Dear Skippy Sycophants,

While poor, hapless Skippy certainly has a lot to learn about sailing I give
him credit for at least trying to learn something about sailing by doing it.
My beef with him is not that he's doing it but that he's doing it rather
poorly. He seems to lack the basics. He seems to be going about it for all
the wrong reasons. He's got too big a boat and it's too overloaded with
frivolous crap. Something or other is always breaking down and the repairs
occupy most of his time. It seems he has his boat so stuffed full that he
lacks room for basics like a real spinnaker, cruising chute and probably
storm sails. In other words his priorities are all out of whack.

And then there's Lydia - but that's a whole new story entirely. Suffice it
to say she seems to be about as much trouble as his constantly failing
systems only she's less predictable and, if she's like today's typical
woman, probably ten times more expensive to keep up to operating standards.
I certainly would not sleep well if she was on watch. Why, she doesn't even
keep to the proper side of a navigational aid.

With these things in mind please consider that it's not my desire to attack
Skippy or his chattel. But, I must define THEM in order to define YOU Skippy
and Lydia sycophants. In doing so I can more easily prove my point which is
as lacking in experience, know-how and competence as Skip et al are they
have risen almost to the Lhotse face summit of sailing proficiency compared
to you Mariana Trench dwellers who constantly slobber all over them and the
most mediocre of their dubious accomplishments.

You wannabes demonstrate your hopelessness by quickly running to the defense
of a couple of cruising noobs you seem to think exemplify sailing expertise
just because they manage to blunder from port to port in a mostly haphazard
and lubberly fashion. It goes to show that you wannabes don't have anything
but a lubber's frame of reference to go by or your attitude would be quite
different.

Every time Skippy posts one of his tome-like trip logs there are always too
many mistakes to count with respect to proper seamanship but you Rubes don't
recognize any of them. Perhaps I expect too much from all of you. It's
difficult for me, who notices every unseamanlike blunder they make, to come
to the realization that I am perhaps the only one here who is aware of them
all. I suppose this is due to my many long years of cruising and voyaging
experience. I am also an avid reader so I supplement my experience with the
wisdom of other notables of sailing fame. I am definitely an expert and I
know of which I speak probably to a much greater extent than the lot of you
combined.

So, spare me the platitudes and sarcasm when attempting to disparage my
wealth of expertise. Try listening to me with understanding for once as you
could learn ten times what you know now in less time than it takes for
Skippy to run aground again.

Wilbur Hubbard