not really caught in a storm but working on the rigs down in the bass strait you see some unbelievable wind, swell and waves. even off exxy the swell and waves get BIG sometimes. would hate to be in that with a boat!
1. My father and I were caught out some 25nm of Ocean Reef by one of those summer storms that suddenly appeared over the horizon. Knew we would not out run it so had to ride it out. Had 40knot plus winds for about 45 minutes and then calm again. Were we in a 21ft vessel. One of the few time I was concerned. Interestingly the fish came on the bite after the storm and we bagged out in about one hour. Absolutey nothing prior to the storm hitting us.
2. A few months ago had to assist the water police with the search for the frenchman who got into trouble of Mindarie one night. Went out in the new Water Police vessel (17mtrs long) to provide local knowledge to get to him. We had 60knot plus winds, 7mtr swell and 5 mtr sea. Nearly got rolled twice. Was pitch black and never knew what was coming. We were out there for 4 hours. Did not have time to shit myslef as too busy trying to find the idiot
every cyclone season we will skirt 2 or 3 cyclones at least while at work. Bloody annoying! Mind you the strong sou-easterlies are almost as bad cos we don't have a "southeasterly avoidance plan" and so just keep working. Maybe I'll chuck up some footage this year... AND every other fking longline trip out of Albany during the winters-this is after the storm.
About 8km out from mindaries on a nice summer arvo i saw a storm forming on the horizon. I watched it for a while then realized it had turned and was heading straight at me. Only in a 4.3m tinny i started to shit and packed up quickly to head in. As i started the motor the storm decided to chase me and to my horror 3 water spouts formed ( aprox 2 km away ) and started to spirral around each other.
Heading in at full speed the swell picked up and i got to the second reef line only to get a cray rope stuck on the motor leg. Trying my hardest not to panic i got the rope free and thanked god my motor started.
Half way from there to the marina it went totaly black and the rain hit that hard i could not see the front of the boat. I dont know what happened to the water spouts but luckily they didnt hit me, so i rode it out with the bilge pump on untill i could just see the marina. Another boat was having problems so i waved them down and they followed me in to safety.
As me and the other guys stood at the boat ramp soaked, the storm passed and the sky was blue as far as you could see, none of us said much and loaded our boats to go home in a state of shock, thinking we were lucky to be alive .
Got an absolute belting while bringing a 24 metre ex tuna boat across the Tasman from Auckland to Eden then through to Fremantle. When you are only doing 3-4 knots in to it and every so often cop one that would drive you backwards. Had swells running between 14 and 18 metres when the worst of it passed. Would try to jam yourself in a corner to try to get a brief sleep without being tossed across the deck.
Not sure on the wind strengths but have been out in 50 knots since in the same boat and it seemed like a gentle sea breeze in comparison, green waves coming over the bow and the whole boat shuddering when they hit.
Bass Strait was a breeze after that, well like a mirror and not an ounce of swell when we rounded Wilson's Promitory
Was onboard the Goodwin platform out from Karratha in 1999 when cyclone Vance went through. (the one that obliterated Exmouth)
No one was evacuated but the rig was in full lockdown. someone out there said that we were being hit by 15m waves at some point. that rig was obv a platform so didn't feel it much.
worst worry was being on a jackup being towed from Singapore to northwest shelf, hit a storm and anyone who has been on a jackup knows that when the legs are up they are pretty top heavy. remember trying to sleep at night rolling a full 45 deg each way from horizontal thinking each time "this is it" going over.
out off bunbury when the wind and swell jacked right up travelling at about 4kn nose going under motor lifting out with each wave getting no where luckly a cray boat was coming in hooked in behind them and got a smoother faster ride home
last year or the year before out near naturaliste reef it was like glass , out of no where the wind picked up to 30+kn and poured down with rain ancored up to sit it out didn't stop even had a sea bird sitting up near the ancor well , when dad pulled the ancor it didn't budge think it was that drowned he wouldn't of been able to fly if he tried (would of bilge pumped out over 100l guesstimate ) ended with a 4hr trip back got back and it glassed off again , f#@$% it .
Approx 130kms offshore from Darwin in a tiller steer dinghy. Headed out at night to get the smooth ride and woke up in the morning to see a massive build up storm coming from the land direction. No chance of running around it so we anchored up, crawled into the swags and pulled the tarp over us with the bilge pump on manual.
Storm went for approx 4 hours with solid lightning for about 2. Glassed off when it finally blew over but sure felt lonely out there as we didn't know if the other boats had still ventured out as planned.
I was working for Hammersy Iron when cyclone Orson , crossed the coast at Dampier and went on and flattened Panawonica The operators were trying to get the shiploader boom down into the tie down position , but couldn't as the limits would let it lower enough , I raced out to ship loader and found 4 operators out there , I told them I would just sprag the lower contactor for the hoist from the switch room and for them to call me on the radio when it was low enough to get the tie down pin in I did that and got the call it was low enough but the bloke on the radio said he needed a hand , I found him at the end of the shiploader boom as white as a ghost the other 3 blokes had done a bolt the conditions were that hairy (waves crashing over us as we finished the job) by this time it was 4 hours after we had gone onto red alert , it was definitely scary and would never happen these days
remember tuna fishing few years back out of gero and heading out on the napolian with beno at the wheel. we were out on the 110 line 200 odd miles out nw of nth island and a big low came thru. sitting in the wheelhouse watching 40ft rollers coming thru and just laughing at the size of these slow motion rollers! we turned and steamed 100 miles north to get away from it, meanwhile shultzy wasskippering the business class 80mile inside us and had his windows blow out on him that night. That night we had finished shooting off and went to set the shute out to drift, the thing is suppose to go in the water but ended up in the air and nearly took all 5 of us over. So no shute drifting side on with 60 kt winds and horizontal rain! didnt sleep a wink and just sat there on watch looking at white monsters hitting us broadside! ah! those were the days. it was all good fun and hence the tuna were on the chew as our gear had drifted straight thru a perfect warm water current! Those images of those waves that storm are still etched in my mind even today!
went to Onslow on a diving trip just after cyclone Bobby, it was a very sobering feeling as we passed the Pamela and Harmony which were both still capsized , what made it worse was I knew my house mate from Dampier Todd Lines ( he was the boss of Stolt offshore on the Burrup) was there doing the body recovery's which must be a horrible job
abot 3-4 years ago went to go out chasing pinkies , going through the cut with a 3.5m swell with the sand bar at the entrence they were kicking up 5 or 6m hit a set just out side the entrance with it taking the front down and taking the ancor out of the ancorwell with it didn't notice with the white wash untill the motor stalled, trim tilted it up and cut the rope all whilst being smashed side on drifting towards the rocks. got the motor back down and started got out to our fishing grounds tied on the reef ancor( no chain) as we had lost the sand ancor it wouldn't grab tied most my 24+ oz snapper leads to it got it to grab , caught F all . coming back in powered on the back of one coming into the cut ended up over taking it with one on our tail going down the face i backed off not wanting to nose dive it sucked us back into it and spun us around almost a 360 but again side on with the one on our tail almost tipping us powered on and made it back to the ramp ( 1 free lesson i'll never forget , KEEP THE POWER ON ) one mate had 1/2 a wet body from a side ways dunk with the almost tip (how he didn't go over still has me buggered(down the back is obviously not the safest place) 1 mate has never been out since and the other still goes .So if any one on here has found a sand ancor towards the north rock wall at the bunbury cut PM me i'ld like it back HAHA
last one was heading out west , full noise one morning pretty calm talking to my mate not paying much attention in front out of no where air bourne back of the rev's but too late still in the air nose dive into the second wave of the set water flows from the front of the boat like a river over the center console windscreen and down the floor to the back both me and my mate drenced with just a sidewards glance at each other backed off 13kn the rest of trip out. dropped lines and i said i nearly turned around to go back to the ramp after that he says i nearly told you to do the same any way bagged out and was an awesome day but was just a freak set of 3 waves
all of these experiences are from a 5m freedom sport
hence the welds on the ribs need welding every 2 years :)
I reckon anyone who owns or has owned a centre console has nosed diuved it, especially going out on an easterly wind. I've done it twice in my 8m glass console :) never in danger but hell funny. Wave comes through the boat at head height and all the fishing gear and esky's are floating! With the flush deck waters gone in 30 seconds
na they never came down there that I know of. Last one is either us or Shandara (which took the pics of us) cant zoom in on it to look closer at the moment
tuna fishing out of eden. A fish would come up but because it was so swelly would slide up the line until it had a whole set with it and then it would grab. Mayhem!!!The white caps were rolling for no word of a lie 200 metres off the tops of the sea. I know what you mean about doing 3 or 4 knots and then comming to a shuddering halt 'carnarvonite'. It was a slow ride home that trip. 80Nm in 26hours flat.HaHa
was out off dunsbrough with my pop chasing whiting in 20m when a front came in and we had the 20mile journy back the the ramp i was only 7 at the time and it was my first experiance.
wasnt that fun
i have head banged my way out into a few storms scince chasing a feed with dad and friends. this was more fun than my first time out in a storm
was out of onslow out and out site of land and islands in my 15 ft c/c , this is before the days of gps and you had to do every thing by compass . the weather was perfect but this huge sea mist came down on us and we couldn't see any thing after about 45 minutes it lifted , my mate buzz said what are we going to do now we don't know where we are , I said I don't know about you but I am going to have a beer , what the fuck he said , I said yea could be our last beer , what he didn't know was I knew the bearing to take back to Beadon creek as he was to slack to learn how to read a map and take bearings
Worst for me was my last Sydney to Hobart yacht race back in 1998 never forget that one almost didnt make it home Im sure you all heard about the lives lost during that race the skippers boat was battered but still managed to stay afloat and we we airlifted back to land most scarest time for me on the water.
Coming across the bight in HMAS Melbourne (can't remember the year) she had a single tracker chained to the flight deck port side just forward of the island. Huge waves and swell bow of the ship went down green water came over the bow and along the flight deck then wave broke on the island and everyone on the bridge thought we where about to become a submarine, all vision lost in the white water when it cleared the tracker was gone as was the long range radar dome above the bridge. I have never seen so many scared stiff people in one place before or since.
Most of the crew became very religious that day, all you could hear them say throughout the day was geeezus and oh my god.
a 20 knot wind and 6 metre swells at bremer bay in a 21 feet carribean was the scariest moment i ever experienced, the boat almost flipped and was the first time id ever felt or feared for my life on the water, i couldnt compare the fright that day even with a time off two rocks which was 40 knots and a 3 metre swell. the southern ocean can be one scary place
fished the rowley sholes in 2000 for my 18th birthday with the then fishing wa crew hit a massive storm on the way in blew the whole front screen out washed most of the fly bridge off and sank the 2 fishing dinghys that they towed across was 12 hrs late getting back into broome with no electrics working on the boat same trip there was a fuck up leavinjg one of the atols where the mother boat ended up virtually on its side wedged between rocks as the tide was racing out was not a fun trip
Couple of photos of a storm off Karratha a few years ago. WE were about 20 mile out. No way of out running in and we were in a 6.25m cruise craft. Just sat it out, rained that hard couldnt see the back of the boat from the cabin and the water coming off the roof was a waterfall.
Was fishing beyond Bare Rock and this identical looking system came from dampier Direction. As we saw it appraoching we tailed it to the Enderby Lea and just sat there until it had gone.
Now all the gear onboard was Graphite Rods. We normally went out with about 12 different setups. Trolling, Light tackle, Jig, BB, squid, Soft plastic and my 2 wands(they stayed in the travel tubes).
Needles to say the most we used was 4, 2 rods and a close and long balloon floater. The rest sat up on the rocket launcher looking like an angry porcupine.
Lightning and carbon rods!!!?? Not a bloody good idea. Was a rushed panic to get all the conductors down and lying flat in the boat cab just before we endured about 30 mins of gust to 55knots on the hand held speed checker. Got absolutely drenched despite a Bimini and Targa - it just blew in sideways. Had some wet weather gear but it was to damn hot to wear plastic so just sat there like a pair off drowned rats.
Didnt go back to Bare after but just fished a reef between Enderby and Eaglehawk, and we also had a ripper session after the storm.
Bodie when was that because mine was about 3-4yrs ago??
Yeah mate it was in 2009, we were about 12 mile west of bare rock. I think in April maybe?
We sat out there, couldnt out run it. it rained that hard it actually started to calm the ocean. Fish were on afterwood too, good trout, spangles and reds.
I checked with our fish dairy and it was 2009. Sorry should have checked the date, but those rolling edges and the almost sandstormish look to the clouds are etched. Poor sods stuck out there. It was hard enough in the lea of Enderby. We were only about 1nm west so just made it before the heavans opened. Was thunder around when we stopped at Enderby and had to get the rods down before we got toasted by lightning.
PS: Interesting, we got trout, spangies and 2 red in only 14m off water after the storm?
Son was on a trawler sailing down from Exmouth to Fremantle 5 years back when they got snottered by a wave about 12nm off Quobba light. He saw it coming 2 waves back and couldn't get to the wheel or throttle in time.
Punched the whole of the front of the wheelhouse in filling it with water. As with most Kailis trawlers, the Tubrigi K, it is all 240 volt systems with the switchboard in the wheelhouse. Jeff got booted down the front steps in to the galley 10 feet below and the other bloke out the back door and down to the deck below.
Luckily the engine was still running but without any electrics, they were able to limp in to Carnarvon where they just about rebuilt the wheelhouse so it could continue down to Fremantle 2 weeks later.
Pics are on the site way back in the archives somewhere
My worst was previously the 2012 Billfish Shootout where we took on a fair bit of water with winds up to 35knots gusting in the mornings but still fishable, beat it this year on day 1 pushed out to the ships with a few other crazy people in the 625 and it was much worse than the 35 knot gusts and 4m swell with 2m seas, i was a little worried but punched on to find shelter behind a ship, it didn't matter i couldn't leave the helm and we packed it in. 46 knot sustained winds and 54 knot gusts at 9am, bilge clogged once we stopped at the ships and blew up so no water exiting the boat, Comp was called off and we pushed back to West lewis island knowing people where there if we needed help. i was doing 4000rpm and only 14 knots i had that much water in the hull, mate standing between the two seats had water lapping at his feet as we rounded Malus island.
The only words that come to my mind after watching those videos is "men of iron ships of steel" they are truly brave sailors to go and willingly put themselves at risk.
Cransy1's storm,in a 5 m dinghy by myself at geograph schoals when a glass off changed to an absolute full on gale.
around midnight so couldn't see the clouds coming either.
all I could do was let all the anchor rope out and lay on my drenched swag to ride it out and see if my boat was up to it.
no short squall either ,lasted until around 7 next morning when the wind dropped to only about 20 or so knots and let me run in to reef island about 20ks away.
Was in the small creek a couple km East of Cossack when we saw a storm approaching. Decided to make a run for it back to Cossack, but of course the storm hit as we got to the open water. Instant 3 mtr waves, lightning all around and wind and rain so heavy it was painful to keep your eyes open. The little top ender actually handled it ok, but we could only drive directly into the waves. Ended up closer to Pt Samson than Cossack by the time it had passed.
Came back from rotto one year with my staff had to get home due to me catching a flight early the next morning any way the weather was that bad the ferries got grounded as I found out later,
blowing 30 to 40 knots easy with a massive swell and following sea we were in my 26 ft Caribbean (I know why their a popular boat )thankfully got home safely but I was white as a ghost when we arrived at Hillarys as for my staff none have been on a boat since.
crezz
Posts: 695
Date Joined: 12/03/12
not really caught in a storm
not really caught in a storm but working on the rigs down in the bass strait you see some unbelievable wind, swell and waves. even off exxy the swell and waves get BIG sometimes. would hate to be in that with a boat!
Iceman
Posts: 745
Date Joined: 17/03/09
2 stories
1. My father and I were caught out some 25nm of Ocean Reef by one of those summer storms that suddenly appeared over the horizon. Knew we would not out run it so had to ride it out. Had 40knot plus winds for about 45 minutes and then calm again. Were we in a 21ft vessel. One of the few time I was concerned. Interestingly the fish came on the bite after the storm and we bagged out in about one hour. Absolutey nothing prior to the storm hitting us.
2. A few months ago had to assist the water police with the search for the frenchman who got into trouble of Mindarie one night. Went out in the new Water Police vessel (17mtrs long) to provide local knowledge to get to him. We had 60knot plus winds, 7mtr swell and 5 mtr sea. Nearly got rolled twice. Was pitch black and never knew what was coming. We were out there for 4 hours. Did not have time to shit myslef as too busy trying to find the idiot
Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers - Level 1, 11 Hobsons Gate Currambine
0448122208
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
every cyclone season we will
every cyclone season we will skirt 2 or 3 cyclones at least while at work. Bloody annoying! Mind you the strong sou-easterlies are almost as bad cos we don't have a "southeasterly avoidance plan" and so just keep working. Maybe I'll chuck up some footage this year... AND every other fking longline trip out of Albany during the winters-this is after the storm.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Off Mindaries
About 8km out from mindaries on a nice summer arvo i saw a storm forming on the horizon. I watched it for a while then realized it had turned and was heading straight at me. Only in a 4.3m tinny i started to shit and packed up quickly to head in. As i started the motor the storm decided to chase me and to my horror 3 water spouts formed ( aprox 2 km away ) and started to spirral around each other.
Heading in at full speed the swell picked up and i got to the second reef line only to get a cray rope stuck on the motor leg. Trying my hardest not to panic i got the rope free and thanked god my motor started.
Half way from there to the marina it went totaly black and the rain hit that hard i could not see the front of the boat. I dont know what happened to the water spouts but luckily they didnt hit me, so i rode it out with the bilge pump on untill i could just see the marina. Another boat was having problems so i waved them down and they followed me in to safety.
As me and the other guys stood at the boat ramp soaked, the storm passed and the sky was blue as far as you could see, none of us said much and loaded our boats to go home in a state of shock, thinking we were lucky to be alive .
Cheers Grant .
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Belted in the Tasman
Got an absolute belting while bringing a 24 metre ex tuna boat across the Tasman from Auckland to Eden then through to Fremantle. When you are only doing 3-4 knots in to it and every so often cop one that would drive you backwards. Had swells running between 14 and 18 metres when the worst of it passed. Would try to jam yourself in a corner to try to get a brief sleep without being tossed across the deck.
Not sure on the wind strengths but have been out in 50 knots since in the same boat and it seemed like a gentle sea breeze in comparison, green waves coming over the bow and the whole boat shuddering when they hit.
Bass Strait was a breeze after that, well like a mirror and not an ounce of swell when we rounded Wilson's Promitory
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
Was onboard the Goodwin
Was onboard the Goodwin platform out from Karratha in 1999 when cyclone Vance went through. (the one that obliterated Exmouth)
No one was evacuated but the rig was in full lockdown. someone out there said that we were being hit by 15m waves at some point. that rig was obv a platform so didn't feel it much.
worst worry was being on a jackup being towed from Singapore to northwest shelf, hit a storm and anyone who has been on a jackup knows that when the legs are up they are pretty top heavy. remember trying to sleep at night rolling a full 45 deg each way from horizontal thinking each time "this is it" going over.
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Ha ha yeah the Key Biscayne
Ha ha yeah the Key Biscayne was a jack up and that went down.
Love the West!
Swompa
Posts: 3786
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Geraldton to Fremantle race
Geraldton to Fremantle race in 2007. 64 knots was maximum gust. Couldn't see the bow of the boat due to the spray.
Swompa
Posts: 3786
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Geraldton to Fremantle race
Fremantle to Bunbury race in 2008. Average of 32 knots all the way down there. Was great once we turned around to sail back.
lame
Posts: 315
Date Joined: 20/01/10
rough
out off bunbury when the wind and swell jacked right up travelling at about 4kn nose going under motor lifting out with each wave getting no where luckly a cray boat was coming in hooked in behind them and got a smoother faster ride home
last year or the year before out near naturaliste reef it was like glass , out of no where the wind picked up to 30+kn and poured down with rain ancored up to sit it out didn't stop even had a sea bird sitting up near the ancor well , when dad pulled the ancor it didn't budge think it was that drowned he wouldn't of been able to fly if he tried (would of bilge pumped out over 100l guesstimate ) ended with a 4hr trip back got back and it glassed off again , f#@$% it .
dodgy
Posts: 4563
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Approx 130kms offshore from
Approx 130kms offshore from Darwin in a tiller steer dinghy. Headed out at night to get the smooth ride and woke up in the morning to see a massive build up storm coming from the land direction. No chance of running around it so we anchored up, crawled into the swags and pulled the tarp over us with the bilge pump on manual.
Storm went for approx 4 hours with solid lightning for about 2. Glassed off when it finally blew over but sure felt lonely out there as we didn't know if the other boats had still ventured out as planned.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
dkonig82
Posts: 2091
Date Joined: 06/07/10
you were out 130kms in a
you were out 130kms in a tiller steer dinghy?! That's keen
When asked by a non-fisherman 'how many fishing rods do you really need?' the correct answer is either:
n+1 (where n is the number of fishing rods you currently own); or
n-1 (where n is the number of fishing rods which would cause your significant other to dump you.
dodgy
Posts: 4563
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Yeah. Nearly ended up deaf
Yeah. Nearly ended up deaf from the 2 stroke roaring away too. And we didn't really catch anything of note either.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
cyclone orson
I was working for Hammersy Iron when cyclone Orson , crossed the coast at Dampier and went on and flattened Panawonica The operators were trying to get the shiploader boom down into the tie down position , but couldn't as the limits would let it lower enough , I raced out to ship loader and found 4 operators out there , I told them I would just sprag the lower contactor for the hoist from the switch room and for them to call me on the radio when it was low enough to get the tie down pin in I did that and got the call it was low enough but the bloke on the radio said he needed a hand , I found him at the end of the shiploader boom as white as a ghost the other 3 blokes had done a bolt the conditions were that hairy (waves crashing over us as we finished the job) by this time it was 4 hours after we had gone onto red alert , it was definitely scary and would never happen these days
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
toona fishing
remember tuna fishing few years back out of gero and heading out on the napolian with beno at the wheel. we were out on the 110 line 200 odd miles out nw of nth island and a big low came thru. sitting in the wheelhouse watching 40ft rollers coming thru and just laughing at the size of these slow motion rollers! we turned and steamed 100 miles north to get away from it, meanwhile shultzy wasskippering the business class 80mile inside us and had his windows blow out on him that night. That night we had finished shooting off and went to set the shute out to drift, the thing is suppose to go in the water but ended up in the air and nearly took all 5 of us over. So no shute drifting side on with 60 kt winds and horizontal rain! didnt sleep a wink and just sat there on watch looking at white monsters hitting us broadside! ah! those were the days. it was all good fun and hence the tuna were on the chew as our gear had drifted straight thru a perfect warm water current! Those images of those waves that storm are still etched in my mind even today!
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
bumped into Shultzy a few
bumped into Shultzy a few weeks back while flying home
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
amazing skipper
yeah rob hes an amazing skipper both w crays and tuna mate. he was on the pulse with the fish. and he used to slay it on the wirrols wherever he went
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
saw the aftermath
went to Onslow on a diving trip just after cyclone Bobby, it was a very sobering feeling as we passed the Pamela and Harmony which were both still capsized , what made it worse was I knew my house mate from Dampier Todd Lines ( he was the boss of Stolt offshore on the Burrup) was there doing the body recovery's which must be a horrible job
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
atlas
is that the atlas in the second shot on the top right there rob
lame
Posts: 315
Date Joined: 20/01/10
stupidity
abot 3-4 years ago went to go out chasing pinkies , going through the cut with a 3.5m swell with the sand bar at the entrence they were kicking up 5 or 6m hit a set just out side the entrance with it taking the front down and taking the ancor out of the ancorwell with it didn't notice with the white wash untill the motor stalled, trim tilted it up and cut the rope all whilst being smashed side on drifting towards the rocks. got the motor back down and started got out to our fishing grounds tied on the reef ancor( no chain) as we had lost the sand ancor it wouldn't grab tied most my 24+ oz snapper leads to it got it to grab , caught F all . coming back in powered on the back of one coming into the cut ended up over taking it with one on our tail going down the face i backed off not wanting to nose dive it sucked us back into it and spun us around almost a 360 but again side on with the one on our tail almost tipping us powered on and made it back to the ramp ( 1 free lesson i'll never forget , KEEP THE POWER ON ) one mate had 1/2 a wet body from a side ways dunk with the almost tip (how he didn't go over still has me buggered(down the back is obviously not the safest place) 1 mate has never been out since and the other still goes .So if any one on here has found a sand ancor towards the north rock wall at the bunbury cut PM me i'ld like it back HAHA
last one was heading out west , full noise one morning pretty calm talking to my mate not paying much attention in front out of no where air bourne back of the rev's but too late still in the air nose dive into the second wave of the set water flows from the front of the boat like a river over the center console windscreen and down the floor to the back both me and my mate drenced with just a sidewards glance at each other backed off 13kn the rest of trip out. dropped lines and i said i nearly turned around to go back to the ramp after that he says i nearly told you to do the same any way bagged out and was an awesome day but was just a freak set of 3 waves
all of these experiences are from a 5m freedom sport
hence the welds on the ribs need welding every 2 years :)
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
I reckon anyone who owns or
I reckon anyone who owns or has owned a centre console has nosed diuved it, especially going out on an easterly wind. I've done it twice in my 8m glass console :) never in danger but hell funny. Wave comes through the boat at head height and all the fishing gear and esky's are floating! With the flush deck waters gone in 30 seconds
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
na they never came down there
na they never came down there that I know of. Last one is either us or Shandara (which took the pics of us) cant zoom in on it to look closer at the moment
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
barneyboy
Posts: 1392
Date Joined: 08/01/09
Had some big days
tuna fishing out of eden. A fish would come up but because it was so swelly would slide up the line until it had a whole set with it and then it would grab. Mayhem!!!The white caps were rolling for no word of a lie 200 metres off the tops of the sea. I know what you mean about doing 3 or 4 knots and then comming to a shuddering halt 'carnarvonite'. It was a slow ride home that trip. 80Nm in 26hours flat.HaHa
FEEEISH ONNN!!!
new age
Posts: 330
Date Joined: 15/03/13
Those of you that haven't
Those of you that haven't believe these blokes when they say these storms can come out of no where, and conditions can literally change in seconds
suggarman
Posts: 72
Date Joined: 13/10/13
out of dunsbrough
was out off dunsbrough with my pop chasing whiting in 20m when a front came in and we had the 20mile journy back the the ramp
i was only 7 at the time and it was my first experiance.
wasnt that fun
i have head banged my way out into a few storms scince chasing a feed with dad and friends. this was more fun than my first time out in a storm
have a good one
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
was of onslow
was out of onslow out and out site of land and islands in my 15 ft c/c , this is before the days of gps and you had to do every thing by compass . the weather was perfect but this huge sea mist came down on us and we couldn't see any thing after about 45 minutes it lifted , my mate buzz said what are we going to do now we don't know where we are , I said I don't know about you but I am going to have a beer , what the fuck he said , I said yea could be our last beer , what he didn't know was I knew the bearing to take back to Beadon creek as he was to slack to learn how to read a map and take bearings
catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
Worst for me was my last
Worst for me was my last Sydney to Hobart yacht race back in 1998 never forget that one almost didnt make it home Im sure you all heard about the lives lost during that race the skippers boat was battered but still managed to stay afloat and we we airlifted back to land most scarest time for me on the water.
Nathan
Swompa
Posts: 3786
Date Joined: 14/10/12
What were you on?
What were you on?
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
caught in a storm
Coming across the bight in HMAS Melbourne (can't remember the year) she had a single tracker chained to the flight deck port side just forward of the island. Huge waves and swell bow of the ship went down green water came over the bow and along the flight deck then wave broke on the island and everyone on the bridge thought we where about to become a submarine, all vision lost in the white water when it cleared the tracker was gone as was the long range radar dome above the bridge. I have never seen so many scared stiff people in one place before or since.
Most of the crew became very religious that day, all you could hear them say throughout the day was geeezus and oh my god.
Jordan496
Posts: 37
Date Joined: 17/01/10
a 20 knot wind and 6 metre
a 20 knot wind and 6 metre swells at bremer bay in a 21 feet carribean was the scariest moment i ever experienced, the boat almost flipped and was the first time id ever felt or feared for my life on the water, i couldnt compare the fright that day even with a time off two rocks which was 40 knots and a 3 metre swell. the southern ocean can be one scary place
MUSTANG 2250
Posts: 172
Date Joined: 03/07/13
fished the rowley sholes in
fished the rowley sholes in 2000 for my 18th birthday with the then fishing wa crew hit a massive storm on the way in blew the whole front screen out washed most of the fly bridge off and sank the 2 fishing dinghys that they towed across was 12 hrs late getting back into broome with no electrics working on the boat same trip there was a fuck up leavinjg one of the atols where the mother boat ended up virtually on its side wedged between rocks as the tide was racing out was not a fun trip
Swompa
Posts: 3786
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Great oppertunity to show
Great oppertunity to show some fast sailing in big waves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrKQgJykdO4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytLYOt2NHvU
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Couple of photos of a storm
Couple of photos of a storm off Karratha a few years ago. WE were about 20 mile out. No way of out running in and we were in a 6.25m cruise craft. Just sat it out, rained that hard couldnt see the back of the boat from the cabin and the water coming off the roof was a waterfall.
sstevee
Posts: 466
Date Joined: 15/11/11
They are some awesome pics!!
They are some awesome pics!!
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
I was about to post my brief story then saw these
Was fishing beyond Bare Rock and this identical looking system came from dampier Direction. As we saw it appraoching we tailed it to the Enderby Lea and just sat there until it had gone.
Now all the gear onboard was Graphite Rods. We normally went out with about 12 different setups. Trolling, Light tackle, Jig, BB, squid, Soft plastic and my 2 wands(they stayed in the travel tubes).
Needles to say the most we used was 4, 2 rods and a close and long balloon floater. The rest sat up on the rocket launcher looking like an angry porcupine.
Lightning and carbon rods
!!!?? Not a bloody good idea. Was a rushed panic to get all the conductors down and lying flat in the boat cab just before we endured about 30 mins of gust to 55knots on the hand held speed checker. Got absolutely drenched despite a Bimini and Targa - it just blew in sideways. Had some wet weather gear but it was to damn hot to wear plastic so just sat there like a pair off drowned rats.
Didnt go back to Bare after but just fished a reef between Enderby and Eaglehawk, and we also had a ripper session after the storm.
Bodie when was that because mine was about 3-4yrs ago??
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Yeah mate it was in 2009, we
Yeah mate it was in 2009, we were about 12 mile west of bare rock. I think in April maybe?
We sat out there, couldnt out run it. it rained that hard it actually started to calm the ocean. Fish were on afterwood too, good trout, spangles and reds.
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Bingo Mate
I checked with our fish dairy and it was 2009. Sorry should have checked the date, but those rolling edges and the almost sandstormish look to the clouds are etched. Poor sods stuck out there. It was hard enough in the lea of Enderby. We were only about 1nm west so just made it before the heavans opened. Was thunder around when we stopped at Enderby and had to get the rods down before we got toasted by lightning.
PS: Interesting, we got trout, spangies and 2 red in only 14m off water after the storm?
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Snottered
Son was on a trawler sailing down from Exmouth to Fremantle 5 years back when they got snottered by a wave about 12nm off Quobba light. He saw it coming 2 waves back and couldn't get to the wheel or throttle in time.
Punched the whole of the front of the wheelhouse in filling it with water. As with most Kailis trawlers, the Tubrigi K, it is all 240 volt systems with the switchboard in the wheelhouse. Jeff got booted down the front steps in to the galley 10 feet below and the other bloke out the back door and down to the deck below.
Luckily the engine was still running but without any electrics, they were able to limp in to Carnarvon where they just about rebuilt the wheelhouse so it could continue down to Fremantle 2 weeks later.
Pics are on the site way back in the archives somewhere
Brucesta
Posts: 1721
Date Joined: 29/05/09
Cruisecrafts love that
Cruisecrafts love that shit!
My worst was previously the 2012 Billfish Shootout where we took on a fair bit of water with winds up to 35knots gusting in the mornings but still fishable, beat it this year on day 1 pushed out to the ships with a few other crazy people in the 625 and it was much worse than the 35 knot gusts and 4m swell with 2m seas, i was a little worried but punched on to find shelter behind a ship, it didn't matter i couldn't leave the helm and we packed it in. 46 knot sustained winds and 54 knot gusts at 9am, bilge clogged once we stopped at the ships and blew up so no water exiting the boat, Comp was called off and we pushed back to West lewis island knowing people where there if we needed help. i was doing 4000rpm and only 14 knots i had that much water in the hull, mate standing between the two seats had water lapping at his feet as we rounded Malus island.
Should have stayed in bed that day.
Las Vegas - Rolling the dice and trying your luck. 1M+ Barra summer target. 100kg Black Marlin winter target
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Moto of the story
Mate dont sign up for Billfish, its a automatic blow it's arse off invitation!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
fishing comps
don't forget FeNacl guaranteed to blow 30 knots
Wilmy
Posts: 48
Date Joined: 29/11/12
I've just pooped myself
I've just pooped myself several times just reading these stories, looks like some of you were lucky to get back to shore alive and well.
Awesome photos Bodie.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Yacht race videos
The only words that come to my mind after watching those videos is "men of iron ships of steel" they are truly brave sailors to go and willingly put themselves at risk.
Travis S
Posts: 67
Date Joined: 09/07/13
Bit like
Cransy1's storm,in a 5 m dinghy by myself at geograph schoals when a glass off changed to an absolute full on gale.
around midnight so couldn't see the clouds coming either.
all I could do was let all the anchor rope out and lay on my drenched swag to ride it out and see if my boat was up to it.
no short squall either ,lasted until around 7 next morning when the wind dropped to only about 20 or so knots and let me run in to reef island about 20ks away.
a very long and hairy night.
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
Was in the small creek a
Was in the small creek a couple km East of Cossack when we saw a storm approaching. Decided to make a run for it back to Cossack, but of course the storm hit as we got to the open water. Instant 3 mtr waves, lightning all around and wind and rain so heavy it was painful to keep your eyes open. The little top ender actually handled it ok, but we could only drive directly into the waves. Ended up closer to Pt Samson than Cossack by the time it had passed.
HATE lightning when I am on the water!
Mandy
Posts: 24
Date Joined: 05/03/12
Back from rotto
Came back from rotto one year with my staff had to get home due to me catching a flight early the next morning any way the weather was that bad the ferries got grounded as I found out later,
blowing 30 to 40 knots easy with a massive swell and following sea we were in my 26 ft Caribbean (I know why their a popular boat )thankfully got home safely but I was white as a ghost when we arrived at Hillarys as for my staff none have been on a boat since.
Ajc