How Full is YOUR ‘Lucky Bag’?

There is one of those old sayings usually associated with flying; “There are ‘old’ pilots and ‘bold’ pilots, but there are NO “OLD, BOLD” pilots. Are you an “OLD” sailor or a “BOLD” sailor ?

Recently I had a meeting with two other small boat {Potter P15} sailors. One of these people has only recently gotten involved in sailing and has just purchased a used boat.

One of the reasons I was able to ‘talk’ Joanne {she has another description!} into our purchase of a used P15 was where we would be able to sail her. {The P19 would stay on the mooring at the yacht club} There are a couple of lakes and small rivers within a 50-mile radius of us. Due to either ‘legislative’ or natural reasons, these locations are restricted to small boats. This also means small, or NO, outboard motors. Because of this ‘landlocked’ status, the winds are usually ‘soft’ and rather steady - which suits Joanne just fine !! On at least one of them, she could even ‘walk to shore’. As to the ‘quality’ of the sailing ? - each location has an active racing ‘fleet’ - ‘Sunfish’, ‘Lasers’, ‘GP-14's ’, etc.. One of the smallest even has a ‘Yacht Club’. Another has a ‘Marina’ with 250 + ‘wet slips’, about 50+ ‘dry sail’ spots, a 5-year waiting list for either, and boats to more than 26 feet in length.

We had gotten together because there doesn’t seem to be a ‘group’ in our local area for small, ‘dry sailed’, sailboats that wanted to ‘cruise’ rather than ‘race’. The sort of thing that is mentioned in many books & articles in the ‘sailing press’ - “Gunkholing”. However, one of the people had a vastly different interpretation. His idea seemed to be focused on ‘voyaging’. He said that the people would get ‘bored’ with sailing at the same ‘quiet’ places {with a waiting list ?}. While the boats would ‘live’ on their trailers, and would be launched at different venues, his choices were large, active, ‘commercial traffic’ filled rivers, and large bays & estuaries opening to the ocean. He also disparaged the idea of having a sufficiently powered ‘chase boat’ accompanying these ‘expeditions’.

When we first met, this person related an incident about a leak on his {‘new’ to him, but used} first Potter P19. Finding a leaking fitting, sometime after having purchased the boat {no ‘in-water’ inspection, or ‘test sail’ prior to purchase ?}, he related how he got a ‘heavy piece of corrugated plastic pipe’ and replaced the thin-wall tubing at the under-the-cockpit drain. There was NO MENTION of replacing the THRU-HULL or COCKPIT FITTINGS {which I know to be very weak}, or bedding it, or double-clamping it. I told him he must be doing other things ‘right’, because he had a full ‘lucky bag’ to have not swamped. He then related how he lost that boat on the highway. {He now has a used P15}.

While I don’t doubt his sincerity, I do question his thinking & preparedness. Although he claims to have sailed in the waters he proposes {P19 or P15?} his ‘scheduling’ was very structured. The was no cognizance of the effect of the strong tidal streams & river currents. Although he had a chart & ‘Chart Book’ of the areas, he had no idea how to use the distance scale on them. Nor, when I showed him how, did he take into account the effect of winds, waves, and tacking, simply noting the ‘straight line’ distance for timing. With a 12 ft LWL, a P15 has a theoretical hull speed of 4.6 kts. Drawing only about 6 inches from the hull form, and at a very light sub-500 pounds ‘dry weight’ she ‘floats like a cork’. A simple ‘wind chop’ has a great effect . . . about 2.3 kts is probably a good average speed to be expected. So how long would it take to sail a 9-1/2 mile round trip down river & return ? I calculate almost 5 hours . . .’straight line’ {with the tide is on a 6-hour ‘cycle’}. This does not take into account tacking, wind direction, waves, or avoiding commercial traffic {coastal tankers, tugs, lighters, & freighters} on a ½ mile wide river. Not exactly a, “pleasant afternoon sail to - - explore some of the creeks and {an} Island”.

Maybe this person thinks of me as a phoney, or at best a ‘fearful sailor’. I’d rather think of it as being a ‘Prudent Sailor’. I think of the most basic things that separate ‘Rag Baggers’ from ‘Stink Potters’ is the concept of ‘a schedule’; “ . . . we have to go here, here, and here - TODAY! ” A sailor is a sailor because he is . . . a SAILOR. It is the WIND that controls the situation. Any number of ‘motivational’ posters have ‘borrowed’ the phrase, “You can’t change the wind, but you can trim the sails”. Sometimes that means, “You can’t get there, - - from here”. What does that mean ? - ‘tack-on-tack’ and get there from another direction, wait for the tide to change, forget ‘there’ and just ‘climb the wind’ for the afternoon, or just sit on the mooring {or at the dock} and enjoy being on the water. Sharing this with family or friends is just an added bonus. For me, it is the accomplishment of sailing, not just the destination.

I’ve been in one war zone, jumped out of a ‘perfectly good airplane’ just for fun, flown over the Pacific Ocean {twice}, flown in a home-built ‘Breezy’, and rolled a sailboat with my wife in it. I think this qualifies me as ‘fearless’ - - or is that ‘Stupid!!’. However, these were things I wanted to do {except ONE!}, and maybe I had something to prove, on my own time. I no longer have anything to prove. The P15 was designed to ‘potter around’ in the North Sea, and a couple have crossed the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii. Boats as small as about 5 feet have crossed the Atlantic Ocean. I already know the boat can ‘take it’. I also know that in a ‘life-or-death’ situation I could do it, as well. For the most part these ‘historic’ voyages were made after a great deal of advanced planning & preparation. Whatever time the trips took was decided by ‘Mother Nature’, not the sailor. All we can do is, “Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best”. So keep that ‘Lucky Bag’ full - wear a PFD, have your anchor ready to deploy [with the bitter end secured!], keep that motor tuned-up, carry at least twice as much fuel as you think you’ll need, keep a good ‘Med Kit’ aboard, your ‘Safety Equipment’ up to date, a kit with at least minimal tools & spares [that work!], file a ‘float plan’, etc.

Oh, yes - - - and think SPRING !! [as you turn up the volume on those Jimmy Buffet CD’s to drown out the howl of that cold wind and rattle of the sleet on the windows]