Thinking too much about Danger

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Yep. I'm from Redondo. My stepdad had a slip on Palawan way in MDR.

I once "rubbed paint" with a sweet young thing up in the scrub bushes above Avalon. A night to remember, not that it matches Ann's scary story of losing the rig. But a thorn in a butt cheek is no laughing matter either.

Nice!!! I like the docks on Palawan, and the beach at the end of the basin is awesome... What I don't care for there is the cold war era soviet border checkpoints and the parking garage... I'm over on Bali by the hotel...

Ahh... The old... "lets take a look at the harbor from the hill ploy"... Amazing how secluded a step or two off the beaten path gets... albeit frought with previously mentioned hazards....

Originally Posted by rgscpat

Fears?
Tax authorities. Immigration/customs officials (just a few, most are nice). Senators. Congresspeople. High-fructose corn syrup. Inflation. Non-obviously bad repairs. Fuel tank sludge. Lack of backing plates/poorly secured heavy stuff. Old vinyl-covered lifelines/non-obvious rigging meathooks or cracks. Mediocre schools. Dried-out gaskets in deck fills. My dumb mistakes. Someone hearing me "sing".

Couldn't agree more.... It's the things that blatantly state... "I am safe, good, strong, and you can count on me...." When sudden imminent failure is commonplace, and creates the least desirable outcome possible!

Originally Posted by BandB

It's also another lesson. Don't try to deny the situation. Don't let pride keep you from doing the right thing. When you need help, call for it. Whatever it is, err on the side of caution. Yes, someone might say you should have gone on or done it without help. But who cares. You are safe.

If any beginning sailor were to take the best lessons from CF... This would be at the top of the list... The "slippery slope" on the water is extremely slippery... very steep... and in most cases.... has no bottom to stop your downward progression... ANYTHING that can be done to avoid a situation from escalating should be your first and foremost priority...

[Woodsmaster59]

You can live dying.
Or you can die living.
Its up to you.

[JPA Cate]

To me, the question of when (if ever) to call for help depends a lot on the skill sets of the people on the boat.

This took place near Shelter Is. in San Diego Hbr. We had been at anchor overnight and were motoring to the police dock a short way away, having sailed in the night before. The engine stopped. There were moored boats and moving boats around. I asked Jim to put up the main before he went to check things, and while he figured out what was wrong, I jinked around on the main. All under control. He used the dinghy pump to void the water intake a plastic bag had plugged, and off we went again, dropped the main and docked. No need to call for help.

Had I been singlehanding, would have had to raise the main, sail back to where I had anchored, and then see if I could handle the problem. Might not have figured it out. I'm not the mechanical whiz that Jim is.

In that long post of mine somewhere above, it is Jim's skill sets that made the decisions. The only one I made was to shift our lifejackets closer to the cockpit, a reaction to feeling frightened. Jim knew how to jury rig the antenna for the morning communications. It was Jim who had the foresight not to dispose of the perspex, and the resultant protection was welcome. I learned from all of it, as one does, but his greater experience was a huge asset in that whole series of events, including building a new windvane rudder.

Ours, I think, is an object lesson about experiences handling problems leading to not thinking too much about danger.

I don't agree that sailing is "very dangerous", and as proof, I offer that I am still alive after having begun sailing in 1978, and if it were "very dangerous" I ought to be dead. I think as sailors, we should keep our equipment in good running order, and accept that the dangers sailing are different from dangers we routinely accept when we go into a big city or drive a car--you can die in either environment, but everything that has life dies, so that's not a factor, really. Simply prepare for the marine environment: we accept that the weather gods are mischievous thugs, and we prepare, to stay on the boat, to be as comfortable and rested as possible, and sail on. :-D

Ann

[sabray]

I forgot I closed the hatch, went bounding topside and well... The head met the unmovable.
My neck is now a tad shorter then it was prior to this my head has this funny dull buzz and my lawyer thinks I can sue Kelly peterson for concussive damages.
No OSHA signs saying hard hats should be worn or sailing can cause impairment.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I have done nothing at sea that is as inherently frightening as driving at legal highway speeds on two lane roads: meeting and passing hundreds of strangers at a closing speed of circa 130 MPH and a clearance of a few feet. Out of the hundreds that one encounters in a passage of a few miles, there gotta be a few nutcases, drunks, anti-social psychos and incompetents. That's scary, and beyond your control.


Jim

After spending time at sea, I'm with you 100%.. I cant control the sea but I sure can adapt to it... not so easy on a freeway at 70 mph..

[Andrew Troup]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

....experiences handling problems lead... to not thinking too much about danger.

....

PerZackly! Well said, that woman !


What's more, I reckon:


Thinking about solutions, ahead of time, rather than focussing on dangerous problems, is a powerful vaccine against fear.

I worked out early that the sailors I so admired, who swung into action the moment the cooker jumped out of its gimbals or did the correct thing with the helm when a particular piece of rigging failed, did not do so because they were superhumanly smart or quick thinking or immune to the paralysis which comes from the unexpected:

They were able to swing into action because they had already visualised solving that problem.

They enjoyed visualising solutions, and the only reason they ever thought about problems was so they could have the fun of solving them.

And believe me it's a lot more fun solving them when you have the luxury of being able to close your eyes, free associate, draw a quick sketch, take time off, ask for a second opinion, and even (if all else fails) go online.

About fifty percent of the time, you actually end up inventing a different and more applicable solution if and when the problem in question does eventuate,

but I'm guessing the important thing is that having a solution, any solution, allows you to swing confidently into action ... and then your brain is on a roll.

At least, that's how it seems to me...

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

So those of you that are out there doing it what dangers have you faced? Whales, Lightning, Pirates, Giant octopus, Bermuda triangle, Rouge waves, scary storms, hitting a shipping container, hitting a log or other debris, running aground, getting lost, no wind, too much wind, or is your nightmare danger running out of rum?

Aye, Matey! T'is a scary place out there o'er Neptune's Sea!

Death, dismemberment and disaster
come easily to lads what sets to sea,
no matter how well prepared
men think themselves to be.

Best sit to tavern and listen well at tales
from Men whats done The Horn,
or dropped anchor in foreign ports
that 'er not yer norm.

Ye thinks mayhaps a cruiser ye might be?
Then hear me well a'fore ye set to sea:
When y'er anchor goes down...

There's less space fer me!






I think I'll just go and clean the anchor chain or something...

[JPA Cate]

^^^^^nice one mariane!

A.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by sabray

I forgot I closed the hatch, went bounding topside and well... The head met the unmovable.
My neck is now a tad shorter then it was prior to this my head has this funny dull buzz and my lawyer thinks I can sue Kelly peterson for concussive damages.
No OSHA signs saying hard hats should be worn or sailing can cause impairment.

Boy.... You sure can raise a stink and justify the stupidity of it when "somebody else" slides the hatch closed a bit.... But when you're the one who did it.... It's a whole different ball game....

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by sabray

I forgot I closed the hatch, went bounding topside and well... The head met the unmovable.
My neck is now a tad shorter then it was prior to this my head has this funny dull buzz and my lawyer thinks I can sue Kelly peterson for concussive damages.
No OSHA signs saying hard hats should be worn or sailing can cause impairment.

I did this last summer. I didn't know it was possible to give yourself a concussion. My head cleared after a couple of days staying quiet, away from bright light...

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by sabray

I forgot I closed the hatch, went bounding topside and well... The head met the unmovable.
My neck is now a tad shorter then it was prior to this my head has this funny dull buzz and my lawyer thinks I can sue Kelly peterson for concussive damages.
No OSHA signs saying hard hats should be worn or sailing can cause impairment.

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Boy.... You sure can raise a stink and justify the stupidity of it when "somebody else" slides the hatch closed a bit.... But when you're the one who did it.... It's a whole different ball game....

Originally Posted by bethflkys

I did this last summer. I didn't know it was possible to give yourself a concussion. My head cleared after a couple of days staying quiet, away from bright light...

I would like to see some slow motion video of us coming up the companionway... I mean... Is there some spring or rocket assist that we are not aware of??? Are we jumping with the force of a Michael Jordan layup?? It just seems like the resultant pain is extremely disproportionate to the action of simply stepping up....

[roverhi]

Since I've become follicly challenged, seems my head is a constant scab. Don't know whether the hair was a protective pad or just gave enough warning so that I didn't constantly bang my head. Have done the companionway hatch trick more than once. It's amazing how much force is involved when you ram your head into the hatch. Haven't given myself a concussion but have drawn serious blood.

Have done a couple of things to try and mitigate the scabs and pain. Do not wear long billed/wide brimmed hats on the boat. The bill blinds you from overhead obstructions that would otherwise be easily seen and avoided. Now only wear 'Booney Hats' obtained cheaply from military surplus stores. The brim is wide enough that they protect ears and neck from the sun but not so wide that they significantly obstruct upward vision. Way better for sailing as I don't have to crane my neck as much to check the sails. They have a chin strap so don't keep donating them to Neptune while out sailing. Last, but not least, have cut out a circular piece of thin packing foam and put it in the 'Booney Hat'. Its not good for ventilation but has cut the scabs to virtually zero.

[tuffr2]

I am hoping only taller sailors have this 'banged head' syndrome. How tall are you guys that have banged your head? Does a person 5' 9" have the same danger?

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[roverhi]

Your taller sailor surmise doesn't hold true for me. Used to be 5'7" till i managed to pound myself down to 5'6" jamming my head into immovable objects.

[Andrew Troup]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

I would like to see some slow motion video of us coming up the companionway... I mean... Is there some spring or rocket assist that we are not aware of??? Are we jumping with the force of a Michael Jordan layup?? It just seems like the resultant pain is extremely disproportionate to the action of simply stepping up....

I guess it's biomechanics: a little old calf muscle has to lift an entire adult's bodyweight, and to make the struggle less unequal, we utilise every trick we can, such as the energy storage and recovery of the achilles tendon and the momentum effect of a suddenly applied force.

I don't pretend to understand in any detail, but think how much more a weightlifter can 'jerk', in comparison with trying to lift slow and smoothly.