Are Sailors Too Paranoid

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Nah.... he just anchored, it with a Don-forth...

I liked that one a lot (will send a thanks)

[Multihull]

To the dink. Not the boat.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Wth all the hundreds of sailors I have sailed with I have never seen any as paranoid as internet posters.

Those that do it just get on with it.

Much of the stuff argued here like, "What is the best knot to secure this line?" never gets discussed. If you state you know how to hank on the jib, attach the sheets and raise it you are taken at your word and dispatched to the foredeck... Until you screw it up - then you get to sit on the rail and balance the boat. When you drop the jib the only question for the skipper/owner might be, "flaked or rolled?"

If you say, "I don't know how to fly the spinnaker", someone or more will show you how.

And if your engine quits or your boat leaks no one beats you up about your subpar fuel filter or plastic through hulls. You just handle it.

And most important, I have never, ever, ever, heard anyone criticize someone's ground tackle.

Lots of armchair sailors here and this place is probably 70% entertainment.

Very well stated!

In fact I've just read a post on another forum that obviously comes from a very practical sailor. I have to copy and paste it here because it highlights the difference between using your engine and worrying about your engine...
Enjoy...


"Oil analysis is of limited value to begin with, and it is even less reliable when the oil is old. These engines are dead simple. If something is wrong, you will hear it loud and clear. CHANGE THE OIL!

When in doubt, CHANGE THE OIL!

If the engine starts and idles, it has adequate compression (it is a diesel.). If the temp and oil pressure are fine, so is the motor. There is nothing arcane about these motors. They are vastly simpler than the engine in your car - more like a lawnmower engine with multiple cylinders.

Change the oil and filters, make sure the fuel (system) is clean, and lubricate anything that moves. Check belts, hoses, the heat exchanger, impellers and anything that is not iron. Then quit worrying about it, and stop wasting money on oil analysis. If you get coolant in the oil, change the head gasket (there would be steam in the exhaust.). When the compression is inadequate for ignition, re-ring the pistons and hone the cylinders. The tolerances on these motors are silly (very crude,) The bottom half of the motor should last forever, unless you put sand in the crankcase and run it a thousand hours like that... even then, you could probably fix it with a couple of oil changes in quick succession

Relax, your engine is fine; anyone who tells you otherwise wants your money or doesn't know what they are talking about."

[captain58sailin]

In my travels, I have noticed that there is a distinct difference in attitude about what is safe / unsafe on boats with regards to equipment. Those of us whom were raised or work the northern waters seem to be a bit more paranoid than those whom were raised in southern waters.
In Alaska, going down is a very real life threatening event. For me, I double clamp everything below the water line regardless the PSI, and I use the best hose I can afford and replace any that are not 100%, engine wise, I check the oil every time before I start the engine. Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they are not out to get you.
I do my best to make sure my boat is as bullet proof as possible. Whenever, I take ownership of a new to me vessel, I go through everything, not all at once, but 1 system at a time.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by boatman61

2/ Other sailboats after a T-Bone ramming on the penultimate day of a 47 day crossing.. non stop form St Martin... by a boat with four crew on board, all down below drinking wine and muching bread and pate.. on autopilot and doing 6kts motor sailing... Tankers don't phase me but a sailboat...?

WAIT. Sailboats have the "right of way"...

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Relax, your engine is fine; anyone who tells you otherwise wants your money or doesn't know what they are talking about."

I had an old car once, due to little money, I never changed the oil. When I bought it over 100,000 miles. The engine used a little oil, so I just topped it off every few weeks. Sometimes I forgot for a few months, when the oil was too low the valve rockers started making noise, adding a quart made them go silent again. That car was still running fine when I sold it.

Since then I have been too nervous about voiding warranty to try that again, but modern oils are designed to last a lot longer, and under much harsher conditions than 3000 miles of Sunday driving.

The only thing I would be worried about in a boat oil is water in oil pan. There was a company that advertised a new type of oil filter that would make oil last a lot longer.

As long as filter is removing dirt, and large particles, and water, oil should last forever.

There was another company that made a oil filter with no core, that the filter core was a removable roll of toilet paper. When it got too dirty, you just removed it, and dropped in a new roll. You could use the old one as a fire starter or recycle. It also absorbed water. And advertised that you would change the filter more often than the oil.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

WAIT. Sailboats have the "right of way"...

I was sailing my walker bay 8 across the channel and some stupid power boat hauling containers started honking at me. Apparently he didn't know I had the right of way.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I was sailing my walker bay 8 across the channel and some stupid power boat hauling containers started honking at me. Apparently he didn't know I had the right of way.

Like what Boatman61 was saying, it's the inexperienced/unsupervised sailors out there that one has to worry about. Or too much automation where one doesn't have to closely monitor the helm and shows laxity.

Even the passengers worry me. Anymore, I don't invite anyone out that's not experienced to some degree unless it's for training (family kids). Even the wife is a guest and treated as such.

[Bash]

I've noticed that many cruisers are spooky about the large cockpits now in vogue in most lines of production boats. The mantra seems to be that "a true bluewater yacht" has to have such a small cockpit that you can sit on the high side and brace yourself on the low side, and that if it seats any more than four people it's going to carry too much water when pooped.

I used to crew on offshore races on an Andrews 53. The cockpit was at least three times the size of anything you'll see on a BeneHunteLina, and was completely open in the stern, with just a single lifeline to keep someone from being swept out. Did we consider that cockpit unsafe offshore? No way! It gave one a heck of a lot more security to be sitting in the cockpit than to be hiking out on the rail, which is where most racers cut their teeth.

I've tried to explain to the canoe-stern crowd that the cockpit on my current boat, with it's walk-thru transom, would completely drain in a fraction of the time that their's will, and that my boat is far less likely to get pooped in the first place, but there are a lot of cruisers out there who are not ready to discuss cockpits in a rational manner.

[sailorboy1]

Some people seem to think those open walk though transom somehow allows a person wash under the hem seat. Far as the wide cockpit, there's enough sitting room on mine for a a couple of people to brace against the pedestal/table assembly.

I think lots of design items came about due to other construction requirements; then the marketing people worked on spinning a story of why it was that way other than the real reason. This is how the "everyone knows it has to be this way" stories gain acceptance.

[msponer]

Originally Posted by Bash

I've tried to explain to the canoe-stern crowd that the cockpit on my current boat, with it's walk-thru transom, would completely drain in a fraction of the time that their's will, and that my boat is far less likely to get pooped in the first place, but there are a lot of cruisers out there who are not ready to discuss cockpits in a rational manner.

Cockpits? I have trouble discussing nearly anything about hull shapes in a rational manner, especially if it implies anything about seaworthiness. In cruising circles it seems to be a bigger taboo than politics... There should almost be a place on the Internet where people can talk about these things in a level headed, polite, rational way...

I agree that a fat bouyant stern will get pooped less often than a canoe and that an open-transom has a very, very large drain. But I am curious -- how often does the top of a wave clip off and roll forward into the cockpit? Not a pooping, just enough to get your feet wet. Do you also have the companionway without a bridge deck, that is open all the way down to the floor of the cockpit? I've wondered how often they have to use hatch boards to keep water from sloshing inside.

[capn_billl]

I guess a simple test would see if you're cockpit is unsafe. Just plug the drains, and get a hose. If filling up the cockpit sinks you're boat, then it's not a "blue water".

If like most boats it slowly drains, then I would say it's not a problem. A bridge step will keep you're carpets dry, as will the bottom hatch board pinned in place.

Even better, if you're boat has a large cockpit with small drains, don't turn stern to the waves.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Bash

I've tried to explain to the canoe-stern crowd that the cockpit on my current boat, with it's walk-thru transom, would completely drain in a fraction of the time that their's will, and that my boat is far less likely to get pooped in the first place, but there are a lot of cruisers out there who are not ready to discuss cockpits in a rational manner.

Speaking as one of the canoe-stern crowd I agree with you; your cockpit will definitely drain faster than mine. As for the likelihood of getting pooped, that's more dependent on the buoyancy of the stern, not whether it is open or not (although obviously an open stern tends to be lighter).

Oh hell, you're right ... but the reason I don't have one is b/c they look like power boats. There! I said it. To my eyes they just look uuuugly.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... but the reason I don't have one is b/c they look like power boats. There! I said it. To my eyes they just look uuuugly.

WOW that was just mean!

[zeehag]

dang i LOVE my big foogly formosa....she rocks! even sails decent.....

but, sailors must be paranoid, as sometimes folks are truly following ....so it isnt just imagination..LOL