Wisdom of the Seas

[captain58sailin]

Hey Newt, there are many good insights here, I'll throw what little I know into the pot, you will have to pull out what you deem as valuable for yourself. The sea is equally fierce to rich and poor alike, she doesn't care who you think you are in the world. She can make you feel how truly insignificant you are. Eliminate as many of the variables as possible. Your situational awareness is your greatest ally. Never say I can't. Always ask, how can I? When checking the rigging, pee to the lee. Oh and you can never have too many spares.

[goboatingnow]

do not ignore strange noises.

Dave

[Capt Phil]

Reading through these last few posts, a saying that one of my early mentors close to 60 years ago, often used came to mind... 'The wind is your friend'.
Teaching a newby how to dock his brand new powerboat last year, I used the saying frequently as he was learning to tie up in a cross wind slip. It wan't until a couple of months later he gave me call at home late one evening and said... 'now I know what you were talking about when you told me... 'the wind is my friend'.
It took that long for him to understand that you need to use the wind just as you need to use wave action, tides, currents and set to help you on your passages, picking up a mooring or landing at a dock. He is a smart guy (cardiologist) but sometimes it takes a bit of time for something to sink in as I'm sure Jackdale knows being a professional instructor. He had soloed bringing his boat in several times but never made the connection of how to use the crosswind to help him into his slip.
A year later he has turned into a reasonably competent boat driver but as he says... 'still learning'.
One of the most engaging things about the sea is that we are all learning and continue to do so until we die. If we don't, we just die sooner, that's all. Phil

[foolishsailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I guess what I'm saying is that the whole "man against nature" idea is for short-lived idiots.

Thank you!

My whole early sailing career was based on this supposed ideal of me against the sea. Then decades later I bring my young family along and realise how foolish this was and how lucky I must have been to not have been taken by the sea.

As Bash also said, Humility is the thing I have learned and sadly only relatively recently in the last 5 years. Humility is not about fear but about respect and I think many sailors egos prevent them from recognising this fragile boundary.

Sometimes when one feels fearful they respond with bravado, machismo and foolishness. When one feels respect for the overwhelming inescapable power of the sea and understands you can't play chicken with her then you plan and act accordingly.

Brave fools are taken by the sea, meek planners cross oceans. Being meek in the face of an elemental is hard for some.

[captain58sailin]

"There are old sailors and there are bold sailors, there are no old, bold sailors."

[jackdale]

Do not drive over birds standing in the water.

[Butler]

Hey Newt... great post appreciate it!

Like Z's little voice. Every time I ignore mine I get into trouble.

The climber Ed Viestrus, also known a s "steady Ed" has bagged all the major peaks in the world w/o oxygen and he is the first one to turn back on a climb if he didn't like "the smell" of it. That sort of things encourages me when I get razzed because I often cut more extended trips away from the marina because I recognize potential safety issues... like the lack of a preventer etc etc. In my case I have learned that turning an old, neglected boat into the safest possible cruising platform is an exercise in patience.

I read a lot of older sailing books, I have found the Hiscocks books have been a good source of sometimes forgotten equipment tips related to safety. As a younger sailir I learned about heaving to and "prevangs" from early editions of Royces Sailing Illustrated. Something I've always appreciated about the Pardees was how they have and continue tonadvocte for traditional ideas for safety that have nearly been forgotten because of boat design changes or advances in materials etc. .

BTW, does anyone here ever wear a helmet in rough weather?

[tamicatana]

surprised at myself for not saying this earlier:

"Never approach a dock at a speed greater than you're willing to hit it."

[captain58sailin]

I don't, but my Father always said I was hard headed.

[s/v Beth]

Keep it coming! I think I am going to get all the one liners at the end of this thread and publish them for everyone that contributed, so we can all print them off and keep them at the nav station. So tell me, if you want to give a piece of advice you learned to a future navigator of Beth, what would it be?

[Snore]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Keep it coming! I think I am going to get all the one liners at the end of this thread and publish them for everyone that contributed, so we can all print them off and keep them at the nav station. So tell me, if you want to give a piece of advice you learned to a future navigator of Beth, what would it be?

While it is not politically correct in the 21st Century, in the 60's my late Dad and I had a difference of opinion on something- the facts are not relevant. Millimeters from my nose he said, "I may be 'foolish' to you right now, but the older you get the smarter I will be."



Son of a gun, even after his passing he is still getting smarter.

I have used a similar line with my now grown children during their teenage years. Both laugh at it now and see the wisdom of their grandfather's words.

[Coops]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Keep it coming! I think I am going to get all the one liners at the end of this thread and publish them for everyone that contributed, so we can all print them off and keep them at the nav station. So tell me, if you want to give a piece of advice you learned to a future navigator of Beth, what would it be?

Whatever comes along, make the best of it.

Coops.

[flagorio]

My dad frequently quoted Leviticus:

He that knoweth not and knoweth that he knoweth not, verily, knoweth not"

He frequently would reach over and kill the engine at a critical point or whenever we would return to the marina, and say well hotshot, you just lost your engine, now what are you gonna do?
Or he would let the boom go so you would get knocked on your ass. It taught me to focus and pay attention. It also pissed off some of dock masters because we would tack all the way to our slip.
Now I sit there at times and say to myself what is your backup plan if such and such happens.
Last year while leaving Annapolis, my engine quit, I had the sails and the anchor ready to deploy as a result of Dad's constant training. I wound up sailing to the Haulout.
I always have a backup to the backup.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

So tell me, if you want to give a piece of advice you learned to a future navigator of Beth, what would it be?

A picture worth 1000 words. Check the label on the chartplotter on a Canadian Coast Guard cutter.

[captain58sailin]

Oh amen! And don't forget to look out the window. "Plan for the worst, and hope for the best." I personally hate that one, but it is pretty good advice. At the risk of being called ego centric, I like my signature, mostly because I came up with it myself. Excuse me now, while I go put a cast on my arm for patting myself on the back.