"Wayne.B" wrote
Single handing a 30 something in close quarters is a nice bit of
seamanship when you
get it right but I'm not sure it passes the "prudent man" test.
I think that's an amazingly broad application of the concept of
prudence. It's kind of hard ultimately to argue that anything with
un-necessary risks like boating is prudent at all. After all, there
are 500 channels on TV now.
The individual balance of skill and challenge and current conditions
is much more significant than such a blanket judgement.
That said, I'll admit to probably having to compensate a bit for some
genetic deficiencies in the prudence genes. When I was an instructor
and member at the Boston Harbor Sailing Club, I used to do things like
pick up a girl who had never been in a boat before and go out on a
busy Sunday afternoon and set a spinnaker. Jibing a chute in those
conditions with someone who just knows how to "hold this" is a real
character builder. BTW I'm sure BHSC is a much tighter ship now but
this was very early days.
I'm not a risk taker in any other aspects of my life and was a very
conservative pilot doing the same thing, balancing my abilities
against the challenges. In 44 years of sailing I have only once
returned to the dock with a boat that needed repair due to decisions
or actions of my command. That was one of the BHSC Solings with a big
hole in the port side and my first, only, and current wife sitting
there asking if this kind of thing happens often. It was only about
three hours after I met her.
Boston Harbor used to (and probably still is) be full of hot shots who
like to port tack five feet from your transom. The stand on vessel
has an equal duty to maintain a steady and predictable course and this
was the one time my judgement about the conflicting duty to avoid a
collision despite right of way came up short. By the time I realized
that he wasn't going to do the hot shot transom pass, it was too late
to take any action. I did learn something though, if you don't see
the helmsman's sunglasses bobbing up and down under the Genoa, assume
they don't see you.
The OG (other guy) later claimed that he had the right of way since he
was proceeding in a marked channel and I was crossing it. Since the
channel was a big ship channel of about 50 foot depth surrounded by
20 - 30 foot deep water, the insurance company laughed at him.
I'm pretty careful and cautious actually and I've mellowed a bit with
age. I did sail up the Royal River for the first time on a dark windy
night and a falling tide alone without an engine and dock under sail
last fall but it was the prudent thing to do at the time. You can
read why he
http://www.points-east.com/
in the June issue of "Points East".
Little things are important. Flaking each lazy sheet down with one
hand while you steer with the other even though it's only 100 yard
tacks up the Peaks Island channel is the kind of thing that is more
relevant to the prudence question in my mind than whether you turn on
the engine.
--
Roger Long