Has Anyone Ever Been Out on a Boat in Rough Seas

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I've been out on a few big fishing boats in my day, but never on really rough seas like in this video, just enough to get the boat rocking a bit and see people upchuck over the sides. :sick: Weird to see the old vehicles on the one boat at around minute 9:40, don't seem to be anchored down too well, lol.

When I was very young, my dad bought a used wooden sailboat (minus the sails) that he named SeaBreeze. He liked it because it was seaworthy and broad in the beam. He had a big outboard Johnson motor on it. We had some rough weather sometimes and big waves, big enough for my father to make me stay under the poop deck with my lifejacket on and the opening covered partially with a canvas tarp.

I've watched crabbing shows on cable TV where the waves were huge. Has anyone been on a large cruise ship in rough seas??


 

I've been on a Chinese junk boat in Thailand. Not nearly as rough as pictured but the contant rocking had my SIL with her head over the side. And me, who never gets seasick was feeling very queasy.
 
Yes I have and it was very scary...it was the car Ferry boat from the UK to France..


it was November and the sea was attacking everything that came near it...the sailing only takes about 2 hours , but the ship was rolling and heaving up and down and side to side like a thing possesses...it was lashing of wintry rain and people were lining the deck puking over the sides, and no-one could stand up straight the ship was listing so much so everyone was walking around trying to grab anything to hold them up and stop them falling over .. I was not ill but I turned a few shades of green watching everyone else be so so sick.

I remember laughing when i went into dining room and saw a few hardened people still trying to eat greasy breakfasts while the boat was rolling side to side and their plates were being tossed off the table ..


This is the Dover to Calais Ferry


ferry.jpg
 

Holly, I was ill on the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry. Ack. Had to lie down then I was fine. The Ardrossan to Belfast ferry was quite rough as well.
 
As a long time sailboater, I have enjoyed many voyages. We crossed from the Canary Islands to Barbados, 2,700 miles of Atlantic Ocean in 1985, mostly dead downwind like in the olden days in square riggers. We were with good friends in their 50'
Ketch, a Taiwan Turkey, which looked good at anchor but was very top heavy due to wooden masts and an abundance of teak topside. It rolled gunwale to gunwale, shipping some water on the deck each role. My wife coined a phrase, "Rythmic rolling is reality". This is normal downwind, trade wind sailing. No storms.

We sailed our Cal 46' "Satori" sloop for many years from California May 1988, Mexico for 2 years, Central America, through the Panama Canal, 3 years in the Caribbean and South America, up the east coast of the USA and back to Bayou Chico. We had weather fax, SSB and HAM radios, plus my wife had completed classes in weather forecasting while at sea. We avoided any real storms in those years, 1988 to 2002. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan blew through Pensacola doing a lot of damage, however our home/dock/boat is in Bayou Chico, fairly well protected. I had built our dock to withstand storm damage, yet we had 140 knot winds and a storm surge of 10.5' above mean high tide. I had prepared our boat with extra anchors and heavy lines to pilings, etc. I elected to stay aboard during the hurricane so I could adjust lines as the water level in the bayou rose.

Lessons learned:
-I could not stand when the wind was over 100 knots, I had to crawl to adjust lines.
-The wind noise was almost terrifying, halyards clanging, parts of building flying through the wind, etc.
-You may have your boat properly prepared, but some "alpha hotel" may anchor upwind with inadequate tackle and drag down on you.
- I reinforced my dock and hold off pilings waiting for the next hurricane.

Now for my storm... I was in the US Marine Corps, active duty 1955 to 1958 in a new field of communications. It was wonderful for a 17 year old boy from Tupelo, MS. I got to ride on helicopters, land on carriers, go to sea, desert, mountains and more. :)
In 1957, we loaded our radio gear on a good old H-34 helicopter and got a ride out to CVE 118, what a thrill to look out the side door and see what looked like a toothpick in the water, then it got bigger and we descended. In those days the Navy was not totallly prepared for housing Marines on a CVE, (small carrier) so we slept in our sleeping bags under the helo on the hanger deck.
It was a great adventure as I got to set up a radio station above the flying bridge, make several landings by helo and set up stations on Camp Pendleton. One night a winter storm came through and our small carrier was taking green water on the flight deck. We tied our sleeping bags to the helo's pads and hung on. Vomit was ankle deep in the head as many were sea sick. Not me, I have never been sea sick. It was enough for the Captain to head back to San Diego.

Life is good!

Tom
 
Oh yes.......in the Navy! One time, when were in a Tropical Storm/High Sea, I opened a hatch, stepped out on the main deck and the ship was tilting so much, the deck was almost level with the ocean. Less than a foot apart. During regular seas, the water was definitely down further from the deck.

While on Watch/Lookout on the Signal Bridge, I could look out and see waves come up and over the front of the Bow. Those same waves, with wind blowing them, would come all the way up and onto the Signal Bridge. I had to duck to keep from getting soaked!

It was scary, but what could I do.........just can't quit the Navy or any other military service.
 
No, I couldn't even get through watching more than two minutes of it without my head spinning. Will add it to my reasons not to go on a cruise or boating too far off shore. Thanks Sea. :(:D LOL!
 
Oh yes, last time was in Mexican waters fishing, Sept 2013. Many got sick, I didn't but wasn't too keen on finishing my dinner plate. Back in the early '90s was on a 65 ft. sportfisher out of Oxnard,Ca. about 50 miles offshore. Was only fishing for a couple hours when the skipper told us "reel up" and that we were headed back due to rough seas/high winds coming. 20 ft. swells made piloting the vessel tedious, would have to turnabout and go bow-fiirst into rising swell, then crank about and race toward shore until the next wave came. I had extensive experience on rough seas off the coast of Viet Nam, but this was the only time I was 'concerned' about capsizing.
 
Very interesting stories guys, thanks for sharing them! I don't really get seasick, but even on land I have a quick gag reflex if I see anyone losing their lunch, so it has a chain reaction effect. In grade school, just the sight of that green granule stuff they put when a student gets sick was enough to start me gagging. I know, TMI. :D
 
Right. Not trying to type on my phone or tablet now. The scariest boat trip for me was actually in a kayak. I was kayaking in Florida with a BF - St. George Island intercoastal waterway. On our way back from paddling to the eastern tip of the island, it suddenly got very very windy. We had to work very hard to battle against the wind. To stop paddling meant we'd go backwards. The sun was setting and since this was a state park there were no lights. We were getting panicky with the dark and finally landed on shore barely able to see where we were. I was never so happy to be back on land!
 
Mid winter, North Atlantic from Le Havre to states. Ship pitching, laying on floor clutching my pet turtle and up-chucking.
 

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