What are the things that other sailors do that make your day?

Humblebee said:
Brilliant thread, thanks to all contributors. It's made my day.
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+100%. So many happy moments, so many happy memories brought back by the posts here.

Even the chateau post brought back the invite from that 1998 HR crew to have dinner with their family in the old Bishops Palace at Rodvig, Denmark, the French ex-submariner's invite to dinner just up from the Jersey Lily on the Rance, when neaped just below his house, or just that cheerful helping hand to get a spring on just at the right moment and length, when the off pontoon wind gusted suddenly in Shepards Wharf.

So many kindness's and good moments, it's a shame that the bad ones, like the scum, rise too easily to we Forum members memory's top.

Thanks for starting and posting, it's brought a lot of those good bits back to mind- and they are far more common.
 
Members at USC that live very close to the club, and cast there eyes over the moorings daily, a few weeks ago I got a phone call that two members had gone out to my boat and secured the jib which they saw flapping in very high winds, it was no easy task for them,as my boat is in a trot on the far side, I only live four miles away, but was told after the event, Thanks to Ian and Ian.
 
Chatting to crew of a large flotilla and them telling us exactly where the boats were heading this week. Nothing against charter holiday makers but nice to know which places will be seriously packed :encouragement:
 
I am amazed how many men hog the tiller/wheel and send their wife or female companion up front with one of those gadgets to affix a line to a mooring.

We all know from experience that the point of highest freeboard is usually there and so entails a longer stretch to reach, and we all know that communication with the engine going is not easy.

We chuckle quietly when it takes four or five goes before they are attatched.

Saw this several times in the Clyde recently.

First Mate is I/C steering when picking up a mooring and coming alongside on our boat, and the simple signals I have devised using the boathook indicates where she is to steer. When I dissapear from view she knows I have gone for the pickup and she holds the boat as stationary as possible untill we are attatched. With a mooring that has a ring or shackle in the top I rig a long line from the bow, over our spare roller, run it outside the shrouds and pick the mooring up at the side at the area of lowest freeboard. I can just reach to thread the warp through the ring or shackle. A stiff end to the warp is an advantage here. Once attatched the boat is allowed to drop back and I take the warp forward, over the roller and onto the cleat. We rarely have to have two goes-although I did almost fall in in Fowey!

First Mate is not as strong or agile as me, so this method works for us.

She is very confident handling our heavy long keeler, but not the warps and fenders.

It surprises us that more sailing couples dont have this arrangement.
 
rotrax said:
It surprises us that more sailing couples dont have this arrangement.
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I think many women lack confidence at the steering end of the job, and prefer it that way round even if it means they get the heavy bit. Silly really, but still true.

In my parents' case, my mum would probably be fine at the steering (though Dad is better) - but Dad would be completely useless at the rope work!

(Mum is better at steering under way :) )

Pete
 
The first time I sailed with the lady who is now SWMBO, we approached a pontoon with me at the tiller. I said to her, take the bow line, and be ready to step over the guardrail when we get near enough.

She said "I'm not doing that". So I said ok, you'll have to steer the boat in, and I'll do the stepping off. So that's what we did, and have done every time since - and we're both now pretty good at what we each do.

Same goes for picking up moorings.
 
prv said:
I think many women lack confidence at the steering end of the job, and prefer it that way round even if it means they get the heavy bit. Silly really, but still true.

In my parents' case, my mum would probably be fine at the steering (though Dad is better) - but Dad would be completely useless at the rope work!

(Mum is better at steering under way :) ) Pete









Sorry-I typed in the wrong bit-Rotrax.






First Mate is a self connfessed control freak. Her philosophy is simple-if anyone is going to scratch our lovely boat it is going to be her!

She has much experience of narrow boats-up to 70 feet-and prefers a tiller. Despite this, our wheel steered long keeler is managable for her after six seasons of sailing her. We only had one less than perfect berthing so far this year, a leeward finger in Bangor Marina in about 20 knts. A nice chap with a six week old HR took our spring line as I coul;d not get onto the finger.

I often guide her alongside using the old narrowboat captains calls-"Steer in"-towpath, or in our case finger or pontoon side, and "Steer out", the converse. This seems to work.

After speaking with many spouses and partners of male sailors it seems about 50% are not confident and the other half will never get the chance as its the chaps job!

Unless the chance to steer after some practice is given-and taken-we will never no how the ladies will perform, will we.

I suspect we might be surprised...................................
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The Italian sailing school boat anchored off, and struggling to find a place to get off their dinghy onto a very high quay. We were alongside and offered them our sugar scoop to tie up to. They warned us there were two more trips to do with the dinghy, but we said it was fine, so they all went ashore via our boat. We slept through their three return journeys. Never heard a sound. In the morning I stuck my head out and saw a neat row of drink cans around the edge of our cockpit. I thought they'd dumped their empties on the way back to their boat and was not impressed. But no, they were all full. Some beer, some soft drinks. About a dozen cans - one for each of them.

The huge Thomas Cook gullet which anchored close to us in an otherwise deserted bay in Turkey, tied up their shore lines, and started up the disco. I shouted over and asked them if they could please turn it down a bit. The skipper looked over and said 'it's ok, I'll move the boat !". And he did, re-anchoring half a mile away. I emailed Thomas Cook and told them how grateful we were, and hope it was passed on to him.

The Turkish motor boat that anchored a long way from us but in an otherwise empty bay. They sent a dinghy over to apologise for disturbing the peace and invite us for a drink. After the drinks they said they'd like us to stay for a meal as they had a new chef who was very good. We thanked them but said we had already eaten. No problem, they said, we will delay dinner until you are hungry again ! We apologised and said it was a little windy, and our boat a long way off in the dark. We wouldn't see if she dragged anchor. No problem, they said, and set up a huge spotlight to light her up. A lovely meal but I've never been so full. Five courses with wine, not helped by the pasta we'd had earlier.
 
Oh, and the fishermen in Monopoli who when asked where we could buy some proper fenders, as we were getting pounded on the rough quay, drove us to the fishermens cooperative, got the shop to open on a Sunday afternoon, drove us to the local garage to inflate them, and took us back to the boat.
 
rotrax said:
prv said:
After speaking with many spouses and partners of male sailors it seems about 50% are not confident and the other half will never get the chance as its the chaps job!

Unless the chance to steer after some practice is given-and taken-we will never no how the ladies will perform, will we.

I suspect we might be surprised...................................
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I think you suspect right. I have taught quite a few women to sail and, to - nod here to the themes of the thread - several of them have made my day by going on to be good, independent sailors in their own right. Two bought and sail their own boats. Another joined a clipper round the world crew. Another has persuaded her partner to take up sailing with her.

All too often, both men and women carry around the expectation that the man will be the boss and they naturally fall into patterns that reflect that. I love to see the confidence that starts to build when women's expectations of themselves changes.
Some men don't like it though.............

Back to the thread theme again - for some reason I was put in mind of a couple of sailors who made my day many years ago. I was working as an instructor and this pair was a retired headmaster and a retired vicar - lifelong friends - who had arrived for a week without their wives to fulfill a promise they had made to each other - they would learn to sail.

Neither had an iota of experience and I and an old Yachting World Dayboat were assigned to them for the week. We had a whale of a time, they lapped it all up and they were as pleased as punch with their new found skills and the RYA certificates that were presented to them at the end. That was one truly pleasurable week's sailing. :)
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Thank you Bob. I really enjoy reading all the stories. I hope, perhaps to see more of them, if people want to join in. I cannot count the ways in which sailing has enriched my life over the years.
 
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