Near-Death At Sea: What I Learned
Chapter 13 of my book *Be The Captain* is Storm Tactics: https://bethecaptainbook.com
This is what I learned the night our catamaran cracked open 100 miles offshore.
It wasn’t a rogue wave. It wasn’t one bad call. It was a chain of decisions—some rushed, some careless, some just unlucky. And the truth is, the biggest problem was built into the boat from the start… we just didn’t know it.
In this video, I break down what went wrong, the gear we had (and didn’t), the timing we messed up, and the storm planning we should’ve done before we ever left French Polynesia. If you sail offshore—or plan to—this might be the most valuable 17 minutes you’ll spend on YouTube today.
🎥 Watch the FULL STORY: https://youtu.be/o__mcZS-jfU
👉 Support the channel and get behind-the-scenes content:
https://www.patreon.com/svzingaro
⚓ Learn more, sail smarter, and stay afloat.
Chapters
00:00 The Craziest Story
00:44 The Cyclone Season
2:12 Bad Decision #1
2:50 The Adventurous Route
3:59 The Hurricane/Cyclone Overlap
4:44 Bad Decision #2
5:18 Lesson #1
6:13 Lesson #2
7:39 Lesson #3
9:04 Lesson #4
10:42 Lesson #5
11:10 Why our Sea Anchor Failed
13:28 Be the Captain
13:51 Design Flaw
15:47 Lessons for Life
Chapter 13 of my book *Be The Captain* is Storm Tactics: https://bethecaptainbook.com
This is what I learned the night our catamaran cracked open 100 miles offshore.
It wasn’t a rogue wave. It wasn’t one bad call. It was a chain of decisions—some rushed, some careless, some just unlucky. And the truth is, the biggest problem was built into the boat from the start… we just didn’t know it.
In this video, I break down what went wrong, the gear we had (and didn’t), the timing we messed up, and the storm planning we should’ve done before we ever left French Polynesia. If you sail offshore—or plan to—this might be the most valuable 17 minutes you’ll spend on YouTube today.
🎥 Watch the FULL STORY: https://youtu.be/o__mcZS-jfU
👉 Support the channel and get behind-the-scenes content:
https://www.patreon.com/svzingaro
⚓ Learn more, sail smarter, and stay afloat.
Chapters
00:00 The Craziest Story
00:44 The Cyclone Season
2:12 Bad Decision #1
2:50 The Adventurous Route
3:59 The Hurricane/Cyclone Overlap
4:44 Bad Decision #2
5:18 Lesson #1
6:13 Lesson #2
7:39 Lesson #3
9:04 Lesson #4
10:42 Lesson #5
11:10 Why our Sea Anchor Failed
13:28 Be the Captain
13:51 Design Flaw
15:47 Lessons for Life
Sailing Zingaro
Over the last 7 years, Sailing Zingaro has been to some of the most remote areas on the planet in search of Adventure and experiences of a lifetime. Follow along with Captain James as he sails around the world, documenting the whole time...
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