Ralph, that comment is the nautical equivilent of racism
No nautical racism here. Just based on years of observation.
If I had a nickel for every time I was under sail and nearly run over by a power boater ................. I remember one particularly nasty incident where we were under sail and in the cross hairs of a power boater under autopilot. After repeatedly sounding the air horn, some drunk comes out on deck and salutes us with a martini glass and then goes back below and carries on his way.
And yes, I remember an incident involving a 38' Benetau which could have easily ended in death. The boat was brand new out of the box, and drop dead gorgeous. I used to salivate every time I saw this boat which was across the dock from us. It was owned by a young couple who didn't know the front end of the boat from the back. I had talked with them a few times and certainly nice enough but didn't even know what questions to ask and weren't interested in finding out either. Always dressed in the latest Helly Hansen gear. Likely an inheritance. One day, I was walking past their boat which was right across the dock from mine and saw hubby, at the base of the mast, pulling straight down on a halyard for all he was worth. There were no winches, rope clutches, or anything else to assist. Just his bare hands pulling on this maybe 3/8" halyard. Interesting
! So I looked up the mast and there was his wife about 15 feet up in a bosun's chair WITHOUT A SAFETY LINE. Hubby is slightly built and he's all there is holding her up. So what do you do ? Any surprise to him and she's going to wind up falling across the boom with a minimum of a broken back. I walked over so I was across from him where he could see me before I spoke and then said in a joking manner it should really be him up there because she was much too pretty. He slowly let her down. I felt like punching his lights out for such a dumb stunt. I tried to tell him about safety lines, winches, rope clutches, but he probably didn't understand or just wasn't interested. The next time I came back to my boat, they had moved across to the next dock over. Couldn't stand the nosy neighbour.
Yes, blind ignorance in both camps ..................... maybe 75% of power boaters and 25% of sailors
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