Quote:
Originally Posted by smackdaddy
Dream like you'll live forever.
Prepare like you'll die tomorrow.
You want to sail around the world? You want to live the dream?
Perfect.
Now comes the preparation.
This is the crux of most sailing forum debates. The bottom line is...there's nothing wrong with the dreaming. It's what gets anyone and everyone started in this beautiful art in the first place.
But no one can argue that sailing big is not, potentially, deadly. You HAVE to prepare.
The question is...how do we let both of these stand?
What do you think?
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I think the reality is sailing is a deep and expansive subject. Some have ventured off before that would have if they actually knew the risk they were facing. Many survive and don't regret it. I have friends that sailed a small wooden boat hundreds of miles off shore down the entire west coast of Canada/usa and survived and now they are veterans 10 years later with a whole difference perspective (not that the regret what they did)
I survived skiing in the back country with out even knowing avalanches existed when I was barely 20 years old! But I have also lost many friends to avalanches in the past 20 years which sure has changed my view point.
Similar to what I did it as a teenager with cars, motorbikes and bicycles....I drive slower and more carefully than I did as teenager.
What do you want??...You can certainly be smart or you can throw caution to the wind and hang your ass out.
I have kids now so I have spent 7 years sailing frequently, building my chops (after a childhood of regular sailing). I won't head into the middle of the Pacific until I feel good and ready.
Does it mean I will survive for sure....no...but my chances will be better than someone who just gets in a boat with a few weeks or months experience and heads off. And I might not be setting of my EPIRB by significantly reducing the chance of failures and situations that can be prevented or have the experience to deal with different possible failures at sea.