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#31
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Banning my wife from the boat
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#32
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Banning my wife from the boat
On Feb 12, 8:29 pm, Stephen Trapani wrote:
wrote: On Feb 12, 6:00 pm, Gogarty wrote: Back when we were growing up in Marblehead, Mass., and sailing at young ages, we thought the worst thing that could happen to a man would be to marry a woman who did not like sailing. Theh we discovered sex. But now after many years we have all gone back to the original opinion. A little background: Married 28 yrs, 3 kids, 21, 17 and 11. Been sailing for 20 yrs. She is the touchy-feely type with degrees in education and counseling and I am the analytic type MS Physics and MSEE so you can imagine how well this works. She likes to sail for the aesthetics whereas I like to sail for the problem solving aspects. She clearly cannot concentrate on steering and will never understand how the sails work. She claims that having something on shore to use as a mark helps her but I have not noticed this and often we are simply too far out so it is either steer by the compass or by feel of the tiller or watch the sails and she can do none of these because she is tuned in to watching the people aboard as you would expect. Unfortunately, she wants to steer and always wants me to explain how to do things I have taught her dozens of times in the past (knots, using the VHF, using the compass, etc.). I lost patience with teaching her a long time ago. My 21 yr old daughter is a biology major so is technical enough to understand things and even my 11 yr old daughter grasps things so fast it amazes me. Saturday she casually remarked we would need a course of 310 (our reciprocal) to get back to our channel.. I can count on them when I need them whereas I cannot count on my wife to do what needs to be done in a hurry. If I tell my 11 yr old daughter to hold the boat into the wind while I drop the main she does it whereas my wife is unable to do so. I don't know why. Weirdly, my son is just like my wife and is incapable of doing even the most basic things (would impale himself on a screwdriver) although he is always Mr Popularity and he is an alien to me. I do most of my sailing alone but I see other families sailing and really want this to work for us. Unfortunately, I cannot count on my wife and am actually much safer sailing alone or with the kids and myself. Sailing with her is like sailing single handed but with one arm tied behind me. I have tried getting her to sail small boats by herself but she doesn't like them (surely a sign of something). So, how do other sailors deal with sailing with an inept spouse when it is clear that NOTHING will help the situation? Is this simply a case of "Some people don't belong on boats"? If she understood how she is putting others at risk (can you two communicat?) and if she had other things to do (like socialize) why would she insist upon taking the helm? Is she still putting everyone at risk just sitting their enjoying the aesthetics? Why does she have to be banned from the boat entirely? Stephen OTOH, she has her good qualities. On Saturday, she looked at the tattered 20 yr old Bimini and said "You really ought to buy a new one". How can you be too angry with a wife who APPROVES of you spending money on the boat? OTOH, she then said "Then we could have more friends sail with us because it would be more comfortable". That's all I need, more people aboard to interfere with sailing and to distract her when she insists on steering. |
#34
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
On 2008-02-12 19:29:20 -0500, said:
Weirdly, my son is just like my wife and is incapable of doing even the most basic things (would impale himself on a screwdriver) although he is always Mr Popularity and he is an alien to me. Side issue: How's he doing? I've been wondering since we're hearing about the girls for the first time and not him. -- Jere Lull Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
#35
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
On Feb 12, 10:54 pm, Jere Lull wrote:
On 2008-02-12 19:29:20 -0500, said: Weirdly, my son is just like my wife and is incapable of doing even the most basic things (would impale himself on a screwdriver) although he is always Mr Popularity and he is an alien to me. Side issue: How's he doing? I've been wondering since we're hearing about the girls for the first time and not him. -- Jere Lull Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's pages:http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI trips & tips:http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ My son has sorta straightened out as he has gotten older, still not a great student but he does have a job so I cant complain too much. After our dad-son forced cruise a couple years ago after he got caught with pot, he decided he didnt want to spend any more family time on the boat. So, he works and hangs out with friends, fortunately a gf had good effect on him. You know how those teen years are, hates spending time with family. He used to love the MiniCups but now only uses em if he can take a friend along. I sure wish I could figger a way to connect with him but we seem to inhabit different universes. It is really strange understanding my daughters but not my son. I have decided my wife isnt really interested in sailing because she wont take the Minicups out. She is really more interested in the social aspect of sailing and the image of sailing. |
#36
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
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#37
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Banning my wife from the boat
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#38
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
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#39
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
On 2008-02-13 02:18:37 -0500, (Richard
Casady) said: On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:11:23 -0800 (PST), wrote: Well, several issues here, not just emotional involvement. It's been well demonstrated in *many* fields that rather few husbands can make a success of teaching his wife a complex task. When did helmsman get to be so complex? ???? If it weren't complex, all the powerboaters would be doing it! I think the problem is being able to concentrate on something that seems to be doing so little. -- Jere Lull Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/ Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
#40
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Banning my wife from the boat
wrote:
ell, several issues here, not just emotional involvement. It's been well demonstrated in *many* fields that rather few husbands can make a success of teaching his wife a complex task. (Richard Casady) wrote: When did helmsman get to be so complex? Well, just steering the boat isn't really difficult or complex, but it obviously is more difficult for some people than others There is the complication of knowing what the helmsman is responsible for. Just following a compass course, or steering towards a recognizable point on shore, should be easy. However is the helmsperson also responsible for watching the depthsounder and avoiding shallows? Deciding when to tack? Most of the time for casual sailing (at least in my experience), the helmsperson is assumed to be the de-facto skipper of the moment, sort of like being officer of the watch. If the helmsman is not also the owner and/or *real* skipper of the vessel, then it's generally assumed that the helmsperson is supposed to monitor the ongoing situation of the vessel (shallows, wind & weather, other vessels) and call the owner/real-skipper when difficulties are arising. If you think this is easy, then I would like to come sailing with you and learn how! Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
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