wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:35:49 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

With all the armchair sailors here criticizing people who are actually out
sailing around in their boats, I think I'll take time for an account of a
sailor who is, or was, a real hazard to himself. I'm also doing some soul
searching about it.

I sailed my son around the Cape on Wednesday to drop him off for a hike
back
through the towns' greenbelt trails. As we were leaving, we passed a
fairly
competent looking double ender that was remarkable for jogging along under
only a half luffing staysail. I figured he was just getting started and
organized. The boat appeared well equipped and there was just one person
on
deck.

On my return, I saw the boat again, still jogging along at about 1 knot
under just the staysail which appeared to be sheeted way too far aft so
that
the foot was tight and the top half flogging. The boat had just crossed a
long dangerous ledge without running aground. It's a short cut I often
take
but I know the waters and I don't do it when there is a sea running like
there was on Wednesday.

I thought briefly of going over to take a look but he was past the danger
and the occasional large seas breaking nearby certainly would have clued
him
into not returning that way. It was one of those days that looks nasty but
generally doesn't have much wind. I decided he was just taking it easy and
enjoying the view. You could spend all afternoon sitting on a porch
watching
the ocean so why not just jog along the coast at 1 knot if you felt lazy?
I
also wanted to be home when my son returned and had another home alone.

This morning, I read in the paper that a disoriented sailor was brought in
by the Coast Guard about 25 miles south the next day. I did some checking
and it was the same boat with the sole POB suffering the effects of
diabetes. He's home now and the boat is safe. He had been out in the heavy
rain and weather that brought a rare tornado watch to Maine.

I'm kicking myself now because, thinking back on how the boat was being
sailed, I'm sure he was impaired at the time I saw him and I probably
could
have detected it if I'd gone over to check him out or tried to raise him
on
the radio. It never occurred to me though that he might actually be trying
to go somewhere instead of just being out for a slow daysail. If he had
come
to grief, I would be pretty torn up about it today.

OTOH how often is there any upside to hailing someone by voice or radio
and
pointing out that they are sailing like a bozo and are they all right? I
learned later that he was swearing on the radio at some charter fishing
boats that inquired about him and that this behavior played a part in
instigating the SAR which involved both boats and aircraft.

Next time I see something like this, I'm sure I'll take a closer look but
I'm
still not sure of the best way to handle it. It's a miracle that he made
it
past the ledges off the cape and as far as he did.

Thankfully, the Charter Fishing boat realized that the response itself
indicated something was not right and they followed through by
notifying the proper authorities. That was a proper way to handle it.

I've occasionally seen a boat that appears to be somewhat
uncontrolled. Things such as a Genoa flogging badly for more than a
short interval with no apparent effort to trim it. I usually just
keep an eye on them, and if things still look amiss 10 minutes later,
I go closer and observe whatever activity I can.

A few times that has prompted me to go even closer and hail them. I
don't tell them they are sailing like a Bozo. I just ask if they need
any assistance. Most will automaticaly say they are okay, but you can
usually tell if they really are by the tone of the response.

I once spent an afternoon coaching a couple who were sailing their
Catalina 27 for the first time. It was on a gusty spring day with a
bit of chop. They were having a lot of trouble because all previous
sailing experience had consisted of sailing on a rented Sunfish while
on vacation somewhere. They had motored out of the harbor and then
shut off the motor to raise the sails. Now they had fouled that up
pretty well, and wern't sure even how to undo what they had done and
restart the motor to chug home. Things jammed and tangled all over the
place. Half the problem was caused by panic. I was tempted to just tow
them in, but instead, calmed them down and got them more or less
straightened out. I still see them occasionally, and they have
improved considerably.

If they had rebuffed my help after the second offer, I would have
backed off, and just called it in to the CG. I was pretty sure they
were not going to get themselves out of trouble and home safely
without somebody getting involved.

I had a couple of similar situations on the bay out here... one was a Mac26
(no bashing intended), that seemed to be unable to sail in fairly heavy
weather. I got within shouting distance and offered to standby while they
moved to a bit more sheltered area. They got there, then reefed, which is
what they were trying to do in the higher wind. Finally saw them back on the
dock, and I gave the skipper a quick lesson in tying a cleat hitch.

Another was in the same basic area, but this time was a guy with his young
daughter. They were on some tiny something or other, and they seemed to be
unable to keep the boat up long enough to get going. This was right in the
middle of a fairly high traffic area. We asked if they needed help, and he
said no, but we stood upwind of them anyway. I think we gave them enough of
a wind block, since they were able to get it going on the next try. She
looked fine, but he was starting to get that pre-exhausted look. They
immediately headed into a more protected area.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com