Booze underway

[Shanachie]

For sailors doing a passage, the solution seems rather simple. If your crew comes aboard with a case of Scotch, you have a problem. If they have a bottle or two hidden in their kit, it will all be gone soon enough.


While I understand the problems that true alcoholics can cause, I detect a rather harsh Puritan streak in this thread.


Really, one beer impairs you? Two or three drinks is a bender? I'm waiting for a sermon on the Demon Rum and the Temperance Union to come charging into the marina with axes.


I'm nearly 70 and drank my first beer at age 12. Some of the best moments of my life have revolved around drinks with good friends, laughing, joking and telling stories.


I managed to have a successful career and retired comfortably at 54. No DUIs. No rehab. Haven't had a car accident since someone sideswiped me at age 25.



At 210 pounds, I can drink two beers and have nothing more than a relaxing feeling. I can bench press 180 and ride a bike 40 miles. So I don't think I've damaged my health.


I singlehand even when the cockpit is full, so any passenger on my boat can drink as much as they like on a day sail. The rules are stricter on an overnight, but reasonable.


I guess I'm saying to lighten up.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

drank my first beer at age 12.

If it’s OK, I’m going to one up you. Ha ha.

I was going through some pictures not too long ago and I found my first drink.

This is really me. Having a drink. I’m the smaller guy in the picture.

[Yojimbo]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Maybe that's why they have a "Chichester Class" in the GGR.
I could never enter the GGR.
At an average of 2 beers a day, how are you going to store 20>25 cases of beer on a 36' boat and still have room for biscuits and beans?

I was going to dig up Knox's account of his GGR A World of My Own, which includes a full inventory of provisions he set out with but someone beat me to it. The obvious answer to your question is in the other response- bring spirits- beer is too bulky. On a side note, his answer to a journalist's question upon return, "What do you look forward to"? He answered, "A Good English Beer". I believe he was served immediately and still underway to the dock.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Chotu

If it’s OK, I’m going to one up you. Ha ha.

I was going through some pictures not too long ago and I found my first drink.

This is really me. Having a drink. I’m the smaller guy in the picture.

Its ok if done correctly...

[DefinitelyMe]

I think it's really interesting reading other people's opinions on this thread because the views don't match up at all with the cruisers I know. I suspect that is because of a US-weighted bias in the contributors to the thread. I think people from North America generally take a more conservative approach to the subject of drinking at sea, whereas people from most other countries are less so.

For my part, I usually have a beer at about lunch time and another at sunset, or maybe in the evening while playing cards or watching a film. I find it really satisfying taking these opportunities to stop, relax and admire the moment with a drink when at sea, while gazing at the surroundings and contemplating the awesomeness of where I am. It really completes the atmosphere for me.

[Mike OReilly]

Not drinking while the boat is underway fits into the Black Box theory of cruising that I first read in John Vigor's writing. Basically, you fill your box through your seamanship actions, so you can draw down on it when Murphy decides life has been too easy.

Not drinking is one small thing I can do to feed my black box. It's not a luck or superstitious thing. It's just something that is fully in my control, that helps me manage the stuff that isn't in my control.

There is no judgment on those who approach things differently. It's just what we do. I might make other choices if I was sailing with a large crew. But we sail as a couple, and never take on other crew.

[Sailor 99]

A beer or glass of wine if cruising. No more.

I started sailing on a boat that motored for 2 hrs to get to the start line. Had to be pretty rough weather for that boat to get to the race with all hands sober.

I decided to run my boat a bit differently and if racing the policy is no alcohol before a race. Crew found to have gotten prelubed are asked to not do that again and if they did they are not invited back.

After the race when the gear is all away then we could have "A" beer.

I have been in some hairy races and they did not all start out that way. The last thing you need is an accident and then an investigation where it WILL come out that booze was being consumed. I know of a boat local to me where a crew member was hit by a boom and died on the boat. I don't ever want to have that happen to a boat I am in charge of or even on.

[donradcliffe]

I've been around both sides of this argument.

I can remember one race in Trinidad where we were given a bottle of rum before the start and the sailing instructions said it had to be gone by the finish. We won that race, and the prize was 4 more bottles. The prize was gone before sundown.

Another time I was in Hawaii after a Transpac, and one of my friends took 40 drunks out at midnite on a maxi sled. I was standing by at the helm while he got the last few on board and the dock lines cast off, when somebody fell on the the throttle/shifter putting the boat in full power forward. We didn't kill anyone, but it was definitely not a good idea.

For the people who say they can safely handle more than one drink a day at sea, I say you are a disaster waiting to happen.

One of my best sailing buddies is an alcoholic, who has just done 12c days in the hospital with bleeding ulcers. However, when he and I cross oceans, he faithfully observes my one drink a day limit.

[Benz]

This has been very interesting, not only to see the range of opinions and practices, but to see the emotions of those who think a poll is somehow trying to control or judge them.
My purpose in the poll was to gather information from the fleet so that I can craft a reasonable policy for my own boat and voyages--I have no problem with in-control drinking, but most of my sailing over the past 25 years has been on boats where not a drop was allowed until tied up/anchored, and I assumed until recently that that was standard practice.
I have no intention to judge, chastise, nor demean anyone, nor am I going to go all Molly Hatchet: I simply want to hear what people think and do.
Thanks to all--your thoughts are valuable to me.

[Snore]

For all you who eschew my 1-beer ruled, but drink at anchor--- Thanks for the chuckle!

The ONLY time I drink more than a beer is when tied up. Last thing I want is to drag an anchor, or have someone drag into me, and have a drunk on deck.

For those who commented about licenses- the liability for a licensed mariner does NOT end when the anchor goes down. It ends when (s)he turns over command and steps off the vessel.

[boatman61]

Just one beer off watch..

[thomm225]

Back in the day, it was common to be told to have a beer as soon as you start to feel a bit queasy to avoid full blown seasickness.

That doesn't mean drink to excess though.

Here on the Chesapeake Bay things are different depending on where you are.

I have never been close to being seasick North of say Cape Charles but down this way where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Bay it's a whole different story.

As a single hander especially when the wind and waves are up, you cannot be incapacitated by seasickness are you and your boat could be in big trouble.

The day I got caught in winds gusting to the mid 30's and the only option was to continue sailing downwind to cross the 20 miles, I wasn't drinking anything (I might have had one if I could have reached that far) but I must have had 4 Dramamine because I had to steer.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I miss the old crowd..
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ol-142680.html

[boatman61]

The thing that always amuses me about threads like this is the inability to just say "I run a dry boat".
But no.. out come the justifications "I once sailed with an alcoholic.. never again"..
Not to be outdone we then get "My dad was an alcoholic, 50 of my alcoholic friends have died or are hospitalised through abuse, fighting or liver damage"..
Maybe the answer lies not so much in running a dry boat.. more in just changing ones social circle..

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

The thing that always amuses me about threads like this is the inability to just say "I run a dry boat".
But no.. out come the justifications "I once sailed with an alcoholic.. never again"..
Not to be outdone we then get "My dad was an alcoholic, 50 of my alcoholic friends have died or are hospitalised through abuse, fighting or liver damage"..
Maybe the answer lies not so much in running a dry boat.. more in just changing ones social circle..

Interesting...I didn't read any of that in this thread. I suppose the opposite could be true, all things being equal.