What is missing from the Christopher Columbus logic is this: over his 4 voyages he lost 9 ships.  Magellan started with 5; only one survived the round trip.

I had a friend who bought an ocean going sailing boat. He went from Sweden to... Denmark.. before the motor died. He eventually sailed home, while doing some unimaginably stupid stuff such as navigating in harbour leaving the boat, jumping into the dinghy pulling it unmanned.....   well I helped him installing a new motor, and through his stupidity and alcoholism he never got any further, and he drank up all his money, sold the boat only to refund all the money he lent from friends.

I’ll share my offshore near-death experience. I was a college student on a spring break trip in March of 1991. We boarded a wooden 52ft sailing ketch named the Shark 8 for a night crossing from Miami to Bimini. That night a strong cold front came through from the north with Bimini recording 60mph winds, just below hurricane force. We hit steep 20-25ft waves with white caps. The waves made the 52ft sailboat feel like a tiny cork bobbing in the ocean. It was a full moon and from the deck of the Shark 8 you could easily see the waves towering above us. Being an adventurous young man, at that moment I couldn’t decide if I was scared or excited. The rigging on the mizzen mast had torn and it was too dangerous to go out on the rear deck to fix it so the sail was whipping back and forth. We’d rise to the top of the waves and strike the crests with a smash and water rolled down the decks. We were motor sailing and when we crested the waves you could hear the propeller spin up out of the water. More than once the Shark 8 heeled over 45 degrees or more. Down below was a vomit pit of seasick college students mixed with seawater. We finally made Bimini in the morning but it was a harrowing adventure. That crossing can be as smooth as glass or as treacherous as the ocean can get when a north wind blows strong against the Gulf Stream.

Just ordered your book. The fact that your checklists and other helps are not locked behind a paywall, and your dedication to helping newbies like me enter into the sailing world by making these long-format educational videos just netted you a loyal subscriber.  Thank you and safe travels!

Sounds like the same mentality that leads to rogue pilots crashing planes and unprepared climbers catching "summit fever" then dying above 8000m.  Denial is a powerful thing.

I got cought in a non-tropical storm doublehanded halfway between Bermuda and the Azores. Bristol 41.1 built 1984, a really strong boat very good in rough conditions. We ran it off barpole for two days. Completely wrong direction but the boat moving fast enough to have good steerig, safe and surprisingly comfortable below deck. We lost a couple of miles in latitude but in the context of an ocean crossing not really relevant. I went for barpole because we had just lost our (old and very brittle) mainsail in a nasty squall hitting us at 3 am and I did not want to risk losing another sail (although I had spare headsails). After two days winds calmed down enough to bring out the headsail in a 2. reef and get back on course. And just with that little piece out we had a demanding but exhilarating sail for the next two to three days. It was so intense we did 2 hour shifts 24/7 instead of the usual longer ones during the night to get more rest. Exhausting 5 days, never even turned on the engine and overall an amazing and memorable experience.

I was a sonar supervisor on submarines. To qualify as supervisor, the final rung on the sonar tech ladder, you have to take the boat to PD with the captain in control while in a high traffic situation.

No biggy. Done it 50 times before with an over watch. I can do it alone with the captain watching. Keep in mind, sonar is its own room. I cannot see the control room.

We did the brief, decided on a course, and I went back into sonar. We began a baffle clear left to our decided course. You have to turn the sub 120 degrees so you can see behind you with the sensors on the front. Then you go up.

After 90 degrees the officer of the deck canceled the turn and said we would go to PD on the current course.

Huh? I looked at my operators and looked at the repeater and saw we only turned 90. Not enough. So I got on the mic and recommended continue left 30 more to clear baffles.

Very confusing. The officer at the time was a stud. He knew better.

Turns out the captain told him to fuck it up on purpose and see if I was willing to challenge him on the open mic in front of everyone. Me being an E5 and the OOD being a 0-3, they want to see that I would question my superiors if I saw a problem.

It’s brilliant. If I had said nothing, I would have gotten my ass chewed out and failed the test. I would not have made supervisor that day.

The captain left control as soon as i challenged the officer. He didn’t even want to see me complete the evolution. The only thing he wanted to see was wether I would challenge a higher rank than me when it came to a safety issue.

I crewed a boat for a few weeks starting in Haifa to Acre to Famagusta and was supposed to go to Mersin and along  Turkish coast to Rhodes and onto Istanbul.  We checked out of custom at Acre and the motor failed, rather than check back in I sat on the boat for 5 days waiting for a part.  

Sailing along the Israel coast between Haifa and Acre there are several military excision zones which your supposed to sail around. My captain was not into that and decided to sail right through. Which resulted in a meeting between us and 2 gun boats twice, they were not friendly. These were not coast guard cutters but black cigarette boats with a large gun mounted at the bow and a few guys with uzi's, they arrived crazy fast circled the boat a few times and got on the radio. Twice this happened.  

Finally the part arrived and he fixes the motor. Rather than wait another night he decided to leave without informing the harbour master around 11pm.  Lucky me I am assigned the 1:30 to 6am watch.  This was a 36 ft self build plywood boat, the main concern with overnight watch was hitting an object that could put a hole in the boat. At about 40 miles off shore the boat gets lit up with 20k watt lights on both sides.  Guess who it is The Israeli navy again.  Now I figure we are at least 35 miles in international waters, unknown to us someone dropped a grenade in the street in Acre and if they were gtting away by boat they would have left about the time we did. What went through my mind was they could sink us claim they hit some terrorist and nobody would be the wiser. I spent the next ten minutes moving around the boat very carefully getting our passports and reading off our names passport numbers as delta alpha victor Ivan delta.... when done they turned off the lights.  I did not hear them nor see the boats. So they were waiting for us to arrive.

Once in Famagusta the captain changed has plans rather than getting supplies which it seems that doing so was lower cost he decided to haul out boat to work on it and expected me to stay around.  Nope we parted ways. That moment was the scariest event of my life  however since then there have been an other more scary event. July 1991.

I was delivery crew on a Santa Cruz 70 in December of '97, destined for the BVI. There was a huge low that was settling in over the north Atlantic. We were having issues with our rudder post bearings so put into Bermuda. Our second night in the harbor we overheard a may day on the SSB. Two families WITH KIDS had left Boston right when the low was settling in (on a very capable Swan 65), to try and make Bermuda for Christmas. They got caught in it. Their autohelm gave out, and only the two dads knew how to sail. They had to hand steer for days. A large wave washed them both overboard, then another washed one back into the cockpit. They were radioing Bermuda Harbor Radio to get help, but it was too nasty even for their ocean going tugs. They finally struggled into dock the next morning. It was the eeriest thing I've ever listened to, one of the mothers super tired and pleading for help. I hope this video acts as a wake up call to those in a hurry.

My crew that's showing up in a couple of weeks just got off a boat with a terrible story. She shows up to sail from Mexico, to Hawaii, then SE Asia. After a lengthy time in the yard, they finally decide it can't make the trip, thank God. So they decided to sail the Sea of Cortez in June. No battery bank, no fans, no refrigerator. Ugh. What ended the trip was the rudder broke from the rudder stock. So no steering, no drogue, no way or nothing on board to Jerry rig something. Mexican navy tried to tow them, lines break, finally a panga towed them 12 hours to a port.

Poor kid, fortunate kid. As a mother I would be tempted to smack that so-called captain.
Thank you James for gifting me Be The Captain last Saturday. I'm burning through the audio but still can't wait for the hard copy.
Grace is very efficient! It's already on its way.

I was crew two blue water sales, including Montauk to Bermuda, in a 33' cutter rig that had been completely refitted by an owner who had sailed his whole adult like but never beyond the sight of land. All through hulls replaced as well. It had a series of four bilge pump, including a hand pumper. I was a good mechanic/carpenter/electrician, but little sailing experience.Nothing happened, but every time i watch one of these stories I think of how lucky I was to pick the right boat and captain

I crewed with a captain who’s a friend of mine and sailing instructor. On the first passage, he overfilled his diesel heater and flooded our bunk with diesel. Then we took a wave over the side our same bunk became saturated with sea water. The next passage he was wing on wing in 10-foot seas, eventually leading to an accidental gybe and a snapped boom. Then one year later I crewed with him to Bermuda and the hatches still hadn’t been sealed, so my bunk was wet again after taking waves over the side from crossing the Gulf Stream wind against current.

I think I need to work on my judgement too haha

I’m now into dirt, but with years of sailing experience, your channel and wisdom  on sailing is a must watch for anyone interested in sailing. Especially blue water.🤙🏻

One point you must emphasize is, you have to have enough knowledge in order to first recognize a bad decision by the captain. This is where inexperienced people make a huge mistake. The mistake they make is assuming the captain or person in charge knows what they're doing. I've done a few risky things in my life - tried climbing, spelunking, ocean sailing, going up in a small plane, white water rafting and going tandem paragliding. However, I never did any of these things without knowing the level of experience of the person I was depending on to do these these things safely. Trust, but verify. Never blindly assume.

I just found your channel. Love it! I've always had a little boat. 16ft whaler J16 Carolina. My folks always had a sail boat. 33' Catalina. We sailed from John's Pass to the Tortugas off the keys once. What a trip.

Thanks for a great story and solid advise as always.

My father who was a serious mountain climber and sailor hated the notion of ‘conquering’ mountains or seas. He thought it was pretentious and strictly for arm chair experts.

Great program, sir!  I have had a love of sailing all my life, and only sailed once on a brief pleasure trip.  Love to hear these harrowing stories.   Yani was incredibly lucky to have found you and your crew at long last.

bro, very much appreciate your wisdom (and videos).