Not like the old days . . .

[prv]

Even the church has become broad minded

Sadly, it hasn't

Pete

 

[DaveS]

1985-1990 or thereabouts when the AP Navigator started to become popular.

That sounds about right. From my old logbook I see that I fitted one of the new affordable "Dinghy Decca"s to my previous boat in 1995. When I bought my current boat in 1997 it came with an AP, fitted, I would guess, when the boat was new in 1989.

Over the all too few years I used Decca before it was switched off (from memory, in 2000?) I found it generally good, and regret now not having it as an independent back up to GPS.

 

[Greenheart]

The cruise that hooked me into yottin' was in 1953, my wife and I and our six-month old daughter circumnavigated Sicily (starting and finishing in Malta) in a 30 feet loa, no engine. No WC, no water tanks (two jerricans), cooking by gimballed primus, a large compass, sextant and appropriate tables. no chart table, in fact no table at all. No electrics. oil nav lights.

Daughter played in cockpit and slept in a karrikot between the bunks.
This was the happiest cruise of my long cruising experience.

The secrets of good seamanship and great happiness are the same. Manage without what you haven't got, and have modest expectations.

Fabulous. Exactly the sentiments anyone needs to get the most out of yachting. I doubt the nearly-infinite complexity of a large luxurious modern yacht, comes anywhere near to repaying (in pleasure per £), what its owner must have got from his first, humblest command.

 

[mikeinkwazi]

Fabulous. Exactly the sentiments anyone needs to get the most out of yachting. I doubt the nearly-infinite complexity of a large luxurious modern yacht, comes anywhere near to repaying (in pleasure per £), what its owner must have got from his first, humblest command.

+1

 

[Wunja]

I dare say that in 30 years time we will all be complaining that we did our formal training in a real boat, not some modern yacht simulator in Northampton!

 

[Grumpybear]

Fabulous. Exactly the sentiments anyone needs to get the most out of yachting. I doubt the nearly-infinite complexity of a large luxurious modern yacht, comes anywhere near to repaying (in pleasure per £), what its owner must have got from his first, humblest command.

When you start even thinking about concepts like pleasure per £ you are already doomed.

 

[Greenheart]

When you start even thinking about concepts like pleasure per £ you are already doomed.

Depends what level you're doing it at, doesn't it? I aim to be dinghying by next spring, hopefully cruising adventurously, in fair weather if somebody up there likes me. And I hope my expenditure for the 1st seaon as a whole, boat and storage included, will be under £1000.

That's quite a good rate, isn't it?

 

[Grumpybear]

Depends what level you're doing it at, doesn't it? I aim to be dinghying by next spring, hopefully cruising adventurously, in fair weather if somebody up there likes me. And I hope my expenditure for the 1st seaon as a whole, boat and storage included, will be under £1000.

That's quite a good rate, isn't it?

Very. But having a good time having spent a certain sum is not the same as trying to evaluate a rate of enjoyment. That is as unwise as calculating a cost per day out or cost per mile, either of which can lead to all sorts of unwanted angst.

 

[Greenheart]

Very. But having a good time having spent a certain sum is not the same as trying to evaluate a rate of enjoyment. That is as unwise as calculating a cost per day out or cost per mile, either of which can lead to all sorts of unwanted angst.

Assuredly. But, reasonable to reflect how much quantifiable satisfaction 45ft, costing £250,000 provides, which a 36ft costing half as much, could not have done. 2 couples might feel comfortable on the smaller yacht, but 3 couples may well feel cramped on the larger...

...which makes ever-bigger yachts look like they'll give ever-decreasing proportional returns.

(But I may be just trying to console myself about having to search in the "boats and equipment for under £1000" section.)

 

[Bru]

I dare say that in 30 years time we will all be complaining that we did our formal training in a real boat, not some modern yacht simulator in Northampton!

There's a modern yacht simulator in Northampton???

where? where? I wanna go play with it

 

[Grumpybear]

Assuredly. But, reasonable to reflect how much quantifiable satisfaction 45ft, costing £250,000 provides, which a 36ft costing half as much, could not have done. 2 couples might feel comfortable on the smaller yacht, but 3 couples may well feel cramped on the larger...

...which makes ever-bigger yachts look like they'll give ever-decreasing proportional returns.

(But I may be just trying to console myself about having to search in the "boats and equipment for under £1000" section.)

I do agree with you there. Our 36 footer suits the two of us and our labradoodle (sadly our beloved Old English sheepdog has recently gone to Rainbow Bridge after almost 13 years of boating) very well. We do very occasionally take another couple sailing, but never for more than a weekend: too crowded for us. We have from time to time thought about trading up, but apart from the money, which we simply couldn't afford, we find her easy to handle and more than adequate to our purposes. In fact, had we not toyed with the idea of selling up and sailing away when we bought her (a mid life crisis from which we quickly recovered), we might very well have stayed with a slightly more modern version of our Sundream 28. Nowadays, as we become a little more decrepit, the thought of dealing with a 45 footer has no attractions at all, which is not to decry them at all. Each to his own.