How Often Do You Sail WITHOUT Something Breaking ?

[sailorboy1]

It seems that the boat just doesn't like to have everything working. The past week I replaced my bow light, freshwater pump, repaired my inverter. Went out at night and when the wind died and I powered up and turned on my steaming light, it didn't work even though it has a new bulb.

My "do to" list anyways has stuff on it. They normally don't stop me sailing etc but there is always something I know of that needs attention.

So how offen do you feel something "breaks" compared to taking you boat out? May be as small as a loss wire that needs crimping to get a light back on, and for which seems so common that you don't even think of it as having fixed anything anymore.

[sarafina]

hummmm... well don't laugh, but if we get out and back in with out discovering/causing (thru use of old) faulty stuff at a ration of about one trip to five flaws I'd say we were doing good...

[Roaring Girl]

All the time really. This summer we have not had a working log (relied on GPS SOG) or wind indicator (wet finger/sea state/hand held anometer). At sea had to change both port and starboard nav lights (on bow) on separate occasions for new bulbs. That's not to mention our battery that died dramatically in Cagliari! At least we were tied to the land at that point.

We have a big question we ask about any breakage, or before beginning a new boat job. Does it stop us sailing? If yes, either do what we have to do to get going or don't start the job if we can help it at all, until October. If no, why do we need the broken bit anyway?

[sailingaway221]

I think a contributing factor is where you usually sail and how often you step out of your comfort zone and how hard you push the boat. My boat is ready to go sail almost anywhere....so it doesn't break that much any more.....but from when I got it till now we have pretty much broken everything we could find on it....and i'm not talking light bulbs ! Good excuse to buy stronger or newer gear. I would say when I first brought my boat we would break 2 or 3 things for every 3 or 4 days of sailing.... now we break something every month or two and sail a lot more. If its not broken yet it doesnt mean that its strong enough......just that I havent worked out it weakest link!

[MarkJ]

We really never break anything sailing.

A block in the pacific.
A split pin also in the pacific (it may have been a small pin but it was the one that keeps the gooseneck pin in... so the boom became detached from the mast... interesting)
Ripped the old mainsail in the Med but we were using it till it ripped to save our band new one.
Popped the vang rivets
Pulled some UV strip off the Genoa the other day in a squall.
I have probably missed a few things.

Considering the 27,000 aprox miles we have done its not much.

We sail pretty conservatively. Reef if we hit 8 knots. Reef early, depower the sails in squalls, gusts etc, don't slam, don't push the boat.

Breaking stuff would just add to the ever presant maintenance list...


Mark

[Ex-Calif]

When I got the boat something broke every week. Then we seemed to get ahead of things and now maybe 1 in 5 sails something will break or not work the first time.

Maintenance is continuous however. There is no holiday from keeping up on stuff. If you don't do chores for 4 weeks or so you will definitely have 5 weeks of chores to do when you get beck to it.

[rebel heart]

Not much breaks underway. I'm always combing over everything and so far (knock on decks) nothing has busted that I haven't seen coming a mile away.

[zopi]

hah! I'm in the Navy. NEVER!

Tax dollars at work!

[andreas.mehlin]

During our 11 000 miles crossing (panama-australia) there were not very many things breaking. A couple of blocks, changed the toilet pipes due clogging, refrigerator leaked and had to be welded and refilled.

If you have an advanced boat with a lot of gadgets - of course there are many more things that could possible break.

[Roaring Girl]

Interesting in that we too rarely have things break while sailing - unless you count bulbs blowing. Our main sheet traveller snapped on a nasty sea off NE Spain. And just after we bought RG the port lower shroud hit the deck while motorsailing up the English Channel in January. Touch wood, it's been a rare event.

That's slightly different to living without some bit of gear for a season in order to get out there.

[sailorboy1]

When I posted this I met to count everything, blown bulbs, loose wires, peeling varnish, clogged head, leaking port; really just how offen there something that is not working right.

I know my 1 year old to me boat was probably not looked after very weel the last couple years of last owner, but from the poll seems I have more small repair items than most. Hopefully just means I have to workthough them and things will become better.

[witzgall]

Wait, it is possible to have a boat working 100% correctly?

[MarkJ]

Someone wrote on here the other day (so close to remembering who...) an analogy of riding bikes in races and busting wheels. When he didn't bust any more wheels he told the shop they were better built wheels. The shop told him it was that he had finally learned to ride better!

Sailing is interesting because theres so many different styles of sailing in so many different types of boats.

When we were racing when I was young it didn't matter what we broke as long as we won the race (someone else was paying!!!) Then we worked out the people who won the races when they didn't have to stop to make quick repairs. In fact when someone wins its often not that they did anything 'right' they just don't make mistakes!

We constantly hear of people sailing at 9kts or surfing down waves at 10, or even 12 kts... 'yeah man we saw 15 kts surfing a wave...'. Some of the catamaran storys we read of 2 handed boats doing long passages and hitting 20 knots! Fast! How about the stories of someones passage... they often talk first of the time: 18 days trans Atlantic... 21 days Galapagos/Marquesas. (Our G/M was 20 days!)

But, as I say, we are forced to go under 8 knots because I can't afford to break every bit of kit on the boat.

But with this type of long range crusing we are mostly talking about on Cruisers Forum who gives a damn if we do 6 knots or 7 knots when what we should be doing is sailing for the love of it, checking the dolphins, the clouds, the birds all whilst cooking a long slow lunch.
Why the hell would you want to cut that short by a day or 2 and have a big bill for it?


I am not having a shot at people that have had a few things go wrong, just trying to help with a philosophy...


Mark

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Wait, it is possible to have a boat working 100% correctly?

I don't think so. I cannot remember ever sailing without finding something that needed repair, correction or improvement with the length of the list being directly proportional to the displacement of the yacht. A more "sailient" question might be whether those things needing repair, correction or improvement are of such a nature that they prevent the yacht from being used or sailing well.

We have a friend that has been preparing his boat for a world cruise for nearly 20 years. He wants everything to be perfect before he leaves. At the current rate I suspect his ultimate departure will be in a Hurst rather than aboard an--almost--perfect yacht

FWIW...

[Jetexas]

Well, I didn't break anything this weekend ... but one battery isn't charging, the steaming and anchor lights don't work, I haven't got a tachometer hooked up, the fuel gauge doesn't work, and half of my interior is dismantled. That was all known before the weekend started, so I don't think it counts.