Cruising Rallies: Pros & Cons

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by dlj

I have a number of friends that have been part of rallies. Expressions such as "made life-long friends" - "had a wonderful time" - "rally organizers did a great job" - "we felt totally supported" are all summaries of conversations I've had when deciding if I wanted to join one of them. In the end I decided not to join.

My observation would be that there is a huge difference in how a rally impacts you depending upon if you are part of the rally or you are not part of the rally.

From the inside it's very nice. From the outside it's not.

I was in Gran Canary when the World ARC was starting. Since I was not part of the rally, I had a very difficult time getting anything I needed. When asking around I would get the question "Are you part of the ARC?" With a "no" answer - the response was "Sorry, I can't do anything for you - wait two months and then get back in contact."

There are some serious concerns with rallies - mainly they run to a schedule and we all know how that works for sailing...

I'll also relate another incident that occurred directly to me. As I was also running the milk run from the Canaries to the Caribbean, I was pretty much following the same route as the World ARC boats. A couple days out from the Canaries, we ended up in a group of boats that were part of the ARC. We were keeping our eyes on the group and making sure we would keep clear of the other boats. There was one boat behind us that was a bit faster than my boat and it seemed to be following our course a bit closer than I'd like, but hey, they were coming from behind and we had many hours before we would have any serious concern. So I wasn't worried initially. But I kept my eyes on them. Early in the morning, like 1 am or something like that, they were getting way to close for comfort and we were clearly on a collision course. They were going to ram into the stern of my boat.

We call them on the VHF "This is SV Musetta calling 'boat name'. We are on a collision course, what are your intentions." No response. We page again, "This is SV Musetta calling 'boat name'. We are on a collision course, what are your intentions." We are about to make a course change when we get a groggy voice coming back, "Hey man, we are a sailboat." Seriously??? We respond, "yeah? so are we." Response - "I gotta ask the captain what I'm supposed to do." Long story short, they changed course and we didn't have a collision.

If they did have a watch person, that person had fallen asleep. Definitely less than ideal, plus the person on watch was clearly not sufficiently knowledgeable to where they should have been running as solo watch person.

Sure there are very good sailors in rallies, but there are also a number that are not. What's the old saying, one bad apple spoils the lot?

Now, is this an ignorant opinion because I wasn't part of the rally as you imply above?

dj

How do you know the boat was part of the ARC and not just another bloke sailing like yourself?

But let's say it was part of the ARC. By your logic, a sailor displays lousy seamanship skills. Sailor is in ARC. Therefore ARC is bad. Huh?

I'm lukewarm on rallies. And I have zero experience with highly organized ones like ARC. But the folks on this thread who have such visceral negative reactions just aren't helpful. Y'all have self appointed yourselves as purists and keepers of true cruising lifestyle attributes with superior seamanship skills. Just sounds snarky. Besides, doesn't answer the OPs question except that by being part of a rally, you can insulate yourself from arrogant sailors. I'll take that as a benefit to being in a rally.

[fxykty]

Rallies are generally fun and helpful for the participants, so if a particular rally floats your boat, go ahead.

But rallies are akin to a hoard of locusts in the ports they arrive at. When those ports are remote, it is often horrible. Not just for cruisers who aren’t part of the rally who happen to be there, but for the local people and communities.

The major negatives to rallies are external and don’t generally apply to more organic and grass roots rallies. Past participation in a rally, or not, has nothing to do with describing the external negative effects of rallies.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Rallies are generally fun and helpful for the participants, so if a particular rally floats your boat, go ahead.

But rallies are akin to a hoard of locusts in the ports they arrive at. When those ports are remote, it is often horrible. Not just for cruisers who aren’t part of the rally who happen to be there, but for the local people and communities.

The major negatives to rallies are external and don’t generally apply to more organic and grass roots rallies. Past participation in a rally, or not, has nothing to do with describing the external negative effects of rallies.

As mentioned above when the Baja Ha Ha fleet of up to 175 boats and up to 800 sailors arrives in Turtle Bay, a town of a couple hundred, they are greeted with welcome arms. School is closed so kids can play in the BHH sponsored Bazeball Game (loosely based on baseball). Hundreds of locals come from miles around to participate. Pangas stop fishing and go into services mode to pickup trash, sell shrimp, and provide water taxi services.

I also happened to be in Barra de Navidad for sailweek. Tons of boats show up and volunteer to take locals out sailing for the day. It's a big event and is anticipated by the town, as much as the many sportfisher tournaments that are held there each season. These are welcomed events in the communities I've been.

I certainly understand the potential to change the complexion of a town for a few days. I know of several cruisers who avoid rally destinations such as Baja Ha Ha, and several events in Zihuateneo. But passing judgement on the behalf of locals sounds a bit colonial in nature. My guess is any town could make it impossible for a large rally to arrive without agreement. Sorry if it doesn't meet with your sensibilities - you can move for a few days if it's that objectionable. But please, spare me the condescending attitude that you're protecting the locals. I'm sure there are many who aren't keen on the temporary change, but it's their country and their choice.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by dlj

. . . I'll also relate another incident that occurred directly to me. As I was also running the milk run from the Canaries to the Caribbean, I was pretty much following the same route as the World ARC boats. A couple days out from the Canaries, we ended up in a group of boats that were part of the ARC. We were keeping our eyes on the group and making sure we would keep clear of the other boats. There was one boat behind us that was a bit faster than my boat and it seemed to be following our course a bit closer than I'd like, but hey, they were coming from behind and we had many hours before we would have any serious concern. So I wasn't worried initially. But I kept my eyes on them. Early in the morning, like 1 am or something like that, they were getting way to close for comfort and we were clearly on a collision course. They were going to ram into the stern of my boat.

We call them on the VHF "This is SV Musetta calling 'boat name'. We are on a collision course, what are your intentions." No response. We page again, "This is SV Musetta calling 'boat name'. We are on a collision course, what are your intentions." We are about to make a course change when we get a groggy voice coming back, "Hey man, we are a sailboat." Seriously??? We respond, "yeah? so are we." Response - "I gotta ask the captain what I'm supposed to do." Long story short, they changed course and we didn't have a collision.

If they did have a watch person, that person had fallen asleep. Definitely less than ideal, plus the person on watch was clearly not sufficiently knowledgeable to where they should have been running as solo watch person. . .

Why in the world would that be an issue in the middle of the Atlantic? Waste of battery power calling anyone on the VHF. Course alteration would solve that in 3 seconds.


Very few sailboats crossing oceans maintain a proper watch. Once you haven't seen anything at all for days it becomes very tempting to forget about it. I think this is absolutely to be expected, and without recriminations just deal with it.


I am really anal about watchkeeping no matter how far offshore, which led to friction with some crew I had once. When we crossed the Atlantic two years ago, from Cape Verde, I had on the contrary crew which shared my views on watchkeeping and who needed no encouragement.


In fact the watchkeeping was so good that the following happened to us. Sometime at 0 dark hundred, on a pitch black overcast night, the watchstander on duty at the time roused me out of my bunk, to look at something he saw on the horizon. It was the faintest of faint lights, less than a star would have been, briefly visible then occluded for a long spell, then briefly visible, etc. Nothing on radar, but the sea was up so there was a fair amount of clutter.



We decided it could be a strobe from a liferaft, and altered course to catch it, in case we needed to help someone. We made radio calls but they were unanswered. After a few hours we got a radar target and finally realized it was the stern light of a yacht, that the sea state had been causing it to flash as the waves occluded the distant light. No distress. We passed close by. There was no one at the helm, no light on below, so I guess everyone was sleeping. They never noticed us.

[Kettlewell]

I don't think y'all realize how arrogant it sounds when negative opinions are espoused on topics for which you have no first hand knowledge. If it hasn't occured to the peanut gallery, there has not been a single negative opinion on rallies from anyone who's actually done one. All the noise comes from the bleachers. Nice. Very helpful.

This is not true if you read the thread. Many of the comments are from people who have joined rallies, and some include negative aspects concerning rallies.

In any case, the original question was:

Please share your experiences and opinions on cruising rallies!

Opinions were requested. For the record, I was a presenter at several of Steve Black's (RIP) original Caribbean 1500 rallies, and I led a rally group taking the ICW south from Hampton Roads. Plus, like some others in the thread I have encountered rallies in various places.

IMHO some rallies can be good for some people, and many seem to enjoy them, but personally, I find the negatives outweight the positives. The biggest negative I believe is that some of them encourage people to head offshore on major voyages before they have the experience needed, while at the same time providing a false sense of security by endless "safety" equipment requirements, radio nets, weather routing, etc.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

This is not true if you read the thread. Many of the comments are from people who have joined rallies, and some include negative aspects concerning rallies..

I stand corrected (sorta). One or two negative comments from actual rally participants, though one was incomprehensible so unclear what the heck he was trying to say. And at least a couple dozen folks with "never been on one but they suck." usually with some sort of holier than thou chest-thumping undertone of "I'm a real sailor and don't need no stinking rally." Does that qualify as an opinion? I guess in the broadest sense. Is it helpful for folks considering a rally make a decision? I don't see how it could but I'm sure the poster felt good banging out the words and expressing their disdain. .

[GordMay]

Q: What do you call a Cruiser, with an opinion?
A: Names.