REAL LIFE
(^1) TAKE CHARGE
Keep your communication tools fully charged
at all times. Had we not had the ability to contact
the Coastguards, our predicament would have
been far more frightening and the outcome
possibly less positive.
THE LEARNING CURVE
The Omani Coastguard crew
were extremely helpful and
polite and spoke excellent
English
Rahala is hauled out to
check the keel and prop
Barry, Judi and Asli were
accompanied by the resident
pod of dolphins during their
cruisein Musandam
Rahala motors into
the Musandam inlets
The only damage sustained
to Rahala was some
antifoul rubbed off the keel
(^2) KEEP IN COMMS
Keep contact details for key sailing authorities
handy for the areas you’re sailing. Having
the phone and VHF contacts for the Royal
Oman Coastguards readily at hand made
contacting them straightforward. Their
immediate response instantly reduced
our anxiety and stress.
(^3) MOVE WITH THE TIDE
Keep relevant tide timetables to hand during
any passage. We were sailing in an area of
relatively small tidal movement. Knowing
the exact time of high tide and its height
would have saved us anxiety when the
boat didn’t initially refloat at the time
we were wrongly told was high tide.
(^4) SPACE OUT
When anchoring in areas close to steep
inclines that could create katabatic winds,
leave sufficient space for the maximum
possible, or even a 3 60° swing. Alternatively,
have both a bow anchor out with plenty
of chain and a stern line strongly fixed.
(^5) KEEP A WEATHER EYE OPEN
Heed weather warnings – both official and
informal. Although, the websites we consulted
forecast winds of 10-15 knots in our general
area, a local fisherman told us ‘wind’s coming’.
We should have listened!
LESSONS
LEARNED