From La Coruna to Muros, man overboard.

Leaving La Coruna on Wed Dec 4. We had a fantastic time there.

The 38 miles to Corme was our best day-sail so far, with many “firsts”. First full day of sunshine and first time under spinaker, the yellow/black light weather sail on the foto above. With 14 kts of wind and a calm sea we sailed at 6+ kts to our destination.

6 Hours later we had another “first”, the first night at anchor since we left the Netherlands.

The wind forecast for the next day was around 20 kts which is too much for the spinaker so we rigged our “Code 0” (a large light weather Genoa) to fly wing on wing with our normal genoa. This setup is easier to reef and to adjust to the weather conditions.

It all turned out a bit different.

Once in the open ocean we soon found ourselves in 30+ knots of wind, second reef in the Genoa, no mainsail and hammering along at 9+ knots with building seas. We are learning how to estimate the wave hight but according to Finistere radio the swell was 3 meter in our area.

It is difficult to catch wave hight “impressions” on camera, but this is what it looks like when a wall of water approaches the boat from behind.

We do not have foto’s of what happened next, but it is worth sharing.

This coastal area is littered with fishing nets and crab-pots. Some are well marked, others are difficult to spot. Especially when white floats are used instead of bright orange floats. We keep a sharp lookout and take a wide berth when we spot a float but……………….you guessed it, we got caught in a thick line used to haul up nets from 50 to 75 meters deep. Luckily we were not motoring so the line did not wrap around the propellor. The line was caught by the keel and stopped us dead in the water. After furling in the genoa the nets’ line was still bar taut and we couldn’t pull it above the surface without danger of breaking the boathook. Next try was to cut the line while laying belly down on the transom steps. Whilst laying there, Frits got lifted up by an oncoming wave and within a flash was swept overboard into 12 degree cold water. Oooooops………. The next wave was friendly enough to lift him back on board again. He looked like a ping-pong ball being tossed up and down. Clearly this wasn’t going to work.

After changing into dry clothing we did the following; our mooring lines are heavy and sink. We made a loop in one end of a mooring line and the other end was attached to the boat. We dropped the loop next to the fishing line and waited for the wave-action to curl the loop under the fishing line so Frits (longer arms) could pick it up with the boathook. With a bit of patience it worked. We then brought the mooring line to a winch and could pull the fishing line within reach. One cut and the boat was free again.

Once in the lee of Cabo Fisterra we could evaluate the situation. Although we were shocked by the “man-overboard” we were never really in danger. Yes, we couldn’t manoeuvre the boat but we weren’t going anywhere since the fishing line had us “trapped” and we were at least 0.5 miles from any rocks or shoreline. Yes, Frits was swept overboard but he was attached with a lifeline and the boat was not moving.

What we learned: A) Being attached and staying attached to the boat is essential. B) Although the wave action was not violent, you are helpless when being lifted up. C) Trying to swim with full sail attire doesn’t move you anywhere. D) Water of 12 degrees is VERY cold. Frits had to change clothing before proceeding since his calfs were cramping already. E) Throw a line, with at the end a fender attached, of the boat. This is a grab line of last resort if one were to become unattached from the boat.