This was a great video. My biggest fear at sea has always been falling overboard. I have slipped and fell a couple times on board small boats. One time I slipped and landed on top of the cabin and almost broke a rib. Once when I was on an oil tanker I slipped in a patch of oil right next to a section of railing that was open as that is where the pilot would come on board. It was late at night with no one else around. I could've easily slipped over the side if I had been just a foot or two closer to the railing. These things happen so sudden. I was climbing from a dinghy onto a cabin cruiser and slipped one time and was completely underwater in a half second and still couldn't believe what happened while I was still underwater. You take precautions and think nothing is going to happen but that's why they call them accidents.
Great episode and your discussion towards the end really resonated with us. We’ve been cruising the med for four years and have found ourselves in some pretty scary situations. Once we know we are safe and sound we pour ourselves a stiff one and have a good old chat about what happened - did we stuff up, what did we do well and what would we have done differently. It has given us much more confidence and we are clear about our roles. We will never stop learning! Thanks for a great one. Bev & Simon (and our gorgeous rescue cat, Bella). And yes, losing Bella overboard would be our worst nightmare.
Great episode. I love your assessment for the "cocky" sailors. Karma or Mother Nature will may put them in their place eventually. I think a lot of folks probably have an issue with the phrase "Afraid of" or "Fear" because it evokes mental imagery of someone quivering and unable to function. I tell people I am not "afraid" of anything when I sail but I have a healthy respect for everything. The water & wind generate power and forces that can kill or maim in an instant. Every noob that boards my vessel I will tell "do not fall off the boat or you will die", They always respond "I will be wearing my PFD" Then I retort, "Well if you are wearing your PFD then you will die slowly" :)
We lost our mast at sea about a month ago and lost one of our cats in the incident. No damaged to the hull, no one injured. We stayed at anchor for a week trying to figure what to do next. We motored 600nm to Florida to get a new mast. Not a fun experience, but guess it’s part of the adventure.
Great episode. To me, my biggest fear is *always* fire. What are most small boats/ yachts made from? A: FUEL, either wood or resin. Watching a few marina fire videos will scare the crap out of you. 'Cause it's usually 'someone else' boat that burns your boat down. It is the reason I own a steel hull vessel, in spite of the maintenance issues for rust. A fire may burn out the inside in a worst case situation, but if the seacocks can be protected and the fire put out or does not burn through a seacock, the hull may remain afloat and provide a larger platform for survival and perhaps more resources, if you can stay near by in your raft until it cools down. Better than Redford's situation in "All Is Lost" , stupid as the actual movie presentation was in many regards.
Hey Liz and Jamie. Loved the podcast, I think it is so important to discuss and be honest about both the highs and the lows of cruising life. So well done bringing this important topic to life and discussing your own stresses and anxieties. Here is our long story of one of our worst fears come to life ... We have just completed our longest passage, Ascension Island in the South Atlantic to the Azores in the North Atlantic - 30 days at sea. We didn't approach this passage without some trepidation and so did everything we could to ensure we were prepared as we could be. This included service and maintenance of rigging, sails, engines, all systems on board (electronic, water, plumbing, power, etc). We reviewed and bought extra spares, we did extra provisioning, we studied the weather etc etc. But it didn't stop us having what could have been a minor catastrophe happen in week 3 of the passage. We lost steering. We have what most, I think, consider the gold standard of steering systems - Whitlock solid rod links. But the pin that connects the tie rod or drag link from the tiller arm on the rudder stock to the reduction gear box sheared through. If we couldn't fix it, our main option for steering was the emergency tiller arm. Which we have and which we could technically use to steer but IF we had to use it in anger just the two of us, we are not sure to be honest if we would be physically capable of steering the boat for 2 weeks just with it. It is and awkward position and HEAVY. The pin that sheared of course was not a standard and therefore we had nothing like it on the boat. 12 hours later and awesome team work between Pete and I we had fashioned a replacement using two drilled out sockets, plumbing sleeves and a threaded rod. We sailed with the "Frankennut" for another 1000 miles. Worrying and stressing with every noise and groan that it made. But we made it. Our lesson, 1. it is so important to work well with your crew/partner. 2. When your partner says "hey look at this new tool I found and now have to find storage on the boat for", rather than getting grumpy be grateful they are thinking ahead it may save your life/ boat one day. 3. So make space for spares, and tools. 4. And know that cruising really is 'fixing things in exotic places' Miss you guys! (Sorry for the long post - surprisingly it is Jen not Pete being long winded this time!!)
Hey Jen! Wow, what a shocker. It's great to hear from you guys but it's not the kind of message we want to be reading from our sailing buddies. That must have been stomach churning and we understand that constant feeling of "is this going to break". The problem is that you can't carry spares for absolutely everything, and you don't always know what kind of spares you need. If you've never had the problem before then how would you know to carry that spare pin? It's easy to know with hindsight but easier to overlook it before the fact. We're stoked that you managed to fix the issue and continue on your long passage. Phew! Congratulations on completing the journey. I guess the one thing to your advantage is that you had a lot of sea room to make the repairs. Imagine if that had happened going round a rocky headland in heavy weather 🤔 Thank you for your message. We miss you. Lots of love to you both.
@@followtheboat You are so totally right about the sea room. We were able to drop the sails and both of us go below and work the problem. What terrifies me now is what if it happens near shore or in the busy English channel! But we have mitigated the risk of it breaking again and so will have to put the fears aside as we want to keep on sailing. Loving the new podcast series. Feels like we are sitting down chatting with you guys. Lots of love, don't work too hard, and fair winds xx
Tugs in Singapore area - No Rules of the sea . Fishing boats in rough seas checking you out thinking you are there friends boat & your full on trying to escape there collision course & they dont even listen to the VHF - Fun times .Because im 74 iv tended to stop doing trips up to the islands (Tonga/Fiji) now & enjoy coastal sailing (Witch is harder then ocean sailing) .
Love these discussions! As a risk management consultant, we do what Jamie was describing... We categorize risks based on their relative severity/impact and their frequency of occurrence. You then prioritize those that have both high severity and high frequency.
Great discussion. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. My biggest fears are Fire/Explosion, Sinking (Flooding [Through Hull Fitting Failure], Hitting Container), Lightning Strike, MeOB, GTO (Getting To Old), Losing Mast, Being Hijacked/Having Boat Stolen. I’m sure there are more fears to fret over but can’t think of them right now. To the no fear comment I suggest that there are two complementary questions for that response: Are you young (in your 20’s)?; Do you sail on a boat that you own?
The health emergency underway is one of our challenges as someone with stage 4 cancer and getting ready to cruise this is a challenge we are still trying to work out mitigation measures for any emergencies including preparing my wife to solo back to port if need be.
I've been on a vessel that was struck by lightning, all the safety systems worked as expected, and we limped back to port. I've been on a vessel that was rammed by another vessel, and we put a flare (fired from a flare gun) into their vessel and they F**ked off now burning. I've been on two vessels where there was a fire. One vessel had an explosion, the other a grease fire in the galley. Both were contained and brought under control. I've been on a vessel that was boarded and robbed by pirates. The second time we prepared a "Welcoming Party", and brought our "Welcoming Sticks" with us. We surprised and overpowered the armed pirates and impressed upon them the need to correct the error of their ways, yes, they were released alive (I was outvoted), although they wished they were dead. Happy Birthday Liz!🐻
@@24hourtravellers Just be ready to do whatever needs to be done to protect yourself, your crew and your vessel. If you have done this, there's a damn good chance everything will be ok.
This was an enlightening episode. There are many ways you can approach this subject, but I agree that there are risks that can be mitigated in some ways, and there are ones that you cannot do anything about, which is an excellent way to handle them logically. Thanks for sharing your experience. Cheers.
Great episode. Agree with Engine stopping fear. Few weeks ago was sitting outside Tory Channel in the Cook Strait of New Zealand, waiting for a commercial ferry to exit (not big enough for both ferries and yachts), when the fan belt for the water pump decided it was time to loosen itself. Was like sitting in a washing machine so I was throwing up with engine alarm going off, and we were 200m from rocks. 3 Knots of current and no wind to sail with. That is why I like being on a Catamaran we I can simply start the other engine.
thanks for this pod cast. and a happy birthday. for the lightning problem, which is one of my biggest fears. We have attached a metal chain to our mast rigging, on the advice of a sailing acquaintance of ours. If all is well it should suffer the lightning flash in the water without too much damage to the boat.
There are lots of nice theories, but none are yet proven. Bottom line: lightning is unpredictable! We made a video about it: th-cam.com/video/_Wj2hDYWm3M/w-d-xo.html Liz
What a great episode again. Thank you so much for summarizing and sharing peoples and your fears. BTW... if you have fear of loosing your engine, get a catamaran. 😉
Anchored in our 36' sailboat when a 50'ish motor yacht anchored up in front of us. She dragged after the skipper had left in the dingy. The woman left aboard was in the cockpit sipping wine as she passed us screaming we were to close to her as we fended off the best we could while praying they didn't foul our hook. Their boat ended up crashing into a private dock about 1/2 mile away.
Having seen an EMPTY bridge on cruise liners, I've no trust in any traffic, day or night, not running me down. Which is why I won't go solo if it requires sleep.
@@sailingsolo5290 Some few folks can also say it is safe and easy to walk on the moon, because they have accomplished that. Some have won lotto jackpots of a quarter billion dollars. That doesn't mean that everyone else can do it. Or even safely try it. Now if you'd taken cognitive performance tests before and immediately after each crossing, that would mean something more.
@@lyfandeth I had a coastguard captain in indonesia try to deny me port clearance once because i am solo. I told him to get fu#@ed. I am sure one day real soon single handing will be made illegal cause of all the woke who think like you. Safety,safety,safety. What a miserable world thats comming. For me i dont stay safe,i stay free. If you have it youre way then there will be no more sailing history like slocum,mortissea,johnson,gram and abei.
We had a yacht smack into us in Port Erin Isle of Man. Their anchor dragged. We called a pan pan to RNLI in the bay to have them pull the other boat off us because we were worried that our anchor would dislodge under extra weight and put us onto destroyed breakwater
Full first Aid kit - yes. Have you spoken about if one of you die on passage? terrible/catastrophic - absolutely. but have you discussed contingencies ? what do you do? can your partner get the yacht to port safely?.Do you do a funeral at sea? .... morbid? maybe but a very real fear/possibilty with the average age of cruisers? thanks Pete
Well, I originally thought dragging, having a over sized anchor because of climate change but have recently changed my mind!! My wife suddenly found herself violently ill as we were sitting in an Anchorage in Destin Florida in the middle of our trip up the coast of gulf of Mexico....turned out to be quite serious and needed Emergency surgery removal of her Gall Bladder! It was septic. We had no idea. Thankfully we were in port at the time. That would have been a nightmare at sea.
Excellent video thanks a lot. Just a question out of my own little experience (ad 4): Don't you think that running an active radar reflector does help being seen better in the radar of the big commercial vessels ?
@@followtheboat thanks for your answer. I have an Echomax and I'm pretty sure that on 2 occasions with fast ferries cruising at about 20 kt, they have seen me from a reasonable distance and adjusted their course early. This was when AIS was not yet working on my boat
"Meeting Canadians" ?? Okay.... H.B., L.C.! I remember Nigel's story well, as well as Millie's little swim, and her climbing up a thick rope on Esper's aftdeck. That was a nail-biter! Best regards.
Hi Lyfan. Floating lines are a pain. Imagine rocking up to a pontoon with ten dinghies tethered to it, all with floating lines. Easy to catch them on your outboard.
Hi Liz & Jamie, Thank you for the work you do on this. I have worked in professions where fear is a regular occurance and many deny it. Anyone who says they are not scared is a lier or ignorant. Fear is a natural feeling. It tells us to be careful and watchful. We must not let fear control us but we must also listen to our fears. The evolutionists tell us that fear has allowed the human race to survive and flourish. It appears to me that you address fear properly, you do not let it control you but you do use it as a signal to be watchful and careful. Jim
Fun show! It's always interesting to listen in on other people's fears. Generally speaking there are things to learn from them all. Yes, even running out of coffee or chocolate. In that case you take notes on provisioning. In my case 70-80 pounds of chocolate should do it for two weeks! 😎
@@followtheboat mostly milk, but dark as a treat. And a bit in my coffee from time to time is nice also. The Swiss make a great chocolate but Hershey's is my normal.
1300 containers lost overboard every year , they should all have trackers installed and the commercial shipping industry should be made to pick them up if they are floaters . My biggest fear is bad weather. Fear gets worse as you age
Yes, fear can get worse with age, I think it's because we're more aware of what can go wrong. Maybe containers should have some kind of automatic sinking mechanism... Liz
For the lightning fear, I thought for sure I had that licked here in the Pacific Northwest. I moved here 5 years ago. The other day was the first clap of thunder I have heard since 2017 when I got here. There are other hazards in this area that compensate.
Well done. Although I was a reptile zoo keeper/manager lecturer of wildlife/evolution for a few decades, handling hundreds of venomous snakes and crocodiles daily, I did it despite the risks. I had hundreds of protocols. Nice to know it works in other worlds too.
Hi, this is the first time I've commented in 18months of watching your vlog and now podcast. I find both formats interesting, entertaining and educational - the podcast probably more so. As to fears, we have thought about most of what was raised in this episode. We had both engines in our newly acquired cat fail on about the 3rd time we left the marina. You asked a few episodes ago about age. We are 61 and 70. Too old to begin??? We hope not. We are totally inexperienced sailors planning to cruise the Australian east coast and perhaps further afield, inspired by your example.
Worrying is what I do best. I am a expert worrier. After 30 years in IT trying to anticipate everything that can go wrong with a system, I have absorbed the process of worrying about everything into my DNA. On the plus side, it means that we have backup systems and mitigation in place for everything I can think of and anything out of the ordinary, no matter how small, gets checked as soon as possible. As for scary stuff - marinas and manoeuvring in them. Lots and lots of big, expensive things to hit, sometimes with poor systems on pontoons (or pontoons you can fall through if you jump down from the boat) and toilets/showers that could give you any of a dozen medical issues.
Have you been paying attention to the supply chain crisis. Where food will be hard to find in less than 6 months. Dont worry about it but get some for the future.
I've always thought that by the time the alarm goes off it would be too late! May be useful in slow-moving situations where visibility is poor so you can't spot? Liz
Having a cat on board is the age-old remedy. It works. If we're on the hard-standing and there are rats about, we use a trap. You can't stop 'em, but you can trap 'em. Liz
I don’t understand that problem. Painters all off of the bow, outboards off the stern. I understand long painters at crowded dinghy docks. But engines not running in those close quarters. But we’re really talking about what kind of line to use when towing the dink. I do agree though. Towing isn’t optimal. But sometimes it’s what you do.
There is that. But try telling the septuagenarians and octogenarians we know who are still plowing the waves. As Jamie says, with experience you're a lot more aware of the dangers. 😁 Liz
This was a great video. My biggest fear at sea has always been falling overboard. I have slipped and fell a couple times on board small boats. One time I slipped and landed on top of the cabin and almost broke a rib. Once when I was on an oil tanker I slipped in a patch of oil right next to a section of railing that was open as that is where the pilot would come on board. It was late at night with no one else around. I could've easily slipped over the side if I had been just a foot or two closer to the railing. These things happen so sudden. I was climbing from a dinghy onto a cabin cruiser and slipped one time and was completely underwater in a half second and still couldn't believe what happened while I was still underwater. You take precautions and think nothing is going to happen but that's why they call them accidents.
Great episode and your discussion towards the end really resonated with us. We’ve been cruising the med for four years and have found ourselves in some pretty scary situations. Once we know we are safe and sound we pour ourselves a stiff one and have a good old chat about what happened - did we stuff up, what did we do well and what would we have done differently. It has given us much more confidence and we are clear about our roles. We will never stop learning! Thanks for a great one. Bev & Simon (and our gorgeous rescue cat, Bella). And yes, losing Bella overboard would be our worst nightmare.
Reflecting after the fact is good practice, Bev 👍
Fantastic. Certainly got Deb and I thinking. Thank you.
So pleased it helped to get you thinking. 🙏 Liz
Personally have found the very helpful. Thank you so much fair winds and happy sailing.
Thanks for letting us know. 🙏 Liz
Nice blog, liked the down to earth approach. Lightning is my biggy!
Completely understandable. I've felt the sweat pouring off my body when we've been sailing in the middle of lightning storms. Not nice. 🙏 Liz
Great episode. I love your assessment for the "cocky" sailors. Karma or Mother Nature will may put them in their place eventually. I think a lot of folks probably have an issue with the phrase "Afraid of" or "Fear" because it evokes mental imagery of someone quivering and unable to function. I tell people I am not "afraid" of anything when I sail but I have a healthy respect for everything. The water & wind generate power and forces that can kill or maim in an instant. Every noob that boards my vessel I will tell "do not fall off the boat or you will die", They always respond "I will be wearing my PFD" Then I retort, "Well if you are wearing your PFD then you will die slowly" :)
Too true! We do something similar, but generally prefer to have "old hands" on board. Liz
@@followtheboat Yes it is safer that way :)
We lost our mast at sea about a month ago and lost one of our cats in the incident. No damaged to the hull, no one injured. We stayed at anchor for a week trying to figure what to do next. We motored 600nm to Florida to get a new mast. Not a fun experience, but guess it’s part of the adventure.
Great episode.
To me, my biggest fear is *always* fire.
What are most small boats/ yachts made from?
A: FUEL, either wood or resin.
Watching a few marina fire videos will scare the crap out of you. 'Cause it's usually 'someone else' boat that burns your boat down.
It is the reason I own a steel hull vessel, in spite of the maintenance issues for rust. A fire may burn out the inside in a worst case situation, but if the seacocks can be protected and the fire put out or does not burn through a seacock, the hull may remain afloat and provide a larger platform for survival and perhaps more resources, if you can stay near by in your raft until it cools down. Better than Redford's situation in "All Is Lost" , stupid as the actual movie presentation was in many regards.
Yes, hadn't thought about it that way, we're sitting on a tinder box! Liz 😁
Hey Liz and Jamie. Loved the podcast, I think it is so important to discuss and be honest about both the highs and the lows of cruising life. So well done bringing this important topic to life and discussing your own stresses and anxieties. Here is our long story of one of our worst fears come to life ...
We have just completed our longest passage, Ascension Island in the South Atlantic to the Azores in the North Atlantic - 30 days at sea. We didn't approach this passage without some trepidation and so did everything we could to ensure we were prepared as we could be. This included service and maintenance of rigging, sails, engines, all systems on board (electronic, water, plumbing, power, etc). We reviewed and bought extra spares, we did extra provisioning, we studied the weather etc etc. But it didn't stop us having what could have been a minor catastrophe happen in week 3 of the passage.
We lost steering. We have what most, I think, consider the gold standard of steering systems - Whitlock solid rod links. But the pin that connects the tie rod or drag link from the tiller arm on the rudder stock to the reduction gear box sheared through. If we couldn't fix it, our main option for steering was the emergency tiller arm. Which we have and which we could technically use to steer but IF we had to use it in anger just the two of us, we are not sure to be honest if we would be physically capable of steering the boat for 2 weeks just with it. It is and awkward position and HEAVY.
The pin that sheared of course was not a standard and therefore we had nothing like it on the boat. 12 hours later and awesome team work between Pete and I we had fashioned a replacement using two drilled out sockets, plumbing sleeves and a threaded rod. We sailed with the "Frankennut" for another 1000 miles. Worrying and stressing with every noise and groan that it made. But we made it.
Our lesson, 1. it is so important to work well with your crew/partner. 2. When your partner says "hey look at this new tool I found and now have to find storage on the boat for", rather than getting grumpy be grateful they are thinking ahead it may save your life/ boat one day. 3. So make space for spares, and tools. 4. And know that cruising really is 'fixing things in exotic places'
Miss you guys! (Sorry for the long post - surprisingly it is Jen not Pete being long winded this time!!)
Hey Jen! Wow, what a shocker. It's great to hear from you guys but it's not the kind of message we want to be reading from our sailing buddies. That must have been stomach churning and we understand that constant feeling of "is this going to break". The problem is that you can't carry spares for absolutely everything, and you don't always know what kind of spares you need. If you've never had the problem before then how would you know to carry that spare pin? It's easy to know with hindsight but easier to overlook it before the fact. We're stoked that you managed to fix the issue and continue on your long passage. Phew! Congratulations on completing the journey. I guess the one thing to your advantage is that you had a lot of sea room to make the repairs. Imagine if that had happened going round a rocky headland in heavy weather 🤔 Thank you for your message. We miss you. Lots of love to you both.
@@followtheboat You are so totally right about the sea room. We were able to drop the sails and both of us go below and work the problem. What terrifies me now is what if it happens near shore or in the busy English channel! But we have mitigated the risk of it breaking again and so will have to put the fears aside as we want to keep on sailing.
Loving the new podcast series. Feels like we are sitting down chatting with you guys. Lots of love, don't work too hard, and fair winds xx
Tugs in Singapore area - No Rules of the sea . Fishing boats in rough seas checking you out thinking you are there friends boat & your full on trying to escape there collision course & they dont even listen to the VHF - Fun times .Because im 74 iv tended to stop doing trips up to the islands (Tonga/Fiji) now & enjoy coastal sailing (Witch is harder then ocean sailing) .
Oh boy, TUGS! Hahaha... They live by their own rules. Steer clear. 😉 Liz
Well done, thank you.
You're very welcome. Liz
Love these discussions! As a risk management consultant, we do what Jamie was describing... We categorize risks based on their relative severity/impact and their frequency of occurrence. You then prioritize those that have both high severity and high frequency.
Interesting to hear your take on it, Daniel. Thanks for the comment 👍
Great discussion. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. My biggest fears are Fire/Explosion, Sinking (Flooding [Through Hull Fitting Failure], Hitting Container), Lightning Strike, MeOB, GTO (Getting To Old), Losing Mast, Being Hijacked/Having Boat Stolen. I’m sure there are more fears to fret over but can’t think of them right now.
To the no fear comment I suggest that there are two complementary questions for that response: Are you young (in your 20’s)?; Do you sail on a boat that you own?
All reasonable fears! ♥️ Liz
The health emergency underway is one of our challenges as someone with stage 4 cancer and getting ready to cruise this is a challenge we are still trying to work out mitigation measures for any emergencies including preparing my wife to solo back to port if need be.
Very best of luck with your adventure. Look after yourselves and fair winds to you 😘
Good episode! Thank you🙏
absolutely loving these podcasts, with the Sunday Vlog its a great series.... Congrats, Im sure its a lot of work Liz and Jamie 👏👏👏🍷
Yeah, it is quite a bit of work but we love putting them together and it keeps us off the streets 😉
Many things to consider. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I learned a few things. Ignorance is bliss when you don't know. Maybe I will stay ashore?
I agree, that phrase "ignorance is bliss" can be applied in many situations, not just sailing... Liz
I've been on a vessel that was struck by lightning, all the safety systems worked as expected, and we limped back to port. I've been on a vessel that was rammed by another vessel, and we put a flare (fired from a flare gun) into their vessel and they F**ked off now burning. I've been on two vessels where there was a fire. One vessel had an explosion, the other a grease fire in the galley. Both were contained and brought under control. I've been on a vessel that was boarded and robbed by pirates. The second time we prepared a "Welcoming Party", and brought our "Welcoming Sticks" with us. We surprised and overpowered the armed pirates and impressed upon them the need to correct the error of their ways, yes, they were released alive (I was outvoted), although they wished they were dead.
Happy Birthday Liz!🐻
"Impressed upon them the need to correct their error" 😂😂 I love this! You've certainly had some situations there, John 😮
😱 everything you have said is frightening! We've just bought our little boat. Newbies.
@@24hourtravellers Just be ready to do whatever needs to be done to protect yourself, your crew and your vessel. If you have done this, there's a damn good chance everything will be ok.
@@johnq.public2621 👍
Loving your work👏👏👏👏
Thanks for the show of support. 🙏👌☺️ Liz
This was an enlightening episode. There are many ways you can approach this subject, but I agree that there are risks that can be mitigated in some ways, and there are ones that you cannot do anything about, which is an excellent way to handle them logically. Thanks for sharing your experience. Cheers.
Ultimately, once you've reduced the risk as much as possible, it's about how much you are prepared to trust to luck. 👌 Liz
Great episode. Agree with Engine stopping fear. Few weeks ago was sitting outside Tory Channel in the Cook Strait of New Zealand, waiting for a commercial ferry to exit (not big enough for both ferries and yachts), when the fan belt for the water pump decided it was time to loosen itself. Was like sitting in a washing machine so I was throwing up with engine alarm going off, and we were 200m from rocks. 3 Knots of current and no wind to sail with. That is why I like being on a Catamaran we I can simply start the other engine.
That is the stuff of nightmares, Simon. How did you get out of the situation?
thanks for this pod cast. and a happy birthday. for the lightning problem, which is one of my biggest fears. We have attached a metal chain to our mast rigging, on the advice of a sailing acquaintance of ours. If all is well it should suffer the lightning flash in the water without too much damage to the boat.
There are lots of nice theories, but none are yet proven. Bottom line: lightning is unpredictable! We made a video about it: th-cam.com/video/_Wj2hDYWm3M/w-d-xo.html
Liz
Happy birthday Liz from the crew of Wavedancer westerly fulmar. Hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration 🍾 🥂🎂. Take care and God bless
Thank you! Lovely day, thanks, we went diving in the Lembeh Strait. ♥️ Liz
What a great episode again. Thank you so much for summarizing and sharing peoples and your fears.
BTW... if you have fear of loosing your engine, get a catamaran. 😉
Haha! Just replied to a comment from a catamaran owner who had both engines fail... 😉 Thanks for the kind words. Liz
Anchored in our 36' sailboat when a 50'ish motor yacht anchored up in front of us. She dragged after the skipper had left in the dingy. The woman left aboard was in the cockpit sipping wine as she passed us screaming we were to close to her as we fended off the best we could while praying they didn't foul our hook. Their boat ended up crashing into a private dock about 1/2 mile away.
Brilliant story, Tom! We might have to read this one out in the next podcast 😉👍
Having seen an EMPTY bridge on cruise liners, I've no trust in any traffic, day or night, not running me down. Which is why I won't go solo if it requires sleep.
We have a friend who crosses oceans solo with 15 minute sleeps. It takes guts and stamina to do that! Liz
I have sailed 100,000 miles solo.
@@sailingsolo5290 Some few folks can also say it is safe and easy to walk on the moon, because they have accomplished that. Some have won lotto jackpots of a quarter billion dollars.
That doesn't mean that everyone else can do it. Or even safely try it. Now if you'd taken cognitive performance tests before and immediately after each crossing, that would mean something more.
@@lyfandeth I had a coastguard captain in indonesia try to deny me port clearance once because i am solo. I told him to get fu#@ed. I am sure one day real soon single handing will be made illegal cause of all the woke who think like you. Safety,safety,safety. What a miserable world thats comming. For me i dont stay safe,i stay free.
If you have it youre way then there will be no more sailing history like slocum,mortissea,johnson,gram and abei.
We had a yacht smack into us in Port Erin Isle of Man. Their anchor dragged. We called a pan pan to RNLI in the bay to have them pull the other boat off us because we were worried that our anchor would dislodge under extra weight and put us onto destroyed breakwater
Blimey! Perfect example of other boats being as much, if not more, of a problem than your own! Liz
Definitely yes on the full first aid kit.
It's a must for long offshore passages. Is have morphine in there too. Liz
Happy Birthday Liz🎉
Thank you, Joanne 😎👍
Full first Aid kit - yes. Have you spoken about if one of you die on passage? terrible/catastrophic - absolutely. but have you discussed contingencies ? what do you do? can your partner get the yacht to port safely?.Do you do a funeral at sea? .... morbid? maybe but a very real fear/possibilty with the average age of cruisers? thanks Pete
Well, I originally thought dragging, having a over sized anchor because of climate change but have recently changed my mind!! My wife suddenly found herself violently ill as we were sitting in an Anchorage in Destin Florida in the middle of our trip up the coast of gulf of Mexico....turned out to be quite serious and needed Emergency surgery removal of her Gall Bladder! It was septic. We had no idea. Thankfully we were in port at the time. That would have been a nightmare at sea.
Excellent video thanks a lot. Just a question out of my own little experience (ad 4): Don't you think that running an active radar reflector does help being seen better in the radar of the big commercial vessels ?
Hi Markus. I'll be honest, I don't know much about active radar reflectors. Ours is passive. Something for us to look into 👍
@@followtheboat thanks for your answer. I have an Echomax and I'm pretty sure that on 2 occasions with fast ferries cruising at about 20 kt, they have seen me from a reasonable distance and adjusted their course early. This was when AIS was not yet working on my boat
"Meeting Canadians" ?? Okay....
H.B., L.C.!
I remember Nigel's story well, as well as Millie's little swim, and her climbing up a thick rope on Esper's aftdeck. That was a nail-biter! Best regards.
Why don't you use a floating line on the painter anyway? Belt & suspenders.
It's an option... We're happy with our long, heavy line, and since we never leave it in the water, we don't worry about fouling the prop Liz
Hi Lyfan. Floating lines are a pain. Imagine rocking up to a pontoon with ten dinghies tethered to it, all with floating lines. Easy to catch them on your outboard.
do you use a lightning dissipator ?
No, there is no proof that they work in practice. We did a whole video on lightning. It's unpredictable!
Hi Liz & Jamie, Thank you for the work you do on this. I have worked in professions where fear is a regular occurance and many deny it. Anyone who says they are not scared is a lier or ignorant. Fear is a natural feeling. It tells us to be careful and watchful. We must not let fear control us but we must also listen to our fears. The evolutionists tell us that fear has allowed the human race to survive and flourish. It appears to me that you address fear properly, you do not let it control you but you do use it as a signal to be watchful and careful. Jim
Cheers, Jim. Some wise words there. We'd talked previously about "hero sailors" and the ones full of bravado are the ones we tend to avoid.
Fun show! It's always interesting to listen in on other people's fears. Generally speaking there are things to learn from them all. Yes, even running out of coffee or chocolate. In that case you take notes on provisioning. In my case 70-80 pounds of chocolate should do it for two weeks! 😎
If one person learns one thing from this podcast then our work here is done, Michael. More pressingly, milk or dark?
@@followtheboat mostly milk, but dark as a treat. And a bit in my coffee from time to time is nice also. The Swiss make a great chocolate but Hershey's is my normal.
1300 containers lost overboard every year , they should all have trackers installed and the commercial shipping industry should be made to pick them up if they are floaters . My biggest fear is bad weather. Fear gets worse as you age
Yes, fear can get worse with age, I think it's because we're more aware of what can go wrong.
Maybe containers should have some kind of automatic sinking mechanism... Liz
For the lightning fear, I thought for sure I had that licked here in the Pacific Northwest. I moved here 5 years ago. The other day was the first clap of thunder I have heard since 2017 when I got here. There are other hazards in this area that compensate.
Well done. Although I was a reptile zoo keeper/manager lecturer of wildlife/evolution for a few decades, handling hundreds of venomous snakes and crocodiles daily, I did it despite the risks. I had hundreds of protocols. Nice to know it works in other worlds too.
Yes, healthy fear is good, and reducing risk is essential to a good night's sleep. 😁 Liz
Hi, this is the first time I've commented in 18months of watching your vlog and now podcast. I find both formats interesting, entertaining and educational - the podcast probably more so. As to fears, we have thought about most of what was raised in this episode. We had both engines in our newly acquired cat fail on about the 3rd time we left the marina.
You asked a few episodes ago about age. We are 61 and 70. Too old to begin??? We hope not. We are totally inexperienced sailors planning to cruise the Australian east coast and perhaps further afield, inspired by your example.
Lovely to hear from you, thanks for commenting. Good luck with the adventure. Just remember to prepare! Liz
Sorry I fall asleep when videos cross the 25 minute mark
This is filmed version of the podcast, check the details for where to listen. It's not really designed for those with a small attention span... 🤓 Liz
The video quality of your podcast is very good. Studio like.
Thank you, it's shot in the cockpit, the quality varies from location to location. Cheers! Liz
Worrying is what I do best. I am a expert worrier. After 30 years in IT trying to anticipate everything that can go wrong with a system, I have absorbed the process of worrying about everything into my DNA. On the plus side, it means that we have backup systems and mitigation in place for everything I can think of and anything out of the ordinary, no matter how small, gets checked as soon as possible.
As for scary stuff - marinas and manoeuvring in them. Lots and lots of big, expensive things to hit, sometimes with poor systems on pontoons (or pontoons you can fall through if you jump down from the boat) and toilets/showers that could give you any of a dozen medical issues.
Have you been paying attention to the supply chain crisis. Where food will be hard to find in less than 6 months. Dont worry about it but get some for the future.
good morning what do you two think about fwd facing sonar with alarm fitted
I've always thought that by the time the alarm goes off it would be too late! May be useful in slow-moving situations where visibility is poor so you can't spot? Liz
It is hard to rate the situations that you are describing. I would put all of these as my worst fears, closely followed by a blocked toilet :)
Mine now is realizing that I'm not as strong at 71 as I was at 21!
Yes, as each year passes we get a little less strong and a little more vulnerable. Just have to learn to slow down.
i'm a non sailor , is having rats onboard a big problem in the Yacht world
They can be because if they don't have food to eat, they chew through your electrical cables 😮
@@followtheboat so how do you stop them getting on board and destroying your yacht
Having a cat on board is the age-old remedy. It works.
If we're on the hard-standing and there are rats about, we use a trap. You can't stop 'em, but you can trap 'em. Liz
PPL painters. It floats.
We're not after floating lines though, Don. A bunch of floating lines at the dinghy dock is a nightmare to navigate with the outboard!
I don’t understand that problem. Painters all off of the bow, outboards off the stern. I understand long painters at crowded dinghy docks. But engines not running in those close quarters.
But we’re really talking about what kind of line to use when towing the dink.
I do agree though. Towing isn’t optimal. But sometimes it’s what you do.
"Failure to keep a proper watch" International regulations for preventing collisions at sea
Not sure if i prefer the pink or blonde hair lol
I think I prefer Jamie in pink.
😂😂😂
haha - "as a man I have a pretty high pain threshold" - hmm yes. :)
Nothing to say here... Liz
As you get old you feel more frail.
There is that. But try telling the septuagenarians and octogenarians we know who are still plowing the waves. As Jamie says, with experience you're a lot more aware of the dangers. 😁 Liz