Yachting myth busters

[ghostlymoron]

This would be a good topic for the mag. NOT HERE.
Suggested myths could be:-
Fin keel are faster than bilge keel
Paralleling good and duff batteries drops the voltage of the good one
Eberspachers are unreliable
and (apologies to Dylan) 4 nightlights can heat a small boat.

Whadya think?

 

[dom]

You are aware that "Project Warmth", Dylan's ongoing tea-light experiments at CERN is embargoed for publication until 1/1/2016?

In the meantime here's a pic of Mr Winter's lab: http://home.web.cern.ch/images/2014/01/sunny-winter-morning

 

[savageseadog]

"The smaller the boat, the greater the fun" must have been dreamed up by someone who hadn't experienced the various Irish Sea races or tidal gates

 

[vyv_cox]

"The smaller the boat, the greater the fun" must have been dreamed up by someone who hadn't experienced the various Irish Sea races or tidal gates

Absolutely agree. There is a letter on the subject in the current PBO suggesting that nobody needs anything bigger than a small trailer sailer. Fine in sheltered waters but not very pleasant in any exposed seas, of which many around UK.

 

[awol]

"The smaller the boat, the greater the fun" must have been dreamed up by someone who hadn't experienced the various Irish Sea races or tidal gates

In terms of the "fun per minute" I have had sailing, dinghies, and a Laser in particular, have certainly done it for me. However, this enjoyment is short-lived and turns to exhaustion sooner than I would like. Anyone who has had fun on Irish Sea races wasn't trying hard enough, no matter what the weather or how big the boat.

 

[Kelpie]

I don't think 'smaller the boat' is meant to apply when doing the same routes/activities.
I have had a lot of fun exploring places in dinghies that I wouldn't dream of taking a yacht.
On the other hand most of the yacht sailing i have done would have been utterly miserable in a dinghy.
Hourses for courses.

As to myths, why are we taught to treat gps as spawn of the devil, and sounders as telling gospel truth? In my experience it should be the other way around.

 

[prv]

As to myths, why are we taught to treat gps as spawn of the devil, and sounders as telling gospel truth? In my experience it should be the other way around.

That one always makes me smile too. All the standard blah on navigating without GPS tends to assume you have a functioning sounder (it's a rare yachtsman who has the skill needed to work a leadline in 12 fathoms at 5 knots to follow a contour). The magazines regularly pose problems starting with "imagine your GPS has failed, but your sounder is still working...". What they mean is, "imagine it's the 1970s when I learned to navigate"

A lot of it is old men trying to preserve the value of their hard-won skills, but 9v whirly depth sounders were available when they started sailing so those are ok.

Pete

 

[Kelpie]

What they mean is, "imagine it's the 1970s when I learned to navigate"

I think that hits the nail on the head.
Similarly, plotting an EP based on your logged distance through the water. My current boat doesn't even have a paddle-wheel log, and when I did have one on the previous boat, it was hopelessly inaccurate. No way would I have trusted it for calculating my EP.

 

[Skylark]

I love my old long keeler, wouldn't have a nice shiney new AWB if you gave it to me

 

[doug748]

People like to have digital opinions, in an analogue world.










I think this thread is going to end badly.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Similarly, plotting an EP based on your logged distance through the water. My current boat doesn't even have a paddle-wheel log, and when I did have one on the previous boat, it was hopelessly inaccurate. No way would I have trusted it for calculating my EP.

Absolutely. That's why I use a Knotmaster trailing log.

 

[jwilson]

I think that hits the nail on the head.
Similarly, plotting an EP based on your logged distance through the water. My current boat doesn't even have a paddle-wheel log, and when I did have one on the previous boat, it was hopelessly inaccurate. No way would I have trusted it for calculating my EP.

Yes, but it was all we had when Noah was a boy: in fact I navigated reasonably successfully for quite a few years by guessing speed and creating EPs. I did once have an EP with about a 50 mile circle of uncertainty, but even the edges of the circle were still quite a long way from land.

 

[Gwylan]

This would be a good topic for the mag. NOT HERE.
Suggested myths could be:-
Fin keel are faster than bilge keel
Paralleling good and duff batteries drops the voltage of the good one
Eberspachers are unreliable
and (apologies to Dylan) 4 nightlights can heat a small boat.

Whadya think?

Owning a boat is not expensive.

 

[Ceirwan]

This would be a good topic for the mag. NOT HERE.
Fin keel are faster than bilge keel

I thought we were dealing in myths

 

[Davy_S]

Bavaria keels should have a safety lanyard attached .

 

[michael_w]

An astrolabe is all you need for pinpoint navigation.

You must have a 45' boat to cross the Atlantic, or else you'll surely die.

The best sailing boat ever built is an Anderson 22.

Volvo spares are the world's most expensive. (try Yanmar!)

 

[ghostlymoron]

I thought we were dealing in myths

No - the topic is myth busting. Some good ones so far.

 

[mrming]

The bargain boat.

 

[capnsensible]

Modern electronic navigation is simply wonderful and these things never go wrong and my boat is stuffed with them and everyone else is old.

Oh, wait a minute, I'm not on my boat and I'm at sea...

 

[sailorman]

Owning a boat is not expensive.

Certainly not when one takes holidays & most w/e into account