T-Fish almost lost

Aren't sailors crazy guys? They go out to sea, expose themselves to harsh environments and have fun dealing with complex mechanical and electrical equipment which anyway are malfunctioning most of the time. And they do this without having been ordered to do so. Moreover, they are even ready to pay a fortune for it and like maniacs get glossy eyes when just thinking about doing it. 

Unstable weather - cruising from Vulcano to Panarea

Well, a (hu)man has to do….what a (hu)man has to do!

But don't be misled. They are not braver than others. The truth is that they often have their pants full of sh…., although their stories may come across increasingly heroic the more often told. However, in most cases sole luck and perhaps sometimes a well-tempered guardian angel helps to get out of critical situations. Anyway, plenty of stuff for good stories which generally impress ..... whomever they should impress.

And this is one of the stories where I had my pants full of sh…,  at least literally.

Nov. 6, 2011:

I got up at an inhuman time and hit the highway to Tropea at around 5:30.  More flying than driving, praying that all speed cams are malfunctioning (but even on this you cannot rely here!), I arrived at the Porto di Tropea well before noon.  Thoughts to be back on T-Fish and to take her out a couple of days pulled me down the 600 km from Rome in a new record time. No wonder, I rarely had a chance to sail this year due to the severe engine problem during summer (Small things - Big effects). When arriving in Porto di Tropea, weather was pleasant but unstable with a lot of localized depression systems in the area and moderate winds with some stronger gusts.   

Nov. 7, 2011

Bft 8 (about 38-40 kn) of wind

I left port after breakfast with winds from SE at Bft 5 which was forecast to decrease during the day. After 3 hours heading W towards the Aeolian islands I found myself in a force 8 from SSE with 2 - 3 m of waves after leaving the sheltered area behind Capo di Vaticano. Although T-Fish behaved very well with the 2nd reef in the main, I decided to return to Tropea. Finally I was single-handed and it is bad seamanship to be out single-handed at such conditions if there is no real reason to do so. A couples of hours later I was back in Tropea and enjoyed the morbid off-season charm of the old town of Tropea and a delicious pizza Tropeana with Caperi and Cipolle Rosse at La Boheme, my favorite pizzeria in Tropea.

Nov 8, 2011

T-Fish alone in Porto di Ponente, Vulcano 

Unstable weather in Porto di Ponente 

The following day I had a fast trip to Vulcano Island with some 4-5 Bft from SE enabling T-Fish flying at almost hull speed . At 6 pm I dropped anchor at 4 m in the bay of Porto di Ponente, a well protected bay for all wind directions but NW. It is one of best anchor bays in the Aeolian Islands, unfortunately heavily overcrowded  in the summer seasons but at this time of the year, I was the single boat in the bay.

View to Lipari from Porto di Ponente, Vulcano

Nov 9. 2011

As the weather was not really improving and as it was raining the whole day, I decided to stay another night in the sheltered bay. Just to be on the safe side I put out additional 10 m of anchor chain before going to bed. 

Nov 10, 2011

Heavy vibration and noise from the windgen woke me up at around 3 am. When I came out of the cabin I saw the inferno. Lightning everywhere, strong winds in the upper 6 Bft, steadily increasing and the worst of the worst directly from NW, the open side of the bay. Mouse trap! Gusts soon reached more than 40 kn and severe swell was building up in the bay. I started the engine and tried to release strain from the anchor chain.

T-Fish was jumping like a springbok from one side of the bay to the other, first catching wind until the chain was almost pointing perpendicular, heeling to the lee side up to sea level, and then taking up speed until the chain pulled her abruptly on the other side where the same game started all over again.

The noise of growling thunder, wind, rain and breaking waves were very scary.  

On top of it, in the stroboscopic lightning, I could see astern the beach full of white caps and foam from breaking waves which appeared coming closer and closer. 1.40 m water remained under the keel according to the depth indicator, which must have been close to hitting the ground considering the swell which still was building up. 

'We gotta get out of this place'! But how under these conditions and being single handed? 

At a certain point I went to the bow, cut the rope fixing the chain in the locker and  put all remaining chain on deck. It was still on the windlass and fixed through a chain hook and short ropes on both forefront cleats which took all strain. I further fixed a fender as a marker but still hesitated to throw everything into the water releasing T-Fish, fearing that I could not get back to the steering wheel in time before T-Fish is being thrown upon the beach. 

Hesitating and insecure what to do, I went back to the steering wheel and tried to release as much strain as possible using the engine.

T-Fish - alone at the pier in Panarea

This spectacle lasted about 1 hour when all of the sudden the wind decreased but heavy rain set in which fortunately flattened the sea. After a short pause, the wind came back, this time even stronger and still from the same direction but luckily it lasted much shorter this time. 

After some 2 hours the nightmare was over. T-Fish again peacefully bobbed up and down on gentle seas. 

I made coffee and watched a spectacular sky with lightnings everywhere and with my pants still full of sh… at least literally.

View from Panarea to Stromboli

Later that day, I lifted anchor which came free without problems. Only a few scratches indicated that it likely hooked under a volcanic flag. It sometimes all depends on luck.....and a guardian angel.

I motor-sailed to Panarea where I moored T-Fish at a lonely pier but decided to head back to Porto di Tropea after a rich pasta meal. Still with surrounding lightnings I arrived in Tropea at about 1:00 am.

Epilog:

Recapitulating the situation over and over again, today, I think the best would have been to throw the remaining chain into the water and to cut the rope which redirects the strain from the anchor chain to the cleats half way as a predetermined breaking point. This would had given me the extra time needed to rush back to the steering wheel, and being ready to go full throttle out of the bay as soon as it snaps.

Maybe you have better ideas? Let me know!