Wondering why i bothered?

[ian h]

My last 2 trips out. Including yesterday afternoon the forecast was a bit iffy but took a punt and worked out ok. Yesterday was v windy but stayed on Southampton water and it was not too bad at all. So far, so lucky.

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I have only used the boat twice this year, was in Southsea on Saturday and the solent did not look very friendly at all.

For me staying in Southampton water is not boating I need to get the boat out in the Solent, and stretch its legs,

Planning to go out the weekend of the America's cup.

For me I have 1 hour driving each way so it just not worth coming down to take the boat out for an hour.

But the man maths per outing is looking grim so far this year

[ChrisH]

My last 2 trips out. Including yesterday afternoon the forecast was a bit iffy but took a punt and worked out ok. Yesterday was v windy but stayed on Southampton water and it was not too bad at all. So far, so lucky.

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I have only used the boat twice this year, was in Southsea on Saturday and the solent did not look very friendly at all.

For me staying in Southampton water is not boating I need to get the boat out in the Solent, and stretch its legs,

Planning to go out the weekend of the America's cup.

For me I have 1 hour driving each way so it just not worth coming down to take the boat out for an hour.

But the man maths per outing is looking grim so far this year

I know how you feel. I too am 1 hour away from Southampton. Now i have the boat on a mooring i will make the effort for a couple of hours on the water. Previously it was not worth it when i needed to launch and recover. We are still relatively new to the area for boating in terms of hours spent on the water so we are quite happy for now exploring. Eg we went up to the top of the River Test yesterday which we had not done before. But I'd really love to get back down the needles when we get some decent weather.

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[Ianfs]

Living so far from the coast for a long time, I relied upon weather forecasts and instinct. The forecasts have not always been that good but my instinct has never wavered, it's nearly always wrong.....

As a boy, I remember going out with my dad and my uncles, the days were blissful, the sea calm and I was learning everything I could. However looking back, we didn't go out very often, but when we did, it was so memorable, so much better than dreaming about it!

Living by the sea these last few weeks has brought back learnings from my earlier days of boating. The other day, the tide was low at 05:30hrs and high at 11:00 hrs. Double tides here meant that the difference was small.

I got up early to fish but the winds were as per normal, predominantly sow westerlies, but turning to WNW later. I watched the tide rise smashing waves from the sea breeze onto the beach and giving us a medium sea. At about 10ish the wind changed and the sea flattened out. Perfect for boating.

I really don't know the answer to why boat owners bother and I wouldn't want to interfere with anyone's choices. However I think its in our blood and either we have the sea in our veins or we don't, which makes the choice of owning a boat when we cannot use it, the hardest decision of all.

The biggest challenge is that we do not have lots of big fresh water lakes we can blast around in, therefore restricting us to the sea. I addition, our weather is not consistently calm allowing us the choice of being able to say that the weekend we are not working, perhaps we'll go to the Needles.

Don't know what the answer is........

[Dave]

Like a lot of people we put our boat in the water back in march hoping for enough reasonable weekends to be able to take her out......but apart from the week we took off work and ended up with the best week of weather this year so far....(blind luck), we haven't been out many times at all. Having spent a fortune with new machinery in the winter , not to mention new cockpit carpeting and a few other bits and pieces recently we are itching to spend weekends away but the weather has just not been working for us.
So we go down there anyway...every weekend...... and if we dont feel like the wind or the rain or the thunderstorms are going to let us go anywhere, we just stay on board and chill out for the weekend.....do a few jobs that spring to mind....at least we are not at home and it always feels like we are on holiday....

Just hoping Little Gem is right and we are going to get a good late season......

[BruceK]

Like a lot of people we put our boat in the water back in march hoping for enough reasonable weekends to be able to take her out......but apart from the week we took off work and ended up with the best week of weather this year so far....(blind luck), we haven't been out many times at all. Having spent a fortune with new machinery in the winter , not to mention new cockpit carpeting and a few other bits and pieces recently we are itching to spend weekends away but the weather has just not been working for us.
So we go down there anyway...every weekend...... and if we dont feel like the wind or the rain or the thunderstorms are going to let us go anywhere, we just stay on board and chill out for the weekend.....do a few jobs that spring to mind....at least we are not at home and it always feels like we are on holiday....

Just hoping Little Gem is right and we are going to get a good late season......

Yup. That's exactly what I do. There is a community on the water so even in carp weather the socials can be good and when not, there is always just the peace and calm .... unless you're in a marina. But they're a weird lot anyway

[Bigplumbs]

I Have managed 15 trips out this year. I think you just have to do it and not be put of by the weather. As other say nice just being on the boat and around boaty things

Dennis

[annageek]

Don't know what the answer is........

I do... get a sailing boat instead! We've been in since early March, and despite a non-functioning boat for over a month and me being a bit ill recently, were approaching out 1000th nautical mile already - and that's at sailing speeds, that takes some doing!

Fair enough, we do have bags of time compared with many, and we have to go where the tide and wind wants to take us, but that's fine! Been stuck out in some real howlers, too with gusts in the 30's of knots, and the boat handled superbly... albeit with the sails reefed as much as they can be, and still with a fair bit of heel!

OK, so not all of our sailing is the relaxing blast around in the flat calm that many are after, but if you take the rough with the smooth, then there's plenty of boating to be had! Also, as I said earlier, time is a factor, and most of our outings consist of 12 hour sailing days, early starts or late finishes, and lots of nights away. It's perhaps not for everyone, but for us, it's perfect!