Possible Set Back. Please Help

Hi I have been sailing with my dad since I can remember always on the hobie 16 that we have had since before I was born. For the past three years the hobie has been sitting the back yard under the apple tree in the harsh Wisconsin weather uncovered due to the difficulty and extensive difference in effort of sailing from a beach where the boat was once stored to sailing off of a trailer (as we had been doing previous to storing it in the backyard). Well this year my dad decided that he wanted to get back into sailing and invested in a Catalina 36. It wasn’t long before the boat was in port in Milwaukee and we were back sailing together, my father and I, when I realized that I had missed sailing so much and to be honest sailing on a boat that big isn’t nearly as fun as flying a hull and spending a day on the water completely powered by wind. So I took a stab at getting the boat back to being seaworthy. My dad said that if I put in the work that he would pay for the things that the boat needed to be sailable. So I spent days working on the boat, getting the caked on mold off the hulls, pressure washing the lines, changing the lines that needed to be changed, and so on until the boat was back in working order. Then the fun began and I got back on the water in this 25-year-old boat and it sailed like I had always remembered.
A few weeks later I went on a family camping trip at a local lake and decided that this would be an opportune time to take the boat out with my girlfriend and show her the incredible feeling that sailing offers. We sailed the first day and everything went fine we flipped the boat a few times but we righted it right back up and went on our way. The second day that we went was a bit windier and there was also a very large fishing tournament on the lake that day. We sailed for a bit and after close examination came to the conclusion that something was wrong with the boat. I had no idea what it was and I was only armed with my cat key to make any repairs. When we attempted to go in to make the repairs the entrance to the boat launch had a mass of 30 or more powerboats lined up waiting to get in from the tournament that had just ended. So we sailed and sailed waiting for the line to die down hoping that we would have an opportunity to get in and make this change and get out. While waiting I realized that the problem was with the rutter so I lifted the affected rutter out of the water making the boat much harder to control in the harsh wind. The wind pushed us into shore and we ended up losing control of the boat and the culprit that led to this situation was the rutter. It was completely ripped out of the hull, the rutter pin ripped straight through the hull and now we crashed into someone who lived on the lakes boat dock. Needless to say the whole situation was very traumatic for my future sailing and me
After my dad and I got the boat fixed and found that the gudgeons were to blame for this accident we went sailing together a few more times before I felt comfortable sailing alone/without my dad. Well last weekend my dad invited me to go out on lake Michigan in the hobiecat with my girlfriend and follow he and my step mom on the Catalina that way if anything happened he would be there to help out if need be.
While trying to maneuver through the mooring field I had a bit of a panic attack and realized that I couldn’t do it I couldn’t control the boat enough and I was worthy of taking control of something like this. I was forced to come back into shore and quickly my dad came to see if there was a problem with the boat or what was going on. I told him that I had gotten spooked and that I couldn’t do it. So he and I went out together and he talked me through all of the maneuvers that I needed to make to get through this mooring field and get to open water. It went well after that and I was able to sail in open water and manage the boat as we were coming into the beach at the end of the day.
I am scared that I will have another panic attack like this the next time I attempt to sail. Does any one have any suggestions? PLEASE HELP

Hobie Ponting
Sail # 82907

Xanax?

I am not talking a real panic attack but i got scared and i am worried that it will happen again. thanks for the kind words though. lol

Hobie Ponting
Sail # 82907

My first post here so please bear with me. I have been sailing my Hobie 16 for about 15 years. I had a similiar incident happen to me when I first started sailing except it dealt with pitch polling over and the boat turterling. (Long story which I will go into in another post) It scared the pants off of me and to this day I must admit it is in the back of mind on windy days, but it has not happened to me again.
To overcome your anxiety, I suggest you get back on the boat on light winded days and work your way through the maze of moorings or around other obstacles of your choosing. You may want to start out with your Dad being with you. Then do it solo. Do it again and again in progressively stronger winds until your confidence is back.

David
Westport, CT
MGB

That was my thought, too.

Your problem's not with sailing. You need to talk to somebody. Seriously.

And it's "rudder", not "rutter".

oh come on- thats not nice.....

my 1st time out solo on a hobie wave in the BVI was nerve racking. i was 12ish and was so nervous about tiping the boat over......

sailing solo at such a young age can be very scary. it was for me, but the older i got, i just kinda got over it.....im 22 now, and still sailing in strong winds on lake lanier, i freak out every once in a while when i come up to a shallow point on the lake, or if its strong winds or whatever.....

i think of it like the 1st time you get on the interstate as a young driver...the more you do it, the more you realize its a piece of cake!

_________________
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1981 Hobie 16
1982 Hobie 14 turbo (sold)
1996 SeaDoo GTI
1999 Hunter 340

I have a saying,
"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement"

I understand your lack of confidence in yourself and your capabilities. I remember those days.
It is natural and normal.

The only thing you can really do is practice, practice, practice, until you work your way past the uncomfortable feelings.

As someone else noted, start in conditions that are a bit tame, and keep working your way up.
you are not born with confidence. Confidence is something you have to work for and grow into.

You have had a bad experience that is causing you to have an emotional response to a set of circumstances. once again, natural and normal.

Try to figure out just exactly what you are afraid of happening, exactly what is it that is making you uncomfortable. Then you can figure out how to keep that from happening.

All this is not a bad thing. You will learn as you work thru the feelings and experiences. In the end, it will make you a better sailor.

Pilots have a saying, "
"There are Old Pilots and Bold Pilots but there are no Old Bold Pilots"

While you are working thru your learning curve, don't let yourself get frozen in fear, but when dealing with the forces of nature, it is always better to be a little bit over cautious rather than to be over confident.

Good luck, keep at it, and someday you will be out having a ball sailing in conditions that are intimidating to you today. When that day comes you will sail out thru that mooring field, look back and laugh at how it used to intimidate you.

Never forget the feelings you are having now. Someday you will meet a young or inexperienced sailor that is having the same feelings you are having today. When that day comes, remember how you felt today, be patient, be kind, and share the things you learned, help them to get to the point you will have grown to.

Teach him to sail out thru that same mooring field.

Do your part to share your love of sailing with someone new and encourage them to learn to love it in the same way.

Stephen

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

You ever considered another profession, Stephen?

Careful. That's a United States Senator you are showing pictures of now

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2001 H16E (European Boat) Sail #108348 Cabo
Club Wave
1991 H14T (Crushed by a Tornado)
2006 Bravo (sold)
1986 Hobie 16 (sold)
1981 Hobe 16 (sold)
1980 Hobie 14 (sold)

Matthew...play nice or you'll be sent to your room

JB

Thanks for kicking my blood pressure up a notch

awwwwww come on Karl, he can't be any worse than having Jesse Ventura for a Guvernator.

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Jesse wasn't that bad as Gov. Maybe made a complete fool of himself any time there was a camera around, but he didn't do to bad a job in office. Or more accurately he didn't do much, which in many cases of our elected officials is a good thing.

[quote="Karl Brogger]

Jesse wasn't that bad as Gov. Maybe made a complete fool of himself any time there was a camera around, [/quote]

I have a friend in the media, he says 98% of people will turn into fools in front of a microphone or a camera.
It always cracks him up when otherwise very intelligent people just blabber when he sticks a microphone in front of their faces.

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.