I have the reguired hours to have an opinion. I am also going to drop the
thread in that I think Skip's account is a good first step.

Note that I picked up on it because we were ducking the issue. They should
not have gone as manned. The problem was that Lydia was not yet blooded.
She did not have the experience of hard weather and she was prone to sea
sickness. So Skip was in fact a single hander with an assistant, He failed
to behave as such and may have lost his boat as a result.

I don't believe the chant of both crew members can do everything. Almost
never happens. Sometimes the Lady is the Captain...but almost always the
guy is the muscle. The Ladies stand watch capably and that makes it all
work. Sure there are some couples were she is fully as capable as he...but
that is not the primary pattern.

And there is nothing wrong with only one muscle person. Works fine. You
set up for it. You go to sleep with a configuration that is almost certain
to let you get four hours and clear instructions to wake you if it ain't
working. In bad conditions you sleep in the cockpit a half hour at a time.


"mr.b" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:59:25 -0800, Bob graced the ethernet with:

yadda, yadda, yadda

snip

psst Bob...switch to decaf, and take some time to look up the 'tact' in
the dictionary. Skip and Lydia drove their boat onto the rocks, not you
and the olecapt. The last thing they need right now is a couple of
armchair admirals telling them about their competence.
Grow a brain.

"gospel_truthy" wrote in news:VvPzh.9692
:

And there is nothing wrong with only one muscle person.

I disagree, wholeheartedly. There must be at LEAST two muscle persons
aboard when that boat passes through the harbor entrance. If you sail
with one and one breaks a finger around a winch, you end up with ZERO and
sailing with ZERO muscle persons is just plain stupid.

TWO.....minimum.

Test it for yourself. Pick a relatively bad day...raining, 25 knots,
4' seas increasing. Sit down in the cockpit and say to her, "I just
broke my leg when it got fouled in the jib sheet coming back aft from
shortening sail." From that point on, moan and groan and beg her to help
splint your leg and sail the boat as you are in agony.

Run the test for 6 hours to view the results. You're unconcious after
the first 30 minutes, so at that point SHUT UP and quit telling her what
to do and how to do it. Unconcious captains are really quiet, you know.
No frowning and motioning, either....NO CHEATING THE TEST.

No warnings before the test, either....it has to be totally unprepared
for out of your normal routine. Before the boat broaches or goes
aground, terminate the test and declare it a failure. No bitching or
****ing at her, it's YOUR FAULT for not preparing for this scenario, not
hers. YOU made this stupid decision to go out with one muscleman.

WHEN she starts looking at motorhomes, take that as a signal you'll be
soon singlehanding and needing a new MUSCLEMAN to sail with.....

Larry
--
VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released!
NOONE will be spared!

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Test it for yourself. Pick a relatively bad day...raining, 25 knots,
4' seas increasing. Sit down in the cockpit and say to her, "I just
broke my leg when it got fouled in the jib sheet coming back aft from
shortening sail."


Doesn't have to be so dramatic. Every once in a while, I simply announce
I'm taking a nap and let her carry on however she wants to.

Key, though, is that I'm not influencing her decisions in any way. She
can't sail worth a darn if I'm looking over her shoulder, but is fairly
adequate if she has complete control.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-6F5333.19110312022007
@news.bellatlantic.net:

Doesn't have to be so dramatic. Every once in a while, I simply announce
I'm taking a nap and let her carry on however she wants to.



But, I'd bet you DON'T do that in the conditions I've set for the test...

On a nice day the Amel will sail itself all day if you want to go in one
direction. My test specs are in NASTY weather when you'd break that leg.

Larry
--
VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released!
NOONE will be spared!

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-6F5333.19110312022007
@news.bellatlantic.net:

Doesn't have to be so dramatic. Every once in a while, I simply announce
I'm taking a nap and let her carry on however she wants to.



But, I'd bet you DON'T do that in the conditions I've set for the test...

On a nice day the Amel will sail itself all day if you want to go in one
direction. My test specs are in NASTY weather when you'd break that leg.


I've found that because we drill fairly often in benign conditions, she
doesn't mind doing it. When the s..t hits the fan, she has always been
right there, anticipating my next move, and didn't get worried until the
flurry cleared.

Works for us. Making a big thing out of it doesn't.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Jere Lull wrote:

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-6F5333.19110312022007
@news.bellatlantic.net:

Doesn't have to be so dramatic. Every once in a while, I simply announce
I'm taking a nap and let her carry on however she wants to.

But, I'd bet you DON'T do that in the conditions I've set for the test...

On a nice day the Amel will sail itself all day if you want to go in one
direction. My test specs are in NASTY weather when you'd break that leg.

I've found that because we drill fairly often in benign conditions, she
doesn't mind doing it. When the s..t hits the fan, she has always been
right there, anticipating my next move, and didn't get worried until the
flurry cleared.

Works for us. Making a big thing out of it doesn't.

If you did that test on me, Larry, I'd throw you overboard. I'm a
partner in this enterprise, not a student - not a test subject, and
not a midshipmen.

Rosalie B. wrote:

Jere Lull wrote:


In article ,
Larry wrote:


Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-6F5333.19110312022007
:


Doesn't have to be so dramatic. Every once in a while, I simply announce
I'm taking a nap and let her carry on however she wants to.


But, I'd bet you DON'T do that in the conditions I've set for the test...

On a nice day the Amel will sail itself all day if you want to go in one
direction. My test specs are in NASTY weather when you'd break that leg.

I've found that because we drill fairly often in benign conditions, she
doesn't mind doing it. When the s..t hits the fan, she has always been
right there, anticipating my next move, and didn't get worried until the
flurry cleared.

Works for us. Making a big thing out of it doesn't.


If you did that test on me, Larry, I'd throw you overboard. I'm a
partner in this enterprise, not a student - not a test subject, and
not a midshipmen.


Good thing I wasn't drinking my coffee... ROTFL.

Don W.