Why aren't these people out sailing!

[u079721]

Saturday here in Minnesota was as good as it gets. Temp in the high 70s, wind north at 10 to 15, absolutely sunny. I was coming back from a bike ride south and stopped by the marina at Lake City on Lake Pepin, and just couldn't believe it. Just about ALL of the slips were occupied! Why weren't these people out sailing? There was even an Ericson 38 just sitting there!

My excuse was that I don't own a boat just now. But everyone else there should get 20 lashes with a wet dockline for wasting such a beautiful sailing opportunity.

 

[Emerald]

We seem to have the same thing going on here on the Chesapeake, or at least my corner of the Severn River. Think only one other sailboat went out from our marina yesterday. Blowing upper teens in to the low 20's, right around 80 degrees and it's the second week in July! As I was heading out the mouth of the Severn, it seemed like all the other boats were heading in. Maybe they don't like wind...

 

[Lucky Dog]

I bet they don't check their boat exchange daily either.

I live in the same area. Up river from Pepin there were many boats out enjoying the weather.

ml

 

[bayhoss]

I don't get it either. When you get a great sailing day, GO SAILING!!!! The days that the wind and waves seem most perfect, I'm always stuck at work. Never give up a good day on a weekend!
Frank
E28+ East Coast "Valinor"

 

[Loren Beach]

An attempt to get sailors to... sail

Since a small group of us have been going out for an evening sail on each others boats in the late summer...
We talked it over and I generated a general email to all of our membership to encourage them to put some evening sailing time into their schedules.

The first week there were about 7 boats out on the Tuesday and less on Thursday. This week we had very light air, but a warm evening... and three boats took 3 to 6 members on each one. Great spinnaker run for me up the river and the others did almost as well with light weight genoas. Everyone was smiling. Dark when I put the last cover on the last winch, and I just got home.
The common comment was that we will all be happy to have been out there, looking back on this in a couple more months.

Strictly in the "for what it's worth" vein, here is the text of what I emailed to the whole membership (about 150 boats) on August 26.
____________________________________
An Open Invitation to all RCYC members:

"Take the Boat Out"

When: Each Tuesday and Thursday evening, until daylight savings time ends.

Meet at the Clubhouse at Six PM, bring your life jacket, deck shoes, and a smile.

Very Informal.
No special rules or procedures. No expectations other than going out a sail or drifting around for a while. Really.
(Um, well, if you are taking your boat out, be sure ahead of time that the engine starts and runs.)

I guess that anyone with a boat that wants crew could perhaps raise their hand. Those slow to raise their hand could talk it over quickly and choose up a boat and...
Just...
Go...
Out...
and go Sailing !

Whether for 30 minutes or over an hour, just go out. Raise one sail or two. Share tiller and sheeting duties. Help with docking and un-docking, well, as much as the skipper asks for.

Whether two show up and have a nice short sail on one boat or twenty show up and choose to take out six or eight boats, this will be considered a success.
As someone once observed: "90% of life is just showing up."


A little background:
Lots of members have said that they would like to spend some time on the water, but do not feel comfortable entering the evening race series. Racing is good in that it makes you really focus on boat speed and provides a quick learning path to sailing skills. The downside is that some sailors are not comfortable with having to mingle at close range with a gaggle of other boats, some driven by "overly-intense" sailors.

A small group of us RCYC sailors have spent Tuesday or Thursday evenings over that last couple late summers going for a sail on each others' boats "just for fun." It seems like more members might enjoy some informal sailing, so here's hoping for more "Tiller Time."

Weekends tend to be way over-planned with other activities, so sometimes the week nights work better for an idea like this.

Finally, what the heck, evening TV is boring anyway... and you can always grab a sub sandwich on the way home...

Regards,
Loren

_____________________________
And that's the whole scheme. So far, so good.
LB

 

[Gary Peterson]

I find the same thing around our club. Only a small amount of owners actually come down to the marina and very few even spend the week-ends. One would think even tho the economy is in shambles, it doesn't take any money to spend the night and for sailors to sail during the day. Maybe everyone is depressed and wants to stay in a darkened closet !!

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

It doesnt bother me one bit and I am actually glad that more owners dont take their boats out reguarly. The way many of these boats are maintained and the skill set of many of the owners makes a lot of these boat hazards to navigation.

This is all my opinion so take it for what thats worth.

The Chesapeake with its mild winds virtually non existent tides lack of fog and soft mud bottoms breeds some of the poorest sailors I have ever seen. The risks associated with sailing the Chesapeake are very low compared to most other areas on the east coast. The virtually unlimited supply of cheap boats means that anyone with a few bucks can own a boat. Many of these folks buy one simply because they live in annapolis which means you have to have a sailboat. Walk the docks lining Back creek and Spa creek and you will see thousands of "Pier Queens". Big ugly boats that were at one time expensive but through lack of use and neglect are nothing short of pollution in my view. You can smell the negleck the minute you go below decks on one of these boats and you can see the green rotting running rigging all over the deck.

The few times a year it does blow over 15kts you will see more of these idiots in trouble than you can imagine. Sea Tow makes a bundle off annapolis every day it blow like this. These folks run aground and have no idea how to get off or why they ran aground in the first place. They call may days to the coast guard because the husband has locked himself in the head and cant figure out how to get out. They dont know the rules of the road and are often bumbling all over the place out of control. Its no wonder powerboaters dont like sailors!

So I say let sleeping dogs lie. Keep these boats out of the channels and off the water. Dont encourage them to sail more. Hopefully they will eventually realize that their boat is just a money pit and will deperatrely look for a way out. Of course only to be replaced by the next sucker....


My Solution:
I do most of my big boat sailing (E-38) at night because the wind is better and most of the knuckleheads dont come out. I do most of my dinghy sailing in the winter frostbiting when hardly anyone is out and we actually get some big breeze. Those who know what they are doing already appreciate what they have and need no encouragement. Maybe some more time off from work though...

One possible solution: Require Licensing. Most foreign countries do. Make the test difficult, require folks to really know what they are doing and aware of the consequences. Maybe require a Coast Guard license?

Rant Off...

 

[C Masone]

I've heard that no sailor, lying in his death bed, has ever complained that he sailed too often.

 

[Loren Beach]

Report from the Field...

Ted, Don't worry! So far the only members to show up on these two nights a week are the more "active" ones that are average or above in boat-handling skills.
Nothing will every budge the more neglected boats from their slips.

It's interesting that an increased number of our YC member boats are going out now in the evenings, just family members on their own, that were seldom observed doing this previously.

A few members are also coming to the clubhouse specifically to look for a different boat to go out on as crew.

Sidebar: Our sailing venue here on the river is not all that large, and the last two weeks the Tues/Thurs evening group of boats out there on the river was about a third or better from our little club. This in a city with maybe a thousand slips, the uncovered majority being sailboats. No one has ever figured out why most of those boats were ever purchased.

No great epiphany here, I guess, except that sometimes we all just need a little nudge to go out and sail more. Lots of comments I am hearing to the tune of "Wow, about two months from now we are sure gonna be glad we went sailing tonight!"

Last night we had temps in the near-80's and wind about 10 to 12 kts. Awesome Perfect.


I was steering some and hauling on sheets on an Ericson 33RH. Also crewing for a first time on that boat was a couple with a Catalina 30. They appeared to be mucho-impressed.

Life is Good.

LB

 

[Emerald]

Its no wonder powerboaters dont like sailors!

totally agree with much of your "rant" on a lack of skill that we see in abundance, especially those two magic summer weekends - Memorial Day and Labor Day - the days that are guaranteed if she only leaves the slip once or twice a year, that'll be when. But, as I plod up and down the Severn and past the Naval Academy and that whole mess in front of Annapolis, I can't help but think that while there are plenty of sail boaters who need a clue badly, the ability for some yahoo to get a hold of a power boat and go flying through the whole mess at break neck speeds is far greater. It seems like there's a young demographic that gets a 20+ foot something power boat with about the same approach as a motorcycle - fun toy to go zip around on with minimal commitment and modest cost. Had a bit of an eye opening conversation with a power boater friend regarding his view on sailboats. He asked with a completely straight face why we switch direction all the time, which is the typical PB complaint I hear. He was completely clueless about the concept of tacking and wind direction. Suddenly he realized us sailboaters weren't so crazy as we zig-zag wherever.

 

[PDX]

"This in a city with maybe a thousand slips, the uncovered majority being sailboats. No one has ever figured out why most of those boats were ever purchased."

Loren. I think some of the answer has to do with people buying more boat than they need for the river. When our boat was at Tomahawk, which is probably the largest public marina in the area, I would say that it, at 30 feet, was in the lower 30th percentile for length. The median was probably 35 feet. And nobody that I've talked to with a boat over 35 feet likes to sail in the river. They consider the Sound to be the promised land of PNW sailing.

 

[Loren Beach]

Here is a photo taken from another Ericson during a recent evening sail.
Wind was 6 gusting to 7...


It was a warm evening and just wonderful to get out on the water for a couple hours.

LB

 

[WBurgner]

Recently Retired

I happily say the biggest benefit to retiring this year is seldom sailing on the weekend anymore. Just too many folks like Ted describes in the Tampa Bay area. Most of the problem children are power boaters.

Anchorages are less congested, too.

Of course not everyone can get their sailing in during the week, so the only thing I can think off that would cause so many slips to be filled on a beautiful fall Saturday is: COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Go Hokies!

 

[Loren Beach]

More fun, more people...

Here we are again, picture courtesy of another club member out with a group of friends on his 31 footer. Our club's "informal sailing program" (if it could be dignified with such a title) is going very well this year.
There must have been at least 4 other skippers on board, and it's really nice to have people telling me to relax and let them get the boat ready & then put it to bed when we docked, shortly after sunset.
Wind was only about 10 kts, but when you are with friends sailing on a T-shirt evening, it's just perfect.
Hope your summer sailing is just as much fun.
Loren

 

[bayhoss]

Loren, the best of the summer sailing to you as well.

Best,
Frank