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Date Posted: 16:02:10 02/04/09 Wed
Author: Ari
Subject: Re: Engineless Sailing Motto
In reply to: Bill 's message, "Re: Engineless Sailing Motto" on 22:26:17 02/02/09 Mon

Bill,

I totally agree with you on this:

All too often I hear other boaters say "I could easily sail up to the mooring, I just choose to use the engine"

I agree. It's easy (by analogy) for a pilot to say "I could easily perform a dead stick landing on the Hudson, I just choose to use the landing strip at JFK."

We don't know what we can or cannot "easily" do until we try. We took a sailing class last year that was supposed to be engineless sailing of a 32 foot boat. We had the engine on in neutral "just in case." It was cool to practice in a "safe" environment, with someone else's boat, etc. But in the end it was NOT the same experience as actually sailing a boat that does not have an engine.

On the safety front, I said before that I'd concede the point that engines make boater safer for the general populace, but it's also true that having an engine allows you to get into crazy trouble you could never get into without one. When looking at rescue stats in original post, it would be interesting to compare injury stats per hour on water for engineless vs. auxilary sailboats. I'll bet a tall frosty mug of beer that engineless sailor rack up way less casualties.

Finally, why are sailors so obsessed with safety? I mean, I want to avoid death and dismemberment as much as the next guy. But the sailing public seems obsessed with buying gadgets and books and classes to avoid any chance of injury. All this for a sport, which (despite the terrifying sea tales we hear from circumnavigators) is pretty darn safe all things considered. Seriously, if you ride a motorcycle, or hang-glide, or scuba dive, or mountain bike off the side of a cliff, or climb El Capitan without ropes, or drive to work on the freeway, etc. etc. it's not big deal, but if you sail without motorized assistance people think you're some kind of adrenaline-drunk lunatic. I understand that the sea is a fierce mistress, but the general boating public still seems to have a way more conservative risk tolerance than the general public. What's up with that?

- Ari

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