Short Random sailing thoughts. On purpose wandering thread. Whats your status?

[lance on cloud nine]

It seems that social media like Fb has drawn eyes away from great sites like sailFar. One thing that might help is a continuous thread, sailing related, for quick sound bites and observations with no real point to prove. Just for our own amusement. For fun! Join in here...anytime.

[lance on cloud nine]

Man! I love the concept of those Compac 23 pilot houses like Franks. But one area where I think the design was not optimized...was the pilot house windows. I think had they been slightly bigger glass area, (not higher roof) it would have seemed "less heavy" and would have been a design home run. Over.

[Cyric30]

It seems that social media like Fb has drawn eyes away from great sites like sailFar. One thing that might help is a continuous thread, sailing related, for quick sound bites and observations with no real point to prove. Just for our own amusement. For fun! Join in here...anytime.

I get what your saying about FB Cloud Nine, i know nothing about FB, its not really my kind of deal, to bad there's not some way we could have a FB page (yes we could have a FB page i know) that cross posts all the forums post and Vice versa, but it might be more trouble than its worth. might bring more activity to use both ways.

Just rambling i guess.

[SailorTom]

I think there are just not as many recreational sailors. Just my 2cents but the the 2 sailing clubs I belong to, one in Maine and one in central Fl, the average age must be at least 65 years old. I've tried to interest my nieces and nephews in the challenges of sailing and they just are not interested. Heck I even have bribed several with free driving lessons, but the hitch was it's in a manual transmission car. Too hard, they all thank me for teaching but they all get automatics. :'(
This medium of entertainment has stolen the lives of the young. And from the young ones I know  FB is so old school, they are on sites I've never heard of or imagined. 

[ralay]

I'm not sure entertainment has ruined sailing for all younger folks.  I think the cost of owning a boat is the biggest barrier to entry.  We're ~30 and it often seems that by the time we've worked for enough money for boat parts and then worked on the boat enough to have it in seaworthy shape, that we hardly have any money or time left to go traveling. It would be a lot cheaper and easier to go back to traveling without a boat (backpacking, bike touring, etc.).  We know lots of other younger people traveling, but they're more likely to be out hiking, rockclimbing out of their trucks, etc. 

I think my bicycle beats the boat hands down as far as green, low cost travel goes.  But, in a way, it's nice that the boat hampers us.  The pessimistic side of me thinks grumbles about how the boat eats all our time and money while we hardly spend any time "cruising."  The optimistic side thinks one ought to have a loose definition of traveling.  If we live on our boat in TX for 2 years, then NC for 1.5 years, then MA for a season, who's to say we're not cruising?  We're cruising.  We're just cruising reeeeaaallly slow.  The pauses we have to take to work for money or to complete projects and repairs force us to stop and soak in a place.  It's nice to have time get to know local people and explore the area.  To watch the seasons turn.  So there's some benefits to the inefficiencies of our lifestyle.   

Also, your niece and nephew might be holding out for the self-driving cars.  Might have to bribe them with something else.  ;D

[Frank]

32 yrs ago our local marina was all sailboats except for 3 runabouts.
Today there are only 4 sailboats left........

When I was a kid the park down the street had lines ups during summer months for your turn on the swings or tieter totter.
Today it is empty during summer mths....

Sad....

Nuff  said

[CharlieJ]

Traveling slowly enough to meet the locals, and "soak up a place" is to me, what it's all about.

I've done a lot of "Cruising" over the years and it seems the faster I go, the less I see and enjoy. The different people and places are what it's about

[ralay]

Port Lavaca is a great example, CJ.  Hardly anyone would come through there as a tourist and if they did, they might wonder what the heck anyone would do to entertain themselves for 2 years.  But we met all sorts of interesting locals, hosted interesting couchsurfers and friends, volunteered, joined a local club, etc.  When we left, we were still considering just spending another summer farting around at Army Hole.  Same thing goes for New Bern. 

I'm starting to feel like most everywhere is pretty interesting if you're the type who can find/make your own fun. 

There is a quote from the graffiti artist Banksy in which he argues that one of the things advertisers would love to convince you is that all the fun is happening somewhere else.  I feel a similar sentiment underlying the passage in Brave New World in which babies are being conditioned.  In that passage, the powers that be decide to purge people of a simple love of nature, because there's no profit in it.  To take a walk through the woods behind your house is a free, simple pleasure.  Instead, they inculcate people to only want to interact with nature through elaborate sports with expensive equipment at far away grounds. The book uses some made up sport, but it would have been a reasonably good description of sailing.

Anyways, I still like to travel and I still like to sail.  I just want to say that for me, personally, I'm trying to find a balance between moving around to survey the diversity of the world and focusing on appreciating the places and people I'm already with.  Consumerism can apply to experiences as well as goods and the core pitfall of either is constant dissatisfaction for what one already has. 

[Frank]

Exellent post ralay

Grog to ya

[CharlieJ]

Yeah well- you two left a BIG hole in the marina.

[lance on cloud nine]

yes ralay, 2 excellent posts! Thank you.

[SeaHusky]

I feel a similar sentiment underlying the passage in Brave New World in which babies are being conditioned.  In that passage, the powers that be decide to purge people of a simple love of nature, because there's no profit in it.  To take a walk through the woods behind your house is a free, simple pleasure.  Instead, they inculcate people to only want to interact with nature through elaborate sports with expensive equipment at far away grounds. The book uses some made up sport, but it would have been a reasonably good description of sailing.

I haven?t read that book but to me it sounds like it has already happened. People don't hike in the mountains as they used to. Instead it is mountain biking, trail running, extreme skiing or skidoo racing up hill. People don't take a walk unless it is about earning points in some gps- based game.
I tried to get into dinghy sailing but the only role for adults was to service the kids who were being groomed toward the Olympics. I used to sea kayak a lot and there are two groups, the "paddle around the island and have a lunch break somewhere along the shore" and the "I used to race but now I am to old and slow so what?s the point to keep up paddling?"
The latter mostly look down on the former but some are slowly coming around to the realization that going slow is a different but real kind of fun.
I wonder if sailing is something people only start to consider once you are to "old and slow" for for the more high tempo stuff you used to do? 

[lance on cloud nine]

Many Americans have fallen into a trap of beating their recreational time to death as if they are back at work. One thing I like about messing with a small boat...if even for a few days....is being unscheduled. Another plus is when picking equipment. Once you get a small boat sorted out, it almost pains one to add unneeded extras!

In youth dinghy racing I always thought it could be a neat idea to have slightly longer boats, and encourage a young crew of 3 or 4 to build team work.

My current status: I took the first steps yesterday on getting busy on my O'Day 26 tidy up project boat. I got the mast indoors, where its warm and I can go over it and its rigging with a fine tooth comb. Sprayed the tiller handle with paint stripper to remove the old checked varnish and disassembled the transom ladder to clean, and polish.

Thanks for being here, out, Lance

[ralay]

Many Americans have fallen into a trap of beating their recreational time to death as if they are back at work.
Thanks for being here, out, Lance

Well put.  I have to stop myself from doing this.  I brought up this topic, not because I'm above collecting experiences like merit badges, but because I'm susceptible to it.  When I go to the National Parks, I have trouble resisting the literal merit badges they sell.  I'm prone to adhering to goals and plans at the expense of in-the-moment experiences.  It takes continual self-coaching for me to convince myself that it's okay to discard goals, change plans, and have unstructured time. 

@SeaHusky:  I read "uphill skidoo racing" as "uphill Sea-Doo racing."  I was imagining folks gunning their jetskis on the water, then using ramps to fling themselves as far as possible up a hill.   :o  I sense an unfilled niche market for single-use Sea-Doos.