are yachts sentient?

[dylanwinter]

when I expressed my willingness to dump the slug in favour of a sponsored MacGregor Twister Ken warned me that I might upset the slug.

Can a combination of plastic and metal get upset?

How deep does this anthropomorphising of our yachts go?

I would be interested to hear stories about days when you felt that your yacht was upset with you.

there are days when everything that can break on the slug will do just that... but its my poor maintenance that is to blame rather than the slug attempting to get even for some unintended slight.

is this anthropomorphising just superstition?

do you have sailing related supersitions you would care to share?

Dylan

 

[Twister_Ken]

You think your depth sounder is crappy.

I think it's decided to teach you a lesson.

 

[Searush]

The day after I agreed the sale of my first car it failed to start for the first time in my ownership. I had to push start it to drive & pick up its replacement. I was very careful to park is so the it wouldn't need to be moved 'til I was well off the premises.

I've never had a problem with boats tho. Perhaps because I respect them more than cars & my only sale was to someone who I knew would love & care for her at least as well as I had.

I did once "put down" a dinghy I was given. It was an old Cadet that had been left uncovered in the open for a dozen years or so. It broke my heart, but I recovered all the fittings I could before breaking it up as kindling.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Indigo behaved well under my loving ownership.

The day I sold her, she sprung a leak in the fuel tank and left the new owner to clean 25l of diesel out of the bilge. Coincidence?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Of course they're sentinent... why else would I give her a pat as I leave and whisper to her "see you soon old gal"?

More seriously, I think sailing is more than a hobby, its a passion for most of us, and that encourages us to treat the boats as much more than wood or plastic, as she/they represents such an important part of our lives.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

No they are not sentient in a mindfulness sense but they do occupy time and space and hence have a presence. Each atom of the boats molecules will be influenced by the universal force of gravity. This influence will be sensed by the atom, so the boat may be aware at an atomic level of its existence.

 

[Lakesailor]

I must admit to worrying about hurting their feelings.
If I were to suddenly become mega-wealthy I would hesitate about selling Feckless. In fact I probably wouldn't.
Every time I go to Ullswater I see Slippy bobbing up and down on her mooring and feel sorry for having left her for another.
When I sold my clinker dinghy I was delighted that the new keeper took her straight away to Pool Harbour for a sail.
The same with the trimaran. He even stopped off on his way home at a gravel pit and went for a sail.
I wouldn't want a boat of mine to suffer a lack of love and appreciation.


Good weed this.

 

[fireball]

You mean you don't pat the slug and thank her for a safe trip after a long passage?
No wonder she is falling apart - you clearly don't care!

 

[Gerry]

I don't know about her being unhappy with us but there are times when she 'chuckles' through the water. When the sails are well set, the seas are benign and all is well.Then as I sit behind the wheel I can hear the merry gurgling of water running past the hull.A happy ship!

It always feels like riding a horse 'on the bit'. You'll know what I mean by that Dylan!

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Every time I left Betty I turned and said 'thankyou'. Thanks that is for a great time but also for keeping me safe, sometimes when I probably deserved otherwise.





www.sailingscotty.com

 

[dylanwinter]

age and underinvestment - no sentiment

You mean you don't pat the slug and thank her for a safe trip after a long passage?
No wonder she is falling apart - you clearly don't care!

On some level - I guess I do not care emotionally about the slug -

its a means to an end

I want it to be as safe as I can afford -

and by the time I get north the money will have been spent on it - even if it has to go ashore for a bit while I save the cash for the next bits.

I can't depend on the araldite holding the roller reefing together forever

but I am sure there are better boats for doing what I am doing - having said that.... the slug has done me well so far and I am content that it was £2,000 well spent.

But if I had more money to spend on a better boat I would be fool not to do just that

I have owned lots of boats - always sad when they go - sad because of the great times I have had with them - moving on is always painful

I do not care what happens to them after I have finished with them because none of them have had any historical value.

if I owned an old smack or one of Ransomes old boats then that would be another matter

then you become a custodian and who you pass the boat onto is of huge importance

but if one more mirror offshore was scrapped it would not bother me a bit.

if I loved it I could not dump it in so many unsavoury and unsafe places as I work around the UK

Dylan

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Dont know but I do refer to my boat as "she", I do think she has a nice arse, and I do enjoy giving her a good thrashing on the race course. I also buy her a Xmas present.

And I've just been fiddling about with her exhaust!

 

[Searush]

That Araldite may well stick longer than you remember it's there. My experience of it has been pretty good.

 

[aquaplane]

The first time I took Aquaplane and Stormy to Windermere to introduce them I didn't do it very well.

As Aquaplane went in the water she tried to pull Stormy in with her, but that could have been because I didn't put a long enough line on the bow, anyway, Stormy got away with damp feet.

As I was putting the main on the boom dropped on Stormy's head with a clunk. Stormy was convinced that Aquaplane relised she had competition and was fighting back. Or it could be that the topping lift slipped in the cleat.

They got on well after that despite Stormy calling Aquaplane "The Slack Tart" and accusing her of wiggling he bottom at the bigger boats.

Yep, they have a life.

 

[dylanwinter]

Do you talk to your boat?

They got on well after that despite Stormy calling Aquaplane "The Slack Tart" and accusing her of wiggling he bottom at the bigger boats.

Yep, they have a life.

So do you people talk to your boat as you sail.

My brother in law has a wheelbarrow he calls Wilma and a VW he calls Victor - he talks to them all day long.

It now seems that I naybe the weird one

Dylan

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

So do you people talk to your boat as you sail.

My brother in law has a wheelbarrow he calls Wilma and a VW he calls Victor - he talks to them all day long.

It now seems that I naybe the weird one

Dylan

Yes my windvane is called Vanity and I talk to Betty to get the best out of her






www.sailingscotty.com

 

[Fantasie 19]

Of course they're sentinent... why else would I give her a pat as I leave and whisper to her "see you soon old gal"?

More seriously, I think sailing is more than a hobby, its a passion for most of us, and that encourages us to treat the boats as much more than wood or plastic, as she/they represents such an important part of our lives.

I can relate to that... I visit mine three or four times a week through the winter, even though she's safely ashore, just to make sure she's safe... cracks my wife up when i tell her!

 

[Twister_Ken]

I can relate to that... I visit mine three or four times a week through the winter, even though she's safely ashore, just to make sure she's safe... cracks my wife up when i tell her!

Known as going off for a 'yacht stroke' in the TK household.

 

[DownWest]

Much a feeling of the amount of work and money one pours into ones hobby, one expects something back. What one gets is enjoyment, not a mistress. But.... I still pat Constance as I pass ( The boat, wife is same name... am I in trouble..)

Bid farewell to a long owned Twingo (car) on Saturday. Wife couldnt watch ( it was hers) But it was the times, not the metal.

We are talking about bits of wood or GRP aren't we....

 

[dylanwinter]

clearly not

Much a feeling of the amount of work and money one pours into ones hobby, one expects something back. What one gets is enjoyment, not a mistress. But.... I still pat Constance as I pass ( The boat, wife is same name... am I in trouble..)

Bid farewell to a long owned Twingo (car) on Saturday. Wife couldnt watch ( it was hers) But it was the times, not the metal.

We are talking about bits of wood or GRP aren't we....

there is obviously a lot more going on here than I had ever imagined

Dylan