capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Did people laugh at you when you were learning?
Grumpy old men complaints.
- Thread starter doug748
- Start date
Poignard
Well-Known Member
What did yachtsmen who were outraged at seeing others making mistakes do before this forum existed?
Did they get out pen, paper, and stamp and write letters to the editor of Yachting Monthly?
I don't recall seeing any letters like that being published in the magazine.
Perhaps the editor just chucked them in his waste-paper bin.........
Did they get out pen, paper, and stamp and write letters to the editor of Yachting Monthly?
I don't recall seeing any letters like that being published in the magazine.
Perhaps the editor just chucked them in his waste-paper bin.........
Concerto
Well-Known Member
There were so few people sailing in the mid 1960's compared to today. There were probably a few who might have laughed, but we quickly mastered all the basics of boat handling, sailing on and off the mooring, setting a spinnaker, reefing, dead reckoning navigation (later we got a RDF), using a hand held compass to take a bearing, etc - all within the first few months. The boat was brand new in March and by the end of August we had already sailed up to Brighlingsea and Burnham, our holiday took us to Torquay and then back to Queenborough. We learnt by sailing every weekend, irrespective of the weather. During the winter months we would sail at least once a month.
We did have a swung compass, a electronic log, a Seafarer echo sounder, plus lots of charts and sailing guides. We learnt from some of the most basic books and read the yachting magazines to increase our knowledge. I can remember getting a VHF radio in the 1970's, using Decca for position finding, later getting GPS. Today everything is so much easier to learn how to sail. There are sailing schools teaching the RYA courses, YouTube videos to watch and a huge number of books. Boats are now have sophisticated electronics that make navigating and performance measuring easier, provided you are not distracted by having so much information available.
I can remember being in Ostend harbour in 1967 or 1968 and a small British wooden boat arrived. He asked which port was he in. We were shocked as he had come from Ramsgate. How did he navigate? "Oh I just steered SE and knew I would arrive in one of the ports." I suppose that North Foreland light was his guide to get home again. Those were the good old days.
I am proud to say the only certificate I have is a VHF license. Never done any of the RYA courses, but I doubt I would learn much. Like many on this forum I sail singlehanded, so I have to know a lot about handling my boat. I will normally sail in winds forecast of up to force 7, conditions when most fully crewed boats remain in harbour.
ducked
Well-Known Member
Nope. Never seen any sense in the fenders fetish.
If you had a decently old car with actual bumpers, would you take them off while driving, putting them on the back seat? No you wouldn't, though if there was a convention to do so you would no doubt be an unthinking slave to it
If/when I get my boat in the water I expect my fenders to be semi-permanently in place, and secured with that blue polypropylene cheap stuff that "has no place on a yacht"
I didn't get a free boat for nothing...er...I got a free boat for 500 quid...but I got a shed too.
If you had a decently old car with actual bumpers, would you take them off while driving, putting them on the back seat? No you wouldn't, though if there was a convention to do so you would no doubt be an unthinking slave to it
If/when I get my boat in the water I expect my fenders to be semi-permanently in place, and secured with that blue polypropylene cheap stuff that "has no place on a yacht"
I didn't get a free boat for nothing...er...I got a free boat for 500 quid...but I got a shed too.
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doug748
Well-Known Member
We all have different memories. There is a long and cherished history of yachtsmen moaning about racing, design, clubs, construction, rigs, marinas, flags, builders, fishermen, harbourmasters, weather and best of all the shortcomings of their fellow sufferers.
I have plucked from the random shelf a Yachting Monthly from October 2016 of the 9 letters to the editor:
One is complaining about Mayday calls: "What right do people who go sailing for pleasure have to call for assistance from others?"
One about powerboats, etc: "Suddenly unbalanced by the wake of a powerboat taking no regard....."
One about standards in general: "Are standards of competence slipping?"
One about radio checks: "I wholeheartedly support Andy DuPont's plea for channel 16 radio checkers to stop..."
And one about boat tests " Who the heck buys a charter boat with a draught of over 9ft?"
This tradition should not be allowed to wither.
.
greeny
Well-Known Member
Better than the pushpit rail is to just leave them where they are, ready for next marina visit. Much easier.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Before RDF & GPS you'd set course from the Solent for Cherbourg and, on sighting land at the other end, you couldn't be sure whether it was La Hague (left hand down a bit) or the Val de Saire (right hand down a bit) until you got close enough to see some detail, so, in a small, rather slow boat, heading for a bit of coast with lots of ports, it might not be such an unreasonable question.
Look back over the last few months here, and it's obvious that it's alive and well.
Offshore57
Well-Known Member
I have many pet hates, including the way some boats are tied up so that when the wind is in the right direction, they protrude halfway across the pontoon they are facing.....its like dodgems just walking to the shower block sometimes.
However the biggest issue I have is boats (motor and sail) going past us to leave the marina, hardly anyone looks at the stern of their boat when turning to exit the marina. They all seem to think that, like a car, they are steering the front of the boat, whereas all the steering happens at the back whether its rudder(s) or sterndrive /outboard etc.
How we have (mostly) been unscathed up to now is a miracle.
However the biggest issue I have is boats (motor and sail) going past us to leave the marina, hardly anyone looks at the stern of their boat when turning to exit the marina. They all seem to think that, like a car, they are steering the front of the boat, whereas all the steering happens at the back whether its rudder(s) or sterndrive /outboard etc.
How we have (mostly) been unscathed up to now is a miracle.
Crowblack
Well-Known Member
Has this been covered - - - ?
What really, really, really grinds my gears - is folk who don't put out correctly tensioned shore lines when rafted on the outside of other boats.
What really, really, really grinds my gears - is folk who don't put out correctly tensioned shore lines when rafted on the outside of other boats.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Nobody laughed at me either. I wasn’t cruising in the ‘60s but by then I had extensive experience on the Broads and racing a Firefly, where I could make my errors in relative privacy. By the time I got a Cirrus in ‘71 I had no problem with boat handling, even in and out of Heybridge Basin. The only tuition I can remember was some guidance given by my father when handling a 36’ motor boat on the Broads when I was 12.There were so few people sailing in the mid 1960's compared to today. There were probably a few who might have laughed, but we quickly mastered all the basics of boat handling, sailing on and off the mooring, setting a spinnaker, reefing, dead reckoning navigation (later we got a RDF), using a hand held compass to take a bearing, etc - all within the first few months. The boat was brand new in March and by the end of August we had already sailed up to Brighlingsea and Burnham, our holiday took us to Torquay and then back to Queenborough. We learnt by sailing every weekend, irrespective of the weather. During the winter months we would sail at least once a month.
We did have a swung compass, a electronic log, a Seafarer echo sounder, plus lots of charts and sailing guides. We learnt from some of the most basic books and read the yachting magazines to increase our knowledge. I can remember getting a VHF radio in the 1970's, using Decca for position finding, later getting GPS. Today everything is so much easier to learn how to sail. There are sailing schools teaching the RYA courses, YouTube videos to watch and a huge number of books. Boats are now have sophisticated electronics that make navigating and performance measuring easier, provided you are not distracted by having so much information available.
I can remember being in Ostend harbour in 1967 or 1968 and a small British wooden boat arrived. He asked which port was he in. We were shocked as he had come from Ramsgate. How did he navigate? "Oh I just steered SE and knew I would arrive in one of the ports." I suppose that North Foreland light was his guide to get home again. Those were the good old days.
I am proud to say the only certificate I have is a VHF license. Never done any of the RYA courses, but I doubt I would learn much. Like many on this forum I sail singlehanded, so I have to know a lot about handling my boat. I will normally sail in winds forecast of up to force 7, conditions when most fully crewed boats remain in harbour.
They were the good old days, when we sailed with your sort of equipment. I didn’t get a VHF until I bought a Sadler 29 in 1987, with Decca about the same time. This didn’t stop us from Channel and N Sea crossings earlier, even to Ijmuiden circa 1986 in a 26’ boat with petrol engine.
My weather window is somewhat narrower than yours, if only because I sailed with my wife, but we had many good passages in F6, and F7 gusts were OK. I can beat you on certificates though, as I have a certificate of competence, purchased at the cost of a pint of beer from a club mate who dished them out to those he trusted.
newtothis
Well-Known Member
Propped up the yacht club bar.
newtothis
Well-Known Member
I believe it used to be perfectly acceptable to close in on a local fishing boat and shout: Où sommes-nous?I can remember being in Ostend harbour in 1967 or 1968 and a small British wooden boat arrived. He asked which port was he in. We were shocked as he had come from Ramsgate. How did he navigate? "Oh I just steered SE and knew I would arrive in one of the ports." I suppose that North Foreland light was his guide to get home again. Those were the good old days.
Boathook
Well-Known Member
There are times when you can't put out a shoreline as there is no "visible" cleat. I have in the past put a rope between pontoon cleats to have something to tie the line to.
Another time someone suggested a shoreline so I ran it across his deck as being the only option. He wasn't happy, so I asked him to put it out for me. He gave up rapidly and agreed that my across the deck was the only way.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
In the days before electronic navigation, a woman passenger on a liner went up to the bridge one day and asked the 2nd Officer, who was on watch, where they were.
The 2nd Officer put a point of his dividers on the chart and announced "We're here, madam."
Next day, the woman went up the bridge again and found the Chief Officer on watch. She asked him the same question.
He put his thumb on the chart and said "We're here, madam."
Next day, she found the Captain on the bridge and asked him her usual question.
He responded by pressing the palm of his hand on the chart and saying "I think we're here, madam."
The 2nd Officer put a point of his dividers on the chart and announced "We're here, madam."
Next day, the woman went up the bridge again and found the Chief Officer on watch. She asked him the same question.
He put his thumb on the chart and said "We're here, madam."
Next day, she found the Captain on the bridge and asked him her usual question.
He responded by pressing the palm of his hand on the chart and saying "I think we're here, madam."
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GEM43
Well-Known Member
We were fortunate to be trained by the late Robert Avis (Commander RNVR, OBE and FRIN). He was a great guy, fabulous tutor and a stickler for discipline on board.
One day my wife made the egregious error of referring to the chart as a map. Robert's response, which we've never forgotten and often say, was "chart, madam, chart". He would only ever address us as Sir and Madam respectively.
He was also a stickler about flag etiquette so to this day we maintain his ensign and burgee rules in his memory/honour.
One day my wife made the egregious error of referring to the chart as a map. Robert's response, which we've never forgotten and often say, was "chart, madam, chart". He would only ever address us as Sir and Madam respectively.
He was also a stickler about flag etiquette so to this day we maintain his ensign and burgee rules in his memory/honour.
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