You Sail Your Boat Alone????????

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by tommyt

Val,

I drive by the Bay and look longingly at the island and wish. Then, I look up at the temp sensor in the car and it says 34 degrees......lose that longing. It's cold out there. Snowed twice this week.

There's half a foot of "lake effect snow" north of here, but so far, it's still snow-free and above 0 C here in Toronto. Today, it's about 4 C and about 2 knots of SSE wind...crappy for sailing anyway!

I've been out in January, February and March with a guy who used to dock his steel cruiser beside a nice warm-water spewing electrical plant...he would just bash through the ice into the open lake. On sunny, light air days, it *can be* surprisingly nice, and into March, the number of decent days outnumbers the harsh. I suspect the insurers on the Great Lakes put limits of April 1-November 30 because they are operating on "traditional" ice-free date ranges, but more likely because it would be the early and the late seasons that may generate the most claims, and that is not in their interest.

Oh, and the guy with the steel cruiser? The plant closed, his basin freezes up now, so he's hauled out like the rest of us!

[mccary]

Originally Posted by tommyt

...It's cold out there. Snowed twice this week...

Please, NO four-letter words (snow) in this polite thread ! My boat is still in the water (Central Chesapeake) and will remain so through the winter hoping for that occasional warm day. Most of my "off season" sailing is alone. I take the warm days whenever they come and recently they seem to be mid week and my crew works (one of the benefits of being self employed).

[sailhog]

mccary,
I was going to report tommyt to the administrators, but it sounds like you already did. Good work! Apparently some people don't care that children read this forum. In another thread Tommy used the word "cold" and "ice" in the same thread! Sounds like Tourettes syndrome to me.

[Yofy]

Denise are you ready for this? We are currently living aboard in a country where it is illegal to sail alone! Yes it's true. The powers that be consider single handed sailing to be verrry dangerous.

So, neither Manny nor I get to test our skills alone over here. And that's too bad, because it has, in an underhanded way, reinforced that lack of independance that you are talking about. I do get out in our hard dinghy and sail it around the marina and the bay. Folks think it's pretty weird to see a grown woman sailing an optimist-sized dinghy, but it's my way of getting off with the wind on my own.

Nothing blows away your cares like an hour or two alone on the water.

Robyn

[deniseO30]

I can't help but wonder if in the old victorian days if the ladies had chambermaids attending them when on sailing yachts! Heaven knows the weren't going to be allowed to actually be involved in the manly art of sailing LOL can you imagine? even guess? what it would have been like back then?
On the other hand every well to do family on the seacoasts had "widows watch" up on the roof. So maybe all they did was sit at home and watch and knit? We've come a long way baby!! (that's a quote) LOL

[citation34]

I sail alone on Lake Michigan when wife and daughter are not there for the weekend. It's an Irwin Citation 34. The only problems I run into are getting in and out of the slip with out entertaining others. We, as a marina community, always help each other launch and dock when we can.

[Gryzio]

Originally Posted by deniseO30

Is that the question you get from your girlfriends, mothers, sisters or other females? Do you hate it when they get an incredulous look on their face when you tell them? Like you just committed the ultimate sin? Or you need lots of therapy?

I just started answering here. But, this question is one I enjoy answering. When I tell it (Not always the same), a woman will understand my boating preferences. Most know I have been through Storms in the Sea. Was in Hurricane Rita not too many years ago. The Sea is like a woman to me and in my story you will see she is referred to not as a thing, but, by personal name. Hope you enjoy as others have.

I Love Sea
A Very Short Story By: Gryzio

I first met Sea as a child. I was standing on the Beach and Sea would play with me. She would reach to me and gently tickle my feet and pull me toward her. She softly whispered; “Come with me boy and one day I will make you a man”! Sea aroused my interest and as a boy, I felt something I had never experienced deep inside me. Sea had a Fragrance about her that nothing could compare. Sea was gentle and playful that day. We laughed and I noticed she had moved me away from the Beach as she nurtured my trust in her.
When I was 8 years old. Sea arranged a Family outing for me. Along with family and friends to provide security, I ventured into Sea's domain. I found myself surrounded by her caress as the land disappeared in the distance. Sea was gentle and she nurtured my Confidence in becoming a man. Sea did become aggressive as I began to head to shore as she did not want me to leave. Sea would whisper in her soft and gentle voice; “Come with me boy and one day I will make you a man”! Again, this feeling inside me began to stir. I did not understand this feeling, but, it felt good and warm.
Over the years, Sea had gained my Trust and built my Confidence in becoming a man. Sea began to work on my heart and place a special Love for her within me. The feeling within me became strong and had escalated into an uncontrollable desire. When I became a Teenager, Sea beckoned to me. Her voice came to me over the mountains and through the cities. Sea would whisper gently; “Come to me now, for it is time you become a man”! The desire within me became aroused and I could remember the fragrance of Sea. I could smell her as a Fawn awaiting her young Buck. My desire overwhelmed me and I went to Sea. Alone, I ventured into her domain. Her eyes sparkled as the full moon illuminated her face. Sea took me into her embrace and gently began to nurture me into a man. She was calm and gentle, yet she had an aura about her of aggression. The love in my heart became strong. I took Sea and with the confidence she had given me, I proved myself a man that night. Sea became very calm and I gazed into her sparkling eyes. I could see her fire had been quenched, but, as I looked deeper, I could she her desires had not!
I have been alone with Sea for many years. Her aggression for my love is strong as she demands more of me as a man. I live up to her expectations of me and prove my abilities. I thrust myself into the waves of her desires and I quench her fire for a time. I subdue and dominate her Storms of Passion. I look deep into her eyes, past the sparkle, I see and know in my heart, I have not fulfilled her desires.
I have come of age as a man and Sea continues to nurture me. My love and desire for her is strong. I become dizzy in her caress of love. I have come to know her heart and her desires as any man should of the woman he loves. Yes, I know her desires now. I understand her needs as a woman. One day I will fulfill those desires, I will give her what she needs, but, for now, I only quench her fire. One day, I will rest in her embrace forever. For Sea, desires my Soul.

[jheldatksuedu]

When given a choice between sailing alone or not sailing at all it seems an easy choice, to sail alone. I must admit I would rather have a crew with a 45 foot ketch but I plan to start a circumnavigation alone. Though I don't plan to finish it alone, somewhere along the way I hope to find a mate and then start a family. To sail a boat alone just takes prior planning and maybe special rigging to help. I enjoy creatively solving those problems.

[chef2sail]

The choice....no one can go sailing today so I sit at the dock or go it alone- no brainer,,,where are the diock lines.

Going solo required me to improve my techniques and think more about what I am doing. I do tie in even in the calmest of days as here on the Chesapeake/ Patapsco the stinkpotters can sneak up on you..especially when you are fixing something on the bow

I have learned to fix ropes in my slip to make docking a no-brainer when going it alone. When leaving I cross both bowlines from the dock to the opposite mid boat poles ( pilings so when I come in I have a perfect "V" to catch the boat. First dock line I reach for is one of the spring lines and attach to midship cleat. Then I can leasurely get all others.

The hardest thing about sailing alone is putting everything back together after being out sailing. Especially in the 95 degree summer heat of the Chesapeake.

Some of my best days are when I am out with no one to hear me singing