Skipper's Errors

Burlington, VT

No LL

My daughter Jenny protested about my recent blog story about the dinghy painter and the painter. I mentioned that I hadn't committed that particular error since 15 years ago on Lake Champlain. Jenny said that I forgot to mention who jumped in the cold cold water with a knife in her teeth. Yep, it was Jenny who paid the price that day. She wanted to spare her Dad the pain. Humble apologies Jenny. I didn't forget the incident but I did forget to put it in the blog.

What's the deal with the figure 8 on our GPS track in the picture above? Yet another skipper's error. While motoring across the lake we were towing the dinghy. We seldom do that. Usually we put the dinghy up on deck when travelling. This time we did, and this time the dinghy came loose and started to drift away.

Luckily, I noticed it right away. The figure 8 track documents how we swung back to pick it up.

So how did it break loose? Skipper's error. When I'm in a hurry, I use a slip knot to temporarily fasten a line to a cleat or to the sheet winch. It is relatively secure and much faster to make. However, towing the dinghy across the lake is not a temporary fastening. I forgot to change the slip knot for a bowline. Shame on me.

p.s. For the past few days we've been scraping, and sanding, and cleaning, and painting and waxing. We can't play and relax every single day. Boat chores need doing.

If you mainain, repair, replace, and modernize a Westsail and its equipment, it will last indefinitely. Also, when you live aboard and cruise like we do, you wear things out faster than you might expect. Bottom line -- we have a never ending list of boat chores and projects that need doing. As soon as we start neglecting them, the boat starts deteriorating.

I learned a long time ago that if you want to be a boater, then you must learn to enjoy the maintenance chores too.