VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1], 2, 3, 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 08:33:06 03/04/09 Wed
Author: Jack C
Subject: Re: Engineless Sailing Motto
In reply to: robert 's message, "Re: Engineless Sailing Motto" on 12:12:24 02/01/09 Sun

Years ago I got into a short arguement on the Trailer Sailor boat about engines not being a safety device. It was short because I was talking to a professor that was used to telling people how to do things, so I stopped. The professor's view is pretty much the prevailing attitude amongst the "sailing" crowd--an engine is required for safety. The human race has done without engines for 200,000+ years, but now it's required?

I straddle the issue (Oar Club member since 2001, current big boat has an engine). If I'm sailing engineless, I make choices that reflect my options. It's true that I sail my engined boat much more, but that's more a reflection that the engineless boat is on a trailer, requires more effort to rig/unrig and get in/out of the water, goes half the speed, and is much less comfortable.

When engineless I:

1. Make sure I have no time limit,
2. Go with the current,
3. Stay flexible about destinations.

When engined I:
1. Can always get back to a deadline,
2. Can go against the current,
3. Can get to a certain destination predictably.

I have motored in a breeze because my bride was tired and we needed to get home. Now you can say, "Don't have a wife that gets tired," but I kinda like her so I'm going to make other choices to accomodate.

I agree that many boaters don't have much sea-sense. None of us are born with it so we all start off beginners. But most people (in the US anyway) are pretty lazy, so they only learn as much as they need to. You could say that racers (and I race frequently) push themselves to learn more, but races are cancelled when there is no wind or too much wind (much to my disappointment).

My point is it's all about choices, and being suitably prepared to bear the consequences of each choice.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.