Getting Fat Bums On Board

[idpnd]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

As she looks at me, she catches me glancing at the waterline on the aft transoms (I couldn't help myself, honest, it was reflex!).

That IS funny..

In all fairness, there is something comical about the combination of acrobatics (entering the boat) and a less-than-athletic physique. Unfortunately, there appear to be a lot of rather overweight people in the US, particularly of the very very overweight sort.

[Ex-Calif]

Having recently lost 50 pounds (and not done yet) I find myself like the reformed (drinker, smoker, etc) having less sympathy and tolerance.

Sorry to say but there are just way to many really obese people in the world and I am happy to confess that I will always be a fatty bum bum. I realize that weight control is going to be a struggle for me for the rest of my life.

If someone wants to make an "obese person accessible" sailboat, then fine. But that isn't really the problem.

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Having recently lost 50 pounds (and not done yet) .

Well done.

I could do with losing about 20 pounds myself, and am also in the final stages of losing 120lb of useless fat (if the lawyers get their act together!)

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by JackHinks

I added several larger boats that could accomodate all of my potential clients,..

You bought the Queen Mary?

LOL

Glad I'm not American

The guests of mine were not actually that fat at all... they were just not fit. And not all that old either!

Mark

[Intentional Drifter]

Having battled excess weight all my life, I do have sympathy. While I don't think it was a good decision on the part of management to put a person who would obviously have problems getting off and on boats, assigned to the task of getting on and off boats, I do think the topic points out something that comes up -- how do we best aid unfit/overweight people? That little contingency is something that will be individualized with the boat, but until you personally encounter it, it is something you probably won't think about.

Not unlike the last step in a MOB -- how to get a hurt/unconscious person back on the boat. A critical step.

ID

[sailorboy1]

Hey everyone talks like the extra weight is bad thing. If there are only two on the boat and you need some "rail meat" to help control heel what good are all those "holier than" stick poles :-)

[captnsassy]

I freakin' was rolling on the floor laughing reading your story !!! OMFG! ....teaches you to let oversized chum on board. I'm all for equal opportunity sailing but..geesh...there is a limit....!

[slowshoes]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

You bought the Queen Mary?

LOL

Glad I'm not American

You may not be American, but you have the "if their different, then they must be oppressed, ridiculed, denigrated, etc" attitude that many Americans have, down to a "t".

Man if you could have been an American when racism and slavery were at their peak, you could have had a ball!

[Roaring Girl]

The guests of mine were not actually that fat at all... they were just not fit.

So - all the posters above are lean and sinewy work-out bunnies? Must be the only group of cruisers I ever came across of whom none were carrying excess weight.

We both struggle to lose weight - but actually fitness is a much bigger deal. Especially if fitness includes suppleness, balance and upper body strength. We have often and often had friends aboard who appear to be more streamlined but can't get on and off (whether the dinghy, a finger pontoon, or over the bows), or who can't get the mainsail up, or struggle to get out of the upper forecabin bunk, or can't lift their own (overweight) luggage aboard.

[Southern Star]

Sorry if some found these posts offensive, but they were clearly intended to be (and were found by most to be), humourous anecdotes. Obesity is a health issue, but then so is alcoholism - and sorry, but drunks are the brunt of many jokes. Surely, in both cases treatment requires not only professional help, but also self-help rather than self-pity. Something which Dan (Ex-Calif) seems to agree with (and again Dan, congrats and keep up the good work).

Were some of the responders in gest also overweight? No doubt. But at least they are able to laugh at, or play along with something that was situationally funny. But even if you can't find the humor in it, then unless you have been continuously force-fed, please don't attempt to compare your obesity with slavery - it is a dimunition of the horrible fate of slaves and an insult to those who fought for their freedom.

Slowshoes, did you notice the smile emoticon after Mark J's comment that he was glad he was not American? Again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that another comment that was made in gest was taken seriously by someone who apparently has no sense of humour. In the final analysis, however, the only one who seems to be seriously engaging in stereotyping (by nationality) is yourself: ""if their (sic.) different, then they must be oppressed, ridiculed, denigrated, etc.' attitude that many American's have; "if you could have been an American when racism and slavery were at their peak, you could have had a ball".

Do you have some empirical data to support the proposition that many Americans hold these attitudes, or is it just your prejudice showing through? Further, although I hate to break it to you, Americans were hardly the only nationality with slaves - you need look no further than England, Spain and France, the major forces in the exploitation and settlement of the 'New World'. In fact, the Americans fought a bloody civil war to bring an end to a tradition of slavery that had its genesis there during British rule.

So please, do us a favour and lighten up before you get on your soap box. This was not an attack on a visible minority by suggesting that they are ofen stupid, or lazy, or incompetent or racist; rather, they were simply stories that point out, in a humorous way, the real difficulties that were posed for the authors, as cruisers, when morbidly obese, or out of shape individuals boarded their vessels. If you are, as I suspect, unable to 'lighten up' (and I do mean figuratively) and must get on a soapbox, then watch your step and at least try to know your facts and remain consistent.

Brad

[Canibul]

Could you somehow figure out a way to use the main halyard and let them rappell down the side? Pick up a section of cargo netting and let them play Iwo Jima?

[Ram]

Last Year I had 5 girls in there early 30s for a week charter, 1 was so big when she went in swimming, we almost could not get her back onboard- we took a rope and tied it around her and the 4 other girls pulled wile i pushed on her butt , she finilly made it in-she never stepped off the boat until the end of the charter after that, I felt a little sorry for her as each day a new port and her friends would take off and leave her all day, I hung around and kept her compney

[SabreKai]

Long time ago, when I was living on a Grampian 26, my girlfriend and I sailed into Kingston Ontario where they do the Med Mooring thing. So we ended up stern to. No problem, I weighed 170 in those days and my lady was about 100 or so.

Next day we invited a buddy of mine down for dinner, along with his girlfriend. Now Ian was a bean pole but Darcy was shaped like a beerkeg. We managed to get her on to the boat easy enough as it was a bit of a step down and we proceeded to kill a bottle or two or hard stuff over the course of the evening. Every time we needed to, we'd hop the rail, and off to the washrooms. Finally Darcy needed to go. She managed to get over the rail, got one foot on the dock, and slipped while getting up there and fell over. She ended up on her back and I swear, rolled around like a turtle for a couple of minutes til Ian and I could get on the dock and heave her over and then vertical.

I used to wonder about people getting that fat, but here it is, 30 years later, and I'm now over 300lbs. I can still get on and off but sometimes its a real challenge. Right now I'm in the middle of a diabetic crisis, so I'm eating like a bird to keep the sugar under control and I'm vowing on my life to loose this weight I'm schlepping around. Otherwise my plans to go sailing are likely to be piddling around the lake for a short while before I kick the bucket.

Sabre

[slowshoes]

Brad,

My racism/slavery comment had nothing to do with comparing obesity with slavery, but rather highlight the attitude of one group that is less tolerant of another. That attitude is always the same - you look, talk, act different than me, therefore that gives me the right to make you feel bad.


I have an overweight teen daughter that has had to endure much of the same attitudes found in this thread from groups of clickish teen girls at school. Some days, when she has had enough and responds with anger or simply breaks down and cries, the group of girls slinging the barbs responds much the same way you did in your post - lighten up, we were only joking.

[Canibul]

don't you get weary of people blaming their personal problems on the rest of the world?

Obesity is very, very simple. For every 3500 calories that you take in more than what you burn, you gain one pound. If you burn 3500 calories more than you eat, you lose one pound.

all this stuff about this disease making someone fat, or their genes...is rubbish. The body cannot manufacture a pound of fat without the ingredients coming in through the mouth. Excuses. Weakness. lack of will power. Refusing to take control. Thats what causes fat people to be fat. Pure and simple.


Sit on your ass all day and stuff your face, your choice. Just don't blame anyone but yourself.