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#22
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
It takes little or no skill to 'even circumnavigate' with that stuff. If you think that, then you're certainly not a sailor! Do an internet search and you'll find a gaziilion couples who have sailed around the world as a life-long ambition. Many of them had never been on a cruising boat prior to their big, three-year adventure. Then they create websites relaying their daring achievements to the folks back home, and dispensing advice. Many of these trips amount to nothing but three-year shake-down cruises, afterwhich they no longer want their boats, and declare them to be for sale. Look at the photos. There they are playing card below while the boat runs on autopilot. Don't worry - the C.A.R.D. system will keep everyone safe - and the beer - it's all nice and cold. And if they have to anchor, boing...plonk. No problemo! Worried about the weather? Well;;, here comes another weatherfax, so who needs that barometer thingy. Need to poop? Don'y worry, cuz we got the latest vacuum flusher and special TP too! Want to watch a movie or cool off? Just flip on that generator, bro. In addition, although their names escape me, there have been a number of inexperienced sailors who have circumnavigated. Modern technology makes it possible for anyone to do it. In fact, right now there are a group of blind sailors doing it. That's right - blind. |
#23
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
She or he has a point. People who use all the "stuff" never really
become sailors. They may think they're sailors, but they would Sorry Russkie, that is crap. I know where you are coming from but you ignore the possibility that maybe we are people who have been sailing/boating all our lives and now prefer to have machines do more of the work for us. I don't consider hauling 100ft of chain road up by hand to be "sailing". My first trip with this boat was delivering it back home a few days before Xmas. Was about 30-ish degs during the day and a 2 day trip. I was alone, all my friends had bugged out. Came into a cove for shelter from a stiff NW wind just as the sun was disappearing. with "auto" steering slow ahead I went fwd and prepped the anchor (45lb Danforth plow). Back in the cockpit I put the engine n neutral and pushed a button on the windlass remote. It was so sweet seeing those yards of chain roll out. I let enough out for 2:1 and reversed the prop to snug it in, then let a full 120 ft out. During the night I do not know how cold it got outside. But inside I could hear the wind and even with my 12000btu propane heater the cabin was 37 degs in the morning. Once up I bundled in many layers of clothing, started the engine, and want fwd. Again I held the remote and pushed a button. It was such pleasure to watch foot after foot of chain rode come up out of the frigid water, across the bow roller, through the windlass and on down inside. When the anchor came up I released the button, pulled the last foot or so and secured the anchor. Then I went back to the cockpit, put the engine in forward, spun the wheel and resumed my winter trip. Did I miss out on something by not doing that by hand? Don't make me laugh. I don't need a radar where I sail, but having one is real nice. Now that I do have one (came with the windlass) I will want one on my next boat. I learned to sail, and did, for over 3 decades plotting manually. Still can. But I enjoy having my GPS map do it for me. Life is getting shorter and I prefer to enjoy it rather than doing things I can have machines do for me. Btw, there were always clueless "sailors". Even back in the lash-the-sticks-together age of primitive rafting. I'm sure people said the same things as you when the first engines were put into sailing yachts. But unless your name is Pardey I doubt even you would be w/o one. |
#24
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
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#25
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
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#26
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
I thought the one thing we all agreed upon here is that nobody criticizes
anyone else's boat handling because no matter how skilled and experienced you are sooner or later you will end up in the same embarrasssing not to say dangerous situation as the clunkiest among us. This does not apply to motor boaters. So your anchor always sets and you almost never have to reset? Great. Try a bottom covered with tree branches or other fouling. Or soupy mud. Or being downwind of a raft that has broken loose. Or...or...or... And don't criticize ny anchoring technique when you don't know under what conditions I am operating or with what equipment. |
#27
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
On 20 Jul 2006 23:50:01 -0500, Jack wrote:
Too bad the prices never come down. I'de like to scoop one of those up! Ahhh, now I understand the bad attitude. Poor Jack never made enough money to afford a decent boat for himself. Therefore anyone who can afford one does not meet his high standards for seamanship. So how much wine can you make with those sour grapes Jackie boy? |
#28
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
Gogarty wrote:
I thought the one thing we all agreed upon here is that nobody criticizes anyone else's boat handling because no matter how skilled and experienced you are sooner or later you will end up in the same embarrasssing not to say dangerous situation as the clunkiest among us. This does not apply to motor boaters. Who agreed on that? And why, if we are agreed, do people say that an electric windlass is absolutely required and anyone who does not want one must be some kind of idiot? So your anchor always sets and you almost never have to reset? Great. Try a bottom covered with tree branches or other fouling. Or soupy mud. Or being downwind of a raft that has broken loose. Or...or...or... And don't criticize ny anchoring technique when you don't know under what conditions I am operating or with what equipment. I am assuming (although we know about that) that you are referring to me. I was tentative about offering any criticism because I wasn't very comfortable with doing it, but it does seem to me that if someone OFTEN has to reset an anchor so that an electric windlass would be an absolute necessity, that it might be a good idea to check up on your anchoring techniques, or your pick of an anchorage or your equipment so that you don't have to do it so often. Even with an electric windlass it would be a PITA to do it OFTEN. When we have a problem, we usually try to figure out what we did wrong, so that we can avoid doing it again. And in no case has the lack of an electric windlass been a problem. Even when one has back problems, the amount of leverage provided by the windlass handle is such that no hard effort is required, and it isn't a back issue. Plus, I don't think that being downwind of a raft that has broken loose happens very often. Now that I think about it, I remember more times that we have had to reset than I did originally. They didn't turn up in my memory because they were really non-events compared to all the times that the anchor held beautifully without resetting even in fairly violent stormy conditions. For instance when we turned into Mile Hammock Bay, an artificial dredged anchorage (on Marine Corps property - Camp Lejeune NC) at 2:30 pm in the rain in November 2000, there were 3 other boats already there . Bob decided to anchor on the inner edge of the dredged area away from the other boats. We had difficulty because we would start out in 10 feet of water and as he let out the anchor chain, we would be blown out onto the shallow part and end up in 5 feet of water. Bob reset the anchor once, and then just decided to put out less scope. Eight other boats came into the anchorage later, including a trawler who appeared to have anchored on top of our anchor. But the trawler left very early so we didn't have to decide what to do about that. We didn't anchor in that anchorage again because we figured our mileage so that we didn't have to - mostly because the entrance to the anchorage was a bit shallow, and Bob hates going aground but also because there was a cheap marina in Swansboro which we stayed at on subsequent trips. (Although on the last trip in the spring of 2004 the docks appeared quite deteriorated so I don't know if we would go there again.) |
#29
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
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#30
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Electric Windlass: How Important?
"Jack" wrote in message Look at the photos. There they are playing card below while the boat runs on autopilot. Don't worry - the C.A.R.D. system will keep everyone safe - and the beer - it's all nice and cold. And if they have to anchor, boing...plonk. No problemo! Worried about the weather? Well;;, here comes another weatherfax, so who needs that barometer thingy. Need to poop? Don'y worry, cuz we got the latest vacuum flusher and special TP too! Want to watch a movie or cool off? Just flip on that generator, bro. That sounds nice! |
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