Do We Sometimes Prepare Too Much?

[Lagoon4us]

Prepared for everything but do we sometimes lose sight of where we are going or is it we just can't see where we've been?

[robert sailor]

People spend money on safety items to a level equal to their own anxiety or fears. Sailors have been safely traveling the oceans for years without half the stuff people are dragging around with them today.

[Dulcesuenos]

And 5 year olds used to not have cell phones.
Times have changed....

[robert sailor]

And your point of cell phones was ????

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Prepared for everything but do we sometimes lose sight of where we are going or is it we just can't see where we've been?

the guy in the photo looks like a vetren of turkish winters!

when you are sitting shivering inside your boat,with condensation dripping from the deck head,clothes and bedding going moldy

,he will be plugged in to the free power,hatches opened to allow ventilation,and nice and dry this winter,rain ,shine or snow!

[boatman61]

From my observations....
'Yes..!' many folk do go over the top... as a delivery skipper I pick up boats and take them 1000's of miles that most would not consider safe enough to cross the English Channel in... but they're safe enough for us to sail..
In other cases I collect something near new and on successful delivery the owner promptly starts trying to improve a boat that I'd have been happy to sail as is for another 10,000miles.. its just down to the individuals personal fears and a fair proportion of in-experience..
The better mind set I feel is to be aware that at sea anything can fail.. even the 100% fail proof gear the latest magazine Ad's have shoved in your face...
Confidence will only come when you can assure yourself that no matter what fails if you cannot fix it.. you can get by without it.
Learn good seamanship, basic navigation techniques and get to know your boat... then maybe think about 'Techie Toys'... you'd be amazed how the list shrinks.
As to survival/safety gear in benign waters... that's getting nearly as amusing these days..
Sorry guys... Old Luddite Humour...

[gonesail]

what he said: no matter what fails if you cannot fix it.. you can get by without it.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

And your point of cell phones was????

Second line of his posting. Times have changed. Really, you missed that????

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

And your point of cell phones was ????

That todays society has changed into alot of paranoid worry warts.
We have gone from figuring out a route to printing instructions to punching in a name of a place, hell our new plotter calculates the route if u want it to. Many have become too lazy to develope the skills needed to survive both on land and sea. Therefore they become afraid and need more "stuff". Hence the cell phones w kids comment, sorry if i struck a nerve lol. Im not saying i dont like my stuff I love my stuff :0)

[JK n Smitty]

I think there is a mark difference in preparedness now compared to say the 1970's. In the past preparedness meant having skills and knowledge. Boats were very simple, they lacked electronic navigation, EPIRBs, watermakers, emergency lift rafts, etc. You had to rely on your own wits to survive.

Now the mindset seems to be "there's an app for that". Some kind of tech toy that will allow you to go out less prepared in your knowledge and skills.

Personally I like some of these tech toys. For instance I love my iPad to assist in navigation. I can take one, small device down to the coffee shop and sit down and plan out my cruise. I have all the charts I would want in a nice, convenient location and can put down a course and get the distance and estimated time of the passage very quickly. It just makes my life easier. But I do transfer that course to paper charts, have both the iPad and paper charts in the cockpit along with my compasses (binnacle and hand bearing) when we actually depart on the trip.

I prefer to have skills over tools. But sometimes the tools can make your life easier. To me that is there place, not being relied on for survival.

Fair winds,

Jesse

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Prepared for everything but do we sometimes lose sight of where we are going or is it we just can't see where we've been?

Do We Sometimes Prepare To Much?

Of the three little pigs, I would be the pig that built a house of sticks. I can't afford bricks.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Neo

Do We Sometimes Prepare To Much?

Of the three little pigs, I would be the pig that built a house of sticks. I can't afford bricks.

Bricks sink...sticks float, so you win!

My biggest surprise after preparing for 3 yrs to cast off with the family and kids is just HOW EASY it really was once you managed to just GO! The hardest part about Cruising was GOING...not cruising itself.

[Stu Jackson]

Don't know if any of you have read about scoobert's trip from NY to points south (here on CF, "Transit Time?"

Provides excellent thoughts and observations on preparedness, crew, abilities, forecasting, planning.

Good stuff and applies very well to this question.

Short answer: he prepared in the time he had available to him and went, and is having adventures of close to life threatening but he's still going.

Issues?

Your boat, your choice.

[mrohr]

Seems many spend a great amount of time and money preparing for a major cruise without any real experience with a minor "cruise" of a few days in local waters that could do much to clarify what is really "needed " in their preparations.
These folks tend to read multiple accounts of dramatic adventures to the nether regions and prep accordingly but have so little time on the water that if they ever do get away they often find that they were in fact, poorly prepared for the mundane day to day realities of living aboard , with disillusionment to follow.

[zeehag]

fixing while underway trumps over-preparing every day.
is way too easy for folks to walk away from their mistakes instead of making them not be mistakes.
find leak and do something about it instead of allowing all that water into boat.
oh yeah--know how to sail first...just a little, even...
avoid bad weather .
be confident in your skills to sail as well as to repair.
have fun and dont worry about bs.
this is spozd to be stress free....rodlmffao.....
my shakedown cruises were my real life .. why suffer break down at sea without having gone somewhere first. excelsior---onward and upward, no backsliding...lol...(she sez while "stuck" in pair a dice with seized engine...rodlmffao..i am not still in san diego, so i win.)