I'm amused and flattered at the amount of space our (well, of course,
my, as Lydia doesn't post nor write about this sort of thing,
preferring the Sunsets and Animals side of our travels) activities has
generated here.

As a long-term bother to this group (asking questions when I'm not
sure, including more than once, looking for clarification, and,
occasionally, when I've been there, done that, posting some solutions
I've found effective to others' queries), I've grown accustomed to
being told that it can't be done, or that I'll kill myself and any
around me, so I take those with a grain of salt. The boat name - you'd
have to go back those more-than-10 years to understand fully -
suggests the former is inaccurate, and, with the grace of God (or to
whomever you may direct your thanks for your good fortune), nobody's
been hurt (including ourselves), let alone killed as a result of our
learning curve. We're diligently and assiduously (Lydia sez nobody
uses that in regular conversation, but I do) working on making the
latter true until we die.

In the meantime, sitting here at anchor in front of Belhaven NC, I
type while I also look at the screen, a luxury (see prior
discussions), and don't have to maintain a 360 scan every minute or
two, nor look at the instruments or gauges (more on why the trimetric
isn't among my get-up-and-look-every-couple-minutes any more, in a
future post). I don't enjoy the ditch, at all, other than the neat
places and people we get to see, so look forward to getting outside
again. Until then, we'll continue to motor a lot, putting more time
on the engine than I'd normally (recall "normal" isn't, until it's
happened a lot, so that remains to be seen) do in a year, each week,
sailing being a rarity forced either by environment (canal, e.g.) or
weather (dead calm, as has been the case mostly, other than yesterday
afternoon in the Pungo, where we had a lovely sail here). Second oil
change approaches, e.g., on this trip alone.

So, stay tuned. Things are coming into place nicely, and, amazing to
me, we've not yet even cleaned the slime off the bottom, let alone
polished the keel, something we'd expected based on the other horror
stories of the ICW. Perhaps my dual redundancy of hard charts and a
working chartplotter and radar contribute - I don't know - but staying
between the reds and greens has been all that's been required so far.

So, y'all continue to berate us, we don't mind (really - it makes for
entertaining discussion/reading, as Roger has noted in his dock
incident, and occasionally we get a nugget of useful info rather than
just red ears), and where merited, I'll come back on them with
clarification. And, in case you're wondering, I don't even look twice
about carrying my wife's purse when she needs me to, so I'm not
uncomfortable in my own skin. And, as noted previously, it's pretty
crispy-crusted, so well insulated :{))

More later on the continuing saga, but it's starting to get boring.
Not that I crave crisis - but I do enjoy troubleshooting, and problem
resolution. However, boring is nice, currently :{))

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

Skip Gundlach wrote in
oups.com:

[clip] but staying
between the reds and greens has been all that's been required so far.

That won't be sufficient. You need to know where the shoaling is and
that's why I suggested getting an ICW cruising guide that lists problem
areas. I've run aground in the channel when I didn't head the guides.
You're in a non-tidal area now, so I think that you're pretty much OK, but
you'll want this on your return trip.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:37:01 -0500, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

Skip Gundlach wrote in
roups.com:

[clip] but staying
between the reds and greens has been all that's been required so far.

That won't be sufficient. You need to know where the shoaling is and
that's why I suggested getting an ICW cruising guide that lists problem
areas. I've run aground in the channel when I didn't head the guides.
You're in a non-tidal area now, so I think that you're pretty much OK, but
you'll want this on your return trip.


I think I may have mentioned this before but one of the well know
problem spots in your neck of the woods is just a mile or two north of
the Alligator River bridge. Just about everyone's charts are wrong
for that area but the buoys/markers are more or less correct.

http://www.cruisersnet.net/plugins/p...1_articleid=46

http://www.cruisersnet.net/plugins/p...1_articleid=13

Skip.. you postings are mostly about your travails. Things that break,
running aground, bad weather, the sinking, etc.
And now you post that people are berating you, that you are amused by the
amount of space your activities generate.

This is "rec.boats.cruising" not
"wreck.sailboats.breakdowns.sinkings.groundings.di saster".

There are cruising boat all over the world, going from one port to another,
visiting far off places, and most don't have
half the issues you have had in their lifetime afloat, never mind in 6
months.

I think it is time for you to get your act together. You are a Captain
whether you like it or not.

It is about time you started acting like, and sounding like, a Captain.

How about one cruise that goes right. A boring, we went from point A to
point B cruise. We anchored, we ate, we played chess.

If you continue as you have been you will need to change the name of your
boat from Flying Pig to Total Disaster.

====================

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm amused and flattered at the amount of space our (well, of course,
my, as Lydia doesn't post nor write about this sort of thing,
preferring the Sunsets and Animals side of our travels) activities has
generated here.

As a long-term bother to this group (asking questions when I'm not
sure, including more than once, looking for clarification, and,
occasionally, when I've been there, done that, posting some solutions
I've found effective to others' queries), I've grown accustomed to
being told that it can't be done, or that I'll kill myself and any
around me, so I take those with a grain of salt. The boat name - you'd
have to go back those more-than-10 years to understand fully -
suggests the former is inaccurate, and, with the grace of God (or to
whomever you may direct your thanks for your good fortune), nobody's
been hurt (including ourselves), let alone killed as a result of our
learning curve. We're diligently and assiduously (Lydia sez nobody
uses that in regular conversation, but I do) working on making the
latter true until we die.

In the meantime, sitting here at anchor in front of Belhaven NC, I
type while I also look at the screen, a luxury (see prior
discussions), and don't have to maintain a 360 scan every minute or
two, nor look at the instruments or gauges (more on why the trimetric
isn't among my get-up-and-look-every-couple-minutes any more, in a
future post). I don't enjoy the ditch, at all, other than the neat
places and people we get to see, so look forward to getting outside
again. Until then, we'll continue to motor a lot, putting more time
on the engine than I'd normally (recall "normal" isn't, until it's
happened a lot, so that remains to be seen) do in a year, each week,
sailing being a rarity forced either by environment (canal, e.g.) or
weather (dead calm, as has been the case mostly, other than yesterday
afternoon in the Pungo, where we had a lovely sail here). Second oil
change approaches, e.g., on this trip alone.

So, stay tuned. Things are coming into place nicely, and, amazing to
me, we've not yet even cleaned the slime off the bottom, let alone
polished the keel, something we'd expected based on the other horror
stories of the ICW. Perhaps my dual redundancy of hard charts and a
working chartplotter and radar contribute - I don't know - but staying
between the reds and greens has been all that's been required so far.

So, y'all continue to berate us, we don't mind (really - it makes for
entertaining discussion/reading, as Roger has noted in his dock
incident, and occasionally we get a nugget of useful info rather than
just red ears), and where merited, I'll come back on them with
clarification. And, in case you're wondering, I don't even look twice
about carrying my wife's purse when she needs me to, so I'm not
uncomfortable in my own skin. And, as noted previously, it's pretty
crispy-crusted, so well insulated :{))

More later on the continuing saga, but it's starting to get boring.
Not that I crave crisis - but I do enjoy troubleshooting, and problem
resolution. However, boring is nice, currently :{))

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:ffZwi.713$1e.85@trndny06...
Skip.. you postings are mostly about your travails. Things that
break, running aground, bad weather, the sinking, etc.
And now you post that people are berating you, that you are amused by
the amount of space your activities generate.

This is "rec.boats.cruising" not
"wreck.sailboats.breakdowns.sinkings.groundings.di saster".

There are cruising boat all over the world, going from one port to
another, visiting far off places, and most don't have
half the issues you have had in their lifetime afloat, never mind in 6
months.

I think it is time for you to get your act together. You are a
Captain whether you like it or not.

It is about time you started acting like, and sounding like, a
Captain.

How about one cruise that goes right. A boring, we went from point A
to point B cruise. We anchored, we ate, we played chess.

If you continue as you have been you will need to change the name of
your boat from Flying Pig to Total Disaster.


Thank you, sir! It makes me so happy to see that not everybody here
thinks Skip is an admirable character instead of the blundering poor
example who gives cruising sailors a bad name that he really is. He's
obviously read every Cruising World Magazine ever published where their
stock and trade is article after article of blundering sailors who
proceed from one mishap, disaster and disgrace to another. The
frightening thing is there is now a couple generations of sailors who
think sailing is supposed to be a comedy of errors.

Wilbur Hubbard

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:42:41 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:


"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:ffZwi.713$1e.85@trndny06...
Skip.. you postings are mostly about your travails. Things that
break, running aground, bad weather, the sinking, etc.
And now you post that people are berating you, that you are amused by
the amount of space your activities generate.

This is "rec.boats.cruising" not
"wreck.sailboats.breakdowns.sinkings.groundings.di saster".

There are cruising boat all over the world, going from one port to
another, visiting far off places, and most don't have
half the issues you have had in their lifetime afloat, never mind in 6
months.

I think it is time for you to get your act together. You are a
Captain whether you like it or not.

It is about time you started acting like, and sounding like, a
Captain.

How about one cruise that goes right. A boring, we went from point A
to point B cruise. We anchored, we ate, we played chess.

If you continue as you have been you will need to change the name of
your boat from Flying Pig to Total Disaster.


Thank you, sir! It makes me so happy to see that not everybody here
thinks Skip is an admirable character instead of the blundering poor
example who gives cruising sailors a bad name that he really is. He's
obviously read every Cruising World Magazine ever published where their
stock and trade is article after article of blundering sailors who
proceed from one mishap, disaster and disgrace to another. The
frightening thing is there is now a couple generations of sailors who
think sailing is supposed to be a comedy of errors.


Flying Pig posts give me the willies, in comfort of my own home,
Wilbur.

"Goofball_star_dot_etal" wrote in message
...

Flying Pig posts give me the willies, in comfort of my own home,
Wilbur.


In spite of it all, he's probably an alright fellow. It's just how he's
been brought up being fed a line of bull by magazines and lately
newsgroups full of articles and people who think cruising is supposed to
be a comedy of errors. They really have little or no basis to think
anything else considering how the once proud sport of sailing has been
tarnish by the media and a couple generations of wannabes who have just
enough money to sign a 15 year loan agreement that includes insurance
which gives them that abhorrent attitude of, "I don't worry about it,
it's insured!"

The next time I hear that out of some idiot's pie hole who drags down on
me and damages my boat I'm going to break his nose and maybe his jaw and
then ask if he has medical insurance. If he says 'NO' then I'll tell him
to pay for it with the boat insurance he should have paid me for the
damage he caused. I'll consider it a fair trade off. Maybe it'll teach
him a thing or two.

Wilbur Hubbard