Harrowing crossing to the Bahamas. [emoji23]

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Geez. If you could guarantee such benign ocean conditions on all your crossings of open water you would be laughing. One can only hope!
 
Or maybe they were just being facetious and we didn't get it?
 
I did that kind of crossing from Long Beach to Catalina Island about once a month. But everyone has his limits.

David
 
What's harrowing is those sunglasses!
 
I have noticed that many members on this site don't like to hear negative posts. Nevertheless for the sake of safety at sea here it goes. I don't think that crew and craft was properly prepared and rigged for open water. I am glad everybody came through uninjured. What would have happened if things got worse? The weather encountered did not appear to be all that rough and most crews and boats power and sail prepared for open water would have not have given it a second thought. When venturing into open ocean you cannot count on a flat sea. Things happen inaccurate weather reports engines that balk etc. With hindsight that boat should have turned around and the skipper and crew should reconsider whether they belong out in open ocean. I am sure with knowledge and some moderate effort that boat can be properly rigged and the crew better educated as to what to expect in open waters. Maybe their discomfort will encourage that approach or the don't go reflex when things are not right. The don't go reflex is one of the more valuable and unfortunately difficult skills for some skippers to learn.
 
I doubt they were being facetious. If they knew what they were doing they would have had the galley prepped for sea. All kinds of crap not stowed properly, then annoyed when it launches???
 
I love the hourly updates. At 1 o'clock he says life is hard with all the rough seas (appears fairly nice), and at two o'clock he says they are getting beaten to death (still appears to have pretty nice conditions).

At the halfway point he realizes that his dad, or whoever is in the small boat, may run out of fuel, since they realized they are bucking the Gulf Stream current and only making 3-4 knots.

I'm not an experienced ocean crosser, so I don't mean to make fun of anyone, but I hope the weather is that nice when we cross to the Bahamas.
 
I watched the video before reading the posts above and, as I watched it, I kept wondering where the harrowing part was going to start.


Bunch of wussies.
 
I saw this video a month or two ago while looking for crossings to the Bahamas.

I think with the wind, they were unpleasantly surprise with the rolling and the time it took for the journey. I think that having to manually steer the whole trip (autopilot not working) it became tiresome for the captain.

I, too, was surprised that they didn't seem to have stuff stowed for the journey. No harm done, and lesson learn for future travels.

Gotta love, Rick (the dad) following behind in his Center Console. Just another day on the water. Not only did he pick up the whaler that the trawler lost, he tied it to the port side, so that he could fish off the starboard side! :thumb:

Jim
 
I thought the same thing--Rick was a trooper.
 
Engine sounded good too.
 
Someone please explain why the CC is towing the whaler. I know the "Captain" accidentally let go of the towline but really?
The CC is running out of fuel because of the tow and did you see the stern wake, nothing like plowing water to conserve fuel. Geez.
 
Yea, agree with most of you... Four footers isn't the end of the world. And while it may not be comfy, beats the hell out of eight footers.

I hope my trip to the Bahamas goes that well.
 
Looks like a day on the Chesapeake. Stuff should have been stowed better to begin with, and it would have helped to relocate it rather than risk a fall trying to step over it on the floor.

My 2¢
 
As I watched the video I kept thinking that I was a newbie once.
 
The Trawler lost the Whaler because the eye pulled out of the Whaler I believe. Could be wrong
 
The Trawler lost the Whaler because the eye pulled out of the Whaler I believe. Could be wrong



I think it's in the video that he was adjusting the line and it slipped from his fingers?

Also- how many people would have moved to the lower station if it were "bouncy"?
 
I wish there was a like button on posts. I would have liked every single one. Why are they bringing 3 boats over anyway? I would have loved those seas coming out of the gulf stream heading to the Bahamas. Even the customs agent said, "you got tossed around pretty good out there. I was watching you come in." Yes sir, we sure did! :)
 
Hilarious. Four feet of swell may have been an exaggeration.

And this was episode 66 of their adventures. Did they leave the dock in the first 65 episodes?
 
Maybe they're hoping to get paid for this, or something?
 
It was fun to watch them recap the crossing day on the next video. They were so relieved, and very happy and excited to be there.

I'm hoping I will be a little more prepared than they were, but I'm also not the world's best planner so I realize anything can happen. I will be sure NOT to video myself thrashing about and throwing up or whatever. [emoji23]
 
I love that the guy in the 43 foot Albin was complaining about how rough it was...while his dad was in a 25-28 foot center console and he sent his wife out in the 15 foot whaler!!!

Either they are really really inexperienced...or are just trying to create drama to increase viewers on youtube. The guy runs a web development business....so I suspect that he's hoping to be the next Youtube sensation.
 
I love that the guy in the 43 foot Albin was complaining about how rough it was...while his dad was in a 25-28 foot center console and he sent his wife out in the 15 foot whaler!!!

Either they are really really inexperienced...or are just trying to create drama to increase viewers on youtube. The guy runs a web development business....so I suspect that he's hoping to be the next Youtube sensation.

As an Albin 40 owner, there have been many a day I would have rather been on a decent center console rather than my trawler. It rolls like a pig in not very bad conditions at all.

Not "harrowing".... but definitely uncomfortable and less comfortable in a center console tgat can run at some speed.
 
Consider those mild open-ocean conditions. Not unusual for rough weather in the San Francisco estuary inland waters to be much more exciting.



 
Last edited:
I would chock it up to lack of experience. It seems to me they are used to flat water that allows them to pick their speed and heading based on where they want to go and how much fuel they want to burn, not sea state.
 
Back
Top Bottom