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YOGAO · 22-09-2009, 17:38

Ahh, then we have a perception problem don't we?

I would posit that with today's large tube ribs (and paying attention to your surroundings, keeping the kill switch attached, etc), standing is actually as safe or safer than sitting (it definitely is for me). But, regardless, I will NOT hold it against you if you are sitting down when you come alongside for a drink.

Fair Winds,
Mike

forsailbyowner · 22-09-2009, 17:48

I could never understand why someone would cruise hundreds or thousands of miles at 5 kts through open ocean then feel the need to go 20 kts through a crowded anchorage.

MarkJ · 22-09-2009, 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsailbyowner

I could never understand why someone would cruise hundreds or thousands of miles at 5 kts through open ocean then feel the need to go 20 kts through a crowded anchorage.

Because they have small dicks?

MarkJ · 22-09-2009, 17:55

NICOLLE WROTE THAT!!!!!!!!!!

anathema · 22-09-2009, 18:06

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Or in this case, man

osirissail · 23-09-2009, 06:40

-- Having spent 9 years in the Atlantic, Bahamas, Caribbean - I think Yogao's post sums it up best.
- - Due to lots of shallow water and shoals, sharp reefs, etc. Standing up in a dinghy is a "safety" procedure to see and avoid these obstacles. Obviously the higher you are off the surface of the water the longer distance you can see and determining range information is easier - again safety. But everybody is prepared to quickly "assume the position" sitting or kneeling should another boat's wake threaten your balance. How fast you go while standing is a matter of preference and balance and experience. When planing in my light dink I prefer to sit on the mid seat and use the tiller extension. I stand for slow speed operation so I can see what is out in front.
- - Courtesy on the water is an endangered specie just like it is on-land and in "town-hall" meetings. Locals versus transient boats is almost always a adversarial situation unless the local is dependent upon the transient for his income. It's the old "haves versus the have-nots".
- - And be assuredly warned there are locals who will run you down causing you physical pain and even death with impunity - It happens every year all over the Caribbean. Local officials sweep it under the 'rug' and virtually never pursue the local. There are many reasons for not pursuing the local which include but are not limited to: lack of positive identification and democratic court procedures resulting in no witness left on the island - we are transients and generally are not willing to spend years waiting for multiple court appearances. We lick our wounds, leave and never come back. So be extremely careful when in your dinghy and practice defensive dinghy driving => get out of the way of any locals. Could all this be a case of Darwin or the movie 'Deliverance?'

Tom Hildebrandt · 23-09-2009, 07:13

My casual observations here n Prickly Bay are that about 2/3 of the folks with these larger RIBs are sitting down, the others are standing. If it is so adventageous to be standing why is not everyone standing?

Canuck cites that every year several folks are tossed from the dingies, and it has to be easier to be tossed if you are standing up! While I understand you can see better when your eyes are at a higher point, why would it not be better to slow down and stay seated and if necessary, slow down (rather than planing along) in areas where there are likely to be obstructions

canucksailor · 23-09-2009, 07:26

osirisail - I'll stand by my comments, and know I'm backed up by professionals who teach boating and water safety, as I do. If standing is a 'safety procedure' as you say, then slowing down to avoid the hazards you mention is a far better one. There is far more likelihood of damage and injury if you're standing than if you're sitting, if you're moving at speed instead of slowly in a questionable area.
And besides - I go cruising to relax and take life easy. I'm in no hurry to go anywhere. I own a couple of cheapie sombrero style raincoats to keep dry - something that, should they be swiped from my dinghy, I'm not going to miss them.

Tom Hildebrandt · 23-09-2009, 07:44

MJ Where in Malaysia are you? I enjoyed Admirals Marina way down south as a great place to visit Kuala Lumpor and Mallaca!

FSMike · 23-09-2009, 07:44

I posted this before somewhere but here goes -

I once owned a motor that would occasionally keep running after you pulled the kill cord.

I once met a man who fell over the stern of his dinghy. He was trying to hold on so the kill cord never got pulled far enough to activate. After over 1,000 stitches between his knees and his chest he's still alive.

If you want to stand up go ahead. Say "Hi" to Charles for me.

YOGAO · 23-09-2009, 09:27

That dinghy "etiquette" would create such impassioned responses?

I accept responsibility for my actions and believe I am taking the appropriate measures to ensure I don't become a statistic (putting statistical evidence aside

).

One of those measures is to frequently check to see if the kill switch is working - in fact I always stop the engine by pulling the cord out. Further, if the kill switch wasn't working then I would either stop standing OR, oh I don't know...maybe FIX IT!

Tom H - everyone doesn't do it because they are either uncomfortable with standing or can't maintain their balance or think it is WRONG-WRONG-WRONG to do so, or some combination of those factors. That's okay - everyone who wants to sit can do so, I am not going to play dinghy policeman (at least not today

)

canucksailor - I don't go @ 20 knots, I run at an appropriate speed to the conditions - yeah some people do, but what are ya gonna do - complain? I also don't wear my life vest all the time like the safety classes teach.

Remember, it's not the size of the dick, but what you do with it that counts!

Bottom line for me is a couple of points.

I came out here to learn, to enjoy life, to meet new people, to be generous, thankful and respectful of other people's decisions (even the wacky ones!).

I also came out so that I could make my own reasoned decisions. Sometimes they are good ones, sometimes not so much, but they are mine.

Fair Winds,
Mike

barnakiel · 23-09-2009, 09:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Hildebrandt

... I am not sayng which group (cruisers or locals) is or is not the most lacking in considereation, but my comments are that regardless of who and where, it is not appropriate.

In my travels, now over 6 years, my perception, and it is an opinion, right or wrong, is that only here in the Carib is this a problem. Why is this?

The appropriate / inappropriate thing - all fine, but we can only count on having our fellow sailors listen and consider our views. The locals will follow their own worldviews, sometimes radically different from 'ours'.

I do not think this is a West Indies speciffic problem / issue - pearl farmers in Mangareva zipped in their 140 hp longboat, going probably well over 20 knots and the wash pushed my yoyo so high that it hit the mothership stern fitting and got badly ripped. Their reaction - "get lost, we are working here".

Then again, in the Northern Teritory I shared anchorages with local prawners (I think they were prawners - they were those beautiful fishers that sail with their majestic outrigs) and they would come and leave the anchorage so peacefully that I never noticed any wash, noise nor discomfort. I loved their company and I believe they did not mind my messing around.

So, I think it is not even working vs. leisure but rather eductaed vs. uneducated.

b.

Tom Hildebrandt · 23-09-2009, 15:16

Barnakiel

I do not disagree with your comments about the working/leisure or educated/uneducated. I also agree that in my travels I have seen lots of poor examples of seamanship/ etiquette by both working boats and recreational craft.

My comments regarding what I percieve to be the problem just in the Carib was not in context of the larger discussion of working boats verses us cruisers, but was intended to be strictly to the topic as stated in the initial post, ie, cruisers standing up in dingies; I should have been a bit more precise in my comment given the larger context that the thread has taken. Sorry for the confusion.

In the now six years of this trip, I have seen this activity (folks standing up in a dingy) only a couple of times outside the Carib, and always it was being done by crew off larger charterboats. In these iinstances, I put it down to the youth and perhaps lack of experience of the crew involved, now perhaps I am thinking they got their "experience" here where the practice is more common.

**noelex 77** · 23-09-2009, 15:53

Swimming in the Med you have to keep a careful listen for jetskies / boats and tenders doing dangerous speeds.
I deplore legislation trying to make the world safe, but I do reconsider my opinion when I see a vessel doing 30K through a crowded anchorage with people swimming. If you have a high powered tender please slow down around swimmers.