Should have lost my mast today, I am so stupid

[Souzag818]

This suggestion is for anyone new to sailing.
If you want to learn how to sail well sooner, get yourself a sailing dinghy. Something about 10 ft. long will do the trick. Couldn't agree more. First boat I sailed on was a Sunfish. Didn't know a thing about sailing, just wanted to see how far I could "lean" it without going over. Then I bought a 16' sailboat from Sears called a Crestwind. Turned that one over few times too... Even now with a "big" boat, I still own a Laser, and honestly, it's a much more fun boat to be on than the other one.

[Jannie Radiance]

You were bad in your previous life. So you where sent back as a sailor. Welcome to the most self punishing recreation in the world. It is going to be awesome. Don't beat up on yourself....you still have to run aground , bang into the marina and other boats. Loose your engine .. drag anchor. etc etc etc.. the list goes on.I have been sailing for 40 years and going cruising from November this year. Another learning curve coming...If you loved this mishap and the fact that you came back safely...dont stop..you are one of us!!!!!!!

[Pelagic]

This may be unpopular.... But I find all this sailing Bravado.." We all make mistakes!" misleading and perhaps harmful.

Dragging anchor is not a mistake, it is an observation.
Not checking your anchor position is a mistake

My point is that some sailors make many more mistakes than others, because they have this cavalier attitude about the safety of their boat and crew.

We all know the type who seems to just attract 'bad luck'

I liked the OP's attitude of beating up on himself for his newbie mistakes. That's how you learn responsibility!...
Don't diminish by letting him consider it a right of passage.

[kmacdonald]

The big question is should you learn responsibility on the water or elsewhere where it would potentially be less damaging or dangerous.

[Joel E Felt]

Just finished this threat and have no right to tell anyone any kind of advice, as I am about as green newb as they come. Yes , lost my rudder and tiller when I forgot to insert the cotter pin to hold it in place(don't know why I thought gravity alone who do the job). Also lost a turnbuckle on the port lower shroud in 10 ft of water (luckily at the dock) dove down and found it. The SS bailing wire is already bought.
But I did take comfort in all the responses, and I thank all of you.
Endeavor to persevere. (sp?) Hope to see all of you sailing someday!!!
jioel

[JPA Cate]

My point is that some sailors make many more mistakes than others, because they have this cavalier attitude about the safety of their boat and crew.

--Pelagic

I have observed this, too. It sometimes hangs around long past "totally new to it". It may be a sense of invulnerability, but imho, it is risky for them and for others. Those folks need to learn to ask themselves, "what can possibly go wrong?

There are lots of ways things can go pear shaped, but thinking them through in advance helps a lot.

Pelagic's right, the responsibility to be a good skipper is something that covers not only making the boat shipshape, but one's own thinking processes, and the latter may be by far the more difficult.

Ann

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

This may be unpopular.... But I find all this sailing Bravado.." We all make mistakes!" misleading and perhaps harmful.

Dragging anchor is not a mistake, it is an observation.
Not checking your anchor position is a mistake

My point is that some sailors make many more mistakes than others, because they have this cavalier attitude about the safety of their boat and crew.

We all know the type who seems to just attract 'bad luck'

I liked the OP's attitude of beating up on himself for his newbie mistakes. That's how you learn responsibility!...
Don't diminish by letting him consider it a right of passage.

I don't think anyone is encouraging mistakes,stupidity or recklessness, thats not what I'm reading but stuff happens while cruising, and even smart people can do stupid things unintentionally, it happens. I agree some have alot more self inflicted bad luck, are lazy and fail to learn, as you pointed out there are serial anchor draggers! I avoid them like the plague.
You have to have a go and while learning things don't always go according to plan, I see a number of posters encouraging the PO to learn from his mistakes, move on and don't give up.
Ann made a very good point " dont beat yourself up" something that I'm slow to learn.
If you wait for all the lights to be green you'll never go.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Pelagic]

I agree with your philosophy Dale and only read some replies...(my mistake )
Missed Ann's post but she is usually spot on.

[dfelsent]

I have made plenty of mistakes. I have learned that I need to carefully consider the causal chain to understand the roots of the event. For example, the helmsman (not me) dinged a rock. Why? We were over booked and on an inappropriate schedule and rush. I was the skipper and owner, it was my responsibility.
I learned to avoid tight schedules and the rest of the world can wait. That's for safety reasons.
I slipped and broke my toe on a cleat. Why? Not wearing proper footwear. Inadequate rinsing of the deck making it slippery. Two things to fix.
No more broken toes or cleats.
So think about what happened. Think about what the root causes were. Address the root causes and the symptoms will disappear.
This is hard. Self examination is not always fun, kind of like therapy. But it can bear amazing fruit. Especially if it is uncritical non-judgmental self examination.
Keep going and have fun. You gained experience and lessons. File those away under 'Don't do that again'

[fjwiley1]

Originally Posted by odeapt

I am very lucky to have made it back safely. I appreciate all of your responses. After yesterday I felt very overwhelmed and started to wonder if I made the right decision to buy a boat. But I am confident that this experience will help me in the future.



I found a website called westsailparts.com with a owners manual, and found this about the boomkin tangs. W28's are included









My plan from here is to replace my entire rig, chainplates included. I plan on doing it myself so it will take awhile. In the meantime I am going to take lessons at a local marina on their C19's.



I really just need to remember to take it slow and have fun with it. It doesn't help that I have very little time off of work and want to do too much.

Odeapt,
You have learned a lot in 1 day of "sailing"...Perhaps you can get a "blank Survey" to use as a "check list" of things to look for as you go forward with your repairs. If possible you might want a "haul out" for your "below the waterline" inspections ( thru hull valves, cutlass bearing )
Lotta work, more rewarding....

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by fjwiley1

Odeapt,
You have learned a lot in 1 day of "sailing"...Perhaps you can get a "blank Survey" to use as a "check list" of things to look for as you go forward with your repairs. If possible you might want a "haul out" for your "below the waterline" inspections ( thru hull valves, cutlass bearing )
Lotta work, more rewarding....

Better yet, buy Don Casey "Inspecting the aging sailboat" and spend several days getting to know your boat. Take lots of notes on anything you don't understand. Take photos of everything. My tip: Use your phone to take pictures and immediately text the picture to yourself with a caption noting the location of the thing. Especially take picture of needed repair areas. This is the beginning of you "to do" list.
And spend the money to get a full inspection and survey by a rigger. This is an important area and you don't have experience here. You can do the work but pay a professional to lay it out for you the first time.

[Geek_Guy]

Pelagic

I would also reiterate that the OP was extremely upset and concerned. He discovered what can happen with a boat.

But I don't think you need to bury him further. Especially since he worked his way through the issues. I totally disagree at chiding him about a cavalier attitude. I didn't see anything close to that. Quite the opposite.

I would venture to say that his few hours out taught him many times more information than a checklist.

I believe it is a right of passage. I think everyone of us has had one or more of those ah ha moments when we discover that there's more to boating than we understood. There is no point of beating ourselves raw. Discover the new information. Scare ourselves. BUT then put it in perspective and move on.

[ValiantV]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Better yet, buy Don Casey "Inspecting the aging sailboat" and spend several days getting to know your boat. Take lots of notes on anything you don't understand. Take photos of everything. My tip: Use your phone to take pictures and immediately text the picture to yourself with a caption noting the location of the thing. Especially take picture of needed repair areas. This is the beginning of you "to do" list.
And spend the money to get a full inspection and survey by a rigger. This is an important area and you don't have experience here. You can do the work but pay a professional to lay it out for you the first time.

An excellent suggestion and a great book!

I would go one step further and suggest Casey's updated book "Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual" as it includes the above-mentioned book plus 5 other publications.

Very useful and demystifies much about what makes a sailboat tick.

[fjwiley1]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Better yet, buy Don Casey "Inspecting the aging sailboat" and spend several days getting to know your boat. Take lots of notes on anything you don't understand. Take photos of everything. My tip: Use your phone to take pictures and immediately text the picture to yourself with a caption noting the location of the thing. Especially take picture of needed repair areas. This is the beginning of you "to do" list.

And spend the money to get a full inspection and survey by a rigger. This is an important area and you don't have experience here. You can do the work but pay a professional to lay it out for you the first time.

Your advice is much better than my suggestion.

Don Casey's publications offers many solutions that he has/will encounter.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by ValiantV

An excellent suggestion and a great book!

I would go one step further and suggest Casey's updated book "Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual" as it includes the above-mentioned book plus 5 other publications.

Very useful and demystifies much about what makes a sailboat tick.

And this suggestion is better still!