On Jan 15, 10:54*pm, Frogwatch wrote:
On Jan 15, 9:57*pm, jps wrote:



On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:51:58 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch

wrote:
HAving just completed a great sailing trip with 4 men on a small (28')
sailboat, I am still amazed at how it went. *NO arguing or tension, no
feelings of lack of personal space, general agreement on most things
and we parted as good friends. *HOW is this possible? *It amazes me so
much that I have puzzled over it for days.
Consider: *Person A, myself, extreme introvert who is self confident
in all techie matters but not so much in people things.
Person B. *Another introvert, even more than myself
Person C. *Less introverted than A or B but still on the introverted
side.
Person D. *EXTREME extrovert. *Never stops talking and constantly
makes jokes about everything.

Being the boat owner, having far more sailing experience than the
others and being oldest, I was clearly captain on the water. *While
ashore, I relinquished responsibility to Person D most of the time.
All of the group except Person C were cavers so tend to be self
sufficient.
I maintain that Person D was the critical component in maintaining
group harmony but am not sure why.
This experience will certainly cause me to evaluate groups before
future trips. *I had actually been sorta dreading the enforced
closeness *but miss the group now that it is over.

Are any of the four given to being disagreeable by nature? *I chalk it
up to being men and being on vacation.

My wife asks, "what did you guys talk about all that time, sex?"
"Of course not", I reply, men rarely talk about sex.
"Did you talk about women"? she asks.
"Hardly at all", I reply
"Then what", she wonders?
Truthfully, I cannot remember what we discussed except the trip and
previous caving trips but we seemed to laugh non-stop. *I did my share
of science geek talk with one of the guys who has such an interest but
mostly it was a little sports, a little about our families about
friends, nothing unusual at all.
Women seem to think that men talk of nothing but sex and women whereas
we do nothing like that.
NOW, I wonder if that is what women always talk about. *It's enough to
make *a man paranoid.

Mostly, I allowed them to steer and handle sails while I gladly
exercised my major obsession with navigation, plotting our position on
the paper charts. Give me a paper chart and I can amuse myself for
hours.
We did lose the dinghy once when we tried towing it. It rapidly
filled with water and broke the rope. I managed to balance on the
boarding ladder bailing it while we continued under sail. Normally, I
sail alone so it was a major luxury to be able to sail with guys who
know how to do things with rope, like hoisting the dinghy.
Anchoring was another time I was glad to have cavers aboard as they
naturally know how to handle long lengths of rope without tangling
it. All I had to do was explain the necessity of not tangling the
anchor rope and they did it right without asking how. Being with
smart people whose abilities I really trust was a luxury I almost
never have and I truly enjoyed it.