Luddism,Traditionalists and Wind Breaking

[Woodentop]

New technologies give us new abilities. Or perhaps more accurately; New technologies give us the ability to do it more easily.

Should we say that the Jules Verne trophy for sailing around the world is only open to Portugese Caravels with a crew fed on salt beef or do we allow a boat built of modern iron or even resins to compete ?

Oh yes, and modern charts are not allowed either. You have to use an astrolabe for navigation and forget the Musto fleeces as well. Wool shirts only.

Anyone sailing is entitled to use what is currently available. Gas cookers, engines, edible dehydrated food, watermakers, charts, plotters, GPS, AIS, GMDSS, EPIRB, HSTC, NMfS, etc...

(I made up some of those acronyms.)

BUT it is not compulsory.

Do you have an old classic sports car that you sometimes drive?
Do you sail across the Channel on EPs and tide tables and use your skill ?
Do you use a sextant ?
Do you have a wooden hull ?
Do you have a gaff rig ?

Why should you be crititicised for being old fashioned ?
Are you criticised for having a manual gearbox on your car instead of a modern automatic one?
Are you chastised for not having GPS fitted to your car ?
Do you still have an inefficient sit up bicycle instead of a recumbent (more efficient) one ?

On the London to Brighton Rally does some prat jump up and demand that the cars cannot be driven unless modern brakes are fitted OR Do you drive the antique car in a manner comensurate with its limitations ?

Now to the point:

I enjoy sailing without these modern aids. Yes I use them from time to time but I want to sail in a way where I do not need to use them because I can solve the problem with skill and cunning.

(For example - sailing off the anchor instead of automatically using the engine)

Like driving a classic sports car without modern brakes - just need to anticipate a bit more.

Enough of my rubbish - What about you ?

 

[ShipsWoofy]

I think it depends upon your level of comfort. I shall elaborate, I generally start engine/s when leaving anchorage. I may or may not use them, more often I will use them to get offshore a little and keep her nose to wind to raise sails.

I will use the plotter for day sails, cos, lets face it, it is sooo much easier. I sail for pleasure, not to prove anything to myself, if the wind falls and we are struggling to make headway I will motor, not because I do not like being on the water, but I would rather motor to an anchorage and wait without the stress involved with MOBO wakes etc. when you are drifting in the breeze.

There is a lot to be said for purists, but unless I am travelling a good distance I would rather watch progress on the electronic chart and would much rather watch the depth sounder than mess around with lead lines.

 

[Mirelle]

I am turning into a purist - let me explain why

I sailed for two seasons without an echosounder recently. The cockpit repeater failed and that got me to dig out the leadline again.

Don't use a chart plotter, seldom bother with the electronic log. There is a GPS but I tend to forget it is there. Our mooring is at the head of a narrow and twisting estuary; I sail off it about half the time, and sail onto it almost all the time. The reason for the difference is simple - at the end of a summer weekend one is likely to fetch up to the mooring with a sea breeze and the end of a flood tide, whereas one may have a sea breeze when getting under way.

I have now given up starting the engine when it falls light, preferring to hoist a ghoster, set the topsail and sweat it out.

I find I am enjoying my sailing much more and I am much more alert to what is going on. By definition I am limited to weekends and short summer cruises with the family - this way I find the sailing experience more intense and more satisfying.

 

[bilbobaggins]

Re: I am turning into a purist - let me explain why

A few years ago I was asked to help take a friend's new fastboat up to Oban from Solent, as nav. He assumed that I'd buy a full range of charts, for there were none on board. He was a traditionalist - he bought none!

So I didn't, either.

We went down channel rather fast, and had turned the corner at Lanzen before he asked obliquely what charts I'd brought. I produced the free NP 109 Home Waters Catalogue from my nav bag and proceded to use that. All the way north, by St George's Channel, t'Irish Sea, the North Channel and up the Sound of Jura I plotted appropriate fixes, while he pretended it was fine. But he and I knew that the problem lay up ahead, at the fast-tidal Sound of Luing just past the Corrievreckan and Dorus Mhor. He sweated blood as we ran through at night, at 18 kts over the ground, the Spring flood boiling and heaving all the way, with the free 'Home Waters Catalogue NP109' ( ~1:1,750,000) open on the Chart Table. What I didn't mention was that I had a brand new '1:25,000 Chart 2326 - Scarba' hidden in my bag, and I'd studied and memorised ALL the relevant bits.

When we got into Oban, the first stop for him was not the expected teashop on the front, but Nancy Black's for a set of new charts!

To this day he thinks I just 'winged' it, being even tighter than him!

 

[ColdFusion]

I have absolutely no problem with anyone who makes use of whatever new technology that is available to them - as long as they don't try to sell me a B & Q powertool afterwards.

 

[Becky]

But if you keep the receipt, you can take it back afterwards. They never check the dates, so many people take their stuff back after use. I believe there might be a slightly used 3-hulled yacht in one of their stores?

 

[mirabriani]

Re: I am turning into a purist - let me explain why

Good story

I think it is a situation which most of us
would like to duplicate, given the opportunity,
also It makes a good bar story!

Regards Briani

 

[ColdFusion]

[ QUOTE ]
...so many people take their stuff back after use.

[/ QUOTE ]
Tut, tut, tut. That's dishonest. The youngsters of today have no morals; when I was a lad, blah, blah, blah /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif