On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:18:48 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

"Bob" wrote

Another case of unrealistic expectations. Such as ," im 57 years old and
have the
back of a 30 year old." DENILE............the sinker of boats.

OK, I'll fess up. I only left Bob and Wilbur in the killfile until after my
next nap. The stress, fatigue, and drugs of my first hospitalization in 45
years had me a bit cranky last week and my perspective was not all it
usually
is. In a group like this, as long as the subject actually is boats and
cruising, we should expect and tolerate some profanity, stupidity, putting
words in others mouths and then attacking them.

I was stunned to find myself agreeing with Wilbur on something, not the
I'm-the-only-real-sailor-here, you're-an-idiot-if-you-don't-agree-with-me,
tone of the OP (and most of his posts) but the essential point about boat
size. After my first season with "Strider", when I realized that I wanted
to go back to my roots and give up flying so I could get her ready to do
extensive cruising in my retirement, I thought about selling her before I
was too deep in the hole with upgrades and getting a larger boat. I quickly
realized though that economically and physically, I would be able to sail
the 32 footer years longer than something in the 40 - 45 foot range and that
was a good trade off for less space and comfort. Lesser boats have gone
around the world with not a significantly smaller success ratio than larger
ones.

This is a personal choice, not an absolute. If you must have refrigeration,
Internet, air conditioning, separate cabins, etc., the years you spend
ashore instead of cruising make the larger boat a valid choice. My choice
is largely colored by having been away from sailing and cruising for nearly
two decades. If I had been sailing and cruising all those years, I might
well feel differently.

As for the quoted portion above, I have never heard of the river in Egypt
sinking boats that weren't actually on it. As one who has professionally
spent more of his professional life studying the loss of sailing vessels
than I'm sure anyone in this group ever even heard of, I would say that
*denial* is a link in may accident chains.

One of the things that annoys me about Wilbur's "Bob" personna, along with
putting his words in to other's mouths and then attacking them, is simply
pretending not to have heard the answers. I previously pointed out that I
misspoke, not being quite as sharp these days as usual. The doctor did not
say that I have the back, or anything else, of a 30 year old; just the spine
and specifically the disks. I do have one damaged disk but he said he sees
those in 20 something fitness buffs. It is quite clear to me that I am a lot
more failure prone and maintenance intensive than I was in youth and will
get more so every year. That's why I agree with Wilbur about boat size.

I have been down to see and contemplate the Titanic. Despite some primitive
features in her construction, she was a more seaworthy and survivable ship
than most vessels that have put to sea since. There are books about
sailing vessel accidents with long index entries after my name referencing
my investigation and analysis of their demise. I have had friends lost at
sea, among them two women that I loved in separate incidents.

Could anyone seriously suggest that I am in denial about the danger and
power of the sea?

I think that the problem lies with the definition of the word
"cruising". What is a cruising boat? Noticeably to a lot of the
denizens of this group it is a boat that you can spend the night on;
make a week, maybe a two week, "cruise" on.

But to a lot of us it is a boat that we can live on for months at a
time and there is a big difference in a boat that you spend Easter
weekend on and a boat that is your home for months.

Try it sometime. Take all the duds you want down to the boat and stow
them. Now move aboard and you can't go home for six months. If it
ain't there you either do without or go and buy a new one.

Ah Ha! This changes the equation just a little. You play the Banjo?
Well, find a place to store it. You might need a pair of clean pants -
find a place to store them. No keeping boat parts at the garage
either. They got to be aboard.

Right at the moment I have my wife's sister and her girlfriend staying
on the boat (in addition to my wife and I) and we damned near have to
go to bed by the numbers. Have you ever sat and watched three women
get ready for bed? The amount of stuff that they smear on their faces
would lubricate my engine for then next six months.

The reason I always tell people that they need a forty foot boat isn't
because it takes forty feet to keep two people's head above water. It
takes forty feet to keep two people AND all the tools, spares, parts,
cooking pots, clothes and the Banjo above water.

You don't believe me? Try it. Move on the boat and don't got home for
six months.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)