This Msg board: Popular Mechanics or Sailing?

[OrangeRoughy]

Look at the majority of recent posts. ....lets see what have we got:
- How many watts in a candela
- Mercury Overheat alarm
- Max prop grease
- Which engine?
- Echo sounder problem
- DIY Tank Gauge
and on and on and on and on.......................................
Seems to me like having all these unneccessary boat gadgets and waffling on about your problems on how to fix them is a very unlikeable aspect of this board.
Isn't a Sailboat for sailing? Are any of you able to anchor under sail or sound your way in to a snug little cove with a lead line? To me that is being a "Prctical Boat Owner". And yee gods, what if the Yanks decide to shut down the GPS Satellites one day? I enjoy the "Practical Boat Owner" as a magazine as it has some very good practical articles on "Real" sailors and their stories, while having just enough mechanical stuff to keep you Popular Mechanics types happy. But Man!....this message board has just about been taken over by you grease geezers!

 

[Sinbad1]

Well toughy roughy, I like the practical bits. What good would it be to having sounded your way into some remote cove if your cooker failed to work. You need to know how to fix everything.

...and if they switch the GPS off, we just use the radar!

 

[rogerroger]

"Share practical, hands-on information. "

Is the point of this forum. What a daft posting. (one smells a troll!)

This forum is the best method I've ever found to finding "practical" solutions to the "practical" problems that occur due to being a "practical boat owner".

I'm very happy for you as obviously you can afford to have every little problem with your boat fixed by a professional so you can spend all your boat time sailing on and off your anchor and swinging your lead.

I, and many others here cannot afford / justify paying professionals to fix everything and also get a good deal of satisfaction learning and fixing things ourselves.

I cannot possibly weigh up the cost in time and money I'd have spent on books trying to find answers to my many boat problems had the content of this forum not been what it was and had the contributors not given such great advice.

If there are too many "grease geezers" here then perhaps you should check out http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&group=uk.rec.sailing - I'm sure you'll love it.

You can't "anchor under sail" if you've not got the correct anchor - hence a question you could pose to this forum. By asking for advice on echo sounders then hopefully you'll not be in a position where you're using your lead line (great fun I'm sure).


I'm sure you'll find that with the exception of some daft posts, the regular users of the R2R forum like the content just the way it is.

But hey - that's only my opinion ;-)




Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[Chris_Stannard]

I agree with Roger, this is the grease monkeys' forum. If you want the sailing one go to the Yachting Monthly forum, that is all about sailing. I have had plenty of good advice from this forum on practical matters, which has saved me lots of cash and stopped me going down blind alleys.

Chris Stannard

 

[Canboria]

Yet an other sad posting by someone who obviously doesn't understand the purpose of this extremely useful forum, perhaps if he was to take up some of the practical advise he to could afford to have some of the useful gadgets on board that make sailing safer for all, then he could throw away his old lead polluting line.

Doesn't he know that charts are still available for plotting a course, we don't need to use GPS we use it to make sailing more enjoyable and safer

No one forced you to come here

 

[steve_cronin]

Silly Boy! This is PRACTICAL BO not YM.nm

..

 

[OrangeRoughy]

Well I have never read such a load of rot in my life! Tell me the last time you saw a Grease Geezers power boat on the cover of "Practical Boat Owner"? Very rare if ever.
Practical Boat owner is by and large a sailing magazine, dedicated to the practical aspects of SAILING, not gadgets and gimmicks. But sure they do have some of that stuff in there, but it is still a minority...thank Heavens!
So the message board consequently should reflect that fact.
As for someones comment about all these gadgets making their sailing "safer", you have just got to be kidding mate! Whens the last time you checked your Keel bolts? Or your mast, mast step, and the rest of your rigging? Your sails?Are they going to rip up in the next blow?.............. That is what being a safe practical boat owner is all about.
When you lot are coming my way on the water would you please give me a warning wave so I can take the totally opposite tack, because if your gadgets arne't working I guess you might have to raise your SAIL, but you have probably forgotten how to do that - and that makes you an unsafe "Practical Boat Owner".

 

[rogerroger]

Again I'm happy for you - you clearly were born with complete knowledge of everything to do with boats and know everything. If I was to check my keel bolts for example, I wouldn't just wade in with a spanner, I'd ask for some advice first - in this forum.

Who cares what's on the front cover of PBO ? what's that got to do with it?

And, I buy PBO specifically because it DOES have articles about equipment, how to use it / install it and get the best out of it. Sailing Today tends to have more articles on things such as sailing onto a mooring and I buy that too.

How on earth can issues such as engines, GPS, rudder bearings, echo sounders, water filters, radar reflectors and all the other good stuff discussed here not be a practical aspect of sailing?

Have you been failing to duck when the boom comes over ? How dare you suggest people can't sail just because they take an interest in ALL aspects of boating.

Please enlighten us by suggesting a suitable topic to discuss then...(and if we stay awake perhaps we'll reply)

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[OrangeRoughy]

Well at least you check your rudder bearings.. ....I see you also "stayed awake" long enough to reply twice!
Engines, echo sounders, GPS,...all these items give a false sense of security- I beleive they make boating MORE dangerous. But hey, if you think they make you safer...then good for you. Keep on patronising me if you like and I will certainly reply in kind....if you stay awake that is!
I suggest you check out motor boats monthly forum. Thats more your go I reckon.
Oh and by the way. If you think that the fact that "Practical Boat Owner" reluctance to put anything other than a Yacht on its cover is not relevant to the subject content of the Magazine, then I am afraid you must be one can short of a six-pack.

 

[rogerroger]

I didn't write that the magazine cover had nothing to do with the magazine content - I stated that it had nothing to do with the R2R forum.

You don't know the first thing about me so there's no need to recommend the motor boats forum. I've taken the trouble, time and money to qualify as a Yacht Master, I can blind nav in fog and sail onto a mooring. In fact, I did just this on Sunday when my engine failed - a situation where some would panic, send out a mayday or simply hit the distress button on the DSC radio.

An echo sounder cannot give you a false sense of satisfaction - knowing the depth of water is as key to navigation as looking at the compass. In fact, as far as the Solent is concerned, I'd chuck out the compass before the echo sounder if I had to.


I agree with you about GPS, any idiot can go to sea and know where they are thanks to satalites. I navigate using EP / DR - 3 point fixes etc and use the GPS to confirm. However, I'd also argue that for the price of a GPS now, putting to sea without one is folly. If I'm incapacitated on board I'm confident my girlfriend can at least read the lat / long from the GPS to the Coast Guard if needs be.

Increased electronics does mean more unskilled people put to sea, hence the ever increasing number of urgency and distress calls in the Solent. However, I'm not one of them, neither are the vast majority of boaters in this forum.

I'm not patronising you - I just don't agree with whatever point it is you're trying to make, and object to your "you lot stay away from me on the sea" attitude. The combined knowledge and experience within the forum is immense and I certainly have a great deal of respect for it.




Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[bedouin]

Roger, given that you smell the troll, why rise to the bait?

 

[OrangeRoughy]

Teach your GirlFriend how to raise a sail, read a chart, plot a course & steer a course.

 

[rogerroger]

bored.



Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[rogerroger]

Oh that made me smile ! I have to drag on board in the first place !!

Her attitude to sailing is, "I can't see the point" - so you can understand I'd be wasting my time...

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[dickh]

What sort of boat do you sail/motor?? There is nothing on your profile, why don't you tell us a little about yourself? I started out with a 20' bilge keeler(with dodgy Seagull) and sailed all over the Thames Estuary and France, with only a lead line and log. I now can afford a larger boat and the modern 'gadgets' have made my sailing easier and safer, AND I enjoy all the practical side of boating(including checking keel bolts, sails, rigging etc). In my opinion this is one of the best web sites; and I look at the 'stink pot' and other forums as I often pick up tips and try and help other nomal & sensible boaters. PBO is a good mag, as well as ST & YM - if you don't like the mags or this forum then **** off!

 

[OrangeRoughy]

What is a Troll?
Yeah some women just don't take to the sealife. May sound a bit corny, but the Pardey books might be a way to raise her interest, mainly as they are written from the female side of the famous sailing couple. Esp if she is into travel. Despite everything (Gadets and all) sailing can still be easily the cheapest and safest form on travel.
Good Luck. No hard feelings either.
By the way I am a New Zealander (live in Auckland) so I don't think we will be on a collision course at any time soon!

 

[dickh]

New Zealand Eh? Thank goodness for that - we won't bump into you!!
dickh

 

[OrangeRoughy]

Frankly dickh (do the last 4 letters end in ead?) I have sailed Auckland - Tonga - Auckland twice singlehanded (23 foot converted Navy Lifeboat - no engine, Gaff Rig) and doublehanded the Tasman (Cav 32). I don't need to bignote in a "Profile" but your obscene post has motivated to do so.

 

[rogerroger]

Hey Dick I wouldn't be so sure - one Sunday afternoon you'll go out for a potter and think, "I'll turn the GPS off today and do it the good old fashioned way" - then, would you believe it, a bit of unseen cross-track error and bish bosh, there you are sailing under Auckland Bridge (you know, the one with the extra lanes bolted onto the outside).

It happens. Probably.

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[dickh]

Well at least saying '**** off' has got a positive reaction from you - We will all look forward to your details when you add them.
There is no need to be so aggressive on this forum - everyone has their opinions and if you prefer your sailing singlehanded/engineless then so be it - we don't have to slavishly follow you. ( I know a well known sailor who many years ago who wouldn't have 'holes in boats'; engines; Al. masts; or any modern aid - you should see his boat now...).
Sorry, have to sign off now - something called work is beckoning .
dickh