So my sailboats are very clean of gear on deck and around the cockpit. At sea I can rig in a second a nice sun awning from the boom gallows to the aft railing supports that were made for this. When its blowing hard I take this awning down and now have a clear view. When going to weather in rough going the wind vane steers the boat and I can just sit in the doghouse and watch the world go by.
Coming into port in nasty weather I done foul weather gear and just deal with it. At anchor we have a very nice awning setup.
Todays group of sailors think in a different way. These people were raised on tv , computers , video games and commuting by car long distances while talking on the phone and listening to talk show hosts that are bitching about something. These people are used to being in enclosed areas on the way to work, at work and when they get back home. One day they decide to become a sailor - cruiser and start on the computer looking up what they need to live on a boat that will make them feel at home.
This trend has brought us the Island Packet crowd, the huge Room-Ma-Ran catamaran crowd and all the other group of sailors that want to stay under cover till the last instant when one of them has to go forward and lower the anchor. Otherwise they want to stay in what is the equivalent of a sailing motor home. In the typical cockpit of one of these vessels you will have a steering wheel that is over shadowed by a huge GPS system flanked by the VHF and loud hailer . To see around this getup one must stand up on tip toes to see over. Now the compass is in there somewhere but this crowd has the GPS full map system so who needs to look at that , all i need is my waypoint book .
Sailing under a fully enclosed Florida Room like you see on the intra costal where they enclose half the property and pool area under a huge screen cage . Side flaps down , the little window to maybe look up at the set of the mainsail but who does that and the sun might find me so its closed.
What the whole sailing experience comes down to is seeing the goose neck of the main boon and maybe the genoa tack at the bow.
Sensory deprivation at its best. But hey the sun cant find you under all this crap.
At night with the GPS TV show going on all night vision is gone . But the good this is theyre in the safety compound of the FLORIDA ROOM.
Id rather experience the sea that I sail on.
Todays floating CARAVAN-MOTORHOME at rest . They have missed the channel completely . The wind is in the east coming from their stern . They have set the anchor to leeward in the channel they should have been in. Three more of their tribe are consoling and trying to figure out what to do.
In passing by in our dinghy going home I suggested to put a kedge out to windward and put a strain on it so when the tide floats them they will be heading into the wind and not drifting into the channel and onto the leeward rocks. They got off fine.
But iam sure they missed the channel because they were not looking at it but at their GPS TV show
Enclosed in the saftey of the FLORIDA ROOM.
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