Has the quality of those out sailing dropped to marine equivalent of camper van sailors

We seemed to have met more yachties this season who really haven't got a clue. They seemed to have gone through a process of saying should we buy an RV or boat. Ah let's get a boat. They see a huge 60ft boat that looks like a bargain and buy sight unseen. They know nothing but happily and ignorantly adopt a lifestyle they have seen on Utube. Everything goes wrong with the boat as its been sat a few years and they blame everything and everybody except themselves. They assume the credit card will fix everything.
On the local Curacao Facebook cruisers net somebody is looking for a buddy boat to go to Bonaire. Its 35nm. What is cruising coming to☹️
 
capnsensible said:
Tis better to have tried and failed than never tried at all.
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Running your cat on the reef cos you have no idea ( Green island, Antigua last week), complaining on Facebook about the tides putting you aground ( Spanish Water, Curacao this week), sailing to PR when the forecast was Northerly and then running out of fuel cos you can't sail a boat to windward and needed a tow.
These aren't people giving it a go. They are a liability to the sailing community, rescue services and a victim of false Utube lifestyle videos.
We had drinks on one such boat. The owner stood on one of his open hatches and fell. He broke the hinge. He closed the hatch and said it would be OK. I explained that he needed to replace the broken parts before he sets off to sail 500nm to the BVIs. He said it would be alright. It clearly wasn't but he has no experience, has only sailed dinghies before he purchased a 57ft boat. As I am sure you know, that trip to windward against the current isn't easy. His wife has no sailing experience. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Its about a 4 day passage for a couple that have done no more than 10nm in the boat and never sailed a yacht overnight before. They are not interested in learning or taking a course to increase their knowledge. Their attitude isn't about getting stuck in. It's more along the lines of we have a credit card. That will solve everything
 
Biggles Wader said:
I think the error being made here is the assumption that "back in the day" there weren't plenty of people doing stupid things at sea. Errors of judgement and ignorance are not a modern phenomenon.
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Just a lot more of them. The ones I listed are all in the last few days. I forgot to mention the boat that motored onto the reef in Tyrell Bay, Cariacou 2 days ago.
I think I have have been personally involved with pulling 5 yachts off reefs in the last few years. They all drove on to them. Nobody dragged a mooring or anchor, just incompetence. Not looking a charts or chart plotters or simply eyeball navigation.
 
geem said:
Just a lot more of them. The ones I listed are all in the last few days. I forgot to mention the boat that motored onto the reef in Tyrell Bay, Cariacou 2 days ago.
I think I have have been personally involved with pulling 5 yachts off reefs in the last few years. They all drove on to them. Nobody dragged a mooring or anchor, just incompetence. Not looking a charts or chart plotters or simply eyeball navigation.
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Maybe it's a Caribbean thing. Too much Rum and smoking of the local vegetation.
 
Then there was this Australian idiot that claims to have been a trawler/fishing boat captain during his working life, so not just the credit card captains. His wife says he was a bottle of rum to leeward at the time.
 
Then there was the credit card captain and his wife that arrived in Prickly Bay, Grenada and rushed ashore so as not to miss Happy Hour at the Tikki Bar. Fortunately for them, someone noticed they'd forgotten to drop their anchor and saved their catamaran from hitting the rocks.
 
Biggles Wader said:
I think the error being made here is the assumption that "back in the day" there weren't plenty of people doing stupid things at sea. Errors of judgement and ignorance are not a modern phenomenon.
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That is a good point. Tilman, who I have huge respect for, lost two boats and was lost at sea. He (and his crews) were forced to be self reliant but some would say foolhardy. And there are plenty of other examples from the past. Perhaps what this thread is really describing is a new modern form of foolhardiness.
 
An idiot was solo sailing my boat a while ago, looking at this chart approaching KLB
Screenshot 2022-12-10 14.37.26.png
when he should've zoomed in a bit to see Bodha Roin which wasn't eyeball visible.......!
Screenshot 2022-12-10 14.38.29.png
I know for a fact that the miscreant needed fresh kecks and quite a few drams once alongside, and felt stupid, apparently... :rolleyes:
 
2009, delivering my current boat from Plymouth home to Orkney. We went in to Holyhead for fuel and stayed the night. We were berthed across the outer pontoon from a large glossy motoryacht that appeared to be owned by a middle aged couple. The lady was showing friends the boat and I overheard her say:
"We used to have a caravan but now we have this".
 
Supertramp said:
That is a good point. Tilman, who I have huge respect for, lost two boats and was lost at sea. He (and his crews) were forced to be self reliant but some would say foolhardy. And there are plenty of other examples from the past. Perhaps what this thread is really describing is a new modern form of foolhardiness.
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Is foolhardy the same as unconsciously incompetent?
 
laika said:
Is it only me who sees a paywall for this article, is everyone else signed up for the Virgin Islands daily news, or are folks just commenting on an article they haven’t read but are assuming the contents of?
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I can see it ok, it may be that it is blocked to UK users? I have a VPN, or summat, that tells people I am in America, for some reason. So that might explain why I am allowed.

Conditions were lively with 8 to 10 ft seas reported, horrible. However a big boat like that should not be rescued because it ran out of fuel, either that or not go offshore.


 
Tradition and seamanship play an important part in my seagoing,yes I have been to sea and it is a delight to use the old and trusted ways .Showing respect forthe sea and the weather,being prudent knowing when you need to take a risk is part and parcel of being a sailer and if we don’t follow the rules we will be subject to exams and testing and scrutiny.
 
Wansworth said:
Tradition and seamanship play an important part in my seagoing,yes I have been to sea and it is a delight to use the old and trusted ways .Showing respect forthe sea and the weather,being prudent knowing when you need to take a risk is part and parcel of being a sailer and if we don’t follow the rules we will be subject to exams and testing and scrutiny.
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Plus the riotous parties in foreign bars, tattoos and ladies of negotiable affection. :D
 
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