Me,bigboy,maltembu and another friend went out trolling today.We left imsida at about 3.30pm.There was a slight breeze but the sea was ok.We trolled till wied il ghajn with no sucess.The sea was picking up so we decided to head back, still trolling very near to the coast.But after a few mintues the wind was blowing force 4-5 SE and decided to get everything up and head back to port.We switched on the other engine to come in.We could see lightning very close and rain started to pour down cats and dogs. :-[.Telephone calls started coming in from all our families(we told them that we were in port,but we were not)Today we didn't observe the speed limit in port cause we were coming in at about 20 knots.We were all wet especially me.At about 7:15pm we were at the pontoon.We thanked god that we arrived safely..... ;)Sewwa jaghjdu.......IL BAHAR ZAQQU RATBA U RASU IEBSA.
pay special attention as at this time of year weather changes in minutes. It happened to me several times when i was younger but i got always lucky!
We made it man :) Thank God we had that 140 because we arrived back in a short time.
Your boat is great in rough weather though as the twice we got caught in rough seas it acted perfect.
You have to say everything though ;) You had a good Pilot :P
it seems like discovery channels episode of deadliest catch!!!
glad u guys are all ok !!! tc :)
pay attantion especially this time of the year.
Guys here in this forum we have our mobile phones. Pls lets everyone save them on their phone and be sure before going out there you have battery charge and credit on your mobile. If something happins pls phone each other. Someone will give help for sure. This may be on some problems to the engins ofsomething else but take care out there. Better safe then sorry
True true, the sea can be lots of fun But it can also kill you ! so becarefull we dont afford any bad news.
Last year it happened to me quite often to be diving some 4km from my starting point and the weather changes instantly, irrespective of the forecast.
Camkev, I know that it comes naturally to tell family members that we're in a safe place when in fact we are not but be careful...if, God forbid, something happens, and some kind of search would be required, family members would indicate the wrong place for the searching to start...wouldn't help for sure.
If god forbid something happens all i do is a phonecall and no matter what help will come even if there are force 8 seas. In msida we are like a family everyone takes care of one another
Thanks guys for your concern.Same here,if anyone will need help,will be the first ones out there
.........Yes emic i got some forum members no.My mobile is on contract co i will never be short of credit ;) and we always have a vhf with us.It's just the sea turned like crazy in a few minutes and beleive me only a few minutes
..........Robert i know what you mean by that, but it comes natural to tell them we are in a safe place.
..........rammx Thats what i told bigboy..if we had a camera ;D!!!
.........Placebo Will do!!
.........Lapsiboy..Kin ikolkom iktar hut x taqbdu...b erbgha sajjieda(tajbijn)neqsin....ara niccajta ta..allahares tarah il mara dan il post ghax.. ga ghajritni mignun bil provi.
..........Bigboy.You are the best :D
you should thank your gods camkev and co! Same thing happened to me last year mid july. I was bottom fishing just off SPB tuna penns and at about 1100hrs wind picked up to force 4/5 within a few minutes. It took me over 3/4 of an hour with my 9.9 to get close to shore.
At this time of year one has to be extra careful as weather can change for the worst in a matter of mins. ALWAYS THINK SAFETY FIRST
Thats why its good to know the limits of your boat. The weather was hitting u bad as u were close to shore so u get a cross swell. Mind u i wouldnt have gone further out i would still stick relatively close to shore. A stand by msg would have been a good idea to send to someone who knows the sea and then cancel it when u arrive safely. Well done for ur driving camkev.
guys this is also for us while we re out spearfishing, let someone know where you going to be, just a msg is enough, and always try that these months especially these 2 months, try to go in areas that you know well, so if there will be the need to come by walk it will be easy.
In winter I use to go a lot to Lapsi where normally I dive there when its NE, and somethims I go there in very bad weather. Out in the water one can work fine but to get back its hard so a lot of times I walk it back. Also there is a chance of leaving the car and get out from the waterfrom another beach. Nowadays everyone has a mobile and if you stop a car thay can let you make a call to come for you.
suffrun....tks buddy.The forecast was,sea slight to moderat for that afternoon and the storm had to hit the islands at night....yes better safe then sorry.
shanook...i know the limits of my boat and i will never try to go over it's limit..if it's not an emergency.About the waves next to shore it's true but like you said,but still i prefare next to shore then out there.About driving...when we were next to breakwater i gave the wheels to bigboy cause he is much more experienced then me....Cause if he sees this post and i dont tell you that he was driving as well(aqta kemm jajjarni) :P
Emic....It's true what you said cause like me i was going to enter m'skala and stay ther in the bay.Then i will call home and they will come for us.In case of very bad weather that is what i will do for sure..find the nearest bay and stay there.
Lol kev :P
At this time of year line squalls can come out of nowhere. They're characterised as A linear, severe storm event, with rapidly rising pressure and wind speed, a sudden temperature fall, low, dark clouds, and often thunder/rain.
As Emic said, for the next couple of months they come out of nowhere
Guys, as Nick said, we're at that time of the year. What you experienced kev was what in Maltese we refer to as a Skontratura. This happens very fast, and it is characterised by a swift ripple on the sea, dark clouds suddenly appear on the horizon, and a sudden backing of the wind (the wind turns anti-clockwise). Before you know it, the wind picks up to about force 5 to 6, followed by a severe shower of rain accompanied by a tunderstorm. They happen closer to shore then out in the open sea due to the temp difference on land and change of isobar pressure due to the proximity of land. These phenomina are very common at this time of the year, and many fishermen have been caught out by them. I've had a few experiences with them, but my worst experience was just off the coast of sicily, 3 years ago, when the wind suddenly backed to NW from a slight easterly breeze, and picked up to about near gale, force 7. Luckily I was on the gaffer, I closed the front windows, mounted the flybridge, and rode the storm from there, but I had 4 kids on the boat, and it scared the crap out of my daughter and her sister in law!!!!. Another time I was out on the FADs for Lampuki...caught sight of the fresh (as in cold) ripple, looked up to the horizon, saw the dark clouds, and a few clouds cut off from the main clouds (this signifies wind). Immediately headed back to port at full throttle (at that time I had a buccanner 20.5 withan iveco 130hp turbo diesel inboard), but I was about an hour away from port @ 22knts, my exact position was about 10 miles south of hurds bank!!!!. 6 miles off the grand harbour, the storm hit us full force, (my dad was with me at that time, God rest his soul), I asked him to just hold on, and he obliged, always with a good joke, stating that he was reciting the rosary, and was now resigned to God and all Saints in Heaven!!!. You think 6 miles is close, but with f6-7 NW winds battering your bows, and hardly doing more then 5knts, it takes a lifetime to reach port in those conditions...and above all, visibility is poor, you're struggling with the throttle and steering wheel, the boat is pitching and rolling, I'm telling you, not a good option to be in. Finally we made it to post, I was soaking wet, drenched with sea spray and the rain, dad's knuckles were snow white, and all we could think of was thankyou Lord, we live to tell the tale. We later found out that the wind was actually f6-7 but gusting at f8. The breakwater was seldom visible, being covered in waves and sea spray....and some of my mates from Senglea actually came out to meet us at port. Remember, at those times we didn't have mobile phones, just the VHF, and I certainly didn't have a chartplotter/GPS, just a small raython GPS which provides coordinates.
Just a reminder to all the newbies here, and the old hands as well. Beware of the sea, be very weary, conditions can change rapidly, and when out on a boat, it not like you're only 5 minutes away...think fast, don't just say, oh OK, there's a storm coming, but just this one last FAD, and then I'm heading in...because before you know it, the storm is ahead of you!!!!
Those who have VHF and can transmit when u see a storm coming just give a shout on VHF it can save a life. I got warned once by the 'brother' and it really made a big difference we were out for lampuki and it was calm and the lampuki were biting, when brother started calling us to see if we were ok as the storm was picking up on shore. We packed everything and headed straight in. Good thing as about 15 minutes from shore the storm hit us badly. 15 min are a very LONG time to make to shore in those conditions. If brother had not warned us, i dont know what would have happened.