Fear and The Cruising Sailor

[Sailndive345]

No kidding!... I feel so much braver now

Thanks gents!

[mesquaukee]

Those with only one filter have now learned to FEAR.

[Stillraining]

Very nice indeed Christian...I am in the single filter crowd love your set up and would do it myself unfortunately I have no room for another.......But I did have my tanks physically scrubbed so alas I fear not ..........................................yet.

Now I have not experienced the heavy swells some of you have so I have a lot to learn about this phenomena of tank gunk getting sucked up and plugging filters...but Im long in the tooth with off highway equipment and its associated tanks sloshing around..it does very with each individual piece of equipment as to its susceptibility to get moisture in the tanks for whatever reasons... but I just went outside and took a picture of my services trucks 80 gallon bulk tanks filter...A rough calculation I made would put over 9000 gallons through this filter in the past 2 years since last time I either changed the filter or drained the bowel...

This has been sort of an experiment for me since I joined these sailing forums a couple years ago as there was so much concern and or worry flying around as to the filtering of fuel for our engines. I wanted to see just how much stuff over a couple year period there really does develop.

This tank sits in the sun so it heats up during the day and cools off at night just as a boat tank would with a return line...it sits at varying fullness from bone dry to plumb full so there is plenty of chance for condensation....this is a mild steel tank and it appears most of the contaminats in the bowl is rust particals.

I have never drained or cleaned the tank in the 20 years I have owned it...the pick up tube sits 1/2" off the bottom of the tank and am hardly ever at the same incline when dispensing fuel...Some times a month or better will go by without adding or taking out any fuel.

So can someone please explain this seemingly far greater concern you all have for clogged filters and rather your adequately filtering fuel then I see warranted?

BTW.. That fuel is actually crystal clear... the plastic filter housing is oxidized from the sun.

[mesquaukee]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

A rough calculation I made would put over 9000 gallons through this filter in the past 2 years since last time I either changed the filter or drained the bowel...

I have never drained or cleaned the tank in the 20 years I have owned it...

So can someone please explain this seemingly far greater concern you all have for clogged filters and rather your adequately filtering fuel then I see warranted?

Algae (blue mold) is the concern. Algae grows in warm diesel that has some water in it.
It grows relatively slowly so you will only have a problem with it if you have a very low turnover of fuel.
The tank temperature in the tropics is 80-95 F encourages a faster growth rate compared to 35-75 F in Puget Sound
4500 gal/year through a 80 gal tank at 55F (approx. 1 tank change/week will never allow any algae to grow)
in comparison to fuel sitting in a tank at 90F for 6 months........

[jmd063]

Being a former police officer, I almost got a tattoo that would have read; "I go where you fear to go. I see what you fear to see. I do what you fear to do. All this I do for you." I thought this would personify the work I so proudly did. In my need to find my simple and happy life amongst those who sail, and after reading this thread...I see now that my proud statement is just a statement to perpetuate fear within our society. Still proud, but glad I didn't get that tattoo now.

And just a thought. Even the greatest world class atheletes dont have the strength to do the work needed to make the 4 hour erection even worth having.

[bobfnbw]

LOL... ______________> a 4 hour erection is a medical emergency.... almost.

Once had a young guy as a patient with priapism, he too thought is was cool, for a while.

And JM, that tattoo could be used by a nurse, doctor, Emt, dentist, actually a lot of professions. And it would have taken up a lot of real estate on you arm...

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by jmd063

Still proud, but glad I didn't get that tattoo now.

I think it's cool that you made that connection. Everything your tatoo stated is true, and we cannot thank you enough for it. You can make a difference as a police officer. Often you must lead by example.

As for fuel, Sailors have good reason to fear their fuel systems. I have personally been aboard a boat (lobster boat) coming up on an an inlet in 6 - 8 foot breaking seas and had the engine die from the motion stirring up the tank. Wasn't my boat, but you wouldn't believe how incredibly helpful you become when you are dead in the water and drifting down on jetties while changing and bleeding the boats only fuel filter. I was incredibly helpful while periodically heaving my lunch over the side from hanging upside down and handing tools to the owners, who I was none too happy with. On my boat I just flip two levers...

[bcguy]

Very Good!!! ¨(I'd rather die at 39, sailing or skiing or riding my motorcycle than at 93, after spending a life parked in front of the TV. )

To which I would add that one does not have to be in jail to be a prisoner...

As for fear out there... Semper Paratus

And... semper ubi sub ubi (always wear underwear)

[John A]

Originally Posted by bcguy

Very Good!!! ¨(I'd rather die at 39, sailing or skiing or riding my motorcycle than at 93, after spending a life parked in front of the TV. )

To which I would add that one does not have to be in jail to be a prisoner...

As for fear out there... Semper Paratus

And... semper ubi sub ubi (always wear underwear)

Be very careful what you wish for!

I had a very good friend who expressed the same view you just did. He died that evening. That was in 1964. His wife and daughter, and I still miss him.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by mesquaukee

Algae (blue mold) is the concern. Algae grows in warm diesel that has some water in it.
It grows relatively slowly so you will only have a problem with it if you have a very low turnover of fuel.
The tank temperature in the tropics is 80-95 F encourages a faster growth rate compared to 35-75 F in Puget Sound
4500 gal/year through a 80 gal tank at 55F (approx. 1 tank change/week will never allow any algae to grow)
in comparison to fuel sitting in a tank at 90F for 6 months........

Fair enough....I will except the greater knowledge bank on this topic over what my limited experience has taught me..I did have one case of bugs in fuel years ago...

I converted a fertilizer tanker over to a fuel truck..it developed a thick nasty sludge in the bottom of the tank that was the consistency of snot...I attributed that to the residual "food" nitrogen and phosphorous and whatever else was on the tank surfaces...if that is the stuff you all get growing in your tanks I see the concern..

We never got it growing in any of the other equipments tanks even though we transferred thousands of gallons of fuel from it to them ..so I naturally had some data however limited it might be to back up my own theory about it.

As they say we are never through learning....I will try and figure out a way to wiggle in a copy of your system Christian..you do mighty fine work by the way.

On a side note...I have two other experiments going on around here involving diesel engines and diesel fuel....this summer I hope to make a short video of the findings and an actual filming of a go no go test situation...the second still needs 3 more years to mature till test day...Hey!.. I have my own 1000 days!!..woo hoo!!..

I am not Fearful and I will persevere.....

[AK_sailor]

This is a very interesting thread. Leaving aside for the moment the very interesting topic of fuel filters (which probably deserves its own thread) and getting back to the topic of fear.

Some fear is a good thing (it keeps us alive), but too much fear is paralyzing and keeps us from tasting life. How to achieve that balance is the question. The answer is not simple, and obviously varies from person to person.

Originally Posted by Stillraining

.. But I still do not wish to drown and leave my family in a pickle though so I take precautions.

Secondly I believe fear is strongly coupled to 2 other emotions .. the first is how deeply you truly love others over yourself ...and secondly how loved and needed you feel by others.

Stillraining raises several good points. To live life on the couch, engaging only in vicarious adventure is in a real sense wasting life. Yet to some extent "fearlessness" can also be very selfish. While it may be good to die doing what you love, your premature death can be a terrible thing to impose on those we love. I think the emotional pain our death inflicts on others can be far more devastating than the mere financial burdens they are left with.

Towards the end of my mediocre technical climbing career, I found myself dangling on the rope after falling down into a crevasse. Falling in a crevasse is never trivial, but for a variety of reasons this situation was even more dangerous than usual. Even now, years later, I remember not so much being afraid of death (though I certainly was), but feeling very sad that I might not be able to help my daughter grow up.

Somewhere between blind fearlessness and total timidness there is the Goldilocks point..."just right!" I still search for proper course heading to reach that point.

Originally Posted by Stillraining

..
I rest my case with this video...He has amassed a skill vastly superior to most of the climbing fraternity and one can only marvel at his abilities..but his life means nothing to him and his accumulated successes and skill has become even more food to through caution to the wind..
......
FWIW I admire his accomplishments if there was any bout in your mind..I will not however be taken by surprise to learn of his death..and it will not be able to be called premature.

YouTube - Dan Osman - Speed rock climbing

FYI, Dan Osman died in 1998, while "rope jumping" from a cliff in Yosemite. Rope jumping is when people tie themselves into a slack climbing rope and jump off a cliff, relying on the elasticity of the rope to catch them.

A very good read, which explores these issues from personal experience, it the book "On the Ridge Between Life And Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined", by David Roberts. Roberts is a well known climber, whose ealier book "The Mountain of My Fear" is a classic.

[barnakiel]

My two cents on fear:

There is the fear that we get from the family, church, government, etc.. Most people fear, so it is a great control toll for those who (want to) control us. But when get away from the Babylon and go cruising this is also the 'easier' of of the fears to get rid off. At least for the time we are out cruising.

The other fear is like when we know we will get the cancer anyway and we live all our life just waiting for it. And then we die in a car crash. This is, to me, the fear that is difficult to get rid of but once cruising life is taken up and one gets to thinking about such things then it does happen (to me) to live days and months without really fearing such things all that much.

Finally, there is the fear of the huge wave approaching damn sure to hit the boat. Sort of like in a street fight, you know you are just about to get hurt. This kind of fear I cannot manage. I do not experience it all that much but I believe animals too feel this way so maybe it is just beyond human reach just like it is beyond my reach to try and keep away from boats.

b.

[barnakiel]

On the second thought I think fear is over-marketed.

[hummingway]

lol. Over marketed indeed but it has survived in our genes for a reason ... there are times it keeps us alive. I would like to live to be 93 and have many stories to tell.

[DesertMermaid]

Last night I saw 2012.
It's like eating a 1lb. box of chocolates to "get over" a chocolate craving.

I sort of emerged convinced that everything is potentially a stage for catastrophe, and for me, the ocean would be as good a curtain close as any (maybe better).

I work at a university in a state that is going bankrupt. The fear, uncertainty, and sense of impending doom is palpable on campus. I increasingly spend time encouraging students and colleagues to not buy in to the fear, and to "let not your heart be troubled." The truth is that my generation has not really experienced horrible times. That may be changing.

For those of you that live on the sea, and occasionally deal with fear - the land is not exhibiting many opportunities to feel comforted these days.

I believe this is an opportunity, and maybe an invitation to develop a closer relationship with God. It's about time. There have been times lately when I've felt like asking Washington D.C. why they aren't donning sackcloth and ashes, and throwing themselves before the altar of God.

My hope is that as with other generations, we will emerge stronger, and better.