Sailing our 28' sailboat on a 250 mile leg back to Clearwater and we experience heavy weather and big waves. Follow us here: / adventuresinparadisefl / adventuresinparadisefl / adventuresinparadisefl Thank you for your support!
Yea, I've heard the saying, you can't sail on a schedule. Well, it's either do this on a schedule or don't take long trips...for working people like us.
The comment about wondering if the boat could take the weather reminded me of what I was told 50 years ago. An old guy told me when I was young "Your boat can take a lot more than you kid". I found that to be true and the older I get the more accurate it is.
You need to get out more. I have done that trip in far worse conditions in a 1986 Cal 28 shoal draft ( essentially the same boat with a taller rig) We had gust to 50 on deck and sustained at 30-35. 15-18 ft seas in 4-5 set and that was followed by 20-25 ft about 30* from the others tried to heave but the odd monster nearly would knock us down. So we pushed on for a while but we were being punished for very little forward progress, would punch through one and fall in the trough and the next one would break at the mast, bluewater to mid chest. Turned with the engine to quickly get us taking the seas over starboard quarter. Now making for Naples. Surfing down the face of the 15-25 ft waves, fine line between pitchpoling and getting rolled. Tried trailing a warp but the resistance would pull the transom through the following sea and we got seriously pooped, twice, drains worked great and with the cockpit full she would roll a bit and it was all gone in 10 sec. So yes that boat will take it. We found ourselves in the mess because NOAA said a high pressure in the Atlantic would drift south and dissipate and a low off the Yucatan was moving to the East but also to dissipate. NOPE! INSTEAD THEY BOTH INTENSIFIED AND WE WE CAUGHT IN THE CONVERGENCE. OUCH! POINT IS YOUR BOAT SHOULD ALWAYS BE PREPAIRED AND SO SHOULD THE CREW. Get more windy conditions experience. Tampa bay would be a good place to start. Don't let your dreams interfere with prudence. But good on you, you did. it I hope you do a serious post mortem of the trip but be humble not inordinately fearful. You did good!
As a sailor that followed in your guys footsteps, I had a 1974 Catalina 22 and now an 1981 oday 28, it's it sucks that you had to go through that. It was a very impressive feat. That said it's good to know the boat can handle it as well.
I really love watching your honest, unadulterated sailing experiences! It is a refreshing change from the usual RU-vid sailing videos. I hope the trip did not discourage you too much from sailing to Key West in the future...at least in a 28ft boat. 😁
Nice job staying with it, I really wish the camera conveyed how big those waves really are, and how rough a ride that is on a fin keel boat. You guy's did magnificent, never lose faith in your vessel and she'll get you home.
Thank you for these videos! I’m not a sailor, but would like to be some day. Your adventure reminded me of one I had with my soon-to-be wife in 1996 on a motorcycle. We rode from CT to Charlotte, NC, then up to Libertyville, IL (north of Chicago), then home. No windscreen, no rain gear, no sun screen, we got sunburned badly on the first two days, then it poured in VA on the third day. I couldn’t see any faster than 50 MPH, and trucks were passing us doing 80 on I-81. There were other nail-biting moments, but that was the worst. We were and still are working people with limited vacation time. We were married a year later and celebrated 26 years of “marital bliss” two months ago. After that trip, we knew what each other was made of more than ever before. We still ride, but are considering taking up sailing. Your videos were no nonsense real deal stuff!
Great video. We were the catamaran that went by. Azeta is a Lagoon 500. We had one reef in and doing about 9.5 knots when we passed you. Took us about 24 hours from Key West to St Pete.
Cool! Is that weather you'd sail in often? We took 44 hours to get back and 55 to get there. We got to the inlet around 4am and getting the main down in that weather wasn't fun!
@@AdventuresInParadise We sailed Azeta from Sicily to Florida in 2020. Quite often conditions were similar in the Med as it was winter. Going downwind in 20-25 KTS is not a problem, but that day the sea state was the issue. That area around Key West seems to be prone to this. I recall we had encountered a worse situation in 2020, in the same location while returning from the Med. After we passed you, by 5pm the waves and the wind was more synchronized. We put the boat's autopilot in wind mode at 135 degree true wind and sailed all the way to Sarasota around 6am in mostly 3-5 ft seas, and wind 15-20 KTS. Luckily we made it back Friday morning. The wind picked up again with 25-30 at Tampa Bay inlet. Hope to see you guys again. If you're in the St. Pete area, give us a ring and we'll go out for a sail.
You are both doing a fantastic job. You'll find that ODay can take a lot more than you can. You'll learn to trust her and you'll feel much better about going out even in rough weather. I've got a Eygthene 24 and she rides like a surf board in weather like that, but I know she can take it. Keep it up.
Thanks for the comment. I'm hoping that even if the boat can take it, I never find myself in that situation again. "can take it" would be fine for a few hours, but 50 hours of that and in the moonless nights... it was just bonkers.
Well done. Susie is tougher than most women I’ve ever had onboard as crew. You learn 10 times faster in heavy weather. In hindsight, these conditions will look like modest weather given enough sailing. I once experienced 80 knots and 60 foot seas. Hopefully never again
I feel the same swaying after sailing, especially if I am looking down. I stay reefed everytime I sail these days. It is super windy. Pretty crazy conditions out there. I was on the edge of my seat! Haha.
Well at least you said you went to the bathroom instead of I had to go change my shorts! It does not look bad on video but you can hear in your voice, you are not having fun. Rigging Doctor just said the most dangerous thing to do is sail on a schedule. You said you did not like the forecast.
Many people see people sailing in larger blue water boats that weigh three times what ours weighs and have another 10-15 feet in length, so you have to consider this also. Doing this for a few hours in one thing, but try it for 50+ hours with no let-up. I had to pee in a cup all night as there was no way I'd unclip after we got knocked down and had the rail and windows under water in the pitch black of night over and over. Susy had to go inside and close it up, I was all alone out there hand steering for 12 hours straight with zero visibility as it got so bad the auto-pilot could not keep us out of trouble.
Very, very wise on the double reef. You and your boat's rigging will always be happier over vs. under reefed. Your boat's hull speed limit is about 6.4 KN, so anytime you approach that there is no reason for more sail area. Another tell-tale of course is heel. Exceeding 15 deg. is inefficient and uncomfortable. Bet you knew all that. : )
Good footage of the sea. For the Oday 28 and your offshore experience, yes, it was a rough trip. You could have used a 3rd reef. That pilot you have is really a coastal pilot. Does not do well in those conditions. I hope it held up for you for the balance of the trip. The key for those pilots is no weather helm. Your wife's face as the winds increase with the seas is classic. She has something to tell her students.
Thanks. These O'day 28's only have two reefing points. If I had a third, I would have used it. We were flying in the 8's and 9's and hit over 10 knots down waves in the next episode, as the waves turn and come from behind us all day and night.
Wow y’all really came a long way from the earlier sailing of that 22’ Y’all retained your cool and hot through that Key West trek…looking for your follow up video completing the trip back home
Excellent video. Hardly a vacation. But it was certainly an amazing life experience, and you have it on great video. Cant wait for the next one. And cant wait to see your fnal thoughts on this and where you are going from here.
Thank you very much for taking us along! I can imagine how you must have felt, thinking how bad it was and how long you had to go. Probably a good thing you didn't know it was going to get worse! In the end though, I'm sue you are taking away learning that will make you a better sailor and able to control what you can control and have more confidence that you are going to make it through. Must have been really scary, though!!
Better do some practice before open sea crossing. Maybe 30knots+ as soon as the wind come so that you do not have much waves and 10-15knots with 3-4m sea when the wind is passed. In any case one of the most risky aspect in these condition is not the boat but the human mistake like open portlight, etc. being focus keeping the boat on course make people realize they are in trouble quite late and panic will do the rest. I do not know your boat well but for it 30-35 deg is not much. Great achievement from the Catalina 22 time.
$200.00 a night in Key West isn’t bad however, if you join a GCYA association you should be able to stay in a guest slip or someone’s slip that is away for much cheaper. Most Yacht Clubs and Marinas across the Gulf Coast should honor your membership with these benefits. I’m in Louisiana but have stayed overnight all along the Coast from Corpus to Pensacola. The last time I was in Gulfport I stayed in someone’s slip that was away and just left $50.00 with the clubhouse.
Oh btw. The cruise ship just lowers the lines down to dockworkers in a little boat, they take it over and hand to a guy who connects it to the bollard.
It’s great to see you two advancing and pushing the limits of that awesome boat, and your skills. That’s one thing I enjoy most about your channel is see the real emotion of learning sailing from almost scratch. Y’all have come so far!! I bet it makes all the dockside struggles worth it after nerves settle. We have to temporarily sell our Catilina 22 , learned a lot but marina too far and boat too small. I will be back though, hopefully.
$200 per day to rent a 28 foot boat slip in KW. $300 per day to rent a fully furnished air conditioned 2 bedroom waterfront house with dock in Key Colony Beach (just 50 miles north of KW) one week minimum rental.
Transient slip prices. If you arrived in a larger boat, you'd spend a few thousand per week, and we saw many boats that lead me to believe they can all afford it. We met some people in a 45' boat who were there for weeks, so just imagine !
I know hindsight is always 20/20 but u should have definitely found a marina to overnight at when the weather turned and before darkness. BUT, you guys made it through safe and now you know the warning signs to look out for. 😁👍 Looking forward to the insane video I know is coming!
@@AdventuresInParadise GH37 are around $300k give or take $30k. There's only 19 out there at this point. I believe the GH47 is $450k-900k. They're still being built, so you see a lot bigger price range.
How about how Sam Holmes bought that one boat at Burnt Store Marina. Wheny ou guys bought your boat I think that boat was also on Craig's List. But I digress; did you take those anti-seasick patches? Does this change your perception on sailing?
I seem to only get sick the first day, then I'm fine, and that's only when we sail in the Gulf, not on calm water. I never want to sail in bad weather again, or at night, I can tell you that. Not in a 28' costal cruiser that's only 8,000lbs anyway.
@@AdventuresInParadise Yes that would seem to me like a loss of control situation and vertigo leading to me puking my guts out. Well, it's been a real education!
