Lost Confidence . . .

[anglooff]

It quite natural to fear the unknown. As others have stated get out there sailing with friends and/or take some courses and as your confidence continues growing you will find those fears diminishing proportionately. Actually last week when I was at my boat, while sipping a single malt, I specifically was exercising my mind and anticipated all that could go wrong and checking that I had the means, processes and equipment to facilitate any likely "worst scenario" occurance. Its not something I do often but occasionally it is an exercise which reminds me to reconfirm that tools, procedures and best/alternative solutions are readily available .

Finally once you get a good boat, you will find it has been designed to take much more punishment than its skipper can imagine. In addition once you have her you immediately begin to learn her strengths and idiocyncrasies and act accordingly. So welcome aboard, there is a lot you can learn here to help you make your sailing dreams happen. Remember, one day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching
Best regards

Alan

PS. I reread the post before replying and like that last sentence...I may use it for my signature

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by Kasabian

the second worst horror scenario for me has got to be a dismasting in the middle of nowhere and being all alone to deal with it.

What is the first worst horror scenario?

[osirissail]

Dismasting is like a propeller falling off your light airplane - the reason is simple. You did not check/inspect and repair/maintain/replace it. You buy a boat and think it is okay to just sail away "as is." Doesn't work that way in real life because unlike a car, you cannot coast over to the side of the road and walk home.
- - Sailmonkey qualified his dismastings with "All while racing and none in really tip top condition." Which translates to no maintenance/replacement of worn out rigging.
- - If you purchase and maintain a sailboat you will not have any dismasting unless you hit a low bridge or tree on the shoreline. Along with that is not taking the boat places where you and the boat should not be - like the southern ocean in gale/storm conditions.
- - I have seen whole wheels separate from old cars driving down the freeway - because nobody spent the time and money to maintain them. The thing with sailboats and cruising the oceans is there isn't any AA to call so you had better make sure all the systems in the boat are strong, maintained, inspected and operated within the operating limitations of the boat.
- - Be it a car, airplane, space ship or a cruising sailboat you have to maintain and inspect and replace parts as they wear and degrade from their original strength. Owning and sailing/cruising is not work-free, there is a lot to be done at every stop along your cruise. The standing joke with cruisers is that we do not sail from exotic island to island, but from repair and boat parts places to another repair/parts place. The oceans and seas are a tough place and keeping your boat safe is a never-ending job.

[dmcnsm]

I am not knocking you for your fears in any way.
One thing that comes to mind is not driving because the gas peddle can go all the way to the floor . [ ok ,no toyota / gas pedal jokes]
In both cases ,you just need to de-power according to conditions.

[David M]

Do the best you can do about it which is to have a professional who really knows what he is doing survey the rig. After that, live in peace knowing there is nothing more you can do about it.

[vintageray]

I ran thru a mental exercise once, imagining what I would do if far at sea and got information that a real killer hurricane was coming right at me and there wasn't much time. I decided that I would probably start throwing things overboard to lighten the boat and then turn the boat broadside to the wind and cut the stays, then the windward shrouds and finally the leeward shrouds and everything else necessary to cut loose the rig. I'd still have the sea anchor and engine engine to maintain a little steerage and maybe survive and save the boat. I wouldn't worry about dismasting in a real bad storm. If it was that bad and I knew it was coming, I'd do it myself. Okay, blast away at me and tell me how wrong this would be. Just a thought I had.
As for things that would worry me....whale collisions, pirates, obusive foreign officials.

[slomotion]

I know two couples who had forestays break. The mast did not come down in either case because they were quickly able to rig an emergency halyard replacement in relatively benign conditions. Both thought/claimed their rigging was in good condition - so yes, sh** happens.

Had they instead been solo sailors asleep below, the mast undoubtedly would have come down. Some passage makers might have installed an inner forestay to guard against this. Still, there is a big difference between that kind of dismasting or even a freak knockdown and being dismasted because your boat is being rolled by monster waves. If you are being rolled by monster waves, losing the mast is probably not your primary worry.

[RestlessWind]

Marc2012 said:
Leat of my worries,boat should stillfloat,use motor,presidentl rig it,"dont worry be happy ".marc

New to sailing here, not familiar with the "presidentl rig"..... perhaps you can clarify this term for me.

[sabray]

Your speculating on the benefit of not singlehanding may not apply. I'll give that exhaustion can be a factor. Otherwise I'm quite confident in my abilities to respond when things go off. 2 skilled and able crew would be better. But then I enjoy sailing while sometimes solo and others not. I replced a chunk of my rigging last winter including chain plates. I would put more weight in planning then relying on extra crew. Better that you don't screw up and need help or loose the stick.

[Intentional Drifter]

The rig is the second-most important part of a sailboat. Every time I sail, I do a quick inspection of the deck level rig. It doesn't take a long time, but taking a conscious look over is helpful.

Then, at every haul out I have a professional rigger do an inspection. Yes, it costs some money, but they have a better knowledge than me and, even more important, a different set of eyes. It is not the quick changes that will most likely get you, but the slow ones that you become accustomed to over time. Having that different set of eyes really helps. I have found it to be money well spent, both in that they have caught things I've missed and the sense of security I have when they say all is good.

A well designed and maintained rig, correctly tuned and properly sailed, should be able to withstand just about anything that nature throws at her, 99.9% of the time. As for the other .1%? That's just being in the wrong place and the wrong time and hopefully good weather decisions have removed you from those.

With these precautions, no worries!

ID

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

Every time I sail, I do a quick inspection of the deck level rig. It doesn't take a long time, but taking a conscious look over is helpful.

Yup. When we were cruising, I used to do this every morning (both standing and running) even when we were at anchor. Chafe is also a constant and ever changing concern which needs to be addressed frequently. We didn't have annual professional inspections, but it's probably a good idea. Neither I nor anyone I know made a habit of going up the mast to "check" things.

Still, I know a guy who had his roller furling mounting bracket break - not the pin, not the fitting, not the chain plate or bolts, the actual bracket. Unless, it's obviously rusted/corroded, I have no idea how to check that. Hit it with a hammer? X-ray it? Replace it just because it's old? Dunno, but after hearing that, I used to wash the salt off mine and, uh, look at it.

[sailorboy1]

I read somewhere that golfing is more dangerous than sailing. Maybe what we need are more stories of golfers getting hurt to take the heat off.