"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

and one of theses days you'll
actually have some sea time under your belt so you can discuss heavy
sea
sailing with the big boys. :-)

You mean like Bart, who's buddy retreated because his rail got wet and
then lacked the 12 IQ points required to furl a sail? Boy oh boy, I can
hardly wait!

RB
35s5
NY

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
You mean like Bart, who's buddy retreated because his rail got wet and
then lacked the 12 IQ points required to furl a sail? Boy oh boy, I can
hardly wait!

I'm certain we all can't wait until you finally clear the confines of the
bay and experience the ocean for yourself.

CM

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

I'm certain we all can't wait until you finally clear the confines of
the
bay and experience the ocean for yourself.

So sailing along the Jersey coast doesn't count? How about doing it in
a Catalina 27 in November? How about doing three deliveries there? Does
it count when I have crew or must I go to sea alone? Sailing in the LIS
I face no risks from weather, right? I mean, nothing bad can happen
when land is in sight, right? And a sailor's skill isn't measured by
boat handling or sail trim, but only by distances sailed, right? Is
this way inland sailors aren't really good sailors?
This is what you're saying, right?

Poor, poor, Mooron. At least his boat is as slow as his wit!

RB
35s5
NY

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm certain we all can't wait until you finally clear the confines of
the
bay and experience the ocean for yourself.

So sailing along the Jersey coast doesn't count? How about doing it in
a Catalina 27 in November? How about doing three deliveries there? Does
it count when I have crew or must I go to sea alone? Sailing in the LIS
I face no risks from weather, right? I mean, nothing bad can happen
when land is in sight, right? And a sailor's skill isn't measured by
boat handling or sail trim, but only by distances sailed, right? Is
this way inland sailors aren't really good sailors?
This is what you're saying, right?

Well we can see your problem right away... you're totally lacking any
experiences by which to compare how you sail in the bay to how a vessel is
handled in the ocean.

Don't worry .... this can be remedied as soon as you find sufficent courage
to venture beyond sight of land.

Poor, poor, Mooron. At least his boat is as slow as his wit!

Well in that case it would explain why your wit is as generic and
unimpressive as your selection in sailboats.

CM

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

I emailed him back and asked him to call be
before I left for the Thanksgiving. He did call
me back and told me he decided NOT to sail
the ditch this year. I was pleased because
that is the advice I was going to give him. I
suggested he spend more time getting to
know the boat and perfecting his systems
learning all the harbors in Long Island Sound
and getting more experience in places like
Maine, Shelter Island, and the Vineyard. It
turns out he does have 90 and 100% jibs. I
have no clue why he was not using the 90.

To his credit, he dived on the boat himself
yesterday and cleared the fouled prop. Not
bad for a man nearly 60. You would not
catch me diving this time of year and I have
a 7mm wet suit!

My other friend is sailing to Bermuda on
Sunday--I'm a little concerned because I'm
not sure he is up for it. He does not know
how to use his SSB, but he does have a Sat
Phone. This will be his "final exam" as a
sailor. Another case of leaving to late, although
that will not matter once he crosses the Gulf
Stream--it will be shorts and T-shirt weather.

At some point you reach a level of experience
where you know what you are getting into and
still decide to go forward. It is a second coming
of age that most people never reach.

Bart

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

Well said Bart....

CM

"Bart Senior" wrote in message

At some point you reach a level of experience
where you know what you are getting into and
still decide to go forward. It is a second coming
of age that most people never reach.

Bart

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

Exactly. And alcohol has useful calories, remember that!


Capt.Mooron wrote:
Although I surprisingly do not encourage the use of alcohol in very rough
conditions... I have been known to take a swig of "Liquid Courage" during
exceptioanally difficult situations.


Alcohol is also a short term stimulant, but a depressant if
you track it's effects for more than about 10 minutes. If
you have both watches on deck, and a difficult or strenuous
maneuver to tackle, issue a tot of grog to the ones who will
be going off watch as soon as they're done... they'll leap
into the fray with great energy, then go & sleep soundly below.

The trick is to do this without the guys staying on deck get
mad because they're not getting their share. If you have
stocked awful tasting booze and can pass them mugs of flat
"Jolt" soda without them wising up, you're golden!


I'd hesitate to call the vessel "ill-prepared" not knowing the man or his
boat or his habits with it, but it does sound like he wasn't ready for
this trip in this kind of weather.


The story speaks for itself Doug.... he was cold and wet... no reason for
either condition.


Wet can be hard to avoid... cold can be inevitable in the
short term, but the boat *must* have provision to recover
from both or the voyage will be short & miserable.

As I've always said, once you're out of dry towels, the
cruise is over.



About proper trim, maybe so... one reason why he may have had trouble
keeping the boat on course is from unbalanced sail plan. A staysail eould
have been a better choice than the tip of a rolled-up genoa.


Without a doubt a hank on sail is a much better choice to maintain
sailshape.


Nah, a luff foil.



... Double checking all gear prior to departure is extremely important.


Agreed, and that doesn't cost anything.

Damn it, this is no way to run a newsgroup, agreeing all the time. WTF is
wrong with you? Go ahead, say it, the man had a fin keeler!


Even a fin keeler should have aced that situation had the crew been dry,
warm and suficently nourished to maintain the pace required by the vessel.

If you live through it and learn from it.. it's adventure.


What is it if you live thru it and don't learn?


That's called a Bobsprit....


No, that's if you live thru it and others wish you hadn't.

DSK

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

"Bart Senior" wrote
At some point you reach a level of experience
where you know what you are getting into and
still decide to go forward. It is a second coming
of age that most people never reach.


Yep. It's a jumping-off point, a leap of faith (faith
tempered by knowledge, of course).

The key is to build up experience & skills consistently and
remain aware of your limits, and those of of your vessel &
crew. A lot of people have been sailing for years, but
really have not expanded their experience beyond anything a
relative novice would encounter. We call this the "20 years
of experience versus 1 year of experience repeated 20 times"
syndrome.


Capt.Mooron wrote:
Well said Bart....


Dang it, there you go agreeing again!

DSK

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

"DSK" wrote

The key is to build up experience & skills consistently and remain aware
of your limits, and those of of your vessel & crew. A lot of people have
been sailing for years, but really have not expanded their experience
beyond anything a relative novice would encounter. We call this the "20
years of experience versus 1 year of experience repeated 20 times"
syndrome.

I meet people like that all the time. I was speaking to a
group of skippers at a club meeting a few years ago.
My point was obvious, the best way to learn to sail is on
small boats. One fellow was very vocal about that not
being true. He'd only been sailing a few years, mostly on
one 32 boat. He had very limited experience and would not admit it.

"Oh god, I'm glad to see you. I'm alive!"
 

Final update. My friend is heading south after all.
He signed on as crew for a trip down "The Ditch".

He'll be travelling as part of a crew of three or four
in preparation of his trip next year. He also plans to
start looking for crew early next time, and states he
will make sure every system on the boat is 100%
functional--smart guy.