Should yachting take you out of your comfort zone?

Daydream believer said:
What ?
No screaming, no MOB, no going aground stuff, No RNLI. plus you had radar. Where is the thrill in that?
I was expecting sex, drugs & rock & roll type stuff. Not, "We calmly sailed in at night & someone lost the boat hook" :(
B..y experts :cry:
I think I will go back to the F1 sprint. At least leclerc has belted the wall at the beginning:ROFLMAO:
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Each to their own. I’ve just read what I wrote to Mrs. M and she remembers it vividly. She said while I was on the radar below watching the nav on the plotter and the echo sounder she was on the helm with knees genuinely knocking.

I’ve only ever had one person overboard and they recovered very quickly, but that again is another story.
 
'As a means of getting from A to B, a sailing boat has little to commend it: it is slow and often uncomfortable. But as a means of leaving behind the cares and troubles of everyday life there is nothing better.'
Joyce Sleightholme, The Sea-Wife's Handbook (quoted from my memory, so may not be exact words)

If you want comfort and convenience, take a plane, train or car. Or better still, stay at home and don't go anywhere.

On a boat though, especially your own boat, the point is not the ending up in another place (though that might be nice, too), but the journey, the experiences on the way (be they discomfort, terror or delight), and putting yourself (physically and mentally) to the task. Tricking the wind, tide and boat into taking you somewhere specific of your choosing, and other from where they'd take you if left to their own devices; absorbing the information from your senses and observation and then considering how it will help/hinder/demolish you plans; and the satisfaction/frustration of the resulting outcome.

It's the procession through any or all of comfort/discomfort, excitement/tranquility, terror/peace, boredom/delight, and so on, that makes sailing so engaging and satisfying, and from which memories are made.
 
LittleSister said:
'As a means of getting from A to B, a sailing boat has little to commend it: it is slow and often uncomfortable. But as a means of leaving behind the cares and troubles of everyday life there is nothing better.'
Joyce Sleightholme, The Sea-Wife's Handbook (quoted from my memory, so may not be exact words)
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Reminds me of what they say about the Vendee Globe: take the slowest form of transport known to man and race around the world in it.
 
LittleSister said:
'As a means of getting from A to B, a sailing boat has little to commend it: it is slow and often uncomfortable. But as a means of leaving behind the cares and troubles of everyday life there is nothing better.'
Joyce Sleightholme, The Sea-Wife's Handbook (quoted from my memory, so may not be exact words)

If you want comfort and convenience, take a plane, train or car. Or better still, stay at home and don't go anywhere.

On a boat though, especially your own boat, the point is not the ending up in another place (though that might be nice, too), but the journey, the experiences on the way (be they discomfort, terror or delight), and putting yourself (physically and mentally) to the task. Tricking the wind, tide and boat into taking you somewhere specific of your choosing, and other from where they'd take you if left to their own devices; absorbing the information from your senses and observation and then considering how it will help/hinder/demolish you plans; and the satisfaction/frustration of the resulting outcome.

It's the procession through any or all of comfort/discomfort, excitement/tranquility, terror/peace, boredom/delight, and so on, that makes sailing so engaging and satisfying, and from which memories are made.
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Excellent
 
During a job interview for the place of aships cook the personel director of the dredging company commented that the attraction for the skippers was they enjoyed manouvering in harbour which being the skipper of a dredger offered at least every 24hours,they had had enough of voyaging andmanouvering a rust bucket was the perfect job!
 
newtothis said:
Reminds me of what they say about the Vendee Globe: take the slowest form of transport known to man and race around the world in it.
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The Vendee is sort of the obverse of Formula 1, where loads of cars capable of well over 200mph race for an hour and a half without going more than about a mile from where they set off, and end up right back there. 😁
 
LittleSister said:
'As a means of getting from A to B, a sailing boat has little to commend it: it is slow and often uncomfortable. But as a means of leaving behind the cares and troubles of everyday life there is nothing better.'
Joyce Sleightholme, The Sea-Wife's Handbook (quoted from my memory, so may not be exact words)

If you want comfort and convenience, take a plane, train or car. Or better still, stay at home and don't go anywhere.

On a boat though, especially your own boat, the point is not the ending up in another place (though that might be nice, too), but the journey, the experiences on the way (be they discomfort, terror or delight), and putting yourself (physically and mentally) to the task. Tricking the wind, tide and boat into taking you somewhere specific of your choosing, and other from where they'd take you if left to their own devices; absorbing the information from your senses and observation and then considering how it will help/hinder/demolish you plans; and the satisfaction/frustration of the resulting outcome.

It's the procession through any or all of comfort/discomfort, excitement/tranquility, terror/peace, boredom/delight, and so on, that makes sailing so engaging and satisfying, and from which memories are made.
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There we are different- & so we should be- these days I sometimes find that I get fed up between ports. I have been there done it & had the T shirt. If the journey has some navigation skills required, I turn off the GPS to make it interesting. Sometimes there are other boats about, so I start trimming sails to see if I can go faster than that bigger boat. Sometimes I play with the Aries & the sails to see what the best trim is. But rarely do I just sit there & do nothing before boredom or seasickness sets in.

For me the enjoyment is the weeks of planning the passage that never goes to plan. That setting off bit where I look out from the marina early on a cold morning at the white tops on the waves & I think " do I really want to do this?
Then once under way & I get settled in to a routine, perhaps a reef or two, avoid a ship here & there, change course for a sandbank etc. Then I am looking forward to arriving at the destination. The more complicated the better but still fun whether it be Cherbourg or. Sailing down the Little Russel, or the Trieux to Lezadrieux, Roscoff, or round the Libenter to l'aber wrac'h. Ostend at night, Flushing for the canals.

On deck, fenders & lines ready. I am not a drinker but once tied up & the sails stowed it is off to the nearest yacht club or bar for a glass of beer to reflect on the day.That is the bit I really enjoy.
The arrival is the arousal :ROFLMAO:
As I look at those white tops at sea, I think to myself - I think I will stay here for a day or two
 
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If you don't go out of your comfort zone you best stay in bed and fade quietly away.

Despite mountaineering in my younger days, I hate going up the mast! A strange phobia of climbing manmade objects in case the fall down. This includes buildings and lighthouses.
 
Yes.

If you can keep your head while all around you people are loosing theirs, it's possible you haven't quite grasped the gravity of your current situation yet.

Nothing is more dangerous than a comfort zone, Chichester said it best, you need a succession of minor accidents, to try and help prevent the big one.

In a mollycoddled world, sailing a small boat is one of the last activities you can do where you live or die by your own actions. Of course risk to others should always be hunted down and minimised, especially if they are paying guests, but for single handing or racing with consenting adults who know the risk, it can be dialled up a bit, to help make the stories and memories a bit more vivid and long lived.

A wise man once told me, never knowingly go out in conditions that you've never been caught out in, in the past.
 
Like many retired (airline) pilots on the water, I came from an industry where safety was paramount and it was drummed into you never to explore the edges whereas I've read more than once in sailing training materials that you won't learn unless you push yourself.

Edited to clarify type of pilot.
 
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wonkywinch said:
Like many retired pilots on the water, I came from an industry where safety was paramount and it was drummed into you never to explore the edges whereas I've read more than once in sailing training materials that you won't learn unless you push yourself.
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I'm surprised to hear that, considering some of the conditions I have seen on film of pilots boarding and leaving ships, though I dare say that there was more going on than I appreciated when watching.

I think there is a line to be drawn between pushing yourself and recklessness, such as the Captain Calamitys that we keep hearing about. For me, it was enough to extend my cruising grounds and widen my weather window, and indulge in a bit of racing. This is more than many out there would want to do, but far less than our more pelagic friends. In retrospect, I think it probably did do me some good, and certainly the children, something they sometimes comment on. So, I'm going to slightly alter my stance on this and suggest that there is a moral benefit in having and pursuing an ambition, and in this context a physical one. It can improve one's self-confidence and readiness to deal with difficult or untoward events and thus, to use today's awful jargon, improve our mental health.
 
Sailing is, as we all know, the perfect way to get out of your comfort zone. Even if you don’t intend to, the number of ways it will happen to you, is literally endless. It all adds to your experience.
Fortunately the human mind is also a perfect filter, so that after such a trip out of your comfort zone the feeling of achievement usually far outweighs any discomfort, fatigue, cold, stress or outright fear you might have gone through.
 
johnalison said:
So, I'm going to slightly alter my stance on this and suggest that there is a moral benefit in having and pursuing an ambition, and in this context a physical one. It can improve one's self-confidence and readiness to deal with difficult or untoward events and thus, to use today's awful jargon, improve our mental health.
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Has anyone else apart from johnalison noticed especially elevated morals and mental health among forum members? 😄
 
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