"Rick Morel" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:48:16 +0100, The Real Doctor
wrote:

On 15/10/12 21:09, Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
Readers need
to be weaned off the false notion that a motor is a necessity in a
sailboat.

It's not a necessity, but it can be jolly useful. Leisure sailing is
sailing for fun, and everyone has their own idea of fun.

Ian

Wilbur, I don't know why I'm jumping in here and feeding you, but...

Well, it IS supposed to be a discussion group, after all . . .


Actually, with the exception of very small sailboats, an engine is a
necessity in this day and age. There are many places now where it's
ilegal to proceed under sail, including going through bridges. You may
say those places are to be avoided, but in the real world that's
simply impossible or at least nearly so.

Some folks would call anything under about 30 feet a 'small sailboat' so small
is in the eye of the beholder. Any law that says it's illegal to go through a
bridge (I assume you mean a bridge that opens) under sail power is an
unconstitutional law and needs to be challenged.

There is also the safety factor to consider. I've run into situations
in my years of cruising where having an engine was actually a matter
of life or death, or at least losing the vessel and serious injury.

Transversely there are also a great many instances where the very reason folks
get into trouble in the first place is their over reliance on their engine.
Engines create a dependency upon their use because, in general, they are quite
reliable. So woe be to the individual who takes his engine for granted and
believes it will never fail him. Sails just don't break down unexpectedly and
often at the worst of times like engines do.

I have gone for months without cranking up the engine, except for
monthly runs only to "exercise" it. I used the engine when necessary,
never to make time or just because I could.

Atta boy for not being overly reliant on an engine. Always keep the auxiliary
in auxiliary.


Wilbur Hubbard