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Old 10-10-2008, 07:53 PM   #1
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This hurts me deeply to post this, but I feel I need to. We sometimes let our adventurous souls take control of our brain. Probably around the 27th of Sept. I met a young man on line that wanted to sail around the world. We as sailors hear these words all the time from newbies. I am not trying to discourage anyone from doing exactly that, sail around the world. We are all at some time a newbie. Be it sailing, or anything else in life.

What I will try to emphasize is that it is extremely rare for it to be successful for a newbie. Sailing is a skill, and a highly sought after skill. It takes many miles, days, and nights to be successful at sailing the world. There is sleep deprivation, wounds, storms, huge ships with no watch, broken boat parts, lack of strength, and at times eventually the lack of will to go on.

I read his blog with a bit about his life. I thought he could make it. He survived so much, and so close to death. He walked away with a smile, and a wonderful attitude. In the blog was a friend who had been there, and done it, or so it was said. In my mind this man did not give him enough tutoring, and let him leave with misconceptions of sailing.

In what he described as a strong breeze, and gusting to a near gale. He abandoned his boat. To most experienced sailors this kind of weather is seen often, and especially if you will sail the world. He sold everything to put his dream into a reality, and in a matter of 8 days he abandoned it.

I am not knocking this young man. What I am trying to do is make aware to people with dreamy eyes, and sweet dreams the need to realize the reality of what happens at sea. Take lessons, learn to navigate, know the boat you are leaving in intimately, be a McGiver, because you will have to fix anything at any given hour, be physically fit, charter different boats, or start small, and learn, learn, learn, practice, practice, practice, do coastal sailing, but my goodness be PREPARED.

Sailing is not a slick magazine cover. Sailing can be blood sweat & tears. The greater the skill the easier it gets. There is a new to our marina boat owner. I can see he is reading, and studying. I can also see he has his dream. When we talk I make sure I am his reality check. That I bring in the WHAT IF. I relay how I was hurt, but had to sail on. I know at times I sound negative, but I feel I have to put deep within his mind what can happen.

If you have the skill, and run into a storm. It can be a tough day, or 3 of sailing with exhaustion. If you haven't the skill the dream can quickly turn into a nightmare. FEAR is an ugly beast, and it can disable you, or make you stronger. PREPARATION is everything, and not only with the boat, but with the human brain & spirit too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....BEST WISHES to all who choose to sail, and especially those who sail offshore on passages..........i2f
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Old 10-10-2008, 08:31 PM   #2
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Old 10-11-2008, 10:37 AM   #3
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Faint heart never won a .......

Nothing tried - nothing gained

Around 1979 a Scot with NO sailing experience started passages that gained a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II :-

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Old 10-11-2008, 02:21 PM   #4
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It is very clear it can be done. That goes without saying, and just possibly I myself am an example? I do know the Blyth story. You have to admit it is extremely sad to see these things unfold. Too many unprepared people go out to sea with no reality of what it can be like was my point..............i2f
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Old 10-11-2008, 05:34 PM   #5
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I am well pleased this topic came up because the concept of a sheer amateur sailing arround the world is a little worrying. Yes, it has been done. Chay Blyth did it and so did Shane Acton and several others but look beyond the amateur status label at the character himself. Both Shane Acton and Chay Blyth were professional soldiers. If my memeory serves me correctt, Blyth was an army man whereas Acton was a marine; not that it matters here. What matters is that they were both strong characters with lots of determination and trained to rely upon themselves in daunting circumstances. Certainly, you do not have to be a proffessional soldier to sail arround the world without ever having previously held a tiller but you do need the qualitiest the men had, unless you have more than your fair share of luck. In fact, luck has everything to do with the outcome unless you have the knowledge required to influence it yourself.

I do not wish to put anyone off, exactly the opposite in fact, but I certainly do not want to see dreams of cruising the world being dashed appart on rocks or other hazards of the seas. With experience, common sense and a well found craft there is no reason why a round-the-world voyage should not be a successful and enriching experience. With one of these components missing there is every chance that a dream will turn into a disaster; and that is a disaster we all share. Every cruising voyage that results in a rescue at sea, no matter how trivial, reflects badly upon all of us and results in increasing demands for governmental control.

Anyone contemplating cruising, be it coastal or deep sea, should have the intention of gaining at least the minimum amount of experience and knowledge required to safely complete the planned voyage before departure. Common sense is the most difficult of these and, I fear, cannot be learned; you are either endowered with it or you are not.

To return briefly to the successful navigations made be persons of the calibre of Blyth and Acton; they were indeed short on experience and even knowledge but they had a huge portion of positive mental attitude, survival ability and common sense which enabled them to overcome their shortcomings. I do not endorse this but merely point out that these qualities are invaluable when things start to go wrong.

As an argument against my point of view, it could be pointed out that some have succeeded in completing fantastic voyages whilst lacking in knowledge of the sea, boatsmanship and navigation as well as, perhaps, being challenged regarding common sense. That is true. That is what statistics tell us. There will always be someone who does the impossible to prove that 99.99% of the others are wrong. The trouble with statistics is that they are often regarded as absolute whereas they should, in most cases, be regarded as indicitive. Ask not "how many people sailed around the world with no prior knowledge" but instead ask "of those who sailed arround the world, and lived to tell the tale, what percentage had little or no knowledge of sailing, seamanship etc. before departure" I think the figures would speak for themselves.

Maintain your dreams for it is upon dreams that we build our lives and set benchmarks for future achievements but be realitic. Acknowledge the fact that the best way to achieve one's ambitions is to have the understanding, experience and knowledge required. Gain that experience and enjoy the cruising life, safely.

Aye // Stephen
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Old 10-12-2008, 05:11 AM   #6
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Without study - without research - without planning - without preparation - without attention to detail - without timing - without the experience of others - without practice - without the temperament for the sea. Without these, even a well found and financed boat may not complete its passage.

The key to successful and safe cruising is probably an amalgam all of the above.

I2F and Stephan summed it up!
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Old 10-12-2008, 06:47 AM   #7
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You are right, it sounded depressing.

Reality check vs a depressing downer is a thin line between the two.

I will print your post off and tuck it in my wallet. When I finally get to go and if all does not go well. I will pull it out and read it. Sort of a "I told you so to go".

Some people never have the courage to shove off from shore. Maybe the 8 days was not a failure as you feel it was. I have had some bad days on terra firma. Why did you not give me a heads up.

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Old 10-12-2008, 11:21 AM   #8
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Some people never have the courage to shove off from shore. Maybe the 8 days was not a failure as you feel it was. I have had some bad days on terra firma. Why did you not give me a heads up.
Did any of your bad days on terra firma, outside of a war zone, end in police and military forces rallying their resources to effect a rescue? Did someone ask a long-haul trucker to divert several days from his route in order to pick you up and take you with him to bring you to safety without any compensation for lost revenue or extra costs? And pay for your food while he was carrying you? Did it require a rescue plane to locate you? The difference is that at sea the outcome of a mistake is often much more serious than a problem on land. The freighter does not begrudge the time or effort expended, but that does not minimize the cost or risk to "innocent" bystanders.

I believe in the Coast Guard's responsibility to come to our aid when it is necessary. I do not feel that "necessary" should include rescuing a person who is in trouble due to his/her own ignorance and lack of preparation, though too often it does.
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Old 10-12-2008, 12:19 PM   #9
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Very good point, JeanneP.

There are accidents that happen and there are 'accidents waiting to happen'

IMHO, I think we are far too willing to rescue people free of charge when their predicament was predictable and inevitable - not a matter of 'if' but 'when'.

In the UK there have been a several individuals in the last few years who have required 'serial rescueing' - great resorces required from the emergency services, advice constantly ignored and no implication or cost on the individual.

No-one minds helping those who are well prepared and equipped for the task that they set themselves - unfortunately those who are ill equipped and ill prepared may take the resouces when they are required by the deserving.
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Old 10-13-2008, 03:53 AM   #10
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The same could be said for skiers, hunters, hikers, cross country skiers and everyone else who ventures from the safety of their front steps. I can remember living in Colorado the voluteers risking life and limb, plus $ to go look for someone who skied out of bounds and was in a snowslide. How about the idiots who were lost on Mt. Hood 2 years back.

Two nights ago I flew a lady off the island I am working on to Anchorage for a medical emergency. The cost of a medavac from here, about $25,000. It would have been a lot better for everyone involved if she lived in Anchorage. Better yet a few blocks from the hospital.

People are going to lead their lives, JP you did. Sometimes you can be saved sometimes not. The better prepared you are the better your chances. I always think long and hard about activating any sort of EMS. I think about the people riding in the plane coming to get my lady 1300 miles away in the middle of the night.

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Old 10-13-2008, 09:23 AM   #11
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I don't advocate everyone living a riskfree, sanitised life.

I do expect people to live with a degree of responsibility for their action - they may suffer an accident but they are not accidents waiting to happen.
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Old 10-13-2008, 12:58 PM   #12
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I fully agree with Ed and Jeanne.

There is a huge, fundamental difference between an accident hapening to someone who has prepared for voyage hike, climb or whatever it may be and to someone getting into difficulties because of being un-prepared or downright stupid. During my days at sea in the coast guard the cutter I served most of my time on picked up the same guy on six different occasions! Each time for a triviality but he screamed for help. Eventually, to get him to keep out of our waters we had to threaten to confiscate his oat if he ever came back. In point of fact, it was a threat we had no legal ground to enforce but it worked.

I also had one instance where a guy had bought a lovely, new, steel motor cruiser in the Netherlands. He folowed the coast and canals home but had to cross about 30 NM ofo pen water and then got lost. Despite one of the strogest lighthouses in the area (vis 22NM) flashing away above his head he ended up a a minefield of rocks and skerries. We got him out with his boat intact and discovered that on this $200,000 STEEL boat he only had a little Silva orienteering compass. I can't believe that he cold not afford a decent shp's compass and the cost of having it swung.

In my view, and I have only my own annecdotal evidence for this, 90% or more of the situatons which I have participated and"rescued" people from have been caused by alcohol, ignorance, incompetence, lack of experience, seasickness, nerves or not having the right gear aboard. In each of these cases the cost to society was an unreasonable and unnecessary burdon on the taxpayer. Only very few have been caused by a gear malfunction when all was reasonably believed to be well.

I am a great believer in the spirit of the sea and the concept of seamen helping each other but I expect people to help themselves first.

Aye // Stephen
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Old 10-13-2008, 06:54 PM   #13
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I work in EMS & the figures work out as follows:

90% of our calls are NOT true emergencies, though they are often percieved as such by callers.

10% of our calls are true emergencies.

1% of our calls are actual life threats.

I am sure that the figures are different, if not only due to perceptions, out to sea.

Sailing is not simply a pastime (IMO). It is a lifestyle... It encompasses many responsibilities that I see addressed here quite often. I, and I am sure many others, rally here to glean insight and an experienced opinion from those who are actively doing that which we are working to do. One who has experience is oft' saddled with the responsibility to nurture those who follow. But is it the responsibility of those setting out to seak that voice of experience, and to consider the advice gained in their future sailing endevours. Both happen here. It is because we care so much about each other that we care whether those who endevour succeed or fail. It is because we care so much about each other that we get on those boats and planes and helicopters to try to help those in trouble. By the same standard it is because we care about those that would be placed in financial burden, or far more often in harm's way that we have a responsibility to prepare for self-help and self-rescue to the best of our ability! Any Skipper has a grave responsiblity for his craft and his crew. So many folks today expect rescue rather than accept that it may not be available.

I get called out in my ambulance due to human stupidity nearly every shift. I would certainly prefer to respond to only real emergencies. But if I were one of the people responsible for off-shore rescues I would still have the attitude that I have on each and every call I take in-shore: No matter how stupid this person I am responding to has been, he or she is someone's son, daughter, brother, sister, mom, dad, grandma or grampa... And they deserve the right for me to deliver them safely home so that they can beat them to a pulp themselves!!!

In words of Ron White; You can't fix stupid!

I am not as experienced as most of you and I have already had days at sea where I was thinking that if I ever got to dry land again I would never venture out. Luckily, I have a short memory and after a rough time or two I figure out that the boat can take more than I can "if" I maintain the boat. The next time things get really rough it is something less alarming and I get to await the next level of testing.

I am also saddened to hear that this one young man was put off after 8 days at sea. I don't know how he prepared, what weather window he left in, what boat he took in what condition, or where he was at... But I know he gave up- That is what saddens me!

David
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Old 10-13-2008, 11:34 PM   #14
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While I agree totally with the first post in this thread, let's not forget the fact that the boy finally pulled the EPIRB after his rudder shaft had broken and he had zero steering ability.
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Old 10-14-2008, 12:25 AM   #15
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Most times, when I talk about sailing to friends and family, they fall asleep or their attention span cuts into an eight. But once in awhile, there is one whose eyes bulge out and declares "I want to be a sailor and sail around the world!" I think to myself, who am I to kill his dreams? I was once like him ... inexperienced, knows nothing about sailing, cannot differentiate between port and starboard. But I was bold enough to join my partner in his dreams to sail away. I took the whole year reading up on sailing books, but nothing prepared me to the realities we faced when I lost sight of land for the first time. Now, I reflect back on a lot of what-ifs: what if my partner was not strong enough to handle emergencies? what if he didn't know how to fix the broken halyards? what if he gets hurt? what if he was not solid and calm enough for both of us during storms? I don't think I can handle being out in the ocean by myself, but my partner and I, we work well together and complement each other. After several days in stormy seas, we just have to remind each other that we are tired, but we have only each other to depend on, so we have to push each other to survive. Without this inner strength, it would have been so easy to just give up.
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Old 10-14-2008, 01:56 PM   #16
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While I was unaware that this fellow had lost steerage, I have a hole pre-drilled in the top aft edge of my rudder and filled with expanding foam so that I can punch it out to use lines and winches for steering. I can steer by balancing the sails in most conditions should I lose the rudder completely. All of this is not meant to minimize what he went through. I am happy that he was rescued and wish him well. I hope that his dream is in no way reduced and that he finds the means to complete all of his dreams!

Many of the comments here that followed the original post were irrelavent to it and generalized toward those who don't take the time or responsability to learn enough sailing skills to get them through before they depart on "the dream". That is of great concern to the many knowledgable sailors on this site who so selflessly guide those of us learning the ropes. We thank you for your efforts!

You are appreciated, and your concern is well noted,

David
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Old 10-14-2008, 06:38 PM   #17
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Quote:
duckwheat,

I will print your post off and tuck it in my wallet. When I finally get to go and if all does not go well. I will pull it out and read it. Sort of a "I told you so to go".

Some people never have the courage to shove off from shore. Maybe the 8 days was not a failure as you feel it was. I have had some bad days on terra firma. Why did you not give me a heads up.
Maybe I am reading your first post wrong? I take that as a sly insult. I bet you were a favorite of your teachers. If I am wrong then my apologies before hand.

I think when you lose everything you own, because you are not prepared, and your boat is not prepared. That it is truly a failure. A failure of being prepared.

I was in some weather very simliar to this youngman. I was furling a sail when it raised throwing me oveboard. I was lucky when the boat fell off a wave it snapped me back onto the boat compressing my spine. My jackline saved my life. I could not move for 12 hours wedged in the corner of the cockpit. Sail down, and motor idling I was running out of fuel with nealy 100 miles to get to port.

There was fuel in cans, but I was frozen because of my back. A cruise ship came over the horizon blazing with lights. They came alongside as dawn began to lighten the sky. I held the mic in my hand to the VHF considering asking someone to fill my tanks. They came so close I could see people eating breakfast looking at me. I was sure they were talking about me. Look at the man in his boat, and thinking how lucky I was. Little did they know.

I have been shot on the street, passed a kidney stone, and had my fingers smashed from my hand by thugs. You put these three together, and none of it came close to my pain that night. How many times do you urinate in the night? If you can't move where will that take place. That's right on yourself.

I could not bring myself to call out to the ship. It was my boat, my problem. I put myself there, and I had to get myself out of there. It was my pride for who I am. I either had to go alone, or stay at home I chose to go alone, so there I sat in a puddle with an oppurtunity for call out for help. Tears filled my eyes as I watched the ship disappear. I was alone again, and alone with everything I owned.

I gently placed the mic back into the cradle, and with my arms alone I pulled myself from the cockpit. With a little help from my feet I got myself onto the roof of the house. You never heard the such cursing, or probably never witnessed a grown man cry like I did from the pain. Eventually I got to the cans, and my back started to pop. Each time it popped the pain calmed.

I rolled to the other side of the boat with a can in my arms, and placed the can near the open deck fitting. At the shrouds I pulled myself up with some help from my legs.. I wasn't steady, and my shoulders rested against the shrouds. I lifted the can, and when I placed the can outside of the shrouds my back sounded like a small string of firecrackers. Half the pain was gone. I could now crawl, and I got another can, and once again when I placed it outside of the shrouds to lift. My back began to pop, and half the pain again was gone.

Slowly I made my way below. I cleaned myself, and changed clothes. I grabbed something to eat, and propped myself up in the cockpit. I cursed myself, I cursed the boat, and I cursed the weather. I thought when I get to port of walking away. I sat there for half a day bending, and stretching along with a lot of cursing.

Then I felt a little breeze on my cheeks. I turned Frolic up into the wind, and cursed as I raised the main. I turned down wind, and unfurled the jib. The next morning I found myself rounding the arches in Cabo. Furling the sails, and motoring into a quiet marina.

To this day my back hurts, and that was Dec. 22nd 93. Sometimes my leg goes numb, and my breathing is difficult. When this happens I think of that black night with my body suspended over the lifelines. Thinking in slowmotion that I was about to be drug to a drowning death by my own boat. Sailing is not a slick magazine cover.

That magazine cover is your reward. Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it is not. Before this youngman left I gave him 2 pieces of advice. Never let a schedule force you to leave in bad weather. Always remember it is a marriage between you and your vessel. You take care of her, and she will get you to your destination safely.

He forgot to take my second advice, and he left her adrift.

Someone said it much better. His problem was equivalant to a flat tire on a stormy night. He could have sat tight if he had been prepared. He wasn't prepared, so he got sick, and then fear set in, and then he pushed the answer to all problems button on the EPIRB.

Sailing offshore is a challenge, and especially if you choose to do so alone. When you choose to to take on a challenge you better be prepared to face it. I don't complain about the rescues of skiers, hunters, and even sailors. When you refer to YOU TUBE, and there should be only 15 mph winds on a 2200 mile passage. Then Mr. you are not even close to being prepared.
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Old 10-14-2008, 07:58 PM   #18
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Here bloody here!

Such wise words and spoken with experience.

Sailors have always been self-sufficient. It was in the nature of the life in the past. You left land and that was it, unless you happened to stray upon another vessel or you fetched a port. Nowadays we are succoming to the modern concept of calling for help when anything out of the ordinary happens. I accept that in everyday life. You live in an appartment and your deep fryer catches fire. You ring for help. That's life the way most people live it but once you decide to stray from the normal course of modern living you must be prepared to do without the conveniences; and that includes "petty rescue".

Again going back to my years at sea in the coast guard, sorry if I am boring you with this, but if we got a call for a medical evacuation from the islands to the mainland during the summer months it was usually a summer guest with a bad headache or someone who had missed the last ferry and played sick to get a free ride to the mainland. In winter time, when only fishermen and their families were left on the islands, if a call came you did not mess arround but got there asap because you knew it was serious. Those guys waited until the Grim Reeper was knocking at their door before asking for help, When they got it their gratitude knew no bounds either.

The bottom line is that most of mankind is getting soft; and that is alright as long as you do not choose to stray from the easy life but for those who do pit themselves against the elements then let it be known that that is one shrew even Petruccio could not tame.

Aye // Stephen
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Old 10-15-2008, 12:50 AM   #19
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Very perceptive I2F.

I am just saying this forum in general is a little dour. Sort of like going to the dentist sometimes, painful but worthwhile. I am trying to bring a little different perspective. A perspective that is a little less furrowed brow. From the don't leave the front porch until you have thought of everything under the sun that could possibly or conceivably happen to you school of thought. And by the way make sure you watch out for pirates, wear clean underwear, and do not forget your galoshes.

Your heroic tale is quite admirable of forging on despite the elements and physical limitations. Some more critical than I, would say you should have had those sails stored away prior to the storm. After all someone prepared for all things ocean, should have seen that one coming. Also fuel in the can when there is room in the tank, does a sailor no good.

That description of the injury would lead me to suspect a ruptured or compressed disc. Nothing really to do for it unless you can not stand the pain, your bladder leaks, or your foot drags. That medical opinion is worth what you paid for, consult your primary care provider for a diagnosis.

Who knows maybe the next time the kid will hang in their for 16 days before he bails out. Perhaps he thought he was going to get rescued by that same cruise ship in time for the midnight buffet.

I have a saying I use with my kids, I can not remember if I borrowed it from someone or came up with it on own. It goes like this; Anyone can walk off the field a winner and a champion it is easy. The setbacks and failures in your life and your response to them will ultimately define your character and success longterm.

Thoughtful and Sly in beautiful downtown Adak, AK.

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Old 10-15-2008, 12:05 PM   #20
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Some more critical than I, would say you should have had those sails stored away prior to the storm. After all someone prepared for all things ocean, should have seen that one coming. Also fuel in the can when there is room in the tank, does a sailor no good.

Anyone can walk off the field a winner and a champion it is easy. The setbacks and failures in your life and your response to them will ultimately define your character and success longterm.
An experienced sailor would not say that those sails should have been stored away prior to the storm, because that sail was still raised and on the mast. They know what I2F was doing, and when you reef a sail as the wind increases you have to secure all that excess sailcloth that is now sitting on the boom instead of flying on the mast. An experienced sailor knows that sometimes the first inkling of a storm approaching is rough and confused seas, but he still has to secure the boat for the eventual nastiness. An experienced sailor is not clairvoyant, just more sensitive to the clues around him. He reefs the main when the wind that is increasing is due to a storm, not just a local "windiness". One can wait for a weather window, but long passages are longer than most weather windows. Eventually everybody will encounter challenging weather, and it behooves him to know what to do then.

Friends of ours lost their rudder during a Newport to Bermuda race many years ago. We asked them "what did you do?" The response was "we kept going." Dragging warps and careful attention to sail trim enabled them to make it to Bermuda without hollering for help. They said that they had a lot of involuntary tacks and jibes during that trip, but they still made it to Bermuda faster than a number of comparable-sized boats with intact rudders. Their experience had a lot to do with their continuing. They knew what to do, what to expect, and did not consider their predicament sufficiently serious to ask for help until it came time to enter the harbor, when they could get a tow for a few miles.

Luck, both good and bad, visits the experienced as well as the inexperienced. The experienced sailor, however, usually has the knowledge to recover from the bad patch. Not always, though.

And that's where I paraphrase your second homily. Anyone can reach port when the sky is clear and the winds are mild. The setbacks in a passage are the true test of a sailor and his approach to them is what determines success or failure. Losing one's boat is not necessarily failure, but abandoning one's sound boat due to inexperience and lack of preparation is.

Not dour. Pragmatic, and perhaps just slightly self-righteous. But only just slightly. The ocean humbles us all.
__________________

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In 1986 we went cruising for a few years. After 20 years and 50+ countries and several oceans, we are STILL "cruising for a few years".

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