I grew up on a boat in the Great Lakes. It's usually pretty nice sailing but when it whips up it can be a roller coaster ride. You don't start worrying until the winches hit the water. 🤣

Or the jib scoops up a 1000 pounds of water lol

Yah, imagine buying a boat and come to find out the storm jib is totally worn out. That was me.

Somebody was stretching the sails!!

People underestimate how nasty the Great Lakes or the Chesapeake Bay can get I actually prefer open ocean in a storm

I've never been on the Chesapeake but the Great Lakes are nasty. We don't get North Atlantic 100 footers but I've been in 20 foot waves that just pound on you every minute. Imagine looking up at the dinghy you're towing cresting a wave 20 feet over your head. Been there.

That feeling of being in the middle of the trough, wall of water behind you and a bigger one in front, nothing like surfing a 40 foot slop down the backside as the next wave breaks over the spreaders of the mast scuppers can barely keep up as it fills the cockpit over and over. Good times lol! 😂

You know it. It's a weird feeling, it's like you're defying physics. It's no longer sailing and you're like surfing a really big surf board. Oddly enough, I've been on lake Huron in the lulls and it's been glass flat. That's weird too. You can see the sky in the water it's that flat.

Very true! The whole embodiment of being in control, but not in control of nature!! and I know that feeling I’ve watched shooting stars in the reflection of a glass ocean!! Things lots of people never experience, and they should 🙌🏻

Yeah, that’s my point. It’s relentless chop over and over again. God forbid somebody fall overboard will never see them

Yep. And on the Great Lakes it can happen really quick. I think we had that dinghy on about 50 feet of rope and it would disappear behind a wave. A person would be impossible to spot. The funny thing is that day was BEAUTIFUL. It was the storm the night before and the wind that caused it.

We used to practice with the man overboard pole for this reason and it’s crazy how fast even a floating 10 foot pole w/flag and a beacon disappears. Gotta respect nature.