Careless forumites?

[weustace]

One of the polls presented at the bottom of these forum pages just asked me whether I thought it possible to repair a life raft at sea. Leaving aside the fact that this is not really a matter of opinion or a question to which there is one answer, I was intrigued by the results: 57% of 1.4K people (that's about 800) answered "Yes: I know, I've done it".

Given the more typical thread on here is "I have a life raft that is N years old, where can I get it serviced", or "Is it all right to cross [insert body of water here] without a life raft", I am intrigued to know where such a large number of my fellow forumites have gained such experience! To paraphrase Wilde, "for a few members of a relatively small nautical forum group to have practical experience of using a life raft at sea would seem reasonable; for eight hundred to do so seems like carelessness."

William

 

[Neeves]

Its possibly more indicative of the value of polls and may also be indicative of how seriously (some) polls are taken.

I had seen the poll, and ignored it. I did wonder who wanted to know the 'answers' and why they did not start a thread - it is simply too complex a question to ask in a few words. It was a bit like asking - 'is it warm today?' or 'what is the best anchor' The answer to the former is relative and it depends where you reside and there is no answer to the latter.

That specific poll appeared to be a waste of time - but interesting observation William.

Jonathan

 

[lpdsn]

Never seen that poll. It doesn't sound reliable. I doubt there are anywhere near 1.4K active members of this forum.

 

[agurney]

Polls don't mean anything, they're just a way to scrape information about you .. [cf Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, et cetera, ad nauseum]

 

[Elessar]

One of the polls presented at the bottom of these forum pages just asked me whether I thought it possible to repair a life raft at sea. Leaving aside the fact that this is not really a matter of opinion or a question to which there is one answer, I was intrigued by the results: 57% of 1.4K people (that's about 800) answered "Yes: I know, I've done it".

Given the more typical thread on here is "I have a life raft that is N years old, where can I get it serviced", or "Is it all right to cross [insert body of water here] without a life raft", I am intrigued to know where such a large number of my fellow forumites have gained such experience! To paraphrase Wilde, "for a few members of a relatively small nautical forum group to have practical experience of using a life raft at sea would seem reasonable; for eight hundred to do so seems like carelessness."

William

I used to rent my rafts, took it back annually to ocean safety and they just swap it.

I casually asked the chap, not a new employee, how many get returned having been deployed. Said chap had never seen it.

One can deduce from this that launching rafts is not commonplace. Thankfully.

 

[ctva]

Polls don't mean anything, they're just a way to scrape information about you .. [cf Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, et cetera, ad nauseum]

One despairs that people never appear to learn!

 

[weustace]

One despairs that people never appear to learn!

I wouldn't worry on my account—I have been advising anyone who will listen for some years to turn off Facebook Platform, having read the privacy policy for it when I signed up a few years ago. It seemed to me at the time that it was effectively giving all your information to whoever asked for it. It is a satisfying sensation to be proved right on the odd occasion!

 

[lpdsn]

I casually asked the chap, not a new employee, how many get returned having been deployed. Said chap had never seen it.

One can deduce from this that launching rafts is not commonplace. Thankfully.

All that says is that successfully launching liferafts is not commonplace. Did you ask him how many customers had never been seen again?

 

[Stemar]

All that says is that successfully launching liferafts is not commonplace. Did you ask him how many customers had never been seen again?

So, no one returned a used liferaft. If the answer to the second question isn't also zero, it would call into question the efficacy of life rafts, at least rented ones.

Never mind fixing them at sea, has anyone on here used one in anger?

 

[Greenheart]

Most of the bottom-of-the-page YBW polls seem to be as unthinkingly daft and ill-phrased as the mindless so-called "YBW news".

There's usually very little sense that the options offered, adequately cover the situations posited. It's more like spontaneous nonsense spat out by some half-cut halfwit in a bar, who hasn't considered what he's asking.

As for the 'News', I'm surprised that the writers responsible, put their names to their output. Almost every report reads as if written by someone with no boating experience, in a hurry which prevented any incisive reportage beyond rewording (or just repeating) the headline. Likewise, it's invariably clear that the author hasn't bothered to notice what he or she has misspelt, before submitting it.

I'd like to comment that they "could do better", but there's no evidence to support that conclusion.

 

[Seajet]

Secondhand Liferaft Hire Co;

" We've never had any complaints "