Why Do We Make It So Hard Sounding

[Dogscout]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

no easy answer here.....I learned that there are no " ropes" on a boat....a " rope" is a "rope' in a store, but when it comes aboard it adopts a name..the first time I ever stepped on a sailboat I was asked to grab that "sheet"....but I saw no linen in sight..how a "rope" came to be called a " sheet" was beyond my ability to understand at the time.....the same line that a "sheet" is made from can also be a "halyard"....now we have two weird names for the same " rope"..etc, ad infinitum....the worst was having to use the " head" when wanting to use the bathroom....sailing is a strange sport for sure.....it has a vocabulary all of its own....it can be very confusing for someone not acquainted with boating...

You see, this is the problem. Too many people dont know the difference between Sheets and Lines and Halyards. These people should not be allowed anywhere near a proper BlueWater Cruising yacht until they learn the difference.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Dogscout

You see, this is the problem. Too many people dont know the difference between Sheets and Lines and Halyards. These people should not be allowed anywhere near a proper BlueWater Cruising yacht until they learn the difference.

And too many people think that old saws are actually knowledge.


There's plenty of rope on most sailboats (especially all those old lines that you have kept when they've been replaced by new ones). It's only a line when it has a specific purpose and each is named according to its purpose to avoid confusion.


Quite simply: when TSHTF, "Ease the mainsheet!" is concise and unambiguous. "Let out the rope attached to the big sail!" not so

[MicHughV]

I think the issue is not really the boat....maybe....???

When I first started sailing, I had next to nothing regarding electronic or navigational equipment..I planned to go...and left....it was quite simple....the weather was the weather..it would change every day....sometimes every hour....I just dealt with it...

But as some other posters have mentioned...for example....the B'mas is a short 50 mile jump from Florida. I can't tell you the number of times, I've seen yachties agonize about every last detail prior to making a crossing. Off course, the big unknown is the Gulf Stream, yachties don't want to sail across, they want to motor across...preferably in a dead calm...therein lies the problem imo...an overabundance of weather data...too much conferencing with other yachties...herd mentality...shall we....shall we not...etc....onboard will be at least two or three GPS systems...weather maps....and a plethora of other electronic gear...but they are grounded in fear...the umbilical cord to land is strong and the amount of data and stuff one needs to do or pay attention too can be overwhelming...

especially...if something were to happen to you...the skipper....they would have to somehow or another bring this complicated machine back to land...

in the same way, an overabundance of nautical jargon is confusing to a non-sailor or newbie...

and sailboats move at an angle and they jump up and down.......this is also off putting to many people...and they can get sea-sick....

for some....sailing needs to be armchair comfortable....otherwise they won't go anywhere..for a lot of people....talking about going somewhere is what it is all about....not actually going....

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

...therein lies the problem imo...an overabundance of weather data...too much conferencing with other yachties...herd mentality...shall we....shall we not...etc....onboard will be at least two or three GPS systems...weather maps....and a plethora of other electronic gear...but they are grounded in fear...the umbilical cord to land is strong and the amount of data and stuff one needs to do or pay attention too can be overwhelming...

I wonder if there is something to this observation Mic. There is a well known psychological phenomena regarding too much choice, and how this can lead to paralysis.

I wonder if sometimes we have too much information. And related to this, do we have too high an expectation for the perfect boat; insisting on everything being perfectly working, and having the latest and best equipment.

We've all seen and read about those who are perpetually planning the Big Journey, but never quite seem to leave the dock because there's always one more project they must do. In combination with 'too much information' I bet this can be debilitating.

Good thing we have CF here, to make it all a lot easier .

[sailorboy1]

jargon: has it's place but those getting all worked up again it is another example of making it harder than it needs to be

"That's golf to the degree of proficiency related to SB1's concept of sailing/cruising." - Guess this is suppose to suggest I don't know how to sail. I'm not ever going to defend aganist mystery jabs.

[dwedeking2]

My take:


1) Some want it to seem hard so they seem "special" for being able to do it.

2) Some, from the outside, make it more complicated than it needs to be. You can move the boat with the big white flappy things, set an anchor, and live on the boat pretty easily. But I know when I first started thinking about this there was a $10k navigation system I needed, a $8k liferaft, gotta have an expensive satellite connection for safety, etc etc etc. On my first longish trip, where I just needed to move the boat, everything broke and I ended up with a hull and sails. The water was on the outside, I arrived and all was good.

3) There is a tendency to be risk averse (IMO) in the modern first world society. "It's too difficult" is a good out, without looking like your really scared.

4) Modern society provides a lot of life luxuries. You can basically live your whole day without stepping outside your house or do anything (have food delivered, have entertainment delivered, control your climate, have people do maintenance/clean for you). Yes sailing/cruising is harder than that.
5) On a boat, in the open water, everything comes down to you. Help is hours/days away. A number of people don't want/can't handle that situation.

[Don C L]

Sailing is easy. Comedy is hard.

[Manateeman]

Sheets...the things on your bed
Lines...lies told to women to get them under sheets
Nun...religious woman with big stick
Can...thing holds beer
Bow...Chinese respectful greeting
Stern...face of wife when you look at younger women
Port...good Portuguese wine
Starboard...plastic wood
Luff...word love said while drunk to women
Hard a lee...response from women as in I hard a lee know you.
Dinghy...classic retort from women as in he has small dinghy
Block...can’t remember
Sheave...thing made in prison
Winch...mean woman in wizard of oz
Pulpit...stand for preacher
Pushpit...teen dance area for punks
Anchor...name of beer
Rail meat...dead rat on subway track
Paddle...big round end of manatee
Now that I know all these nautical terms...can the manatees and I get you to sponsor us in the New York Yacht Club !
Mark and his unsophisticated manatee friends

[Greg Mason]

It is human nature. If you ask someone to tell you their story, 9 out of 10 times it will be negative. Fear bias is how the human race has developed this far.

[Chris Cringle]

I dunno sailor boy, Hal Roth said "One lifetime is not enough to learn everything you need to know."

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Sailing/boating/cruising is easy! Stop making it seem hard so you seem "special". And lets let idiots weed themselves out some. Their issues are not because it is hard, it is because they are ............... idiots!

I sympathize with your post to some extent but think you should have stopped before you called a lot of us idiots :-)). Everyone's knowledge is compartmentalized. A knowledgeable professional in some fields may be an "idiot" to you in areas where you are experienced but he is not.

As in any open forum, you have to fact-check everything you read. If you do that, you can learn a tremendous number of useful things on this forum. All from other folks who know more than you might about specific topics, and who take the time to share.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Why do we make sailing/cruising/boating sound soooooo hard?

I know that when I decided to sail/cruise the ASA Fundentials made it seem so hard. My wife would read 'how to tack' and go "How are are the two of us going to do that. Based on the book it seems to need 5 people?" Turns out sailing is easy and truly was the easiest thing to learn about living/cruising on a sailboat.

Then there are batteries. Forums make understanding your system seem like it requires a pHd in physics, electrical, and magic. But batteries are easy and have run into LOTS of boaters who l know nothing more than whether the warning light was on and their batteries pretty last as long as everyone else.

There there are anchor threads!!!! Why does every anchor thread read as though everyone but that poster does it all wrong? Anchors have been around pretty much as long as boats and started as a rope of hemp tied to a rock! How hard can that be???

Nav rules why does a 1 paragraph rule with 2-3 sentences require an explanation of 6 pages. And as the "discussion" progresses pretty much proves no one understands the rule (at least it seems that way) and yet boats aren't bumper car bouncing off each other so how hard is it compared to driving you car on the highway surrounded by the other idiots?

Sailing/boating/cruising is easy! Stop making it seem hard so you seem "special". And lets let idiots weed themselves out some. Their issues are not because it is hard, it is because they are ............... idiots!

Well stated.

[Scorpius]

We deliberately make it sound very complicated - to scare people off. It's too crowded out here!

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

I suggest that it has a lot to do with rapid advances in technologies and equipment as opposed to the slow change in accepted practices and the prevalence of "oldsters."

I saw the same thing in rock climbing. When we started it was full of mythologies that implied you needed to be hard core and hike in miles to climb "real rock." But with the advent of new ropes, sticky rubber and a whole lot of bolting close to the roads, sport climbing was as accessible to the average family of 5 as a trip to the amusement park. Just learn the basic of safety, don't get too full of yourself and you were set.

And didn't that opinion meet with a whole lot of doomsaying and predictions of death and dismemberment.

Personally my introduction to cruising has been similar: Learn the basics of safety and don't get too full of yourself and a lot of areas are open to some easy cruising. If you never want to go farther, well then I guess that is your choice. Sailing is easy. It always kills me when people suggest you learn to sail on a dingy. What I learned about sailing a laser has pretty much zero to do with any sailing I have done on my 38-footer.


<< You mean that on the Laser you didn't learn to head up if you were overpowered and close to a capsize? You mean you didn't learn to keep out of the way of the boom when jibing? You mean you didn't learn how to . . . I could go on and on. Since apparently you DID learn on a Laser, then why do you deny all the knowledge and feel for sailing that has probably saved you from some pretty embarrassing and possibly dangerous situations on the larger boat? >>



Of course this all comes down to your definition of sailing... or climbing. I will never be a "real" one at either.

No harm meant. I think you became a real sailor when you learned the basics in a dinghy.

[Narfi]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

Hard? HARD?

Try to learn to play GOLF! Now that is hard!

Try learning to play golf with your future father in law whom you had never met before........

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

paralysis.

Paralysis by Analysis
It is a real thing, I see it a lot in myself and in others building..... I want to know what I am doing, how I am doing it, the best way, the end goal, etc.... all before starting. It is impossible to have all of that, and the best quickest way to the end goal is by doing it. It becomes so much more simple once started.
I still struggle with it, but what I attempt to do now(in regards to building things(boats, planes, furniture, whatever.....) is to start each session by doing, and then end the session with a couple of pictures and self analysis in my mind until the next session at which point I start again by doing.

Analysis is important, but it is easier to see and make plans after than before. (obviously as long as you don't do anything SUPER STUPID in the process)