Thunderstorm While Coastal Cruising. What do you do?

[Coops]

Originally Posted by Snore

Great idea! Whoever starts a thread should have the ability to close it as there gets to be a point where the BS factor goes out of control..... This post may be one of them :>)

Great in theory, but, the OP could simply close it because it was not going their way, or somebody posted in it that they did not like etc. You have the button that you need already. It's called a report button. The mods read all reports and then we decide what to do with it for the good of the forum, not for an individual's personal gain.

Coops.

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=advocate777;1265850] Gen'l Custer had no fear but others who looked to him for leadership died as a result of his 'courage'. QUOTE]

Actually... Custer was a arrogant fool with an ego bigger than the man...

[sailorboy1]

so confused what does Custer have to do with sailing in storm?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Don L

so confused what does Custer have to do with sailing in storm?

Just another idiot who bucked the odds... and came unstuck

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Don L

so confused what does Custer have to do with sailing in storm?

Well, the OP said this:

" simply say:
to have courage is not the absence of fear- it is persevering through the fear and completing the task. Fear is minimized with experience and knowledge. Those who have no fear are not showing courage because there is no courage in the absence of fear. Those who truly feel no fear, even when prudence or reasonable caution is appropriate either have a schizoid/sociopath personality disorder(they don't feel anything except numb or angry), are clinically depressed and don't care anymore, or are drunk and alone. Gen'l Custer had no fear but others who looked to him for leadership died as a result of his 'courage'. Give me a prudent captain to follow anyday either in war or in peacetime."


A bit flowery (maybe he was posting a bit into his cups?) but perceptive and essentially correct.

Fear of storms is one of the main themes running through this thread.

Irrational fear is not the same as prudence.

And fearlessness is not the same as courage.

You will never know the difference in any given situation unless you learn and understand what you are dealing with. Experience is not enough (although it helps a lot, obviously). You have to have a curious mind capable of observation, and open to learning, and not just your own nonsensical preconceptions.


On this point, I loved Raku's story about her friend who refused to learn how to tack her sailboat.

[Group9]

It's just amazing that any of us are still alive.

[mikepmtl]

Originally Posted by Coops

Great in theory, but, the OP could simply close it because it was not going their way, or somebody posted in it that they did not like etc. You have the button that you need already. It's called a report button. The mods read all reports and then we decide what to do with it for the good of the forum, not for an individual's personal gain.

Coops.

That's completely a different thing. I don't want big brother to be judge and make a ruling. I am talking about letting the people that are active in the thread decided when it should be closed and possibly promote some of the posts as being top answers and for that thread and have those move o the top.

That way when you search for things you are not looking through 100's of posts to get the answer you want.

[advocate777]

From the OP
I don't know how to 'close' a thread or even why I would want to as its none of my business to control others who want to post- at any rate- I had my questions answered -thanks all- bye

[Adventurebound]

Originally Posted by Group9

It's just amazing that any of us are still alive.

Staying alive for a short time is usuallly luck; staying alive for a long time is planning.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

... On this point, I loved Raku's story about her friend who refused to learn how to tack her sailboat.

All Raku's stories are loveable! Her blog is quite authoritative, as well.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Adventurebound

Staying alive for a short time is usuallly luck; staying alive for a long time is planning.

Luck is what actually keeps most of us alive. Planning is what we are sure kept us alive.

Human beings need that sense of being in control of their destiny. At 55, and having outlived many of my compatriots, I know better now.

[carstenb]

stuffing points into Vigors black box doesn't hurt either

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

All Raku's stories are loveable! Her blog is quite authoritative, as well.

And yet we all know that my posts irritate you, and that my blog isn't intended to be authorative, and is written for beginning sailors to fill in gaps that aren't filled by that first six-week sailing class, with the full knowledge that there is much more to learn than what I'm saying. People who have looked at the blog know that I often provide sources for learning more and actively encourage people to keep learning. My blog is a drop in the bucket and any sensible person knows that.

Mybe you think newer sailors shouldn't be told that freighters can't stray out of their navigation channel in Tampa Bay, or told that they move very fast, or that the freighter has the right of way? Maybe you would say different things. By all means, then, go start your own blog for newer sailors.

Maybe they should not have the incredible variation of water depth explained to them. Just let them run aground. The fact that they've been driving on carefully graded highways all their lives and imagine gently sloping bottoms under all circumstances -- oh well. They'll learn the hard way, and maybe their boats won't be damaged.

Maybe they shouldn't hear the pros and cons of chart plotters.

I would urge all posters here to try to resist the temptation to target one person on the forum for ridicule. It usually backfires. I have never represented myself as an "authority" and would appreciate it if you did not either.

[Rakuflames]

We had a most amazing thunderstorm in the Tampa Bay area last night. I missed most of it, being in a large building on the edge of the storm but drove into the tail end of it on my way home. since Florida is so flat, I had a good view much of the time of the incredible cloud-to-ground lightning. I found out afterards that there were tornado warnings in the vicinity where I was driving. Several funnel clouds (tornadoes that have not yet touched down) and at least one waterspout were spotted in the county to the north of me. I don't know what the wind was like, but it was an interesting lesson in why this area is considered one of the highest lightning zones in the world. This storm was at night, and one would not have been able to use coastal (visual) navigation in the heart of that storm. So I'm going to repeat a suggestion I've made before. If you're a newer sailor and using a chart plotter, get your lat and long off the chart plotter and put it on your chart so if it goes out, you have accurate data about where you've been, how fast you've been moving, etc.

[Rakuflames]

Dockhead said:

On this point, I loved Raku's story about her friend who refused to learn how to tack her sailboat.[/QUOTE]


Just a fine point -- that's not her boat she's sailing. She's sailing small boats that belong to a sailing club. There's one "bump" in the area she's gone aground on so often that we call it "Sally's Island" (not her real name). She hits it because she needs to be in that vicinity to bring the boat back to the club, and she just can't turn in time to miss it. One day she's going to damage one of them, and her sailing privileges will probably be lifted.