75 Knot Wind & Giant Hail Slam Our Sailboat & the Marina: Liveaboard Sailing Nightmare Episode 101

In this episode of liveaboard sailing, we experience one of the most intense storms we’ve ever faced while living aboard our sailboat. In our last video, we made the call to pull anchor and sail directly into a storm, pushing hard to reach the marina before an even more severe weather system arrived. As full-time sailors preparing to sail around the world, we knew this decision could make all the difference. What we didn’t expect was just how extreme the next day would become. Less than 24 hours later, the marina was slammed by a severe storm cell with winds clocked at 75 knots and massive hail measuring 15 centimetres in diameter. Boats surged violently against dock lines, visibility dropped to zero, and the sound of hail and wind was deafening and relentless. This was no ordinary storm — this was extreme weather that tested every liveaboard sailor, every cleat, and every line. Once the storm finally passed, reality set in. This episode takes you through the post-storm damage assessment, as we inspect our sailboat, check rigging, lines, and surrounding vessels, and process what just happened. The adrenaline fades, the exhaustion hits, and the raw emotion of surviving a major storm — becomes impossible to hide. But this video is also about something bigger than damage and destruction. It’s about the sailing community coming together. Neighbours checking on neighbours. Sailors helping sailors. Sharing tools, lines, advice, and support. This is one of the most powerful parts of the liveaboard sailing lifestyle — the unspoken bond that forms when boats and people go through extreme conditions together. If you’re a sailboat owner, beginner sailor, or dreaming of travelling the world by sailboat, this episode shows the real side of boat life that rarely makes it to social media. Storm preparation, marina life, recovery after severe weather, and the emotional highs and lows of living aboard a sailboat are all part of the journey. This is real sailing. This is resilience. And this is why the sailing community feels like family. Each experience we have and each new sailing skill learnt just keeps bringing us closer to taking off to sail around the world in our Beneteau Oceanis 430 @SailingAstridTheWombat living our boat life dream. We hope you enjoy our content. Please hit subscribe and follow our journey to full time sailing around the world. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:40 Hail Hitting the Sailboat 03:30 Water Leak 05:39 Storm Over 06:45 Checking the Sailboat 07:25 Storm Damage Assessment 11:55 Checking Marine Solar Panels 13:14 26hrs After the Storm 13:38 More Storms Predicted 16:36 Solar Upgrade Please leave a comment, like and subscribe to follow our journey. We are Gav and Shezz an Aussie couple with a dream to sail and scuba dive around the world. We bought our Beneteau Oceanis 430 in October 2023 with zero sailing experience but the belief that we can do this. We have filmed our journey from looking for boats, buying the boat and downsizing our house so we can liveaboard and all the messy wonderful life stuff in between. Join us now as we start to get our boat prepared for liveaboard life. As new sailors we want to share all of our learnings and keep it real in our videos. We want to show step by step what it takes to choose a boat, buy the boat and learn how to sail. Our sailing learning curve is steep so come along with us as we learn and grow as liveaboard sailors. We promise you will have a laugh! Welcome aboard Astrid The Wombat Gav and Shezz You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook: Sailing Astrid the Wombat #sailing #liveaboard #sailingaustralia #sailingadventures #sailboat