Posted by John Nichols on April 21, 2006 at 21:10:33 from 70.191.149.99 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Best memory/experience with boats posted by Jeremy Kriewaldt on April 20, 2006 at 00:05:38:
I have sailed a lot on Lake Macquarie. There are three schools of thought on riding out a 100 mph southerly buster.
School 1. Ride it out, best sail of your life, short though it may be (your life I mean). I rode one out in a cat once, broke the centreboard completely, drove the boat about 2 metres under on the bow, had 4 big guys holding it down. Great fun, upset my brother who had to make the new centreboard. I have seen an NS land ashore and drive the centreboard out the stern of the vessel. Very pretty sight till they hit shore.
School 2. Turn your dinghy over to a full turtle, sit on the bottom and watch the idiots in school 1. Very satisfying, except if you get run down by a school 1 who doesn't see you.
School 3.
By running north in a slight breeze, spinnaker setting and miss that the buster is coming. Picks the boat out of the water, flips it over and it sinks immediately. Saw that in 1974. When they brought the boat up the spinnaker was in place. Not being alert in a boat can kill you.
Of course being off shore in such a breeze is very frightening. Doing it with your father is @#$%^& stupid.
JMN