Embrace these challenges and even the missteps, this is how we learn. It didn’t happen so far off shore that it became an emergency, so keep some perspective on it. Also keep in mind, that someone is learning something from everything you produce, so let yourself be a little self deprecating and give yourself some grace. I for one love to see all the content, good or bad. Every one of us has been in similar situations and almost always with a situation created by our own decisions or indecision. You’re learning fast and it’s a joy to experience it with you. “Sailing, like flying, can be hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of shear terror.” We arm ourselves with knowledge and experiences to keep it boring. 😊
That was said of war Jon, but never flying as far as I know! Of course that depends upon the pilot. Maybe, for some pilots, that is the case. Don't be one of those, they tend to wind up quite dead.
I'm learning so much from your videos. Thank you for sharing this journey. It's my dream to live on a sailboat. People tell me it's a crazy dream, and my family tells me no, you're not going to live on a boat. The ocean is my home and my soul. ❤
So, some thoughts: 1. You and your boat are safe - that's priority one, so good job! 2. If a piece of your rigging snaps, halyards are your friend for rigging a temporary replacement 3. If your forestay snaps, the LAST thing you want to do is turn into the wind. That adds more stress on the unsupported mast. Turn DOWNwind so that all the wind pressure is pushing the mast towards the broken rigging. Again, any plan that actually works out (which you managed!) is better than any amount of theorizing!
Learning can be painful but look back where you came from . YOU are learning you are sailing . YOU are finding limits and get back up. Smile and i will smile back. Dont be afraid to ask for help from boaters passing by when you need help.
All true…thank you for the reminder. It is sometimes easy to get bogged down in problems. Looking back tells a huge story already…and it is just getting started.
I didn’t start till my early 60’s, and I didn’t know how much I took on, till a experience sailor came aboard and showed me some basic sailing techniques, I read a lot, watched UA-cam on it, sailed every week,I had bought a old boat, within a short time, found out all may rigging had to be replaced half my sails, and a list much longer of stuff. What you’re going through, a-lot of us have experienced , but is worth the effect.
I always thought you are brave for opening yourself up to us and showing your vulnerability. You’ll have tough times sure, but you’ll carry on. We believe in you 💪
One more thing. Always have a plan for an engine you’re unsure of. Particularly in a tight channel. Give yourself some upwind advantage when you can and be ready to deploy that anchor. I’ve had to do this several times.
Very scary! It can also be very difficult to tell when stainless rigging is about to fail. I have a '76 Newport 28 moored down in Kingston, WA and I'm now very glad I replaced the standing rigging in 2022. Keep going! My Newport is my first boat too. This is part of sailing. My boat is aptly named "High Anxiety" and I'm totally impressed by the way you're attacking every sailing challenge and opportunity!
Appreciate your honesty ,I think I’ve been through every emotion your describing,highs and lows and sometimes just scared. Great to see you in the Fraser river last time I was in Vancouver I stayed just along the road in new Westminster. You’ll get there ,we have just re rigged our 33 foot moody ,purely because the rig was older than 15 years. You can’t always tell the condition from a visual inspection unfortunately but any rust is a tell tale of perhaps something going on within the fitting. Best wishes from Scotland
We all have the capacity to be scared and at the same time, just power through what needs to be done, because it's worth it. Experiencing something "scary" eliminates the fear for the next encounter. It is getting easier and easier.
oh buddy! That was a brutally honest episode! Well done. You accidently faced one of your biggest fears and you lived to make a video about it! This plus Time equals Confidence, I reckon. I'll be moving up to Bellingham later this fall. Let me know if you need another pair of hands.
Hey Edward. I’ve always tried to keep things real. Maybe I’ve failed in the past. I’m away from my home, my lifetime friends and family. In a completely foreign ecosystem and way of life. It’s been difficult, but is exactly what I asked for. I think I’ve done a lot of things really f’ing well so far. Listening to so many stories of long-distance racers and folks with dozens of years of experience..and then letting me know I’m ok. Invaluable. Confidence is building exponentially right now. I’m planning a sail to visit family in Bellingham at some point this year…let’s get together!
We do feel that way I was sailing well & today the wind was strong & gusty & I got a bit beaten up. And I think of sailing like driving or riding a motorbike, we get nervous that scary failure & the potential damage to the car & ourselves. As time goes on you start to jump in the car driving further & you forget the worry as you get good same with sailing. Love for the UK 🇬🇧⛵️
another point to make is coastal sailing with its problems of tidal waters shaoew banks, rocks and other traffic is the hardest sailing you’ll do, open ocean will be easy compared to that mate, keep going your doing fine everyone struggles at the start had solo is nerve wracking.
Solo IS nerve wracking! I thrive with companionship. Maybe one day I won’t be solo-sailing…definitely on my radar. I’ve heard this perspective before. I’m looking forward to open ocean sailing. This feels quite challenging here in these coastal island waters. I should’ve maybe started by heading to Hawaii?? That’s what I’m hearing you say! 🙄😄
Great episode John! So glad you got across the Strait ok. Loved seeing Jaden in your video - he should have his own channel lol Some of our river guide friends have a saying "practising your TAU", which stands for "tolerance to adversity and uncertainty". So right now, you are practising your TAU - it's a great saying because it reminds us that we are constantly evolving and getting better, and each experience is important :) Anna
Oh no…don’t be sad. I’m good. The boat is good. Just got to carry on. If I bought a newer, more expensive boat, I would simply have newer, more expensive problems.
Learning sailing on your old boat is OK but IMO the required replacement of your rigging should have you thinking about another (bigger) sailboat - especially when one considers your longer term plans - i.e. sail to Scotland. Spend your available dollars on what you're going to require to satisfy your long term plans. The sooner you can find that bigger sailboat and start spending your dollars getting it ready to sail to Scotland - all the better. I'm not pretending to sound like an expert John - just someone keenly interested in the success of your journey. Consequently, I very much look forward to all your upcoming videos.
Oh yes…way ahead of you. Or at least right with you on that. A bigger boat, another boat, someone else’s boat. All things to consider for a first Atlantic crossing.
I like your advice. Rigging on this boat is fairly inexpensive. The inners and outers (inspected now by a rigger) are fine. As are the backstays. A new forestay cost me a few hundred dollars CAD. I won’t spend much more on her. Just upkeep and elbow grease. A bigger boat, perhaps with someone else along for the ride will be the main goals for now. Teaching me to sail and live on a boat is the purpose of Vie Sauvage. Nothing more.
Really rough life experience. And, you know, when you are middle-aged (or even past that), I think there is this little part of our mind that reckons we must have done everything that needs done, so we'll just enjoy the ride. So to speak. Maybe it is some sort of 'normalcy bias'. Maybe a sailboat, especially on old one that has not been kept up, is more like an airplane than a car. With a plane you have to check everything, every time you use it. Pilots develop a checklist. Plus you've had Rick to rely on for learning about your boat. But he hasn't checked out everything obviously. I reckon you will have to admit that you need a real professional mechanic type to go over the boat thoroughly. Such a mechanic would have seen that worn out part. But then the cost enters in. I know the last thing you want is to spend your precious cash on a mechanic to go over the boat. Or even to hire some scaffold [?] to get up to the top of that main mast. At which point, reality sets in eh? You begin to add up the costs. At some point a balance tips one way or the other. In other words, maybe this whole Plan of having this sail boat is going to be "a bridge too far" you know? And, it's almost like, intuitively, that stay hitting you in the head was trying to get John's attention!
The more truly experienced folks I talk to, the more I am told that I am doing ok. Tons of stories in the clubhouse over the past few days of rigging breaking on bigger, fancier, and newer boats than this...even after marine surveys. Things just break...What I am learning is what to look for myself. Now, having had a rigger look the boat over (next week's episode) I can see that I was correct about the existing rigging (it is fine). I just missed the forestay at the top of the mast...that frankly would've been inaccessible to a surveyor too as it was encapsulated within the furler unit. I think that rigging just needs to be replaced every few years. Period. That is another lesson I've learned. The brackets on the back of the boat, and the various hardware on deck will be examined more closely by me on a more regular basis. Another lesson. Lots of lessons!
@@JohnFrasersWildLife Well said John. I wrote based upon my own experiences in Life. One thing that has been invaluable to and for me, is "knowing when to say 'when' (i.e. 'enough')". To allow yourself that say that. For now, and I hope for as long as you wish, that time may not come and you'll be that sailor in that Dream. Jon's post above was very good. So take it as two voices, one on each shoulder. When you admitted you were really frightened, I remembered all those times I felt that way, and decided I'd better listen to that voice. Contrary-wise, if we never tried to push our own envelope, we'd never get out of the easy chair either.
yes the rigging should’ve been checked but you delt with the failure safely and correctly. from a royal navy seamanship specialist that’s good seamanship. better these lessons are learnt in safe conditions. One for the lesson locker and move on don’t be hard on yourself 🤙
Test post - I've tried posting two times prior to this - they appear briefly in your comments and then disappear - I've never seen this behavior before, odd.
May I ask why you deleted my comment made on Sunday, May 27th? - I do not comment often and, when I do, it is offered in sincerity and good will - perhaps I am not the type of subscriber you are interested in? I look forward to an honest reply...
I don’t delete comments…never have. So that’s my honest answer. All of my answers are honest btw. No idea what you’re talking about. Let me look into it.
@@JohnFrasersWildLife Sorry, Sunday the 26th... Glad to hear you don't delete comments - must have been an error on my end - I'll post a similar comment today...
Steveston: You are in a difficult marina, historically for commercials and fishing vessels. The current can be horrendous. Getting out of there can take three hours motoring just getting out when going North and going south so tempting to cut the corners but then you are grounded in the mud. I brought boats in Steveston in difficult condition and you HAVE to know what you are doing. Having flaws: We all have "flaws" they make our characters. They become mistakes or problems only when WE decide to compare them to made-up standards. Doing the right thing: You did everything right in those situations, all reactions appears to be correct. But how did you get into these situations is the question. Standing rigging: Quick answer, More than the boat is worth. 15K$+. Engine burning oil vs leaking oil: I will take leaks over burning oil anytime. (see Using stop-leak, the issue is when "stop leak fail it always do so you have a quick influx of oil in the engine:) results: runaway diesel. (AEBmAIIoALRBMICBBAjGCfCAgYQABgIGB7CAgsQABiABBiGAxiKBcICBxAjGLACGCfCAggQABgIGA0YHsICChAhGKABGMMEGAqYAwCIBgGSBwE4oAfGFg) you are in a plastic boat, not in a car running away on the side of he road. John, you are a farmer, you know better. Well, you are learning and what is good is that you appear to gain from the knowledge, not always the case with boaters! Alternator belt: There is belt dust all over, the belt is flapping around, you need to adjust the belt or if the belt tension is OK why is your alternator working so hard? Boats are cheap these past few months and parts sells well: Boats are money pits but, John, give yourself a chance. Wave action: Usually, put a bit of pressure with a scrap of sail so the rig doesn't, bunce around. You forgot, as a sailboat you have another sail (the keel) in the water to steady the boat. But with the standing rigging you had it was bound to happen, I hate (really) to say it but I did mention a few episodes ago, just looking at the back stay you needed to change things. Poultice corrosion etc was evident.
Embrace these challenges and even the missteps, this is how we learn. It didn’t happen so far off shore that it became an emergency, so keep some perspective on it. Also keep in mind, that someone is learning something from everything you produce, so let yourself be a little self deprecating and give yourself some grace. I for one love to see all the content, good or bad. Every one of us has been in similar situations and almost always with a situation created by our own decisions or indecision. You’re learning fast and it’s a joy to experience it with you. “Sailing, like flying, can be hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of shear terror.” We arm ourselves with knowledge and experiences to keep it boring. 😊
Thank you…I appreciate these thoughts. Trying to keep it boring for at least a little while now!
That was said of war Jon, but never flying as far as I know! Of course that depends upon the pilot. Maybe, for some pilots, that is the case. Don't be one of those, they tend to wind up quite dead.
@@fgb3126 I am trying my best, Breck. ❤️
I'm learning so much from your videos. Thank you for sharing this journey. It's my dream to live on a sailboat. People tell me it's a crazy dream, and my family tells me no, you're not going to live on a boat. The ocean is my home and my soul. ❤
Don't worry about the naysayers, they'll be asking for a ride on your sailboat once you're living the dream!
So, some thoughts:
1. You and your boat are safe - that's priority one, so good job!
2. If a piece of your rigging snaps, halyards are your friend for rigging a temporary replacement
3. If your forestay snaps, the LAST thing you want to do is turn into the wind. That adds more stress on the unsupported mast. Turn DOWNwind so that all the wind pressure is pushing the mast towards the broken rigging.
Again, any plan that actually works out (which you managed!) is better than any amount of theorizing!
Ah…that makes sense. Thank you Kevin. Great tip that hopefully I won’t encounter again any time soon.
I did use the halyard to brace the forestay…that was my first instinct once I had the sails down. So…glad I thought of that in a stressful situation!
She's teaching you all sorts of lessons.
I ❤️ her for that.
Learning can be painful but look back where you came from . YOU are learning you are sailing . YOU are finding limits and get back up. Smile and i will smile back. Dont be afraid to ask for help from boaters passing by when you need help.
All true…thank you for the reminder. It is sometimes easy to get bogged down in problems. Looking back tells a huge story already…and it is just getting started.
I didn’t start till my early 60’s, and I didn’t know how much I took on, till a experience sailor came aboard and showed me some basic sailing techniques, I read a lot, watched UA-cam on it, sailed every week,I had bought a old boat, within a short time, found out all may rigging had to be replaced half my sails, and a list much longer of stuff. What you’re going through, a-lot of us have experienced , but is worth the effect.
Great job, Peter! If I stop learning, I stop living.
@@JohnFrasersWildLife 67 and I haven’t lost the drive for adventure, health permitting! And you are 100 percent correct
I always thought you are brave for opening yourself up to us and showing your vulnerability. You’ll have tough times sure, but you’ll carry on. We believe in you 💪
It can get embarrassing at times. I give myself grace to make mistakes and try to have them go un-repeated. Thank you for your kindness.
Remember the 3 rules of sailing: 1. Keep the mar up - check. 2. The crew in - check. 3. The water out - check. Nicely done 😉
Perfect!
One more thing. Always have a plan for an engine you’re unsure of. Particularly in a tight channel. Give yourself some upwind advantage when you can and be ready to deploy that anchor. I’ve had to do this several times.
Thank you for that advice. Glad to know I’ve been doing that intuitively then! I’m always looking for solutions to “what if” situations.
Very scary! It can also be very difficult to tell when stainless rigging is about to fail. I have a '76 Newport 28 moored down in Kingston, WA and I'm now very glad I replaced the standing rigging in 2022. Keep going! My Newport is my first boat too. This is part of sailing. My boat is aptly named "High Anxiety" and I'm totally impressed by the way you're attacking every sailing challenge and opportunity!
High Anxiety! Nice...we definitely need to sail together at some point.
Appreciate your honesty ,I think I’ve been through every emotion your describing,highs and lows and sometimes just scared.
Great to see you in the Fraser river last time I was in Vancouver I stayed just along the road in new Westminster.
You’ll get there ,we have just re rigged our 33 foot moody ,purely because the rig was older than 15 years.
You can’t always tell the condition from a visual inspection unfortunately but any rust is a tell tale of perhaps something going on within the fitting.
Best wishes from Scotland
We all have the capacity to be scared and at the same time, just power through what needs to be done, because it's worth it. Experiencing something "scary" eliminates the fear for the next encounter. It is getting easier and easier.
oh buddy! That was a brutally honest episode! Well done. You accidently faced one of your biggest fears and you lived to make a video about it! This plus Time equals Confidence, I reckon. I'll be moving up to Bellingham later this fall. Let me know if you need another pair of hands.
Hey Edward. I’ve always tried to keep things real. Maybe I’ve failed in the past. I’m away from my home, my lifetime friends and family. In a completely foreign ecosystem and way of life. It’s been difficult, but is exactly what I asked for.
I think I’ve done a lot of things really f’ing well so far. Listening to so many stories of long-distance racers and folks with dozens of years of experience..and then letting me know I’m ok. Invaluable. Confidence is building exponentially right now.
I’m planning a sail to visit family in Bellingham at some point this year…let’s get together!
@@JohnFrasersWildLife I admire what you're doing. Right there with ya! Yes. Let's get together if we can. I'll be in Bellingham by Sept. 1st.
Great reminder to check my rigging!
Yes! And to climb up the mast to check up there!
Like you said better here than far from home!
Feeling blessed in a bunch of different ways here.
We do feel that way I was sailing well & today the wind was strong & gusty & I got a bit beaten up. And I think of sailing like driving or riding a motorbike, we get nervous that scary failure & the potential damage to the car & ourselves. As time goes on you start to jump in the car driving further & you forget the worry as you get good same with sailing. Love for the UK 🇬🇧⛵️
I know you are right about that, but thanks for the reminder. 🙂
another point to make is coastal sailing with its problems of tidal waters shaoew banks, rocks and other traffic is the hardest sailing you’ll do, open ocean will be easy compared to that mate, keep going your doing fine everyone struggles at the start had solo is nerve wracking.
Solo IS nerve wracking! I thrive with companionship. Maybe one day I won’t be solo-sailing…definitely on my radar.
I’ve heard this perspective before. I’m looking forward to open ocean sailing. This feels quite challenging here in these coastal island waters. I should’ve maybe started by heading to Hawaii?? That’s what I’m hearing you say! 🙄😄
Great episode John! So glad you got across the Strait ok. Loved seeing Jaden in your video - he should have his own channel lol Some of our river guide friends have a saying "practising your TAU", which stands for "tolerance to adversity and uncertainty". So right now, you are practising your TAU - it's a great saying because it reminds us that we are constantly evolving and getting better, and each experience is important :) Anna
Thanks Anna! Please give Rick a big hug for me. 😁 TAU...roger that!
“That’s not supposed to look like that”. In retrospect that’s pretty funny.
😉
Man so sad for you bad luck John
Oh no…don’t be sad. I’m good. The boat is good. Just got to carry on. If I bought a newer, more expensive boat, I would simply have newer, more expensive problems.
Thanks for the video. Sorry for all the troubles. You'll get there.
Already winning…next week is a happy episode again! lol
Learning sailing on your old boat is OK but IMO the required replacement of your rigging should have you thinking about another (bigger) sailboat - especially when one considers your longer term plans - i.e. sail to Scotland. Spend your available dollars on what you're going to require to satisfy your long term plans. The sooner you can find that bigger sailboat and start spending your dollars getting it ready to sail to Scotland - all the better. I'm not pretending to sound like an expert John - just someone keenly interested in the success of your journey. Consequently, I very much look forward to all your upcoming videos.
Oh yes…way ahead of you. Or at least right with you on that. A bigger boat, another boat, someone else’s boat. All things to consider for a first Atlantic crossing.
I like your advice. Rigging on this boat is fairly inexpensive. The inners and outers (inspected now by a rigger) are fine. As are the backstays. A new forestay cost me a few hundred dollars CAD. I won’t spend much more on her. Just upkeep and elbow grease. A bigger boat, perhaps with someone else along for the ride will be the main goals for now. Teaching me to sail and live on a boat is the purpose of Vie Sauvage. Nothing more.
John, you are experiencing sea trials, preparing yourself and Vie Sauvage for a trip offshore one day.
or at least preparing myself for offshore!
Odd, the test post is stll here... not sure where the other two went...
Sorry man…I don’t know what to tell you. They aren’t in the “held for review” folder either. 🤷♂️ I only see these ones.
Really rough life experience. And, you know, when you are middle-aged (or even past that), I think there is this little part of our mind that reckons we must have done everything that needs done, so we'll just enjoy the ride. So to speak. Maybe it is some sort of 'normalcy bias'.
Maybe a sailboat, especially on old one that has not been kept up, is more like an airplane than a car. With a plane you have to check everything, every time you use it. Pilots develop a checklist.
Plus you've had Rick to rely on for learning about your boat. But he hasn't checked out everything obviously. I reckon you will have to admit that you need a real professional mechanic type to go over the boat thoroughly. Such a mechanic would have seen that worn out part.
But then the cost enters in. I know the last thing you want is to spend your precious cash on a mechanic to go over the boat. Or even to hire some scaffold [?] to get up to the top of that main mast. At which point, reality sets in eh? You begin to add up the costs. At some point a balance tips one way or the other.
In other words, maybe this whole Plan of having this sail boat is going to be "a bridge too far" you know? And, it's almost like, intuitively, that stay hitting you in the head was trying to get John's attention!
The more truly experienced folks I talk to, the more I am told that I am doing ok. Tons of stories in the clubhouse over the past few days of rigging breaking on bigger, fancier, and newer boats than this...even after marine surveys. Things just break...What I am learning is what to look for myself.
Now, having had a rigger look the boat over (next week's episode) I can see that I was correct about the existing rigging (it is fine). I just missed the forestay at the top of the mast...that frankly would've been inaccessible to a surveyor too as it was encapsulated within the furler unit. I think that rigging just needs to be replaced every few years. Period. That is another lesson I've learned.
The brackets on the back of the boat, and the various hardware on deck will be examined more closely by me on a more regular basis. Another lesson. Lots of lessons!
@@JohnFrasersWildLife Well said John. I wrote based upon my own experiences in Life. One thing that has been invaluable to and for me, is "knowing when to say 'when' (i.e. 'enough')". To allow yourself that say that. For now, and I hope for as long as you wish, that time may not come and you'll be that sailor in that Dream. Jon's post above was very good. So take it as two voices, one on each shoulder. When you admitted you were really frightened, I remembered all those times I felt that way, and decided I'd better listen to that voice. Contrary-wise, if we never tried to push our own envelope, we'd never get out of the easy chair either.
yes the rigging should’ve been checked but you delt with the failure safely and correctly. from a royal navy seamanship specialist that’s good seamanship. better these lessons are learnt in safe conditions. One for the lesson locker and move on don’t be hard on yourself 🤙
Thanks man. I appreciate these words, a lot.
Im just up in Ladysmith if you need tools or a hand with anything.
Thank you! Likely headed up that way next week. Would be fun to meet up for a coffee or a pint!
@@JohnFrasersWildLife sounds great!
Test post - I've tried posting two times prior to this - they appear briefly in your comments and then disappear - I've never seen this behavior before, odd.
This is the first I’ve checked the comments since earlier today. Just got back down from the mast top.
May I ask why you deleted my comment made on Sunday, May 27th? - I do not comment often and, when I do, it is offered in sincerity and good will - perhaps I am not the type of subscriber you are interested in? I look forward to an honest reply...
I don’t delete comments…never have. So that’s my honest answer. All of my answers are honest btw. No idea what you’re talking about. Let me look into it.
Was your comment on Sunday (yesterday)? Or the 27th (today)? I don’t see anything held in review from anyone…all comments are allowed. So…🤷♂️
@@JohnFrasersWildLife Sorry, Sunday the 26th... Glad to hear you don't delete comments - must have been an error on my end - I'll post a similar comment today...
Steveston:
You are in a difficult marina, historically for commercials and fishing vessels. The current can be horrendous. Getting out of there can take three hours motoring just getting out when going North and going south so tempting to cut the corners but then you are grounded in the mud. I brought boats in Steveston in difficult condition and you HAVE to know what you are doing.
Having flaws:
We all have "flaws" they make our characters. They become mistakes or problems only when WE decide to compare them to made-up standards.
Doing the right thing:
You did everything right in those situations, all reactions appears to be correct.
But how did you get into these situations is the question.
Standing rigging: Quick answer, More than the boat is worth. 15K$+.
Engine burning oil vs leaking oil:
I will take leaks over burning oil anytime. (see Using stop-leak, the issue is when "stop leak fail it always do so you have a quick influx of oil in the engine:) results:
runaway diesel. (AEBmAIIoALRBMICBBAjGCfCAgYQABgIGB7CAgsQABiABBiGAxiKBcICBxAjGLACGCfCAggQABgIGA0YHsICChAhGKABGMMEGAqYAwCIBgGSBwE4oAfGFg) you are in a plastic boat, not in a car running away on the side of he road. John, you are a farmer, you know better.
Well, you are learning and what is good is that you appear to gain from the knowledge, not always the case with boaters!
Alternator belt:
There is belt dust all over, the belt is flapping around, you need to adjust the belt or if the belt tension is OK why is your alternator working so hard?
Boats are cheap these past few months and parts sells well: Boats are money pits but, John, give yourself a chance.
Wave action:
Usually, put a bit of pressure with a scrap of sail so the rig doesn't, bunce around. You forgot, as a sailboat you have another sail (the keel) in the water to steady the boat. But with the standing rigging you had it was bound to happen, I hate (really) to say it but I did mention a few episodes ago, just looking at the back stay you needed to change things. Poultice corrosion etc was evident.