What The!!!!

What the !!!!

Not at all old chap...she sent us in to find you. There was no way you'd find your own way out clad in all that rubber wear....

 

Do pasties have meat in them? Must look next time I try one - mind you they are better than a forfar bridie (the same thing in shape with a foreign accent) which only has fat in it - lard normally! Touche Bergalia - remember the ones we sell the tourists aren't the real thing those are too good for them (emmet!)

 

What the !!!!

Ah Walrus, you refer I think to the McPastie (haggis) - reserved for our transAtlantic cousins. A cunning source of revenge and a way of ridding ourselves of the offal left after the Scots have eaten the choice meat. Usually served up with the dregs from the distillery drains (blended whisky) which has usually beed hanging around for ten, twelve even twenty-five years. Gawd love ém. They'll buy anything with tartan wrapped around it.

 

Aye tis trew (?), and if you've no tartan on ye afew lines of colour will also work, old tablecloth etc from the MacHine clan - ye ken them well

 

O Salty ones, a question!

What does the signal, two red lights, one above the other, over the cockpit or in a place of maximum visibility, combined with normal mast-head tri-color mean on a sailboat underway?

You are all quite correct about the safety issues, and as a single-hander with a lot of miles under my keel I am well aware of them. But, you have to sleep sometime, and the risk if you stay out of known sea-lanes and only sleep when well off-shore is actually pretty minimal. When that isn't possible, you can go for days with 10 minute naps and a quick scan of the horizon, set the egg timer and back to sleep for another 10. Fiberglass boats also conduct sound well, and if you are scared enough the sound of screws will wake you well before the ship causing the sound comes over the horizon. My point being, there are no good solutions to this one, but in my case not going out alone means staying on land with all the idiots! Would you really wish that on anyone?

You can also enhance your chances with radar detectors, AIS and even hydrophones . . . but that old Mark I eyeball is indeed the best.

Bill

 

It means a sailboat making way, not under command.

That´s what solo sailors should show in their boats when taking a nap at night. Have you ever seen a sailboat with those lights?:?: :?: :?: Do you use them?

 

Yeah Great Billy, get your point, but.....

What if????

The other Prat is also a single hander, with a bigger boat and a knackered egg timer and naps like the dead

Some of us would miss you buddy! (boll***s to the other bast*** he deserved it, but you! NO. Still a man has to do what a man has to do to stay sane!)

I don't suffer from insanity, I'm loving every minute of it!

 

Vega, I had the lights permanently mounted. All I had to do was turn on the switch, which I always did. The red light was actually handy to gently light up the deck without ruining my night vision when I stuck my head out for my horizon scan. Made it easy to check the sails, etc.

Walrus, that's where the statistical approach comes in. The odds of you being in the same spot at the same time as that "other bugger" are about the same as the odds for a fair election in the U. S. of A. Damn slight, in other words. Still, the quick scan, staying out of sea lanes, etc., is bound to improve on those odds.

I did one single-hand from Chichester to Lisbon (in 1977) where I followed the old sailing directions out to 10 degrees west before turning left, and stayed about 400 miles off the coast of Portugul. Went for weeks without seeing so much as a light. Of course, coming out of the channel was an adventure. No sleep there!

Bill

 

Know that stretch well, Bill! Yeah actually as long as you stay some ten miles outside of most shipping lanes you've got no problems! And lit up like a bloody Christmas tree works most of the time! Just cost a wee bit more in power if you have it to use - and thats the problem for most single handers, the nature of the beast means that you probably ain't got that power to hand. But if you have get a white between the reds (mmm naughty but **** if it keeps you alive! the purists might not like it even if they understand it! [Gilly certainly won't but that's Gilly ] and some deck lights OR my favourite a Flashing Orange :idea: - that get's 'em going! (but turn the VHF off!)

 

I am impressed. I have to confess that I had never seen a sail boat with that set-up...and worst...I had never thought of that ...but it is also true that I had never needed it (normally, for long jumps, I sail with my daughter).
Thanks, I am going to mount a set-up like that on my next boat.

 

Hey Walrus, this was a nice sweet Contessa 26 built by Mr. Jeremy Rodgers not far from where you sit. It wasn't at all "restricted in ability to maneuver” . . . oh, unless you meant when trying to back it out of a slip or something. It was a real pig then! You're right, I should have fitted that extra light for getting out of port . . .

Vega, you will like the lights. It's very nice to not have to fumble around for a torch or whatever if you are in a hurry about something. My Contessa had a single backstay that split into two above the cockpit. The place where it split was a triangular stainless steel plate with the three attachment holes. I just made another one with a central hole canted at an angle so I could run a stainless steel tube vertically up through it, and welded the tube into place. I then mounted the two lights at either end of this tube and ran the wires down one of the stays. I also wrapped the wires with stainless steel tape (which I can no longer find) on the outside of the rubber insulation to protect it from sunlight. The installation was still good ten years later when I sold the boat. Next time I'm using LEDs though.

Bill

 

Bill - like the LED idea that should be a BIG saving on power (as long as you get the range, dont forget you need a couple of miles!) The middle white light was (is) only for the '********' factor! there is no way under normal circumstances that any sailing yacht would be 'restricted in it's ability to manouver' under the Regulation (Unless of course you believe that a pure 'sailing vessel' is restricted AT ALL times because he can't suddeenly change course! unlike your average power driven vessel - might take some time to do it but he can!) But as I said the more lights the better to alert the numpty to the fact your there: might upset the purist but............it's about life!

 

I hear you Walrus, and knew what you meant. But if you think a Contessa isn't REALLY restricted . . . you haven't tried to back one up! Long full and very deep keel. It just goes where it wants to when backing. You might as well not bother with the tiller.

LEDs are very bright any more. I have a flashlight I seem to use a lot when we have hurricanes that has a single one-watt white LED in it . . . and it is BRIGHT! Most new cars are using red LEDs in their tail and brake lights as well. Great technology! And on a masthead tri-colour you aren't nearly as likely to be taking an awkward trip up the pole to replace a bulb.

Still, I'm glad you clarified what you were saying, because I take your advise seriously. I remember when I was leaving Chichester on that trip I mentioned above. I was very green about sailing, in fact I had never done it before. One of your countrymen, no doubt recognizing that I didn't have a clue what I was about, was kind and generous with his advice as I was preparing for my trip and prevented a serious problem. He was helping me check over my supplies and asked how much fresh water I was carrying. I told him, he did some calculations and told me quite seriously that I probably had way too much. "No matter," he went on to say, "you can always add salt and pour it back in."

Well that got me to thinking about my salt supply, and I made a special trip back into town and bought enough to take care of the surplus. As it turned out I needed it too!

It's always good to be prepared for every contingency! There aren't many markets where we prowl.

Bill

 

Aye Bill you can't overdoo the salt supply! Unless of courase your like our Old friend (stress AWLD) Bergalia who has seen so mutch salt he rubs his eyebrows over his dinner when he wants extra salt these days!

 

You're so right, Walrus! The eyebrows work MUCH better than the shoulders! And the older you get the bushier THEY get and the more I crave salt on me vittles! It's a perfect harmony of events. Of course the convenience of this does depend on avoiding those nasty baths. Easy to do when out sailing.

It's a well balanced world we live in and I thank ye again for helping me to appreciate it!

Bill