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Peter Fogg wrote:
> Lu Abel asked:
>
>>Do these folks count as mariners made of stern stuff or simply fools??
>>
>
> Well, they sailed all around the world over several decades in what would be
> considered these days a rather primitive timber boat, and did it relying on
> their own resources - no marinas, let alone GPS or Radar. In one of their
> books ('The Misty Islands' by Miles Smeeton) Miles recounts wintering in a
> northern island of Japan, little touched by the modern world, where with
> some difficulty they had their boat hauled out so they could work on it. In
> the Spring they sailed via the Aleutian Islands to Alaska. On a navigational
> note, the Aleutians presented (among others) problems of abundant fog and
> strong and unpredictable currents; all successfully negotiated. Not so
> foolish. Towards the end of his life Miles could say that he had visited
> every page of the Times atlas (after his sailing days were over he made a
> North West Passage as a guest on an icebreaker). You are, of course, welcome
> to your own opinion.

A fantastic sailing resume, for sure.  And therefore maybe "fools" is
much too harsh a word.  But can we deem them wise sailors when they
eschewed commonplace safety equipment?   Would we approve if they sailed
without a life raft?  Or lifejackets?  Or, these days, an EPIRB?

In a similar vein, Larry and Lin Pardy sailed for a long time in a
series of engineless sailboats.  As I recollect, their reasoning was
that engines weren't really that useful and were too much of a
maintenance hassle.   Wise or foolish?   Maybe it depends on whether one
is lucky to avoid being caught on a lee shore in a full gale.   It also
denys a lot of useful harbors (as I recall, the Pardys didn't have a
powered dinghy either, that some have used as a tug).

Lu Abel

   

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