Cold Turkey

Madhatter

Madhatter

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EEEEK !
I have not been sailing for nearly a year now due to weather and broken boat, AND I AM GOING F-IN BONKERS have I been slipped a sailing mickey finn and am addicted ?
Do others get like this ?
I feel I could put a broom handle with a sheet tied on it and stick it on a bath-tub and off we go :p:p:p:p:confused:
 
Madhatter said:
It must only be me then !
Click to expand...

I'm going nuts too, but with excitement. I've hardly sailed at all for years, and I fear I've forgotten how lousily inept I am at keeping the boat upright...so I'm filled with enthusiasm which may not really be justified!

I suspect it's wisest not to leave long time-gaps between sails, unless you've more or less swallowed the anchor...

...the reality of how dislikeably fresh a drenching is, and how exhausting it is to beat upwind for several hours, or how heavy the boat is when it needs moving ashore, are the type of things that a few seasons spent reading and dreaming, largely erase from the memory.

And in weather like the UK's seen lately, it's got to be better standing on shore wishing you were out there, than t'other way round. ;)
 
build a duck punt

Madhatter said:
EEEEK !
I have not been sailing for nearly a year now due to weather and broken boat, AND I AM GOING F-IN BONKERS have I been slipped a sailing mickey finn and am addicted ?
Do others get like this ?
I feel I could put a broom handle with a sheet tied on it and stick it on a bath-tub and off we go :p:p:p:p:confused:
Click to expand...


build a duck punt

it fits on the roof of a POLO

the fastest build was 18 hours

it took me a steady week






plans are free - £100 worth of materials - plus an oppy rig

it is the best fun an old bloke can have laying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYVYFFko9Ig&list=PL-leOGnyCr2QAf9VwuCgOGbM91Qe4gHE2
 
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Yep, managed just one weekend last year, was working abroad virtually 24/7.

Have got home to a boat in dire need of maintenance and cleaning, and also decided to dothe last major upgrade. However, I have forgotten the particularly complex labyrinths of the wiring system, and it's taking forever.
It won't be complete at launch but should be relatively watertight.

I have postponed launch until early May now, but really looking forward to it.
 
dylanwinter said:
build a duck punt

it fits on the roof of a POLO

the fastest build was 18 hours



it took me a steady week






plans are free - £100 worth of materials - plus an oppy rig

it is the best fun an old bloke can have laying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYVYFFko9Ig&list=PL-leOGnyCr2QAf9VwuCgOGbM91Qe4gHE2
Click to expand...

Hi Dylan,

while I admire the idea of the Duck Punt very much and understand the thinking behind it, is there any buoyancy, can it be righted from a capsize / swamping ?

No centre / dagger board to right back up either...

These things will happen in time.
 
bouyancy is provided by a couple of fenders

recovering the punt without coming to the shore would be impossible I think

the best bet would be to swim it to the shore

it is not an open water boat

it sails in four inches of water - which is where it is happiest

so all round it is extremely dangerous and only the bravest sailors would ever go in one

dangerousd Dylan
 
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dylanwinter said:
...buoyancy is provided by a couple of fenders

recovering the punt without coming to the shore would be impossible I think

the best bet would be to swim it to the shore...
Click to expand...

How about a motorbike battery in a sealed plastic box, ready to run a Rule submersible bilge pump, should the worst happen? http://amzn.to/10Hb3wB

It might go against the philosophy of simplicity, but it'd be a lot less perilous...and allow use in more than 4" of water without imminent danger of death. :rolleyes:

I daresay it'd only work as long as the 'crew' is in the water alongside, otherwise it'd be coming back in more quickly than it's pumped out. :(
 
mjcoon said:
I think that would be usurping Dylan Winter's modus operandi...

BTW: best to sit on the plug to keep it from popping out!

Mike.
Click to expand...

the mast is a bannister

the sprit is indeed two broom handles joined with a pipe fitting

the boom is a pukka Oppy version

as for a bilge bump....... naaah

just harden up and swim for the shore
 
dylanwinter said:
...as for a bilge bump....... naaah

just harden up and swim for the shore
Click to expand...

I wasn't dreading the necessity to swim...I was hoping not to have to shrug and build a new punt, after every such instance of flooding!

Is your philosophy "Abandon orange-box! Every woodlouse for himself"?

Actually I love the sailing punt idea. I always feel incredibly (disproportionately) fulfilled by, eg, using gravity to carry me across a slightly-sloping carpark on a loaded shopping trolley, or using a rope-swing to cross a ditch rather than squidging through the mud. However childish it may be, the accessible simplicity makes it fun. :)
 
dancrane said:
I wasn't dreading the necessity to swim...I was hoping not to have to shrug and build a new punt, after every such instance of flooding!

Is your philosophy "Abandon orange-box! Every woodlouse for himself"?

Actually I love the sailing punt idea. I always feel incredibly (disproportionately) fulfilled by, eg, using gravity to carry me across a slightly-sloping carpark on a loaded shopping trolley, or using a rope-swing to cross a ditch rather than squidging through the mud. However childish it may be, the accessible simplicity makes it fun. :)
Click to expand...

always best to stick with the boat in my opinion

either tow it to the shore - or stick with the boat until the wind blows you to it

but most likely the easiest thing to do would be to just stand up

Dylan
 
Madhatter, did you read the recent thread entitled "It's the END - sold up"? http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?354344-It-s-the-END-Sold-Up

The poor chap had judged that his home is too far from his yacht, so it made sense (to him) to stop sailing altogether. He'd even begun motor-homing instead.

Surely a smaller, more portable, more versatile vessel would be a better solution? No need to be tied to a boat that you have to maintain more than enjoy, is there?

Most of all, as your floating-bathtub admission suggests you realise, no particular grandeur of vessel is required, to gain the pleasure of going afloat.

Do you really have any crisis?
 
Hmmm,

I've sailed a small gunter dinghy at Burnham on the Bristol Channel with an ' interesting ' tide and can see where Mad Hatter is coming from !

A Duck Punt would be about the same as buying a one way ticket to that clinic in Switzerland...

MH, how about a hovercraft ?

Seriously, it's about the best job for around there, seems like fun ( as long as not annoying others with the noise ) and may even be able to go faster than the tide, there are sometimes such craft available on E-Bay...:)
 
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