Do you drink and sail?

demonboy

demonboy

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Two years ago we met three sailors who had spent many years sailing together. They bored Queenie and myself stupid with 'hilarious' tales of drunken sailing antics. Imagine the horror of having to listen to these three clowns, one of whom is, as I understand it, very high up in the RYA, tell us tale after tale of how they were so drunk they circled some lighthouse three times blah blah blah yawn yawn yawn.

One evening the RYA bore told us of this time he was helicoptered from his boat and whisked away to a Turkish hospital after a nasty accident where he fell down the hatch and cracked some ribs. All three of them praised the services of the medical staff and harped on about the medical facilities in Turkey. Oooh, the seriousness of this accident. "He could have died", "He almost broke his back", and so on. The conversation ended abruptly when I asked: were you drunk? :rolleyes:

For the record I don't drink and sail, and when I told these three chaps that I don't they were truly horrified.
 
Drink and sail no - too much risk for me. Drink when on a mooring or marina - it has been known;) I drink less when at anchor...
 
I might have one beer late on in the day is the sun is low in the sky, but it will only be one.

I don't drink and sail for the simple reason that if anything happened, like a MOB, and I couldn't get them back, there will always be that question...What if I hadn't had a drink?

If anything happens it's my neck as skipper on the line, so if I'm sober I know I will be at the best of my ability.

When tied up or on a mooring then ladies and gentlemen, let the drinking commence!

There have been many times when we've gone ashore and drunk too (far) much (usually in Ireland funnily enough) but as long as we don't disturb anyone else or loose anyone, I don't see what the problem is :)
 
demonboy said:
Two years ago we met three sailors who had spent many years sailing together. They bored Queenie and myself stupid with 'hilarious' tales of drunken sailing antics. Imagine the horror of having to listen to these three clowns, one of whom is, as I understand it, very high up in the RYA, tell us tale after tale of how they were so drunk they circled some lighthouse three times blah blah blah yawn yawn yawn.
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Arrrrrr, drinking tales. Only slightly less boring than other tales - unless you were there :p
 
Drink and sail? Yes it is my personal commitment to presenting two fingers at Britain's obsession with health and safety.

I still cherish the memory of heading solo down the Channel summer of 2007 with the sunset highlighting the underside of the cloud base contemplating the night crossing ahead with a beer in hand.

Most of my long sails are singlehanded so I don't feel I am putting others at risk and the zenith of British global power seemed to coincide with ritualized consumption of alcohol in the Royal Navy so there must be some incidental benefits.

I do become a health & safety bore when conveying crew from shore to boat at night in a dinghy, which is where the statistical evidence tells us the real alcohol related risks are.
 
I dont usually drink and sail especially since i usually have to drive afterwards, but even when i dont have to drive i have one but it is at the end of the day. Once moored up then its break out the beer.
 
All the time,

But mostly tea.

Occaisional beer, but drinking does not really suit an unstable/rocking/pitching boat.

Presumably only real alchies need the comfort of booze to complete their trip.

And may be they work better with a few in them. But they become totally liable in the case of accident.

as per motor car driving.............

Let common sense prevail.
 
If being paid then never, when sailing with friends/ family usually no but a small stubby occasionally but only one maybe two maximum, been known to have a glass of wine at anchor or in the marina but would never get drunk. Agree with the comment that if using the tender would want to be 100% sober.

Like a lot of things in life it is finding the sensible balance.
 
jonjo said:
Drink and sail? Yes it is my personal commitment to presenting two fingers at Britain's obsession with health and safety.

I still cherish the memory of heading solo down the Channel summer of 2007 with the sunset highlighting the underside of the cloud base contemplating the night crossing ahead with a beer in hand.

Most of my long sails are singlehanded so I don't feel I am putting others at risk and the zenith of British global power seemed to coincide with ritualized consumption of alcohol in the Royal Navy so there must be some incidental benefits.

I do become a health & safety bore when conveying crew from shore to boat at night in a dinghy, which is where the statistical evidence tells us the real alcohol related risks are.
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You are welcome on my boat anytime, we'd get on well.

My boat has 2 fridges for a reason. The smaller one gets food in.

So right about the dinghy too. 100% agree with you.

Oh - and answer to the original poster. Yes.
 
Drink and sail yes, but not to much. May be a beer, pint during 'lunch' and a 'weak G&T early evening if on an overnight passage. Stronger and longer drinks occur once anchored / moored or ashore. Like another post I realise the dinghy bit is the one to fear, or possibly not after a bevvy !!
 
No, not unless I know the boat is safe and sound.

That said, I had one of those small bottles of wine used for cooking, on board when I went from Wells to Brid. As the weather turned and myself and Kudu were surfing down waves, I decided a little dutch courage was in order. There was only a small, and I mean small, glass left in the bottle, so I swigged it, and off we went.

Although my boat falls short of the 7m rule, I am of the opinion that if you drink enough so you can feel it, while you're at sea, then you're a bit of a prat. That said, I'd probably have no problem in getting bladdered and taking my mates out around a river somewhere. I'm sure the cally won't be an entirely sober affair, but not in the sea proper. It's irresponsible.
 
Drinking whilst sailing is one of life's great pleasures I think. Being so pissed that you start sailing round in circles, I will admit, is overdoing it rather but I have nothing at all against having a few whilst sailing. In fact it's compulsory on my boat. No teetotalers allowed.
 
Yes, of course I drink & sail. An occasional scotch or G&T, Pimms, red wine, or cider when the conditions suit adds a great deal to the ambience of the moment. But I never get drunk these days even when ashore. And definitely not when afloat.

The worst scenario is people returning from the club/ pub by dinghy when the worse for wear. As already mentioned, the statistics show where the risks lie - and you can see it on every mooring every weekend. Not for me under any circumstances.
 
Most of the boats I've sailed on have been dry. A few beers ashore when in harbour OK but how many times have I seen the people on a neighbouring boat say 'Oh We are off at the crack of dawn to get the tide' then we go out, do our trip, come back a week later and they are still there, still pissed, having an imaginary gale or whatever...
 
Yes definately. I've never met a sailor yet who doesn't drink.
Most of my sailing is done in the Med, and I'll have maximum 2 beers while underway, then carry on once she's tied up or anchored.

I don't see a problem having a drink, it's immensley enjoyable to have a tiller or wheel in one hand and a cold mythos in the other.

And for me too, it's two fingers to the nanny state 'can't do anything without asking the permission of some bloody govt quango first' rubbish we have to endure in seemingly every other walk of life.
 
If we go out for a sail along the coast the cooler invariably contains beers, Smirnoff Ices, juice and lots of water - and if my pal R comes along he invariably brings his own Bloody Mary along with him.... and everybody behaves themselves as we only have one or two drinkies each (and it is too much hassle to carry enough out to the boat for anybody to get hammered).

Crewed for a pal on a voyage up to Bermuda last year - 4 of us on board, and we had happy hour at 1700'ish each evening, during which we swopped yarns in the cockpit, watched the sunset and enjoyed a bottle of red plonk (no refrigeration on board) between the four of us, if the weather conditions were conducive.
I must admit tho' that we ran out of vino 2 days out of St Georges so we didnt have happy hour on these evenings - but we probably wouldn't have anyway, even if we still had plonk in store, as the wind had picked up to 20+ knots, and everything was getting a bit hectic compared to before.

What gets me worried are those who preach about how sailing boats should be totally dry while underway, yet they will happily negotiate a dinghy ride (or even a walk along a pontoon) back to the boat, at night, perhaps the worse for wear, probably no L/J's to hand, and with rather chilly water in the offing to boot.
 
I have to also admit that I am quite likely to be found completely blitzed rowing home after a session. Been a sacred right of sailors for thousands of years. How the hell do you think the vikings ever discovered America? They got pissed, missed iceland and whoops...


As an aside, the only people I actually associate with on the water who don't drink whilst sailing are those who have a drink problem that they don't dare fuel whilst at sea.
 
Bajansailor said:
What gets me worried are those who preach about how sailing boats should be totally dry while underway, yet they will happily negotiate a dinghy ride (or even a walk along a pontoon) back to the boat, at night, perhaps the worse for wear, probably no L/J's to hand, and with rather chilly water in the offing to boot.
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This is something I didn't consider when making the original post. Hands up, I admit to being drunk in charge of a dinghy. I'm glad to see a sense of moderation amongst you lot! I don't drink and sail not because I think it's irresponsible, I just don't have a handbrake :D
 
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