Unfortunate turn!

[CaptainK]

Well Pete.

It won't be much longer, til you could have all you could drink. Get totally plastered. And don't have to worry about going to work the next day, for a while?

[BC Mike]

No matter what the activity experience will differ dramatically.
It is hard to explain the danger of a typical country intersection to folks who have never wintessed what can happen. So it is easy to end up like Rebel Without a Cause. It is easy to drown while surfing, I have seen it happen to someone I warned just 15 minutes earlier. He could not see the danger. There are no old tree toppers. I do not know how to judge the experience of the folks that write about sailing. I do not know how to interprit the conditions as they describe them.
Some folks are gifted and do provide reliable reports. There is a video of David Jeffreys going around the IOM on a big Suzuki. It will make your hair stand on end as he provides us with commentary. He augered in a year later. Joey Dunlop, the rider with the most wins at the IOM was killed at a small track in Estonia.
Lattitude 38 just wrote this : " As so often is the case, those who know the least and who are unfamiliar with the circumstances, are the most critical "
I can do a view things well, but compared to the gifted I am mediocre.
I agree with adding some excitement to your life while you can. I have surfed, road raced and ridden a fire breather around a cross country course, and sailed for a long time. There is still much more sailing to do. Stay tuned.
Michael

Keeping in mind it is Friday, after a VERY long week. I am not sure I am following the direction the last couple of posts are going, so bare with me. I am not judging the Fuzzles, or Bum. As I said, if the Fuzzles come out better people, than their journey was a success. As for Bum, I am asking him to support his spectacular claims by adding to the forum. I am sure he has nothing to prove to me, but I am rather surprised of his apparent unwillingness to share his adventure.
Life is short,so go for it. I would much rather die doing what I love, than sitting around a retirement home lamenting about what I did not do. I have never critisized anyone on thsi thread for persuing a dream, regardless of their skills. From what I have seen on this thread, the real issue is not the Fuzzle's lack of knowledge, but lack of compassion for those they encounter along the way. Maybe I have read more int othis than is there, but that is what it looks like to me. Having known someone like this, I would agree that that be a sad way to see the world.
If I sink along the way, just throw a bottle of good scotch in after me and have a party, because that is what I am going to do for you.
Now, before I get caught up in this thread, that I really do not care about, I am done. If I post here again, it will be only to something directly addressing me, because, the Fuzzles just do not matter to me. Hope they are enjoying the journey.

[Lodesman]

Pete - don't do it! Sail a dinghy around your bathtub for a few years, take all sorts of courses, read every sailing book ever written and then seek this forum's approval before you put to sea.

Just kidding of course I can't help but stir the pot now and then.

I trust you'll be sailing with an experienced skipper/crew? Having read some of Alan's descriptions, it sounds like NZ has some scary waters. I found the north end (Auckland, Bay of Islands) picturesque and not the least bit nerve-wracking. Wouldn't say the same thing about the Tasman - I have vivid memories of watching a 20,000 tonne supply ship's bow come clear of the water, before tipping forward pulling the screw high above the surf, then losing sight of her as she descended into the trough - only to repeat the process over and over again. Of course the same process was going on from my vantage - a 4200 tonne escort destroyer - proportionately magnified by our smaller size. Being younger and less wise, my reaction was "yeeee hawwww" and not "holy sh*t!" I was a trainee at the time, so didn't get many picture opportunities - I'll see if I have any. But I'm sure if anyone needs proof, the Royal New Zealand Navy has pictures of its 75th Anniversary (1991) - mine's the toothpaste-coloured ship in the centre of the ceremonial anchorage.

Kevin

[southernman]

What happened in here? I have read all the recent posts and have the following comments.

It seems bad blood has been flowing from both camps - no one can claim cleanliness here!!

Secondly I remember this boat and guy coming here to NZ - spoke to him in Nelson and he emailed me a few times as I had a few drinks with him. Keen guy if I remember right. Nice yacht, pretty brave and tough guy. Yachts name was Providence Australian registered and he was importing it or having it registered in New Zealand or something. Bum is your real name Peter Bank?

[teamivey]

I beleive there was a poster here who thought of buying Pat and Ali's wildcat but had read many bad things about the manufacturer. This would be supported by p-n-a's experience with their boat. This was before Pat and Ali bought it. He decided on a Prout instead. After reading the dialogue between Pat and Wildcat manufacturing, I would say he was right. So as an earlier poster said that he thought wildcats were fine boats, I would disagree. That someone would actually question the quality of the manufacturer, and that Pat and Ali would have the problems that they have had, seems like weighty evidence. I don't think he was clairvoyant, just educated. I am sure Pat and Ali wishes they had bought his Prout instead! So, for me, no wildcats.

[mudnut]

Mudnut's on the net,scene set,"missus...Mudnut ya look all stressed!,Mudnut....yeh Im having my P-and-A's,Missus.... Is that anything like P-M-S ?Mudnut...Na its happening more freqently now!Missus...Do ya know about H-R-T?Mudnut...No dont know H-ow R-honda T-hinks.Sorry,it sounded funny when all those single letters were introduced!!!C'mon,I thought this thread was being put on the back burner.DNR stands for Do Not Resussitate(sp??)For fear I will become a vegetable...

[Lodesman]

A quick poll - just how many forumites out there have someone holding a gun to their head, forcing them to read and respond to this thread?

Here's a thought - if you don't like this thread, then don't read it. Don't post to it. For those of us who have enjoyed or do enjoy it, we can continue to do so. There must be a reason some people like the thread - after all it is the most widely read and most responded-to thread on the entire forum. Personally, I think a lot of members were attracted to Cruisers Forum, due to this particular thread. That imho is a good thing.

Kevin

[Alan Wheeler]

Yes Loadsman, I do. It's the little voice up there, I am sure he's armed.

"you don't like the thread, don't read it"....Awwwe come on, I'm only Human. Some read gossip mags, I read this thread

"Don't Post to it".... But I have to have the last say. It drives me nuts if I don't have the last say, and then I start arguing with the little voice,...and he's armed remember.

[mudnut]

Hey Wheels,looks like you will have to post another to stay on top of that last comment.HEE HEE.Loadsman,C'mon mate 'see the funny side.See! now Wheels HAS to reply.Every time this thread goes slack someone says something and boom!someone just has to reply!There has been a lot of "Off Topic"here,and thats what I think is driving it on and on and on.I have no disrespect for P and A,or Rhonda for that fact,hell even Bum lifted it up a notch.Have a beer ,cheers!!!!

[messingabout]

I found this forum from the Bumfuzzle site. Does anyone still look here? There sure a lot of opinions about Pat and Ali. Did you notice that they're back after a one month absence. So I was wondering if you all could resist the temptation to keep this thread going, especially seeing that the latest update is as contraversial as any in the past.
I enjoy Pat's writing style and I can't help thinking he enjoys sailing more than he lets on. I hope one of you experienced sailing folk tell him what that yellow line is for.

[CSY Man]

Hmm, too many guys come in here with the first posting to say the same.

Would that be Pat or Ali in disguise? Supporting their "style" and wanting to keep the thread alive??

[CaptainK]

Sure as hell sounds like it!!

[Wukong]

Reading this thread is like watching Professional Wrestling or soap operas. The appeal is to our baser instincts. Oh well, hello fellow voyeurs.

[Alan Wheeler]

"So I was wondering if you all could resist the temptation "
Awwwwe comon, if this isn't a troll of some kind. Mate, what? do you think we are all stupid or something? This has to be Pat or someone Pat has put up to this.
Hmmmm, so there have been no comments on this thread since they themselves were last on line. Now they have made port and are online and bingo, a comment is made here. Hmmmm, me thinks putting to and two together doesn't get me to far off the answer of "smells fishy to me".
Sad, but the more I read of them, the more I realise what a sad pathetic little man he really must be. I mean, what a compleate jerk to have such a low tolerance of fellow cruisers when they state how long they have been out cruising.The attitude to his response afterwards is just pathetic. He suggests to me that he is one of those guys that will smile to you and stab you in the back when he turns away from you.
Hmmmm, maybe I should just shut up now. I seem to be letting him get to me.