Thought for the day

[Gary Wyngarden]

With the wind blowing 25 knots, and forecasts of 30-40 over the weekend, this quote I just read seems appropriate:"A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drownded ... for he will be going out on a day he shouldn't. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we only do be drownded now and again."John Millington SyngeIrish Dramatist

 

[Stu Jackson]

Kimball Livingston wrote a nice article

in this month's SAIL magazine about sailing in Ireland. Like summer here in SF, it usually blows hard, and they keep going out into it! Go figure. I'm sitting here between low pressure ridges with almost no wind, bummer. But I'll go sailing tomorrow anyway. It's being on the boat that counts.Nice quote, Gary, and from an Irishman who knows his sailing weather.

 

[Joe on Alure]

from another site

I saw an interesting, related quote on one of my powerboat sites this week. Basically, writer said, "I used to go hang-gliding: we had a saying 'Better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, than [with conditions deteriorating], in the air, wishing you were on the ground." The same can be said for being on the water and wishing you were on the land!But, oops, now I am exposed as a stinkpotter (1979 Grady White) as well as a sailor.Joe on Alure [and fishing on Third Wish]

 

[Ferg]

Another

The decision to put to sea should be firmly grounded in fear and paranoia, safety first.Me, just now ….Ferg

 

[Anchor Down]

That's Funny…

I thought the wish to go to sea was firmly grounded in matrimony.

 

[Phil]

Now that's funny

A fellow sailor once advised me, "don't worry about the weather, the boat will last far longer than you will."

 

[Mark]

hang gliding and sailing

Hi Bob, "Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground";is something I have lived by since I started hang gliding in 1979. Do you still fly? I find sailing has really eaten into my airtime. When I first started sailing 3 years ago I realized that the experience of sailing was what I thought HG would be like before I flew. For me sailing is a relaxing, gliding along, soak up the environment experience. While there is some of that in HG it is a much more active/on experience and there's no drinking beer while you're in the air! I also find that having a background in HG has given me an insight into wind currents and behavior that can be helpful during races.

 

[Bob V]

Greetings Mark

I gave up hang-gliding after 22 years of "cheating death". I was in the first national competition in 72 at Escape Country in So Cal when some of the pilots were still flying bamboo, visqueen and duct tape gliders. Back in those days the safety slogan was "never fly higher than you are willing to fall". The main reason that I finally quit was that I had too many stories that started with "There I was certain that this was the day I die." Too many of my friends did die in their gliders from making simple bone-headed mistakes like forgetting to hook in before stepping off the cliff. It was also too solitary of a sport for my taste after all that time. My hang-driver, who has been with me for 36 years, can now be a full-fledged member of the crew instead of driving around the desert looking for me.Also, if you do the math you can tell from the above paragraphs that I am just too old to bounce off of hard surfaces on a regular basis. Hang-gliding is a contact sport without the pads.I did not get into sailing until a couple of years after I sold my last glider but I found the lessons tranferred very well. What is a mainsail if not half of a hang-glider? The conservative approach that I developed over the years regarding safety has also served me well. I still have close calls but now the line is "There I was certain to wreck the boat". I have traded the eagles at my wing tips for dolphins in the bow wake and feel like it was a great deal. I love sailing either single-handed or with the crew and hanging out in all of these beautiful anchorages that we have up in the Pacific Northwest is a rare privilege. No regrets.

 

[Honeyman]

Somewhat related...

my axiom is, "when in doubt, go to the boat" ! I've never gone to the boat after questioning "should I ?" and not had a great time, yet I always have regretted not going to the boat the times I stayed away.