The Essence of Yachting...

Belize. Mosquitoes. Involuntary spinal twinge but good memories anyway.
If the above note continues then there would be a mention of Bot flies. As Nilo pointed out, there is a different state of mind when out on the water.
When in that state of mind the Bot fly processes don't even seem to be a problem of any consequence, just fish bait.
I don't think that it's a feeling of invincibility or even an ego deal. It's just that the day to day priorities and what's deemed to be important when off the water just don't really carry much weight when you are on the water.

Came back to this to add a note. If you don't know what Bot flies are and are squeamish then don't go looking for information on them. I was considering deleting this since it might be a bit uncomfortable for some. But, sitting in an office a thousand kilometres from the ocean, that experience and the differences in how I'd react right now as against how I reacted then really does put things in a different and valid perspective.

Great story from Belize. Indeed the last time I was in trouble some years ago when we were hit by a southerly; which is highly unusual for that time of the season; we woke up 04.00 a.m. in the morning. Our anchor has dragged and we were hitting the jetty. While trying to get out in the mid of the storm, a fishing boat got tangled in my chain. I had my friend with his boat next to me on the jetty and he got his propellers in the chain of the boat next to him. What a mess it was. And funnily I felt very good in the mid of all this turmoil. I felt that I was alive and coping with the situation.

The difficulties we come across on the water are real and of course they are dangerous and could be life threatening. But I believe, what upsets us more are those that we face during our daily lives in our business routines, which actually does not threaten our lives. However, our physical set up cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not and pumps a lot of adrenalin, which we cannot get rid of, because there is no real treat or no imminent danger we can cope with.

So, that's why even at danger I feel good on the water. Still let's hope all sailors have clear and safe seas.

I by no means have a "yacht" by yacht standards. However I do have a pretty nice boat for a 23 year old. As someone stated before, teak looks good, stainless is polished, new curtains & canvas, antennas galore, its not a "yacht," but it's MY yacht. That being said...

The essence of yachting for me is when I walk down the dock at about 5:30am ready for a day of hardcore fishing or gentle cruising, with a hot coffee in my hand and a gentle sea breeze blowing across my face. I start up the twin 350s and let them warm up. Once I hit the end of that channel and bury the throttles and bring the engines up to speed with the sun rising off to my East and feeling the warmth of the sunrise...


...nothing else matters.


(Or when I pull up to the local waterfront hot spot in a 32 footer with a few friends at 23 years old and invite a couple nice ladies down to the boat for a drink...that works too )

Great shot Garry. Thanks for posting it.

JH

Baltic Cruise article

I've long had dreams of a summer cruise of the Baltic Sea....never got there yet.

There is a VERY good 6 page article with photos in the March issue of Yachting World magazine of exploring Sweden's west coast and Norway's south.

Some Essence of Yachting

...an older letter of mine

Just finished reading your article about Ray Hunt in the June issue of Soundings, I wanted to write and let you know how much I truly enjoyed the article.

You captured not only the factual history, but more importantly, some of the essence of being involved with yachts and yacht design itself….. “the measure of total understanding of the nature of a boat.”

And most importantly, you included the oft forgotten element, the sheer line. What a terribly important factor! Romantically stated, but oh so true, “it is simply her sheer … sheer beauty that is. She enters the harbor like a beautiful woman entering a room. Her sheer is the line we try to get right when we doodle boats.” So many of today’s boats lack this beauty, and correspondingly, some of the essence of yesteryear’s yachting.

Your article brought some of that feeling back to me…some of that feeling that first inspired me to want to learn of sailing yachts and their design ….that had me (virtually a non-sailor at the time) putting together a scrapbook of designs, both good and poor, for future reference.

Brian

As typical as it sounds:
the open sea is freedom..

Hi,

Whilst in theory this makes sense.

Too many Captain think that Engineers are only to make up numbers on the Safe Manning Document, The other positions mentioned here don't really rate a mention on the SMD but it seems to me that 99% of Captains I have met are jack of all trades and often masters of none including the task they are licensed for.

Several year ago on a transport south we pulled into our first stop. While I showed my deckhand (a newly minted 50GT master) how I like to be secured I told him that by the time we get to Florida he'll be a good deckhand. He responded that he doesn't have to learn deckhanding because he's a captain.

I can only go from my own experience but I'm lucky enough to have worked for some of the best skippers in yachting. Starting as an 18 year-old steward then working on deck, then to Mate and Engineer following by getting my Skippers' ticket. If you cannot understand all aspects of your job then either leave it to the guy who does it very well for a living or do it yourself while showing the crew how you what it done. Then only you,as Skipper,can take credit/blame/lawsuit/stewardess for what happens aboard.

I like Yachting for the same reasons I like skiing, hiking and travelling. For the people you meet, the places you see and the time spent enjoying the journeys.

Lifes a journey so enjoy the ride!! Sure yachting aint for everyone but for most of us on these forums it is a way of life. We enjoy the thrills, hardships, travel, living on the edge, friends and yes we do enjoy the owners, as without them most yachties would not have a job.

I personally like the challenge. Every time we go out to sea we face a force that is so much more powerful and destructive than anything you can imagine. Man will never conquer the power of nature. That for me is the esence of yachting. Putting ourselves up against the elements and make sure we are best prepared for whatever may arise.