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Wrong · 01-08-2013, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don L

You know:

With 18 miles to go (or even 150) I never would have bothered trying to repair the torn head sail while under way, I would have just sailed on the main (like the boat did in fact do). And if the wind was light, I have a spinnaker.

And assuming the batteries started out mostly charged, if I turned off the refrigerator the batteries would last days in normal seas.

Lets face it, panic set in and after that all bets are off. Once you decide to abandon your boat when it isn't sinking logic no longer applies.

Celestialsailor · 01-08-2013, 15:03

Oars!!!...Ya, that's it...we should all carry long oars and row 18 miles to shore...What was I thinking?

P.S. Zinger to the zingers

Wrong · 01-08-2013, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Oars!!!...Ya, that's it...we should all carry long oars and row 18 miles to shore...What was I thinking?

P.S. Zinger to the zingers

David_Old_Jersey · 01-08-2013, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Oars!!!...Ya, that's it...we should all carry long oars and row 18 miles to shore...What was I thinking?

P.S. Zinger to the zingers

I thought everyone carried long oars and rowed 18 miles a day as practice (just in case)

At least that's what I was told when first joining CF...........

Celestialsailor · 01-08-2013, 15:19

Them ain't oar's...them's me sisters

cheoah · 01-08-2013, 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

This guy has caused tremendous damage to a marine ecosystem through complete negligence and you're sporting the internet hall monitor sash.

Easy killa, this ain't the costa Concordia. Or any other boat run by a professional mariner with credentials. That would be negligence.... Tremendous and complete damage to a marine ecosystem? Dude where is the popcorn on this iPhone?

Most of us are much luckier with our misfortune. I don't mistake that luck for seamanship. Wonder how much coral will be taken out if you cross the pacific, and find yourself dredging some pristine anchorage with your hundreds of feet of chain in some unforeseen situation? Stuff happens, with the best intentions, sporting our environmental sash....

rebel heart · 01-08-2013, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viking Sailor

"Try to remember when life was so tender
and you were a tender and callow fellow,
Try to remember and if you remember then..."

You're bringing up a 1300 mile solo run to demonstrate .... that I didn't walk off a boat and put it on a reef?

David_Old_Jersey · 01-08-2013, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

You're bringing up a 1300 mile solo run to demonstrate .... that I didn't walk off a boat and put it on a reef?

It's because you were lucky - ain't no one travelled long distance on a boat with seamanship, it's all about luck

. Have you not been reading this thread

.

I am of course being supportive when saying all that. Big Hug

and a Yeehah! for "going for it"

.

Wrong · 01-08-2013, 15:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

You're bringing up a 1300 mile solo run to demonstrate .... that I didn't walk off a boat and put it on a reef?

Don,

Have you put this thread on your ignore list yet? Please tell me how!

Talk about beating a dead horse!

Oh, forgot. Ya kant here mua.

kmacdonald · 01-08-2013, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

It was clearly a panic situation. Unfortunately, since we scared him off, we don't know if he realized where he was. It seems he didn't.

We don't really know what he was thinking.

He wasn't thinking----couldn't have been.

Piglet · 01-08-2013, 15:31

Is this the point where we drop trousers and get the measuring tape out?

If so, I'll step out for a bit.

David_Old_Jersey · 01-08-2013, 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrong

Don,

Have you put this thread on your ignore list yet? Please tell me how!

Talk about beating a dead horse!

Oh, forgot. Ya kant here mua.

Just trying to help........

kmacdonald · 01-08-2013, 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

You're bringing up a 1300 mile solo run to demonstrate .... that I didn't walk off a boat and put it on a reef?

Some would have you believe that all the forums hugs and kisses made it possible.

CarinaPDX · 01-08-2013, 15:38

Some while back I posted that I thought that the OP was "unprepared", and unsurprisingly some have felt this was unfair, and that I was blaming the victim. Simply not true. Without further knowledge, I take the OP to be a nice, intelligent person who shares our dream of cruising. When he left I assume that he thought he was prepared, or otherwise he wouldn't have left. And yes, we are all learning, all of the time, if we have any hope of mastering this craft, and we have all made, and will continue to make, mistakes. A certain amount of humility is needed for anyone who goes to sea. In the cold light of day it is clear to all who will see that he was not prepared. He was not prepared to deal with water in the diesel, operating the boat without the engine, and navigating without the 12V system. That doesn't make him a bad guy, but it does call into question his judgement of his own preparedness for cruising. It is his lack of humility that is the question here, and not of those who would comment about his mistakes.

Let's look at this another way. My brother flies a Cessna, and a few years back he decided to re-qualify for his lapsed instrument rating. He made a couple of mistakes but the examiner passed him anyway. He then went back to his old instructor, explained the situation, and asked for his candid advice. He was told that the instructor would not have passed him and that he should stick to visual flying until he brought his instrument skills back up to snuff. Now my brother is not a humble man; in fact he is very proud and some might even say arrogant, so I was surprised that he had told his instructor of his mistakes. His comment to me was that "a cockpit is too small a space for a big ego". Amen. No matter how proud we are (and a lot of the folks here are very proud indeed) we have an obligation to be brutally honest in assessing our capabilities. Unlike flying there is no well-defined body of knowledge, and no definitive exam, that will assure our competence. The RYA Yachtmaster comes closest, if you are prepared to spend more than half a year immersed in full-time training. But for most of us it is a matter of struggling to put our own program together. And without expert guidance that means there is a lot of not knowing what we don't know. And filling those holes is a lot of what this forum is about. Without trying to define what is the minimum expertise required to go cruising, it seems clear that the OP didn't have it. I hope he will buy another boat and continue pursuing his dream, but I also hope he will learn from this that he needs to acquire more skills.

This is particularly relevant to me, as currently I know of 2 40'+ boats nearby that are being readied for trips south in 2 months. The owners are nice individuals, and they share our dream of cruising. They have also never left the dock since purchasing their boats, and neither skipper has any experience cruising - even locally. One boat is having a new engine put in at this time. The other has a rotten mizzen mast and a mainmast with very slack rigging and the turnbuckles fully tightened. One guy brushes off any suggestion that he is unprepared to go this year, and the other one gets his back up if I get anywhere near the topic. The idea that either of these two will be ready to safely transit the Oregon coast this autumn is absurd in the extreme, but neither skipper is willing to contemplate it. They have bought their boats, and they want to go now before another year passes, so they are going to do it and discussion closed. After all, they are as good as any other man, and, well, they are entitled. Now these are pretty extreme examples, but there is an element of this in all too many new cruisers. What I would hope is that all of us seek humbly to know our limitations as we proceed, and as best as possible live within them.

Greg