So how embarrassing is this!

Ok so its blowing about 10 to 15 with an inshore wind so coming back after a nice sail is tricky as I don't have much shore room. I get in ok but as I walk around the back of the boat to pin the rudders on the getaway, the bow starts swinging away from the wind. just as fast as you can say sh*t she was gone with me hanging on to the rear xarm. No matter how I tried I could not get back on the boat. I am 5'5 and at 218 lbs. I just couldn't heave my hulkiness over the transom. So there I am just being dragged along till she ran into the lee shore. I was sore as hell. I got to find a way to put a boarding foothold at the back of the boat.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

Wow, I bet that wore you out. Way to hang on there though. did anyone get a video of the "Ghost Ship"?

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Why did I sell my 16?

It might have turned out very badly had I been on a large body of water and not a smallish inland lake. I suppose given enough time I could have fashioned some kind of stirrup out of the main sheet line.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

A few weeks ago, my wife and daughter were with me on a local lake. The wind was blowing on shore so I told them I would have to round up at the shore. I rounded up with no problem, released all the sheets and jumped off in shallow water. At that moment, the boat took off with wife and daughter (both non-sailors) on board. I jumped and grabbed the back rail all the while being drug in the water. I was able to pull myself back on board (wife and daughter laughing to no end) and do the manuever all over again. Fortunately, there were no on lookers. The second time was a charm. I can feel your pain.

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

I hear yah. Hauling your tired @ss back aboard can be hard (if not impossible) when your old, over weight and out-of-shape (like I’am) . It’s harder yet after you’ve worked for right an over-turned 18.

A possible suggestion is to carry something like the C-Level Inc. Sea Steps. http://clevel.com/catalog.htm I used these when getting back aboard a inflatable dinghy after snorkeling and they work great. I have a set and i've been thinking that I should carry them on my H18 (just in case).

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John Latimer
'79 Hobie18 - Magnum
Sail#4854

Could you have reached the rudder and headed the boat into the wind?

Well I had the jib reefed all the way in and the main I had both the traveller and the mainsheet line uncleated. The last thing I had to do was to pin up the back rudders, I had just done that when she blew away from me. If the wind wasn't blowing so hard I could have unpinned the rudders, pulled them down and then tried to steer the boat upwind???? Duh I don't think so, It was all I could do to hang on the the rear xbar. I need to lose about 25 lbs. then I will be fine.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

Chalk that up to experience and I bet it doesn't happen again for a while. It's one of those things that once it happens to you, you won't let it happen again. I always either pivot the boat completely into the wind then balance it perfectly from the rear or tie the front off into the wind, or have one person holding the tip of a hull into the wind, etc. You can't even pivot it from mid section in any real wind. Fun stuff.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

I just saw this on a paddler's website, and thought it might be something I should consider hanging off the back of my H-14 or Wave.



I hardly ever sail with anyone, so being self-reliant is important. The bag hangs off the back, and the ladder remains inside the bag until it's needed. I think it's original purpose was to help rafters get back in their inflatables, but I can see it being handy for other types of watercraft. It's got an easy enough design, someone could make their own - but for only $35, I'd rather just buy it and get it on the boat. (Summer's too short for all that measuring, cutting and sewing!)

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joanie / Hobie enthusiast: 4 H-14Ts, 2 Waves, FloatCat 75, 4 Adventure Islands, and my DUNE Tandem Island!
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What can I say? I never met a Hobie I didn't like . . .

The problem with these kind of ladders is that, as soon as you put your foot on a rung, it swings under the boat, and you're left floating on your back. This happens with rope loops too. You need something to push against, like a solid wall or a three point harness, for it to work.

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What - Me Worry?


2006 Hobie Wave 7358
"Ish Kabibble"

on the rope ladder thing. i agree with the above, your foot needs something to push against. so could you tie a length of line from the back corner of the frame, down the inside of the hull, to somewhere on the same side gudgeon? then do the same to the otherside? they would drag in the water when underway but would give you one rung to slip a foot in. the inside of the hull would brace most of the loop for you. never tried this so you would need to experiment with rope length on your own in a shallow, but it would put you in a corner where you have alot more to work with than just straight off the back of the boat. good luck!

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eric, sail #205

About this emabrrassing.

Fleet 281 Shark Feed Regatta 2010 Bodega Bay, CA.

SPLASH !!!


First time in 4 years of racing I fell off

After the initial shock of being underwater I surface and relized I still had the main sheet in my hand. I was able to pull myself back to the boat, made the mark and held on for a 3rd place finish out of 7 H18's.
Plus I provided a whole lot of entertainment for the chase boat, the photographers and the beach spectaors . I wasn't the only one that took a swim that day see the link below. There was a 16, another 18, a Tiger and a Wild Cat that had problems at that same spot..

Thanks, Sonoma County Photography Group and R. Mabry photography for capturing this moment and the ones on the link below.
http://www.meetup.com/Sonoma-County-Pho ... Id=1079617

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Corkguy H18, Tiger, Wildcat

Cork,

That's an awesome sequence!

So I'm told...if you fall off and hang on to the tiller, it's called a 'Wicked Dick'

Someone surely knows the story. East coasters?

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Sail Revolution
Join us on our new FB Page!

Those red sails are really pretty!

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1982 H16 (C:\Worthy)
Yellow/White Prism type sails

That spot was 50 yards or so from A Mark which was about 50 yards from the beach and spectators getting a good laugh at our misfortunes. The wind at that spot shifted about 20 degrees aft and made everyone do some fancy sailing right before gybing at the mark, and gybing while flying a hull isn't easy. I wish I could have been on the beach because there must have been a lot more action than what I saw - you fall overboard, two capsizes, and a Tiger and Wild Cat snag the mark's anchor line with a dagger board.

I never thanked you for letting me take over 2nd place after your entertaining display of stunt sailing.