'Age shall not weary them....'

zoidberg

zoidberg

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I recently had some younger sailors seek my 'input' and I've been musing about their reactions.

I was tempted to say "There are some things I could do rather better when I was young.... and there are some things I can do better now that I'm not."
but I sensed I'd be tangling with their unthinking prejudices.

What think you?
 
zoidberg said:
I recently had some younger sailors seek my 'input' and I've been musing about their reactions.

I was tempted to say "There are some things I could do rather better when I was young.... and there are some things I can do better now that I'm not."
but I sensed I'd be tangling with their unthinking prejudices.

What think you?
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I was in our local pub one Christmas Eve when the local Morris Dancers turned up, strutted their stuff for a minute or two and proceeded to go round with a bucket collecting to give a Christmas Lunch to the local poor and vunerable.

Two lads near us declined to put anything in, and did a bit of pisstaking.

My mate Bennett suggested that they put something in. The kids asked why they should. Bennett said " Look at 'im-fifty year old farmworker, hanky on 'is 'ead, little bells on 'is knees. Can you imagine 'ow hard you 'ave t'be to walk around Abingdon on a Saturday night dressed like that? I'd pay 'im fore 'ee comes back...................."

They did. Their unthinking prejudices turned pretty quick into thinking ones!
 
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My Dad could fix anything, apart from electronics. I can now fix anything, including electronics. Most of the young people (i.e. under 40's) that I meet these days can't even fix a dripping tap. We're doomed I tell ye. :ambivalence:

Richard
 
Many years ago when I was sailing as second mate I said something or suggested something to the Master...

His response?

"I remember many years ago when I was second mate... the Chief had made a minor error in the Run Book ( a 'joint venture' if you wish between C/E and 2/O) and I took issue with him about it...
His response? ... while stoking his pipe as old Scots Chief Engineers were want to do..

Paraphrasing here ... it was many years ago...

' 2/0... I know you think I am just a silly old man... but many years ago I was a smart arsed little prick just like you...'

How many years ago was all that... quite a few but I think nothing changes.... I still use it on smart arsed little pricks....
 
I learned something, or had my view changed, by my daughter who was 12 at the time.
She like to go out of Brighton marina for very gentle, short trips in nice weather, and it was neaps, in summer, with little wind and a large, slow-moving area of high pressure.
We met at the marina early one morning, and it was a bit misty, but viz was about a cable so we went out, the sea was like a millpond.
I stayed in sight of the breakwater with such 'precious cargo' on board, and switched off the engine, sails hanging slack. Then a much thicker patch of mist, or fog rather, enveloped us, and my mind went into all the proceedures you're meant to do in the YM book, and I totally stopped enjoying myself.
But she was rapt with cosmic delight, genuinely feeling the boat to be in some magical fairy story, in a heavenly floating cloud, she was on another planet. And I picked up on her intense enjoyment of the moment, and forgot about the various checks for navigating in fog or whatever for a bit.
And since then, I have never been subject to irrational terrors sailing in fog, and I've been caught out a few times since then.
So a 12 yr old unwittingly educated me about sailing that day, by her innocent wonder, I've done lots of sailing since then but won't forget that trip.

(Although as we crept back into the marina, someone started cursing me for a reckless irresponsible idiot etc, effing and blinding about duty of care, or some such carp. As they do.)

Zoidberg, if you have read this far, it was in that old Hurley you picked up so cheap :playful:
 
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Ladybirdgaffcutter said:
.... I picked up on her intense enjoyment of the moment, and forgot about the various checks for navigating in fog or whatever for a bit.
And since then, I have never been subject to irrational terrors sailing in fog, and I've been caught out a few times since then.
So a 12 yr old unwittingly educated me about sailing that day, by her innocent wonder, I've done lots of sailing since then but won't forget that trip.:
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Thanks for that - a lovely tale and a nice reminder that us old Buffers can/should still learn from the young!

Reminds me of when I was out on Osprey a couple of years back, and my daughter (17yo) was at the helm ... looking very confident and capable.. "You're getting the hang of this", or similar, I said. "Dad, I have been sailing dinghies since I was 8. This is just a big dinghy." That was me told !
 
I've never suffered from irrational terrors in fog, but had some perfectly rational ones in 100m visibility mid channel; we could hear a ship's engines, couldn't see it, but knew it was getting closer. That's as scared as I've ever been on the water. It eventually went across our bow, just in sight. I still wonder if it knew we were there.
 
Stemar said:
I've never suffered from irrational terrors in fog, but had some perfectly rational ones in 100m visibility mid channel; we could hear a ship's engines, couldn't see it, but knew it was getting closer. That's as scared as I've ever been on the water. It eventually went across our bow, just in sight. I still wonder if it knew we were there.
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Very similar experience going across Kattegat to Anholt. Various well defined ship lanes to cross, Could see very little in places but heard them. 2000 ton coaster crossed our bows at about 200m, wave from /to the guy on their bridge. Sobering experience. Ears are not THAT good at defining direction!
 
Ladybirdgaffcutter said:
But she was rapt with cosmic delight, genuinely feeling the boat to be in some magical fairy story, in a heavenly floating cloud, she was on another planet. And I picked up on her intense enjoyment of the moment, and forgot about the various checks for navigating in fog or whatever for a bit.
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You're just an ould romantic, aintcha....?

:friendly_wink:
 
I've had a fair few 'close encounters of the worst kind' in fog.

On one occasion during an RBR, having left Lerwick in fog we headed east for about 20 miles, then turned south in thiner breeze and thicker fog. We had no functioning engine in the large old caramaran.....

We both heard the deep, pulsing engines of a big 'cargo' but could see nothing in the murk beyond our foredeck. Mike clutched my arm and pointed to port..... The dark grey of the featureless fog had taken on a reddish hue, and some B-I-G white indistinct lettering slowly slipped past.

Then we looked up..... and up.... and up.... at the red-ness towering above us, sliding past. How far was that? No, how close was that......

:nonchalance:
 
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Stemar said:
I've never suffered from irrational terrors in fog, but had some perfectly rational ones in 100m visibility mid channel; we could hear a ship's engines, couldn't see it, but knew it was getting closer. That's as scared as I've ever been on the water. It eventually went across our bow, just in sight. I still wonder if it knew we were there.
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Zero viz off Portsmouth tucked in due south of the Sturbridge Buoy, heard but never saw container ship coming ever closer and then receding into the distance.
 
zoidberg said:
I've had a fair few 'close encounters of the worst kind' in fog.

On one occasion during an RBR, having left Lerwick in fog we headed east for about 20 miles, then turned south in thiner breeze and thicker fog. We had no functioning engine in the large old caramaran.....

We both heard the deep, pulsing engines of a big 'cargo' but could see nothing in the murk beyond our foredeck. Mike clutched my arm and pointed to port..... The dark grey of the featureless fog had taken on a reddish hue, and some B-I-G white indistinct lettering slowly slipped past.

Then we looked up..... and up.... and up.... at the red-ness towering above us, sliding past. How far was that? No, how close was that......

:nonchalance:
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"The featureless fog had taken on a reddish hue.." :eek: blimey
that reminds me of the Hammond Innes book, Wreck of the Mary Deare.
 
RichardS said:
My Dad could fix anything, apart from electronics. I can now fix anything, including electronics. Most of the young people (i.e. under 40's) that I meet these days can't even fix a dripping tap. We're doomed I tell ye. :ambivalence:

Richard
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My Dad built the green and black (radar tube) TV we watched the Coronation on. I learnt a lot about TV fixing from him, then went on to do electronics at college, under- and post- graduate. His final radar tube is in my home-made oscilloscope. Must get round to that dripping tap (and washing machine)…

Mike.
 
When I was younger and by definition immortal and infallible, I once took a boat into Hugh Town, St Mary’s in a fog.

Nothing special about that... except that I thought it was Falmouth. I think that probably used up the last of my beginner’s luck.
 
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Back near the dawn of time.... before AIS was invented and few yachts had radar.....

Poking along pre-dawn in good vis while entering port (this was when I still had the day job) ... shortly before dawn fog descends..... ship some miles ahead hauls off to port a bit and anchors... waiting for a berth later in the day... car carrier... 'K' Line.... light grey hull.....

Dark grey turns to light grey....

So we sees this little echo coming up from the west.... at right angles to our track.... making a bee-line for the K Line ship... echoes merge.... echo demerges... describes a few small circles as a bee would do if it had just flown into something... then stops.... very close to it...

A few days later down at the club where I kept my boat I told this little story.... bloke in our little group sez...

' that was me .... didn't know it was there 'til I very nearly hit it.... had a bit of a think... thought the safest place to be until the fog lifted was anchored right next to it .......'
 
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When I encountered long division for the first time I asked my father for some assistance with my homework. He muttered something to excuse himself and I think that was the last time I asked him for help. I don't think that either of our children sought my advice on anything, suggesting that they were wiser than I had been, which was very relaxing.
 
Stemar said:
I've never suffered from irrational terrors in fog, but had some perfectly rational ones in 100m visibility mid channel; we could hear a ship's engines, couldn't see it, but knew it was getting closer. That's as scared as I've ever been on the water. It eventually went across our bow, just in sight. I still wonder if it knew we were there.
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I got caught out returning across Lyme Bay and it was that horrible thick mizzle to make matters worse, it was miserable. Thinking the major risk was something coming towards me and being single handed all my efforts went in to staring ahead. Something made me turn round and I found I was looking at something rather large crossing my stern about 100m behind and heading out to sea. I've no idea where it came from but it was the closest I've come to a brown trouser moment. I changed my lookout efforts after that.
 
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