Would you trust your brother in law to (i) steer your boat, (ii) switch the battery switch, (iii) jump ashore with a dock line, (iv) know the difference between port and starboard, (v) keep his head lower than the boom, (vi) stow stuff so it doesn't break at 1 degree of heel, (vii) etc.?
No, of course not, because if your brother in law is anything like mine, he knows nothing at all about sailing.
Let's not forget that just about everything on land is different on water. Things have different names, there are no roads and you can't just pull over if things go wrong. Let's also not forget that we pay lots more attention to safety on the water than we do to safety on the land. We carry PFD's, flares, radar reflectors, life rafts, bells and whistles.
So we start knowing nothing about sailing, find that just about everything is different but we want to be safe. So what do we do? Among other things, we ask questions. Are some of the questions basic? Sure. Obvious? Maybe. Maybe I'm 90% sure of the answer. So 10% of the time, my boat sinks? Excuse me if I keep asking. And please keep this board a supportive resource for those of us who really have a need to ask in order to learn.
Dumb questions and worse answers
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Neil Gordon
- Posts: 4367
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 17:25
- Location: s/v LIQUIDITY, CD28. We sail from Marina Bay on Boston Harbor. Try us on channel 9.
- Contact:
Dumb questions and worse answers
Fair winds, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
absolutely
I agree 100%. Has nobody else absolutely known something for years only to discover they were wrong? We all can't be W.
Randy 25D Seraph #161
Randy 25D Seraph #161
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Neil Gordon
- Posts: 4367
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 17:25
- Location: s/v LIQUIDITY, CD28. We sail from Marina Bay on Boston Harbor. Try us on channel 9.
- Contact:
Re: absolutely
The big advantage, to me, of asking otherwise "stupid" questions...rtbates wrote:Has nobody else absolutely known something for years only to discover they were wrong?
It's rare when one mistake sinks a boat. Generally, it's what you do in response to the problem caused by the first thing that either saves the boat or sinks it. The "obvious" answer may be the wrong one.
Fair winds, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
$.02
As a sage once said (I don't remember who)
It's not what I don't know that kills me, it's what I know that ain't true.
It's often true for me.
It's not what I don't know that kills me, it's what I know that ain't true.
It's often true for me.
Sail on,
Jack
CD28 Sea Belle
Hailport - Rockland, ME
There are old sailors and bold sailors, but there are no old, bold sailors.
Reef early and often. It's easier to shake out a reef when one is bored than it is to tuck one in when one is scared.
When your only tool is a hammer, all your problems look like nails.
Jack
CD28 Sea Belle
Hailport - Rockland, ME
There are old sailors and bold sailors, but there are no old, bold sailors.
Reef early and often. It's easier to shake out a reef when one is bored than it is to tuck one in when one is scared.
When your only tool is a hammer, all your problems look like nails.
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Oswego John
- Posts: 3535
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 20:42
- Location: '66 Typhoon "Grace", Hull # 42, Schooner "Ontario", CD 85D Hull #1
Re: absolutely
Hi all,rtbates wrote:I agree 100%. Has nobody else absolutely known something for years only to discover they were wrong? We all can't be W.
Randy 25D Seraph #161
Don't pay any attention to NASA. Don't give the slightest heed to what they try to foist on the general public with all those doctored up photos .
To this day, I have known with absolute certainty that the moon is made of blue cheese..
Nobody can pull the wool over my eyes. No sireee, Bob.
O J
"If I rest, I rust"
Voting Member #490
Voting Member #490
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Dave Potts
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Jul 7th, '05, 16:34
- Location: 1980 CD30C #173 Aerides North Yarmouth, ME
Re: $.02- Artemus Ward
FWIW:SeaBelle wrote:As a sage once said (I don't remember who)
It's not what I don't know that kills me, it's what I know that ain't true.
<a href=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0029117 ... er-page>It ain't so much the things we don't know that gets us into trouble. It's the things we know that just ain't so.</a>
Artemus Ward (nom de plume of <a href=http://www.nndb.com/people/556/000056388/>Charles Farrar Browne, 1834-1867</a>)
(I just happened to use this quote in presentation I gave last month - Dave)
$.02- Artemus Ward
Dave: thanks for the link to the book. First few pages are very interesting.
Reminds me of one of my Dad's favorite saying," I've got my mind made up don't confuse me with the facts".
Randy 25D Seraph #161
Reminds me of one of my Dad's favorite saying," I've got my mind made up don't confuse me with the facts".
Randy 25D Seraph #161