picked up my new boat – the Lothlorien.
I bought her in the late 1970s in the middle of winter. My sons and I went to Marina del Rey to bring the boat down to Oceanside Harbor. One of those notoriously wicked winter storms of California came up and aborted several attempts.
At last it seemed everything had finally calmed down. Our weather station predicted smooth seas, two to four foot swells, five to ten knots of wind, almost perfect sailing weather. About three hours into the trip, we ran into an even worse storm. In a phrase most of you know, but that a friend states in a little different way, the ship really hit the sand!
We had gone too far and we were in a position too dangerous to turn around. The wind was coming directly at us and getting stronger. The swells were so high that we would have broached, or rolled, if we had turned broadside to them. We had no choice but to continue on.
It was soon obvious the weather man was not where we were, and he didn't change his report until about twelve hours later. He kept saying it was calm.
This was a bona fide "shakedown cruise." Murphy's law was certainly active that day. Everything that could go wrong, did - and at the worst possible moment. We discovered very quickly that the person who commissioned our boat had forgotten to put in a few cotter pins.
First the turnbuckle on one of the starboard shrouds came loose and started swinging in the air. One of the boys managed to crawl up to it, screw it back on, then secure it with an old bobby pin that I somehow had found in the pocket of my jacket.
Then my son's friend asked what held the boom onto the mast. I said, "That little cotter pin right...there..." Well, that little cotter pin was missing, too, and the boom was starting to work its way off the mast. The boys braced themselves against the wind, wrapped themselves around the mast, and put in another bobby pin.
I was poorly prepared. I had not thought to have a supply of spare cotter pins with me on board. I quickly replaced all the bobby pins with cotter pins when I reached Oceanside Harbor.
I bought her in the late 1970s in the middle of winter. My sons and I went to Marina del Rey to bring the boat down to Oceanside Harbor. One of those notoriously wicked winter storms of California came up and aborted several attempts.
At last it seemed everything had finally calmed down. Our weather station predicted smooth seas, two to four foot swells, five to ten knots of wind, almost perfect sailing weather. About three hours into the trip, we ran into an even worse storm. In a phrase most of you know, but that a friend states in a little different way, the ship really hit the sand!
We had gone too far and we were in a position too dangerous to turn around. The wind was coming directly at us and getting stronger. The swells were so high that we would have broached, or rolled, if we had turned broadside to them. We had no choice but to continue on.
It was soon obvious the weather man was not where we were, and he didn't change his report until about twelve hours later. He kept saying it was calm.
This was a bona fide "shakedown cruise." Murphy's law was certainly active that day. Everything that could go wrong, did - and at the worst possible moment. We discovered very quickly that the person who commissioned our boat had forgotten to put in a few cotter pins.
First the turnbuckle on one of the starboard shrouds came loose and started swinging in the air. One of the boys managed to crawl up to it, screw it back on, then secure it with an old bobby pin that I somehow had found in the pocket of my jacket.
Then my son's friend asked what held the boom onto the mast. I said, "That little cotter pin right...there..." Well, that little cotter pin was missing, too, and the boom was starting to work its way off the mast. The boys braced themselves against the wind, wrapped themselves around the mast, and put in another bobby pin.
I was poorly prepared. I had not thought to have a supply of spare cotter pins with me on board. I quickly replaced all the bobby pins with cotter pins when I reached Oceanside Harbor.
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