Are all Sailors this Friendly?

[Hudson Force]

When Nancie and I bought our first liveaboard cruiser in November of 1971 we left Spa Creek in Annapolis to move it to a dock on the Patuxent River. With light winds and a carburetor problem we limped into Shadyside, Maryland. When we were troubleshooting our problems a fellow boater surveyed the issue and proceeded to tap out a new gasket for us. We joined him and his family for dinner at their nearby house and we were sucessfully underway in the morning. That was our first day on the water and since that time we've given and received many times.

[valhalla360]

You would be amazed how nice people really are.

About a week into full time cruising, we pulled into Michigan City Indiana. We called on the radio to find the slip and asked the marina if there was groceries within walking distance. When we pulled in an old guy who was working on his boat came over to help with lines. We thanked him and went back to sorting the boat out. About 10 minutes later, we come back out ready to go to the store. The old guy is standing on our dock and before we can say anything, he tells us the store is not walking distance and we are going to take his truck, drop him off at the bar and go shopping. On the way back from the store, it dawned on us...what if we get pulled over. We don't even know this guys name. Tammy quickly rifled thru the glove compartment to find the registration. We will always remember our good friend "Carl."

We have lots of stories like this and when the oppurtunity presents itself, we try to reciprocate.

[capncrooks]

I once left a guy in marathon , he thought when I said I needed crew he was going on a cruise . I still feel bad I said get off the phone and help me navigate

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Liunatic

Skipmac -- we are anchored just off the parking area/boat ramp/dingy dock. There is 5-hour parking there and that hasn't been a problem for us yet.

If you are only daytime parking for a few hours you're good. My problem was overnight parking which is what moved me further away from the water. I don't know how aggressively the parking is enforced but if you plan an overnighter and want to leave your car in town you have an option.

Originally Posted by Liunatic

Thanks for all the info and thoughts. As anywhere else, bad people are everywhere, but so are good people. I find it is just as easy to be kind to people as not, and often a smile will get you one in return. That being said, I guess with all the changes going on in our lives (retirement, moving, downsizing, buying a boat -- all in 3 weeks!) I just needed some feedback from this awesome community to make sure my head was still on straight (straightish?)

What I've found of interest in the more recent posts of this thread is the apparent difference between cruisers and sailors. I was thinking they are all in the same group, but apparently there are sub-groups I haven't thought about, unless I've totally misunderstood. I look forward to sorting out the dynamics of this interesting watery world.

My opinion without any actual data but based on experience is that there is a higher ratio of nice people in boating than in general but I could just be biased.

There is certainly a difference at least in certain mind sets (not saying one group is good the other bad) between "sailors" and "cruisers". Especially when you're in some remote location I have found most sailors will go the extra mile or three to help out another cruiser.

On the other hand, there's the evil power boat crowd. All spawn of the devil.

Only kidding. Power boaters as a class are no different than sail boaters. I've owned several power boats and I think I am just as obnoxious on a sailboat as I ever was on a power boat. The only difference is on a power boat if you are obnoxious you can annoy more people, faster than you can on a sail boat.