What Is this Guy's Deal ?

[Madwand]

My girlfriend recently got this message from this guy privately. I have deleted some of the smarmy stuff that he wrote because I don't need any explanation of why he wrote it, but I am curious about the rest. This guy has often been quoted in this forum in regards to his posts about women going sailing. Some high ranking members here have quoted him. Now he sends this and it makes me wonder why he is trying to make my girlfriend hate sailing.

Originally Posted by User Name Removed by Moderator

Tell me, why do you want to get a sailboat, and sail away to, Never Never land?
The pictures of Islands look good. Most people want to sail off to one, and live the free life.
I spent six month in the south pacific. You can’t swim in the beautiful lagoons…more sharks than flies on a dung pile. It’s hot every day. On most of the Islands the people are poor, very poor. There is little to eat. People age fast. By the age of 25, they look 45.
The few Islands that are great are expensive, and they will take boater for all they can.
Boaters go to Mexico in groups for safety. Many who have sailed alone have been murdered at sea…their boats stripped of all gear that can be sold. A husband and wife off the coast of Florida were boarded. The men chained the two together with anchor chain, and threw them overboard alive.
There are not many countries Americans can’t sail to…they don’t like us.
Don’t believe all the stories you read on the forum. Most of the members have never went green water. Those who have don’t do it full time. It’s hard on the body, and takes a boat apart fast. If you have a boat in a marina, it cost money just to keep it up…even if you don’t use it. There is a saying you may not have heard yet, “A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.”
Learn to sail. Learn to navigate. Learn to maintain your boat. Sail off to Never Never land…but don’t make it a full time life style. It will end badly.
You should get a subscription to Latitude 38. Latitude 38 - The West's Leading Sailing and Marine Magazine
Deep water, and local sailors around the world read this. You can learn much from it...the good and the bad. There is freedom in having your own sailboat. Like all freedoms, it comes with a price. Don't sail off into the unknown not knowing what the price will be. You set the price, and don't go over it.

This sounds like a guy who hates the water or is very scared of it. He has nothing whatsoever good to say about women sailing here. Why would anyone want to sail anywhere with all the negative things he promises here? She came on here looking for advice about preparing for her future with me on a boat (years from now) and this guy starts PMing her with all this doom and gloom. I've never read anywhere about so many sharks in the south Pacific you can't go in the water. You can't get food in the south Pacific? News to me. I haven't heard of any Americans starving there. She's going to age 25 years if she visits or lives in Tahiti?

Mexico is now unsafe for American sailors? All I've heard about Mexico is that it's dangerous in the U.S./Mx border towns where the drug runners are getting hassled. People are being murdered off the coast of Florida now?? This is horrible. Has the Coast Guard been notified? There are not many countries Americans can’t sail to. I am assuming his use of a double negative here was due to his ignorance, but it's news to me that we can't sail anywhere now. Most of you people posting on this forum know nothing because all you do is live in marinas.

According to this quotable guy, sailing as a full time life style will end badly. How come I never see anyone else saying this on here? You people quote him as a reputable source. Other than his deleted parts sounding like he was hitting on her, the remaining drivel is entirely contradictory to everything I have ever read on this forum, except that people quote him as an excellent source of knowledge.

Anyone got any explanations for this? She had sense enough to question his motives and he stopped, but I wonder why anyone would quote him? This message from him made her very uncomfortable and to me, seemed very inappropriate. I know sailors are not like this generally, but what the hell?

[stillbuilding]

Just having a bad day. Happens to the best I guess.

[Madwand]

I doubt it. Too much drama for that.

[Starbuck]

Have you requested him to stop PMing you, or talked to the moderators about this? You don't mention those responses, but those two things pop into my head as my probable first actions.

[Madwand]

Originally Posted by Madwand

She had sense enough to question his motives and he stopped,

I said she did. I did mention those responses.

[pillum]

Just another s#*t for brains having a bad hair day... Block him or get the mods to block him from sending to you or your SO. Rather cowardly to PM your SO instead of speaking out loud, says a lot about him.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Madwand

. . . Anyone got any explanations for this? She had sense enough to question his motives and he stopped, but I wonder why anyone would quote him? This message from him made her very uncomfortable and to me, seemed very inappropriate. I know sailors are not like this generally, but what the hell?

Remember that any forum on the internet is anonymous and the actual identity, age, gender, experiences and motives of the person are unknown and not verifiable. The huge majority of full time cruisers are NOT on this or any other forum - they are out there cruising. What you have is a small group of former full time cruisers and some who are waiting out the storm season and then a huge number of pretend or wannabe cruisers sitting behind computers in their land homes pretending.
- - "Quoting" is usually done to extract some point or idea that may either be valid or totally out in left field. Even an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite amount of time can end up writing Shakespeare - or so it is said.
- - So your girlfriend did what was wise and cut him off - but let her know that in any arena of endeavors there exists an extremely wide variety of opinions and supposed "truths" to satisfy whatever the reader wants to hear. Always apply your own common sense to any opinions/advice anybody on the internet gives you. In most cases it worth what you paid for it - nothing.

[Randyonr3]

Facts are, it is a rough life, but more often than not, the good weighs out far better than the bad......
And we dont often talk about the bad, and really dont want to remember it..
Its like that 3 am sail change, cold as hell, and raining, the type of cold that hurts all the way to the bone, and the only relief is a hot shower.. and any one that has cruised the Northern lattitudes has seen or been part of..
But when the warmth of the sun rises in the morning, or just the sight of that glow cumming up over the horrizon, its all forgotton........
The truth is its tough and many on this forum try to sugar coat it..
Many here expect cruising to be an extended type of life they had durring a weekend sail and its not.........
we all joke around about the example of cruising being "Repairing Your Boat In Exotic Ports" but its true..
Uasally the reason for setting in an anchorage for any length of time is because we are waiting for parts.. and the good times we remember are associated with that.. ( remember the season we spent in the San Juan Islands) because we were waiting for a new motor for the windless.. Or (we had such a great time in Astoria walking the streets) waiting for the new gooseneck to arrive..
But its our nature to see the good in everything..
what he is saying is probably true, but you have to look beyond the bad to see the good in our travels.........
As for the money being spent on boats...... Our boat cost origionally was 100K.. the first fit was all the electronics and auto helm.. think we dumped another 50K in it.....three years later it was another 40 to 50K in new sails and refrig .. a year after that we bought new solar and wind generator, new interior, new bimini and dodger out of 1 1/4 inch tubing and we're now on our second bottom job.. This year its a complete rework of the interior, and going through the perkins.. we'll dump another 20K and by the time we head out next year, we'll need new sails again as its been over 10 years on this set............
over the last 10 years, our hole in the water has cost us about 400K but we sure do love cruising, or at least the good parts..........

[Hillbillylad]

Well that looks like all my hopes and dreams buggered then. I was planning to sail off to the Caribbean to die in peace. Didn't realise I'd be killed before I got there by murderers in Florida or sharks. Bummer....anyone want a cheap boat, I'm going back to hiding in my shack, it's safer.

[daddle]

Heh. He is 100% incorrect. After 7 years in the Pacific islands, and Mexico, the boat, I, and the friends look and perform great. Life is nearly perfect out here. All that's needed is some spirit, optimism, character and a small income.

[Ishmael]

Explanation? I'm guessing it's the rantings of one lonely, disillusioned soon-to-be former cruiser sitting in front of his laptop at the nav station with lots of empty beer cans all around him.

[Adamante]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Even an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite amount of time can end up writing Shakespeare -

No, this has been thoroughly disproved, as witnessed by the creation and use of internet discussion groups.

[Khagan1227]

Life on a boat isn't always 'perfect', nor is anything else in life, somethings are harder than others, but the rewards can make up for every little hardship.

My sons and I recently climbed Mt. Elbert in Colorado, we prepared for weeks for the climb and the expected altitude sickness and when the day came, we climbed and made it to the top even after an unplanned 4 mile detour. When I finally got to the top and looked around I choked up because the view was unbelievably beautiful. Weeks of preparation and we stayed less than a hour, but those few minutes were worth every step.

I think I2F has the tag line: SAILING is not always a slick magazine cover! The days that sailing IS a slick magazine cover far outnumber those that aren't!

[Madwand]

I agree. Everyone knows it's a hard life, and that's what attracts most people to it that do enjoy it. It just bothers me to see people defend this guy's attitude when it's obvious he hates everything about sailing. There was nothing positive in his message.

No one has yet addressed the questions I asked about the malicious things he has said about the sailing lifestyle. Yes, several people have made the point that he is bitter, but nobody has demonstrated that it is safe to sail in Florida, or Mexico, or any other country in the world where they all hate us. I think if you are going to quote someone as an expert, you shouldn't do it on the basis that they may be right if the planets align correctly once in a while. You might want to do it based on the fact that they occasionally post something worth reading or that they sometimes post things that apply to more than two people or a gaggle of monkeys. I still respect the person who quoted this buffoon, but you'd think at some point you'd realize it was a mistake.

[pillum]

Take it easy Madwand, the guy may have been drunk, was apparently bitter, and definitely out of line, but you cannot ostracize him from the forum on other peoples behalf. Blocking him from contacting you and yours is your right, others CF users appear to be generally sympathetic, as am I, but you have no rights to insist on others feeling the same way as you.