Unless you start sinking or somebody gets seriously injured or we run out of beer, I will n'er abandon you. xx
Only certified insane people should buy boats.
Okay. Per an esteemed reader's request, here's the link http://davec-loopfish.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-how-it-all-went-down.html?showComment=1320952460967#c4925686195962211532
The background to this boat is that it took a true adventurer from Holland to Australia, a beginner solo sailor, who slowly but surely gained the knowledge to make such a trip, whilst having the patience, stamina and will power to keep on going, even when things got rough.
Not the new owner.
I hope Constellation can be brought back to life. Having seen pictures, it is true, she doesn't appear to be too badly damaged, and that keel, who could send that keel to sleep forever under such pathetic circumstances.
I hope that there's a happy ending to this lamest of EPIRB activation stories I've ever read. And I've read a lot, believing that I can learn from another's mistakes. Not this guy. The only thing I learned from this guy was that not everybody respects the sea and what it takes to be a sailor, or understands well-found boats and how they can work for you if you are prepared to put in the effort.
Whilst I have very little experience sailing, despite having my own 20 tonne pleasure vessel, I have been in two major storms, one whilst crossing The Sea of Cortez, and the hurricane on a mooring (sounds like a cocktail) and even when there hasn't been a storm, but it's been wet, windy and rolly, I have rued the day I ever bought the boat, or got into sailing as I puked over the sides, wishing I was anywhere but there, hating every second of feeling sick, pissed off that there was oil all over the Admiral Cabin's floor, that nothing had remained inside the cupboards, with hours to go till the intended destination, fck, I'd hate it, cold, wet, bruised from being thrown around down below, god, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, get me off this boat, but never, ever, ever, ever, would I have even considered activating the EPIRB.
I bet the crew on the boat who picked him up were thinking, 'WTF. The boat wasn't sinking and all he's got is a sprained thumb'.
Poor, poor boat.
I hope she can be brought back to life. Indeed, if I had some extra money to throw around, I'd bring that fine, loyal vessel back to life. Alas, I don't. I have spent too much money on wine getting me through this fcked up year.
Gah, a 7 hour long concert looms on the horizon today. That's not human. I reckon I'll be doing a runner come lunchtime. Citing Bird Flu or something.
Okay. Per an esteemed reader's request, here's the link http://davec-loopfish.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-how-it-all-went-down.html?showComment=1320952460967#c4925686195962211532
The background to this boat is that it took a true adventurer from Holland to Australia, a beginner solo sailor, who slowly but surely gained the knowledge to make such a trip, whilst having the patience, stamina and will power to keep on going, even when things got rough.
Not the new owner.
I hope Constellation can be brought back to life. Having seen pictures, it is true, she doesn't appear to be too badly damaged, and that keel, who could send that keel to sleep forever under such pathetic circumstances.
I hope that there's a happy ending to this lamest of EPIRB activation stories I've ever read. And I've read a lot, believing that I can learn from another's mistakes. Not this guy. The only thing I learned from this guy was that not everybody respects the sea and what it takes to be a sailor, or understands well-found boats and how they can work for you if you are prepared to put in the effort.
Whilst I have very little experience sailing, despite having my own 20 tonne pleasure vessel, I have been in two major storms, one whilst crossing The Sea of Cortez, and the hurricane on a mooring (sounds like a cocktail) and even when there hasn't been a storm, but it's been wet, windy and rolly, I have rued the day I ever bought the boat, or got into sailing as I puked over the sides, wishing I was anywhere but there, hating every second of feeling sick, pissed off that there was oil all over the Admiral Cabin's floor, that nothing had remained inside the cupboards, with hours to go till the intended destination, fck, I'd hate it, cold, wet, bruised from being thrown around down below, god, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, get me off this boat, but never, ever, ever, ever, would I have even considered activating the EPIRB.
I bet the crew on the boat who picked him up were thinking, 'WTF. The boat wasn't sinking and all he's got is a sprained thumb'.
Poor, poor boat.
I hope she can be brought back to life. Indeed, if I had some extra money to throw around, I'd bring that fine, loyal vessel back to life. Alas, I don't. I have spent too much money on wine getting me through this fcked up year.
Gah, a 7 hour long concert looms on the horizon today. That's not human. I reckon I'll be doing a runner come lunchtime. Citing Bird Flu or something.
15 comments:
You should post the links that prompted this entry. An admittedly small but loyal proportion of your readership actively sails and would understand what you are getting at.
grrrrrrrrr
Fuff
I wanted to but not sure if I can. I might. It's the lamest EPIRB activation story I've ever read.
I can't believe it..
One of those is probably safer than dry land.
It's just the series of basic mistakes... I suppose at least he admitted it, most people who fuck up like that keep quiet..
Nick must be gutted.
Even if your man knew how to heave to in order to collect what I suspect is his limited trove of helpful ideas, he would have been in better shape to get to a sheltered harbour.
Not knowing how to heave to in a boat which does it so easily is like thinking the parachute is activated by biting through the sack.
Soody, for ONCE I agree with you.
The sad thing is, I think he's oblivious to the value of that boat beyond what he paid for it.
He seems to be the most unlikely sailor I have ever read.
It's like reading the Myspace account of somebody who thought it would be fun to take a boat for a joy ride, and then wanting to split when the he realised itwasn't gonna be a ride you could just get off when it started messin' with your hair, and your iPhone kept sliding off table.
He he r, re: parachute
That's sad for the boat, hope it's been rescued by someone.
The fishermen 'rescued it' but want some dosh for it. It doesn't look in too bad condition, lost a spreader, transom fcked up, stanchions ripped out, but a boat with that keel, which I LOVE, I really hope somebody saves her, I really do, such a loyal boat that got treated so badly because the skipper was hungry and tired and feeling sick...I may not have done longer than an 18 hour leg, but I do know what feeling hungry, tired and sick feels like, in crappy conditions, and it's called SAILING. I always tell people interested in possibly crewing, and so on, 'It's 99% hell, but it's worth it for the 1%'. Because it can be 99% hell, and it can also be 99% fab, but if you go off expecting it to be fab, you will more often than not be disappointed, but if you set off thinking, 'what's gonna break, what's gonna fuck up' then you go into it 'more real', and are more prepared. It seems that this dude didn't have his bucket full of lucky chips, the chips we throw in, even before the shit hits the fan, just in case the shit hits the fan.
Who am I to comment on this? Nobody. But I have read heaps of stories about things going wrong at sea, more than I've read about dolphins and mermaids, and this is just about the lamest abandonment of a vessel that I have ever come across, albeit good on him for fessing up and being honest about it.
I know in some countries, if you find a boat washed ashore, it's considered abandoned and it's finder's keepers. I know my son considered driving the beach front after the last hurricane hit Texas.
Salvage principles are international. This arsehole obviously had more money than sense and should find the dosh to get the boat back. Idiot. I feel for the people who risk their own lives to save lemmings like him.
Sorry if I sound a bit mean.
Fuff
We're just going on what he wrote and what he wrote does not justify using the EPIRB. But if it was actually worse than he said, and before he motored over to the tanker the boat could have been untangled - a line was tangled or something? - then it would have been worth hoving-to and waiting for the conditions to calm, to suck it up, all of it, the sheer hell of it, because it is hell, that is what I have learned from the few hellish experiences I've had, and from what I've read, but the light at the end of the tunnel makes going through such discomfort something so worth achieving, and again, it's SAILING, it ain't easy, and there's a lot of prep, and yeah, I might look like a twat preaching about something that I haven't been deeply involved in myself, but I have read, I have lived in Water World where people have discussed 'events', and so I feel able, given what he wrote, to offer my opinion, and my opinion is, this was the lamest activating of an EPIRB ever.
Like you, Fuff, and I often think about this, putting all those people out to come and rescue somebody with a boat that was still floating, and a sailor with but a sprained thumb, well, I often hope that I will never have to do this, and if I had to do it, it would be a last resort, an utterly last resort.
Plus taking on that Strait after living on the boat for a year and still not knowing how the wiring went, well, I thought I was the only moron with a boat, I guess I have company.
I guess everyone has their breaking point, I just hope mine is a bit higher than his.
Yeah, I understand, we can't judge, but still, his breaking point was pretty pathetic.
p.s He closed comments. I feel bad. I hope the input from those who weren't the 'wow's, 'cool's, 'way to go dude's, didn't make him feel too bad. It's just that folks with boats, well, I guess we use such experiences to think, to learn, to give our own gittish opinions, I mean, the sea, wow, what a monster it can be. I guess we felt a connection with this boat, hence our interest and candid thoughts.
In a way, Constellation saved his life, because had he continued to be a sailor, which he might, who knows, he might not have been so lucky next time.
Yeah it's a shame, I was a bit pissed the other night, and I wanted to adjust my comment to reflect the breaking point thing.
It must be hard getting that kind of criticism, but if you stick your life out in public, people will comment.....
Post a Comment