A little bit of self help ..........

[chrisbitz]

I know I'm a bit late, but I have two questions...

Whats the significance of a blue flag? what does it mean?
What does "His response was a little self help" mean? It seems there's more significance to the phrase than what I'm assuming?

Sorry to interrupt, although I'd love to have been there to see their face when Rob chucked their power lead in to the water!

 

[Biggles Wader]

I know I'm a bit late, but I have two questions...

Whats the significance of a blue flag? what does it mean?
What does "His response was a little self help" mean? It seems there's more significance to the phrase than what I'm assuming?

Sorry to interrupt, although I'd love to have been there to see their face when Rob chucked their power lead in to the water!

Blue ensign is available to those who have been given a warrant to fly it by their club.There is much debate about the cudos/snob value bla bla around who can fly it as you might imagine.
I think self help would best translate as help yourself.

Personally I regard helping yourself to someone elses leccy as theft.We used to use theft of electricity as grounds for prosecution for hoax phone calls before we had a specific law made up to cover it.

 

[TradewindSailor]

I was in the Canaries a few years ago. The electricity was provided but not metered.
My computer crashed due to the large motorboat down a finger or two took my cable out. I confronted his paid crew and they gestured to the captain in the boat who didn't seem to want to come out. I removed his cable and replaced mine.
About 20 minutes later he took mine out again. This time I swapped them and waited for the idiot to come out on deck where I verbally lashed him in English with enough gestures to break through the language barrier. He didn't do it again .... but I did get a double-tail next time the office was open.
By the way I used to sail with a club blue ensign ....... never felt that there was an US and THEM problem, just a friendly rivalry between clubs. Perhaps any perceived animosity is due to an inferiority complex which shouldn't be experienced out on the water? Any person exhibiting good boat skills, a sense of humour, and a helpful attitude deserves respect ..... blue ensigns are no substitute.

 

[Tintin]

48 ft british mobo in Camaret last night. Blue ensign.

French chap accidentally unplugs his power. Before he gets the chance to plug it back in the mobo owner storms out of his patio doors and shouts angrily and very loudly "what are you doing? You have unplugged my satellite. You can't do that. What do you think you are doing?"

Big gallic shrug as french sailor plugs it back in and wanders back to his yacht with mobo owner cursing the "bloody french".

Great advert for mobo / bluey / brit abroad.

Anyhow i had a bit of fun later

 

[LONG_KEELER]

My thoughts, rightly or wrongly, re blue ensigns is that I expect a higher standard of behaviour from someone who chooses to display one. That's not prejudice, just an expectation.

Why would you ?

You do not have to do or earn anything to fly one.

I hold a warrant etc only means you joined a club that can fly blue ensigns. Or you can have worked in the services.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Why would you ?

You do not have to do or earn anything to fly one.

I hold a warrant etc only means you joined a club that can fly blue ensigns. Or you can have worked in the services.

But you still choose to fly it as opposed to the red which anyone, including you, can fly. But what I said was just my own opinion. Some no doubt agree with me whilst others disagree, no big deal either way.

And a postscript to the original post. The offender bought a replacement electricity card to replace the one I gave to the Dutchman, along with the words, "honour restored, almost" so I think he thus acknowledged the error of his ways.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I hold a warrant etc only means you joined a club that can fly blue ensigns. Or you can have worked in the services.

Or just buy one at the chandlers and use it. Have any blue ensign holders here ever had their warrants checked by officialdom?

 

[Biggles Wader]

But you still choose to fly it as opposed to the red which anyone, including you, can fly. But what I said was just my own opinion. Some no doubt agree with me whilst others disagree, no big deal either way.

And a postscript to the original post. The offender bought a replacement electricity card to replace the one I gave to the Dutchman, along with the words, "honour restored, almost" so I think he thus acknowledged the error of his ways.

I therefore withdraw my charge of theft of the leccy as he did not intend to "permanently deprive" the Dutchman of the goods.Still a plonker though

 

[clyst]

Or just buy one at the chandlers and use it. Have any blue ensign holders here ever had their warrants checked by officialdom?

'Afraid you just can't buy a bluey from a chandlery with out proof of a warrant .

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Force4 have the bluey's on their site. No mention of needing a warrant.

 

[JumbleDuck]

'Afraid you just can't buy a bluey from a chandlery with out proof of a warrant .

I've never tried to buy one, but I have seen them on the shelves of at least four chandlers, and I have just checked and found them on the lists of two web suppliers. But then, it's perfectly legal to own a blue ensign without a warrant.

 

[capnsensible]

What a twatty post. Accusing someone of maybe being racsist kr anti-semitic is taking it a bit far.

With two exceptions, one being a member of this parish, i have found every blue flag flyer to be fairly obnoxious, with little regard for others, and an air of superiority.

It comes as no surprise that a bluey has done this.

I enjoy these ensign posts.

I have a warrant to fly a Blue Ensign on one of my yachts but not the other........

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I fly a red ensgin and frequently argue with a friend who flies a blue that blue flyers are no different from red flyers. He insists that blue flyers are all stuck up.

 

[SamanthaTabs]

Blueys (club related not forces) I wondered if it made us less approachable in anchorages so asked the Boss to put the red one up instead. Made no difference, good job we're antisocial really

 

[Gerry]

surely not anti-social, just socially independent|!

 

[Babylon]

Clearly disgraceful behaviour, but perhaps linking it to the colour of his ensign says more about your prejudice than about his ensign or club... Why do you link his selfish and rude behaviour to the colour of his ensign? Do you really think there's a correlation? That's not my experience.

That's an interesting take on it, my prejudice. My thoughts, rightly or wrongly, re blue ensigns is that I expect a higher standard of behaviour from someone who chooses to display one. That's not prejudice, just an expectation.

... I used to sail with a club blue ensign ....... never felt that there was an US and THEM problem, just a friendly rivalry between clubs. Perhaps any perceived animosity is due to an inferiority complex which shouldn't be experienced out on the water? Any person exhibiting good boat skills, a sense of humour, and a helpful attitude deserves respect ..... blue ensigns are no substitute.

Leaving aside the man's unacceptable behaviour, I agree with Belle Serene. I simply don't think one can correlate good or bad manners or good/bad seamanship with the colour of an ensign.

However I once - almost immediately after a stressful situation getting off my mooring in adverse conditions of wind and tide - lost my composure and swore at the crew of a returning racing yacht who passed us ridiculously close: we were close hauled on starboard with shoals to leeward, while he had the wind on his port quarter and all the water in the world!

I felt furious with myself afterwards, not just because I'd lost it - however briefly - but because I had the club burgee up the signal halyard and therefore felt I was 'letting the side down'.

Good manners and consideration for others is part of good seamanship.