23 October 2007

One Man's Eleven

I don't proclaim to be a rockstar, bad-ass sailor. I'm not. I'm a good experienced sailor. But a conversation I had this week gave me pause. This gentleman had gone sailing last weekend, something that I was not able to do.

Me: It looked like a great weekend, sunny, pretty light winds....
Him: Are you crazy, you must have only looked in the afternoon, it was crazy in the morning.
Me: Oh, I guess I didn't see that.
Him: It must have been blowing at least eleven knots.

I shouldn't be one to judge and I hope I hid the horror that I was feeling at that moment. But, eleven knots?!? I checked with NOAA, and indeed, the high wind for the day was 11 consistent, with a gust to 14. That was the peak.

I know that comfort with weather comes with experience and if this gentleman continues to sail in San Francisco, he'll get comfortable with a whole lot more than 11 knots. Hell, in the summer, they'll postpone a race at 11 knots waiting for the wind to fill in.

And I know that one man's eleven knots is another's thirty. For instance, if it's a consistent 25 knots, gusting higher, I'll just stay at the dock. Sure, I've sailed in 50 but I would never do it purposefully unless I'm already out there. You have to be able to but I don't know why you'd put yourself in that position unless you had to.

So, here's the fun interaction part. At what point do you draw the line that it's just too windy to go out that day? And at what point do you consider it to be "crazy" and wish you were back at the dock? My answer in the comments.

16 comments:

EVK4 said...

1. Stay at dock: a consistent 25, gusting higher if it's a daysail. For a race, depends on the crew.

2. It's Crazy: 20-25 knots if I'm heading upwind. 25-30 on the way home downwind.

Wicketywack said...

Up until recently I've had a boat that I didn't trust in over 15 knots. Now I have one that the previous owner told me he took out in 40 knots with no problem (don't know if I believe him).

In 25 knots I'd stay at the dock unless I had my star crew. Then, maybe.

oreneta said...

It depends a whole lot on the boat I am in, and the water conditions....dingies vs racing keel boat, vs big fat sturdy cruiser....with our Albin Vega, 25 to 30 knots no problem, especially if I'm headed somewhere down wind and the sea is reasonably protected...much more than that....no thanks, I''ll wait.

Anonymous said...

As Lonnie said, I think it's dependent on the boat. I will gladly go out in 30 kts in a Cape Cod Frosty, or even a laser if I just want to have a laugh and I am in protected waters. Other boats, over 25 kts seems to be a natural cutoff point, as things start to break on a lot of boats. When cruising or ocean racing I have no problem in dealing with over 30, it just doesn't make for the most pleasant time, unless you are broad reaching toward where you want to go and surfing some nice waves...that is fun.

Anonymous said...

Greetings.

Care to rethink your involvement in the parody?

EVK4 said...

Sure, rethinking now.

EVK4 said...

Done re-thinking...what I've written is funny. I think I'll keep it.

Anonymous said...

Isipid blog. One of the biggest regional disasters in history is happening right on your doorstep and you post this prattle?

cheese ass.

Anonymous said...

If only reid's revenge had the spelling skills and historical knowledge to match his indignation!
Also, California geography would help.

EVK4 said...

Anonymous,
I'm hoping to make an entire post about the word "Isipid". So far all I have is "Isipid my beer and wrote a stupid comment on a blog". I'm working on it, I promise it'll get better.

Wicketywack said...

"Isipid"! Ha!

EVK: remember, having trolls comment on your blog means you're doing something right. And I'm never surprised that trolls comment anonymously.

Also, what "biggest regional disasters in history" is he talking about? Something going on I don't know about? Is there some kind of flood out there in Cali? Sorry, been doing too much sailing to read the news lately.

;-)

Tillerman said...

I must be missing something. What is the "parody" about which captain lithium is talking?

EVK4 said...

Tillerman, Here are my contributions to the 1000daysofhell blog:
Clean Clear Head
Cheese Days
Culture Club
Whale Ho Hide the Stash

Like my contributions to the thread on SA, I stand behind everything I wrote on it; it's funny, it's parodying somebody who decided to become a public figure, and I enjoyed writing it.

There are contributions on the SA thread that offend me and are questionable as to their intention but there was a golden age on that thread which was really a perfect counterpoint to the 1000daysatsea blog.

In some respects Captain Lithium has a good point that there is some mean-spiritedness but he was actually one of the more vulgar abusive voices on the whole thread.

Pat said...

Isipid wouldn't be too far a stretch from "Isopod Pale Ale". And that would lead to Carol Anne's web post on itsfiveoclocksomewhere.blogspot.com about the Disastrous Hops Shortage and escalation in beer prices.

Wind -- depends on how much rail meat we have. 20 knots with 2-up, 25 knots with full crew, then it gets to be way too much agony in an open keelboat.

More seriously, we do know folks in southern California who had been evacuated and whose homes had been threatened. We don't hear much about disasters outside of our country, but when we do experience the full extent of nature's power (and what happens when that combines with human carelessness or criminality), then we are humbled.

Anonymous said...

Ohmigod. I hadn't seen all the fun that you guys have been having at the expense of poor Mr Stowe.

On the subject of parodies I've been wondering lately whether certain other blogs are actually self-parodies. At least one I have been reading is either a brilliant piece of fiction or written by someone so naive he doesn't know that everyone is laughing at him.

Keep up the good work.

Carol Anne said...

There's another blog out there (Muddled Ramblings & Half Baked Ideas) that has gotten a lot of mileage out of "pervious"; I don't think you'd have much of a problem with "isipid."