If someone offers you to go on a sailboat outing....

[poodlesrule]

... you better figure these beforehand:

- how long they had this particular boat?
Answer: less than 6 months - not very good

- how many times have gone out on it?
Answer: two (or three?) times - no good at all

- are they generally optimistic, and to what degree?
Answer: what appears to be a bubbly nature may hide impaired judgement

- have they checked the weather conditions for the day?
Answer: not really

- is boat owner(s) going to fiddle for an hour+ with sails fully deployed in your driveway, before heading for the launch?
Answer: this is your last chance to ask questions, use it wisely....

Bonus question:
- how long will it take the Harbormaster to come give you a tow from a tiny island, populated by birds, late, late afternoon?
Answer: it depends. (S)he may have battery problems, or else.


Ask me how I know this.

[Algonquin]

Great post PR... glad you made it back onto dry land safely! :applause

[Katastrophe]

Please, do tell... This sounds like a heck of a story.

Also, I'll be keeping this checklist in mind should anyone ever offer me a trip on a sailboat.

[Eric]

I like point #5 the best. What's the full story?

[sunvalleylaw]

HaHa! Great post!

[aeolian]

A guy I used to work with told me this joke one time:

What is the happiest day in a boat owner's life?
The day he bought the boat and the day he sold the boat.

[poodlesrule]

I like point #5 the best. What's the full story?

The tale, with some hiding of facts so as not to be "discovered" via web search, or I' ll get in trouble, perhaps.

Friend of spouse ("S") has been boating all her life and just got her dream boat. a 21-ft wooden d o r y, with "classic" rigging, that is, no metal fittings or such. Second or third outing with it. Hmm.

First thing I found weird was the need, and time involved in setting up the sails in the driveway - now that's odd-looking!. I think the reason was that sail rig is made of wooden poles and cotton ropes, kind of complex-looking, and I suspect the owners were not yet very familiar with it.

Once launched in the water by the dock, it took forever to install the mast in its pocket, and review the sail arrangement again.

We finally get underway, wind is OK, we tool around a while in a protected inner bay.
Then we decide to head to a specific point, but the boat disagrees, as the combination tiller span/high wind/sail direction do not allow to head where we want. Wind picks up, some white caps, splash (boat is a low structure), sail goes wild... and mast decide to come off its pocket enough to make it look like it's gonna take off with the sail!
Calls from S who is at the tiller, to husband, who follows her directions on how to bring the sail down.. and he succeeds.
He eventually has to stand up and hold the mast for fear of it falling off, not a very reassuring sight, I must say...
By now, the boat is unstable, gets forcefully tossed around and we are drifting off-course by a lot.
We eventually land on a small island... just birds around. My cellphone works and my wife calls 911, which put us in touch with the local harbormaster. He says he will be around in 1/2 hour, but we have to get back 50 ft in the water and drop anchor as the area is shallow.
Back out we go! Mast is now stored flat, so we use oars to get away from shore. Wind is still a factor. We drop anchor, stop and wait. And wait some more. Nobody!
It is decided we head for our departure point on oar power, which isn't very efficient at moving a 1000-lb boat! Eventually a friendly motorboater sees us and give us a tow back to the departure landing...!

During the worst of it I thought: "We spent three years working at getting this place by the shore, and now, after all this, I am gonna freaking die on this stupid boat.." My wife says her thought was that she would never see our dog again...LOL!! In the 30 years that have known her, I have never seen face like that, a block of stone, mumbling "f*ck, f*ck.."

S, the expert, said afterwards, over coffee "Nothing that happened was out of the ordinary!"

Hmmm..

[Tig]

I've had similar experiences at Guitar Center!

If the sailboat owner doesn't know what a "close reach" (keep your minds out of the gutter) or a "boom vang" is, I'd stay off their boat. That said, the best boat is always someone else's. I grew up sailing and working on sailboats, so you'll not likely see me want to own one.

[sunvalleylaw]

S, the expert, said afterwards, over coffee "Nothing that happened was out of the ordinary!"

Hmmm..


See your previous point 3. I am all for being optimistic, but that sounds more like denial. :D

[otaypanky]

That was a funny story but I bet at the time it was pretty scary.