How slow do you sail

[John the kiwi]

I have long been intrigued by the paradox: if I am enjoying myself sailing, why am I always so keen to get to my destination?

Easy answer to that. If you enjoy sailing you want to do it as well as you can which means sailing as efficiently as you can for any given set of wind /tide conditions. Achieving your destination in a shorter time proves(if only to you) that you are a good sailor and gives you a glow of satisfaction from a job well done.

 

[dom]

I have long been intrigued by the paradox: if I am enjoying myself sailing, why am I always so keen to get to my destination?

My tuppence, cos us homo sapiens possess rational minds which question, analyse, plan, and which continually check our emotions. So, as we pootle along enjoying the fading sun our minds turn to dinner, the passage plan, marina opening hours, that early start tomorrow, traffic on the way home, the book we want to read....

It follows that if we change the framework, we can redirect this rationality. On a week or so away, instead of sailing 8-hours a day and stopping each each night, one can instead allocate perhaps 48 hours at sea to get wherever one gets - that might be 400 miles, or it might be 80, the fun in this first 48hrs is freedom at sea. Our rationality can now chill as we drift along, fish, watch the dolphins, read that book, cook the dinner, attend to those jobs on the boat.....

And here's the twist: if the winds are fair, one mostly arrives at the final destination fresh as a daisy, leaving the daily stopping/touristy bit for the way home. Although those first 48-72 hrs at sea are so often the most memorable!

Strange creatures us humans.

 

[RichardS]

Just an unsaid thought for this thread, although it might be that I am the only person on here who feels like this ....... but I absolutely love engines.

I spend almost every day, during the 11 months when I am not on the boat, standing in my garage up to my elbows in engine parts and the associated equipment. Turning on my engines and hearing them burst into life, is therefore, for me, an almost spiritual experience. It is, without doubt, the closest I will ever get to religion.

Bearing all that it mind, why wouldn't I want to turn that magical key and summon those magisterial tones?

Richard

 

[dom]

.....Turning on my engines and hearing them burst into life, is therefore, for me, an almost spiritual experience. It is, without doubt, the closest I will ever get to religion.

Bearing all that it mind, why wouldn't I want to turn that magical key and summon those magisterial tones?

You could always leave a leaf-blower running beside your bed at night

 

[cherod]

Just an unsaid thought for this thread, although it might be that I am the only person on here who feels like this ....... but I absolutely love engines.

I spend almost every day, during the 11 months when I am not on the boat, standing in my garage up to my elbows in engine parts and the associated equipment. Turning on my engines and hearing them burst into life, is therefore, for me, an almost spiritual experience. It is, without doubt, the closest I will ever get to religion.

Bearing all that it mind, why wouldn't I want to turn that magical key and summon those magisterial tones?

Richard

certainly not alone there , the sound of my little GM s purring away sweetly , or the Ducati spluttering into life or even the Harley shocking the eardrums,, yes , a delight to me .

 

[RichardS]

You could always leave a leaf-blower running beside your bed at night

And Cherod as well?

Richard

 

[dom]

And Cherod as well?

Richard

Seems you're right

 

[Sandy]

Was the tide with you?