@Teebling during your time at sea, what strange, or weird things have you observed? Have you ever been attacked by another vessel, or encountered attempted piracy? Any close calls with aggressive foreign countries? Weird cryptid style stories? Strange lights? Things like that?
I would love to hear about any of it!
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@Teebling during your time at sea, what strange, or weird things have you observed? Have you ever been attacked by another vessel, or encountered attempted piracy? Any close calls with aggressive foreign countries? Weird cryptid style stories? Strange lights? Things like that?
I would love to hear about any of it!
I would love to hear about any of it!
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That's an excellent post, i'd like to know that as well !
Bump
@Teebling Already saw this and messaged through discord, saying that he's busy this weekend, but would love to tell a few stories when he finds time. No need to bump. =)
Well compared to some of the yarns spun by my older colleagues my stories aren't really that interesting. Being at sea is like 99% boredom and 1% Terror. But I'll share a few experiences you guys might find interesting 
Anyway, the pilotage went fine and I did a bit of the steering at one of the easier sections. After anchoring in the lake, we did the second leg and all was fine too. Then it was time to pass through the Red Sea and eventually through the straits of Bab El Mandeb (Somalia) which everyone knows about if they've watched that film with Tom Hanks called 'Capt Phillips'. NATO warships nowadays will escort you in convoys of half a dozen ships for safety, and for that reason it's actually one of the safer parts of the world to be in to be honest. It's quietened down a lot recently but nonetheless we did take extra precautions in hardening the vessel, and made a rendezvous with an armory ship en route. A brit and four indians boarded from a RIB by our pilot ladder with some big fuck-off rifles that we heaved up before they embarked (sorry I don't know anything about guns cos I live in England - whatever make they were, they looked pretty badass). These guys would be our protection and maintain a 24hr watch on the bridge wings. We had night vision binoculars and a few other gadgets, radars set to 3NM and constantly manned, etc. etc.
Being a bridge officer myself I had a lot of time to chat to these guys who do this day in and day out. I asked them if they'd ever seen pirates in this part of the world and they said yes. Usually small skiffs that break off from a mothership well offshore to go hunting. But I was told that they usually attack smaller fishing vessels, not offshore construction vessels with 50 souls on board. I asked them if they'd ever had to use the guns - one lad told me he'd fired warning shots before and they just turned around immediately and left. Turns out, like I mentioned before, that actually the area isn't so dangerous at all when all the correct precautions have been taken. I was kind of relieved to be honest, getting hijacked for the dayrate I was on then was simply not worth it. That said, a very small part of me was disappointed that we didn't see any real pirates in the end, at least not up close. Sure enough we did receive a few navigation warnings on the Inmarsat-C receiver - fishing vessel attacked by pirates in position X and Y all vessels to keep a sharp lookout and report etc. etc. I've still got a copy of it in my logbook somewhere. After that was the Straits of Singapore, which is considered more dangerous, though the piracy in that part of the world is generally armed robbery and theft, rather than hijacking. We didn't have guards on board for that bit (they disembarked in Colombo), but nothing happened in the end anyways. Sorry if that's a disappointment to hear
So yeah. There's piracy offshore Mexico as well, in the Gulf, but it isn't as common and we didn't see anyone there either.
The place that is really dangerous right now is west africa - places like Nigeria and Ecuatorial Guinea are on my list of places I never want to be afloat in. Since 2015's oil crash, the oil and gas industry stopped paying tribute to the local pirates there, so surprise surprise they began attacking vessels again. I've heard rumours that much of the time it's the actual state navy themselves haha! My friend was there on a general cargo ship in 2019 and they got shot at - fucking bullethole in the bridge windows and all. Crazy, crazy stuff and like I said I will never go there for the real fear of actually being boarded by armed pirates and running the risk of actually being shot at with bullets and god knows what else :/ Everyone thinks Somalia is dangerous because of Hollywood but the game is totally different now.
Last trip I was on we were coming out of Miami and I think the pilot was on drugs. First of all he came on the bridge and started effing and blinding to the captain when having their chit-chat. This is the thing - pilots NEVER swear on the bridge, it's just, I dno it's like a taboo thing to do and I'd never heard that before on the bridge of the ship. It was 'fucking this and fucking that' and it was just a bit shocking really. Then we were barely out of the berth and he told the helmsman to steer hard to starboard - this nearly brought our stern into the quayside but luckily the capt spotted it and gave a counter-order and we just missed the side of the quay by maybe half a metre. That was pretty close. When I took the pilot down again he was hanging off the ladder like a baboon before his launch was even alongside and yeah... overall it was just a very weird and memorable experience.
One time we were coming out of Dunkirk in France to make a crossing of the English channel (busiest shipping lane in the world) - was light airs and thick fog so basically any navigator's worst nightmare. But we were proceeding quite smoothly out of the channel so all was good. Then we started seeing the migrant 'boats' - people desperately trying to make the crossing across to the UK. There were so many of them, launching from different parts of the coast trying to get across. We came within half a mile of one such craft and it was basically an inflatable kayak - not even proper oars, the guy was using a green plastic gardening shovel. French cutter intercepted them and took them back on board - but I'd say most of them came across as we started hearing reports on the VHF chattering away with Dover coastguard about migrant boats landing and stuff. Felt so sorry for these people who were so desperate to risk their lives just to try and make it.
I think overall the scariest experience I've had at sea was when we got hit by a BIG 'rogue wave' - sometimes they're called 'freak waves'. Basically its a phenomenon in nature, that also applies to fields like optics and radio waves, not just water, where occasionally there is a wave that is twice the significant (or average) wave height that comes along. No one knows why they happen, they just do. We were in the North Sea off Norway in a strong gale and the significant wave height at the time was 10 metres (30 foot high waves for you 'muricans) - which is already pretty scary and we were just keeping the ship 'hove to' (head into the Wind) so as not to capsize and minimise damage to the vessel. All of a sudden a 20 metre wave (60 feet) came out of nowhere and swamped the whole ship - it went over the top of the bridge as we went down into the trough and basically swallowed us. We know it was 20 metres high because our vertical motion reference units told us so - they measure movement in that axis using inertia - bit like how submarines navigate. The next day we saw the damage that was done - the water had ripped welded containers off the main deck - helideck was completely smashed and bent to pieces (aluminium), and a few vents had been stove in. It was terrifying to say the least and is definitely my saltiest story. It's funny because other ships in the fleet heard about if of course, and when I mentioned I sailed on that vessel people ask 'were you there in 2019 when the big wave hit?' haha it was like a famous event almost. Interestingly enough that wave hit us very close to where they actually first recorded the 'Draupner wave' - one of the first rogue waves to be measured using instruments off the Draupner gas platform. Off Rockall a research vessel recorded a 29m wave in 2009.... basically yeah rogue waves are a real thing and if you're interesting the wikipedia article on it is actually pretty good.
No never been attacked but have been through areas with active pirates. We were transiting from Denmark to Australia so rather than sailing round Cape of Good Hope we cut a week off the journey time by going through the Suez Canal. This was in 2018 I believe. Corrupt as fuck there - it's well known that to pass through the canal a ship's master is expected to give gifts of one kind or another to the pilot and his cronies, lest they refuse to take you through at all. Pilot boat came alongside and I was on deck tending to it - he actually refused to even board our vessel unless we threw down two cartons of cigarettes (!!). Then on came he, and several 'electricians' (basically hangers-on who set up a mini stall on deck to try and rip off the sailors with souvenirs etc). I never found out what was offered to him up in the capt's office but I remember seeing several large bin bags being taken up by the able seamen lol. What was in them I don't know. Meanwhile the lesser guys were nicking shoes, asking us to give them one of the floodlights on deck, and basically just being a pain in the arse.Krythic wrote: 3 years ago Have you ever been attacked by another vessel, or encountered attempted piracy?
Anyway, the pilotage went fine and I did a bit of the steering at one of the easier sections. After anchoring in the lake, we did the second leg and all was fine too. Then it was time to pass through the Red Sea and eventually through the straits of Bab El Mandeb (Somalia) which everyone knows about if they've watched that film with Tom Hanks called 'Capt Phillips'. NATO warships nowadays will escort you in convoys of half a dozen ships for safety, and for that reason it's actually one of the safer parts of the world to be in to be honest. It's quietened down a lot recently but nonetheless we did take extra precautions in hardening the vessel, and made a rendezvous with an armory ship en route. A brit and four indians boarded from a RIB by our pilot ladder with some big fuck-off rifles that we heaved up before they embarked (sorry I don't know anything about guns cos I live in England - whatever make they were, they looked pretty badass). These guys would be our protection and maintain a 24hr watch on the bridge wings. We had night vision binoculars and a few other gadgets, radars set to 3NM and constantly manned, etc. etc.
Being a bridge officer myself I had a lot of time to chat to these guys who do this day in and day out. I asked them if they'd ever seen pirates in this part of the world and they said yes. Usually small skiffs that break off from a mothership well offshore to go hunting. But I was told that they usually attack smaller fishing vessels, not offshore construction vessels with 50 souls on board. I asked them if they'd ever had to use the guns - one lad told me he'd fired warning shots before and they just turned around immediately and left. Turns out, like I mentioned before, that actually the area isn't so dangerous at all when all the correct precautions have been taken. I was kind of relieved to be honest, getting hijacked for the dayrate I was on then was simply not worth it. That said, a very small part of me was disappointed that we didn't see any real pirates in the end, at least not up close. Sure enough we did receive a few navigation warnings on the Inmarsat-C receiver - fishing vessel attacked by pirates in position X and Y all vessels to keep a sharp lookout and report etc. etc. I've still got a copy of it in my logbook somewhere. After that was the Straits of Singapore, which is considered more dangerous, though the piracy in that part of the world is generally armed robbery and theft, rather than hijacking. We didn't have guards on board for that bit (they disembarked in Colombo), but nothing happened in the end anyways. Sorry if that's a disappointment to hear
So yeah. There's piracy offshore Mexico as well, in the Gulf, but it isn't as common and we didn't see anyone there either.The place that is really dangerous right now is west africa - places like Nigeria and Ecuatorial Guinea are on my list of places I never want to be afloat in. Since 2015's oil crash, the oil and gas industry stopped paying tribute to the local pirates there, so surprise surprise they began attacking vessels again. I've heard rumours that much of the time it's the actual state navy themselves haha! My friend was there on a general cargo ship in 2019 and they got shot at - fucking bullethole in the bridge windows and all. Crazy, crazy stuff and like I said I will never go there for the real fear of actually being boarded by armed pirates and running the risk of actually being shot at with bullets and god knows what else :/ Everyone thinks Somalia is dangerous because of Hollywood but the game is totally different now.
No not really. The difficult thing about the maritime world these days is the amount of regulation in place and how it varies so wildly from place to place. I've been subjected to a few port state control inspections where the coast guard basically come on board and ensure that everything is correct - navigationally, structurally etc. The worst were the French who really wanted to detain us, and the best were the US coastguard down in Alabama who were honestly the most down to earth, friendly people I ever met. In fact I love the southern states of America - I think that places like Georgia, Louisiana, New Orleans and so on they're just such interesting people and it feels soooo different there in comparison with other ports on the east coast. I'd love to do a road trip through the bible Belt one day.
Last trip I was on we were coming out of Miami and I think the pilot was on drugs. First of all he came on the bridge and started effing and blinding to the captain when having their chit-chat. This is the thing - pilots NEVER swear on the bridge, it's just, I dno it's like a taboo thing to do and I'd never heard that before on the bridge of the ship. It was 'fucking this and fucking that' and it was just a bit shocking really. Then we were barely out of the berth and he told the helmsman to steer hard to starboard - this nearly brought our stern into the quayside but luckily the capt spotted it and gave a counter-order and we just missed the side of the quay by maybe half a metre. That was pretty close. When I took the pilot down again he was hanging off the ladder like a baboon before his launch was even alongside and yeah... overall it was just a very weird and memorable experience.
One time we were coming out of Dunkirk in France to make a crossing of the English channel (busiest shipping lane in the world) - was light airs and thick fog so basically any navigator's worst nightmare. But we were proceeding quite smoothly out of the channel so all was good. Then we started seeing the migrant 'boats' - people desperately trying to make the crossing across to the UK. There were so many of them, launching from different parts of the coast trying to get across. We came within half a mile of one such craft and it was basically an inflatable kayak - not even proper oars, the guy was using a green plastic gardening shovel. French cutter intercepted them and took them back on board - but I'd say most of them came across as we started hearing reports on the VHF chattering away with Dover coastguard about migrant boats landing and stuff. Felt so sorry for these people who were so desperate to risk their lives just to try and make it.
Nah no conspiracy theory stuff that I've seen personally, but I've had the great luck to be able to see some cool natural phenomena. I've seen the infamous 'green flash' a number of times - where the sun sets and for a brief moment there is a distinct flash of green light as the last part of the disc goes behind the visible horizon. Then of course the phosphorescent algae, flashing blue and White along the ship's side. Seen some perfect starry night skies in the red sea where the air is dry and stable. Seen a 'fata morgana' once which is where they think the Myth of the Flying Dutchman comes from - an optical illusion where a ship on the horizon appears to be floating above the water. That was near the straits of Messina which is notorious for that kind of stuff. Plenty of birds and beasts and I've seen orca whales and a humpback.
I think overall the scariest experience I've had at sea was when we got hit by a BIG 'rogue wave' - sometimes they're called 'freak waves'. Basically its a phenomenon in nature, that also applies to fields like optics and radio waves, not just water, where occasionally there is a wave that is twice the significant (or average) wave height that comes along. No one knows why they happen, they just do. We were in the North Sea off Norway in a strong gale and the significant wave height at the time was 10 metres (30 foot high waves for you 'muricans) - which is already pretty scary and we were just keeping the ship 'hove to' (head into the Wind) so as not to capsize and minimise damage to the vessel. All of a sudden a 20 metre wave (60 feet) came out of nowhere and swamped the whole ship - it went over the top of the bridge as we went down into the trough and basically swallowed us. We know it was 20 metres high because our vertical motion reference units told us so - they measure movement in that axis using inertia - bit like how submarines navigate. The next day we saw the damage that was done - the water had ripped welded containers off the main deck - helideck was completely smashed and bent to pieces (aluminium), and a few vents had been stove in. It was terrifying to say the least and is definitely my saltiest story. It's funny because other ships in the fleet heard about if of course, and when I mentioned I sailed on that vessel people ask 'were you there in 2019 when the big wave hit?' haha it was like a famous event almost. Interestingly enough that wave hit us very close to where they actually first recorded the 'Draupner wave' - one of the first rogue waves to be measured using instruments off the Draupner gas platform. Off Rockall a research vessel recorded a 29m wave in 2009.... basically yeah rogue waves are a real thing and if you're interesting the wikipedia article on it is actually pretty good.
Lmao, 2nd amendment go brrrrrr.Teebling wrote: 3 years ago A brit and four indians boarded from a RIB by our pilot ladder with some big fuck-off rifles that we heaved up before they embarked (sorry I don't know anything about guns cos I live in England - whatever make they were, they looked pretty badass).
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i was hoping to hear some crazy story about a 100ft squid or giant ass shark to be honest. cool stories nonetheless, i find the open sea interesting yet terrifying
I watched a documentary about those freak waves and there's a Kurt Russell movie about it (Poseidon I guess), too. My greatest fear, being in the sea and hit by one of those. Creepy!
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