The Evolution of Cruisers

[Delancey]

I think technology is great for people who want to be dependent on it, not sure why someone who would want to be dependent on technology would also eschew having a monkey on board when the cost of the monkey is peanuts compared to the technology.

In my experience technology breaks, but monkeys tend not to and at least they come with the benefit of usually being able to smell the direction the land is coming from better than broken technology can.

I think it is great that technology has opened up the worlds ocean to a less skillful lot, but that in no way means the worlds cruisers of today are better sailors than generations past.

If anything, given the fact that crossing an ocean is so easy anyone can do it (sorry Eric, someone else's words) than all that means is that the overall skill level has been diluted.

I am not sure how that translates into being a good thing other than making sailing more accessible and less exclusive for people with no skills.

For a number of years I crewed on a boat in a very competitive offshore one design fleet. The boat that was consistently the boat to beat was the one that didn't have any wind instruments other than a windex, no wind speed, no wind direction, no COG, no VMG.

I believe all they had for instruments was boat speed, depth, a compass, Mk1 P.O.R.T.S., and the hair on the back of their necks and they kicked everyone's asses.

I also remember back during Gulf War I when they shut down accuracy on GPS to fight a war, good thing that will never happen again. Ha!

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Delancey

I think technology is great for people who want to be dependent on it, not sure why someone who would want to be dependent on technology would also eschew having a monkey on board when the cost of the monkey is peanuts compared to the technology.

In my experience technology breaks, but monkeys tend not to and at least they come with the benefit of usually being able to smell the direction the land is coming from better than broken technology can.

I think it is great that technology has opened up the worlds ocean to a less skillful lot, but that in no way means the worlds cruisers of today are better sailors than generations past.

If anything, given the fact that crossing an ocean is so easy anyone can do it (sorry Eric, someone else's words) than all that means is that the overall skill level has been diluted.

I am not sure how that translates into being a good thing other than making sailing more accessible and less exclusive for people with no skills.

For a number of years I crewed on a boat in a very competitive offshore one design fleet of about 35 boats. The boat that was consistently the boat to beat was the one that didn't have any wind instruments other than a windex, no wind speed, no wind direction, no COG, no VMG, just Mk1 P.O.R.T.S. and the hair on the back of their necks and they kicked everyone's asses.

I also remember back during Gulf War I when they shut down accuracy on GPS to fight a war, good thing that will never happen again. Ha!

i must warn you having a monkey onboard is not a good idea!

i have actually made that mistake TWICE,something i rarely do

the first occasion was my brothers lemur that i offered to look after for a few hours....... at the time i was working outside on the boat and had left it tied to the backstay with a clove hitch.

next time i looked it was half way up the backstay, the clove hitch had tightened up and the bugger was stuck about 30 ft up......going up the backstay to retrieve it was not fun..........

next time was in cartegena columbia,one of the local yachts had a marmosette,and had asked if we could look after it for a few days whilst he was away..........boy what a mess such a small creature can make,and what a noise they can make if you put them back in their cage.......never again!

what this has to do with evoloution i dont know,but thought i would mention it as i have 5 minutes spare before my welder gets back from lunch

[Delancey]

Naughty monkey!

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by oceannavigator

If transoceanic, the wind/current will get you there no matter what you do, assuming you chose the normal crossing routes. You have at the least a compass built into the boat as well as the rising and setting sun. Going east or west will get you across.

I want to watch you try that in the Pacific navigating through the Tuamotus into Tahiti from the normal travel route of the Marquesas.

The rising, LON, and setting sun is never due E/W, and making way @ night doesn't give you anything but beautiful stars.

Compass? Hopefully. I still want to know where I am lat/lon. I love my GPS's too. Named them Mr Jolly and Humpty the Elephant.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by atoll

what this has to do with evoloution i dont know,but thought i would mention it as i have 5 minutes spare before my welder gets back from lunch

Want me to weld? MIG? TIG? I can do it fer ya. Wherez are my peanuts?

I am SaltyMonkey

[Delancey]

Bet you five dollars that if you give monkey a bit of wood and a string he can tell you how fast your boat is going. Any takers?

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Delancey

Bet you five dollars that if you give monkey a bit of wood and a string he can tell you how fast your boat is going. Any takers?

Easy. Tie wood to string. Tie string to bow. SaltyMonkey put feet on wood. Jump into water. YAY!

one one thousand
two one thousand
…lala

When SaltyMonkey reaches stern:

meters per second = boat length in meters / number of thousands

(meters per second * 3600) * (1 / 5556) = Nmh.

Oh…how monkey get back on boat???

[atoll]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Want me to weld? MIG? TIG? I can do it fer ya. Wherez are my peanuts?

I am SaltyMonkey

i will send you the bits to be tig welded by coconut telegraph

clean out of peanuts,will bananas suffice

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by atoll

i will send you the bits to be tig welded by coconut telegraph

clean out of peanuts,will bananas suffice

Cool. Here is a mast I did for a job once. Client didn't want any rake. Nice job no?

[atoll]

nice job is that a coconut at the top.........

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by atoll

nice job is that a coconut at the top.........

Oh yes. Coconuts are good anti-lightning devices. Nebber seen a coconut fried.

Mast awesome! No shrouds or stays! AWESOME!

Telescopic! SaltyMonkey's reefing invention!

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Delancey

,....I think it is great that technology has opened up the worlds ocean to a less skillful lot, but that in no way means the worlds cruisers of today are better sailors than generations past.

Never meant this to be a pissing contest between old and new but more about changes we have observed like Ann saying that rowing tenders were popular before.

Tighter Time management on passage planing is another development that we have taken onboard.

I miss the old excuses of unknown weather predictions and cocked hat navigation to be able to tell guests that..."we get there when we get there"

Our expectations are so much higher these days that I wonder if that has cost us some humility

[Mike OReilly]

I've been enjoying this thread (even the monkey tangent), although I'm not sure I have the right to contribute, since I've not been a full-timer yet. (Barreling ahead anyway...) I feel I have one foot firmly planted in each camp. My boat, my nature, my experience, and perhaps my budget, generally pushes me towards lower-tech solutions . But I'm also very appreciative of my GPS (handheld), my iThingies, and my new inflatable sea kayaks. I still row around in anchorages (in my high-tech portobote), still prefer my manual windlass, and know how to live without refrigeration and A/C. I like doing traditional navigation, but have not yet mastered celestial. I use our windvane for most of our self-steering, but also have an electric auto now for when the wind dies. So I swing both ways on some measurable items.

I wonder though, if the biggest change in cruising has nothing to do with technology and skills, but in time and cultural space. Most people in the western world -- especially here in North America -- are working harder and longer, with less time off and in most cases, less real income. People have less freedom to take a few years off and just go. Those that do, are under tighter time and financial constraints.

In addition, we increasingly live in a world driven by fear. We insulate ourselves with safety gear of all sorts, we wrap ourselves in insurance policies and laws to keep out the riffraff. And we fret about pensions, resale value and health insurance. We worry about getting robbed, raped or murdered so we go with alarm systems and guns. All this leads to a loss of freedom.

I'm just blowing smoke, but I wonder if the diminishment of real freedom is the most important change that has happened over the years.

[oceannavigator]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Never meant this to be a pissing contest between old and new but more about changes we have observed like Ann saying that rowing tenders were popular before.

Tighter Time management on passage planing is another development that we have taken onboard.

I miss the old excuses of unknown weather predictions and cocked hat navigation to be able to tell guests that..."we get there when we get there"

Our expectations are so much higher these days that I wonder if that has cost us some humility

Exactly. People seem to have changed as much or more thaan cruising.

Also, the reason nobody rows anymore in the popular areas is you can't. You can't even anchor in the harbor because it's filled with moorings. So, you need to anchor 3 miles away, requiring a motor to get to shore.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Easy. Tie wood to string. Tie string to bow. SaltyMonkey put feet on wood. Jump into water. YAY!

one one thousand
two one thousand
…lala

When SaltyMonkey reaches stern:

meters per second = boat length in meters / number of thousands

(meters per second * 3600) * (1 / 5556) = Nmh.

Oh…how monkey get back on boat???

you don't, just need a few more monkeys