Booze on board?

[john_morris_uk]

There is much talk along the lines of 'during an ocean passage I wouldn't have any'. Actually, when sailing coastal and thus going to anchor for the night we usually don't have any drinks until we've definitively stopped for the night, but on an ocean passage much less happens / there's less actual danger the vast majority of the time. And I positively advocate a drink!

it works like this: there are only the two of us aboard, taking alternate watches. But 18:00 - 20:00 we're both up. Unless very rough, or expected to become so during the coming night, we always have a drink together in the cockpit - it's our only time just being together and not working. It's probably a can of beer or a pastis for me and a glass of wine for my wife, hardly enough to make us even slightly tipsy, we could probably even drive legally. It's really the ritual and demarcation of the end of the day that counts - we can chat through anything that's bothering us or just be happy sailing together. We believe the positive effect on morale and attitude outweighs the minimal impairment to our physical abilities. You may find it works differently, but feelings do count on passage.

Feelings absolutely do matter. Hence my insistence on a whole crew free and frank chat every day. It’s when the dry boat becomes a very slightly moist boat because we have one drink and one drink only. There’s a rota as to who’s turn it is to cook as well as who’s on sundowners duty. All adds to morale.

When I’m examining Yacht Master Ocean Candidates I don’t care whether they run a dry boat or not, but I do care whether they have a daily meeting of everybody on board.

 

[ducked]

Yes, but a headland to him is Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope

I would probably need to be quite pissed to face going round Cape Horn.
And perhaps also threatened with Sodomy and The Lash

 

[Daydream believer]

I would probably need to be quite pissed to face going round Cape Horn.
And perhaps also threatened with Sodomy and The Lash

I expect that having been away that long you might enjoy a bit of sodomy

 

[Stemar]

The cynic in me does wonder if the rum ration - and loads of beer - weren't introduced because no one in their right mind would go up to the yards to reduce sail in a squall sober

 

[Chiara’s slave]

The cynic in me does wonder if the rum ration - and loads of beer - weren't introduced because no one in their right mind would go up to the yards to reduce sail in a squall sober

But of course fewer would have fallen off the yards if they weren’t drunk. The rum ration originally was enough for modern man to be absolutely slaughtered.

 

[Poignard]

The cynic in me does wonder if the rum ration - and loads of beer - weren't introduced because no one in their right mind would go up to the yards to reduce sail in a squall sober

The rum ration was still being issued during my 12 years as a rating in the RN but towards the end of that time My Lords of the Admiralty decreed that instead of tot time being at midday, the tot would be issued in the evening: the thinking being that modern equipment had become so complex that those of us working on it ought to have clear heads.

They also made it an optional to have two tins of beer (free) instead of the rum ration.

A poor rate of exchange, in my opinion.

 

[benjenbav]

But of course fewer would have fallen off the yards if they weren’t drunk. The rum ration originally was enough for modern man to be absolutely slaughtered.

“You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it.”

As Kipling once said about your former calling.

 

[johnalison]

I imagine that alcohol was given to anyone about to face imminent danger. There is a long tradition of giving alcohol in time of war, even in the recent Balkan campaigns that were fought on slivovitz and for the Zulus it was hashish. I feel the same when asked to do the cooking.

 

[Daydream believer]

“You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it.”

As Kipling once said about your former calling.

You cannot get away from it-- Some of his poems were rubbish

 

[nestawayboats]

Playing devil's advocate.

Being very tired could easily make you more "dangerous" - in terms of ability to make decisions and concentrate - than a well-rested person who has had a beer with their lunch.

As might feeling bloody dreadful/seasick?

So, if you're in the "no alcohol at all ever in any circumstances if boating's involved" camp, should you also always stay on your mooring if you've had a bad or interrupted night's sleep? Or if it might be rougher than your stomach might be comfortable with?

If you religiously applied "I/we must only go sailing when at the very best of my/our abilities" logic, you could soon talk yourself into never going sailing at all. What about the effects of age on one's abilities to make decisions/concentrate (he ducks for cover)?!

This old clip is quite interesting:

You have to watch all of it; the end conclusion is somewhat different to that you might come to in the middle of it.

 

[benjenbav]

You cannot get away from it-- Some of his poems were rubbish

Quite partial to his cakes, though.

 

[ducked]

I expect that having been away that long you might enjoy a bit of sodomy

Its under 100 miles from Ushuia, where I imagine the full range of maritime services are readily available

 

[Lucky Duck]

Quite partial to his cakes, though.

They are exceedingly good

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Its under 100 miles from Ushuia, where I imagine the full range of maritime services are readily available

Your imagination might be running away with you there.

 

[Bouba]

Feelings absolutely do matter. Hence my insistence on a whole crew free and frank chat every day. It’s when the dry boat becomes a very slightly moist boat because we have one drink and one drink only. There’s a rota as to who’s turn it is to cook as well as who’s on sundowners duty. All adds to morale.

When I’m examining Yacht Master Ocean Candidates I don’t care whether they run a dry boat or not, but I do care whether they have a daily meeting of everybody on board.

It’s that kind of behaviour that leads to mutiny….you maybe sailing on the Relation Ship…but why do you force your students to do it ?
I run a strict vessel….the crew can gripe all they like….on land !!!! Step over the gunnels and you don’t ask…you get told

 

[penberth3]

You cannot get away from it-- Some of his poems were rubbish

I like that one, it's a moving story with a lesson for everybody.

 

[ducked]

Your imagination might be running away with you there.

I base my assumptions on analogy with Aberdeen, where, relatively little imagination is required.

 

[Mister E]

It’s that kind of behaviour that leads to mutiny….you maybe sailing on the Relation Ship…but why do you force your students to do it ?
I run a strict vessel….the crew can gripe all they like….on land !!!! Step over the gunnels and you don’t ask…you get told

Then you get the reply "Do it yourself we are passengers ".

I have read the whole thread carefully and not found one instance of anyone telling others on their boat how things should be done.
Just people saying what they do.

We have no booze kept on our boat and people know that.
We have tea and maybe instant coffee if we get heathens on board. The principal is simple if you don't like it you shouldn't have joined.

If you want the drink that is your problem, but don't try and put your guilt on others.

 

[john_morris_uk]

It’s that kind of behaviour that leads to mutiny….you maybe sailing on the Relation Ship…but why do you force your students to do it ?
I run a strict vessel….the crew can gripe all they like….on land !!!! Step over the gunnels and you don’t ask…you get told

I didn’t say it’s a democratic discussion!

 

[RunAgroundHard]

My attitude has changed over the years towards drink. On a lads weekends away sailing, it was always gobsmacking just how much drink was loaded along with a disbelief that we would get through it all; yet we did. I don't drink much now, just because I don't, no real reason. I do enjoy beer underway and a good whisk(e)y when the sun is over the yard arm, or at anchor. A nice wine with a meal on the mooring, no forgetting the après passage salutation for a safe arrival, nor the mandatory sundowner, or savouring good company and conversation imbibition as the night draws in, ending the night with a quick nip to chase away the chills and hurry on the sandman. I feel moderation is best these days.