A Few Thoughts About Those Online Sailing Forums

Many years ago, I discovered the subsuming world of online sailing forums.

At one time or another, I participated in many of them, namely Sailnet, Sailing Anarchy, but mostly Cruisers Forum, which is (was) in theory more attuned to my desire to ultimately go cruising.

Over the years, I wrangled with the best and the worst of the online denizens -- on topics ranging from cruising budgets to heavy weather tactics. Naturally, I had more experience on some topics than others. On some things, I had no experience at all. That didn't stop me from jumping in and I do think, more often than not, managing to hold my own against the other equally ignorant participants.

At any given time on these forums (or fora, if you prefer the Latin plural), you will find a continuous churn of such ever-popular topics as whether or not to carry a gun aboard. This one is especially popular, i.e., obsessive, with my fellow Americans. The answer, in my mind, is pretty straight forward; however, it's a topic that as you might imagine gets quickly and hopelessly caught up in domestic politics. Not much talk of the true practicalities. Most of the "discussion" quickly descends into ad hominem attacks and anarchy. These threads are invariably shut down by the poor forum moderators. I have seen this happen -- no exaggeration -- at least 100 times.

Hand-in-hand with the gun topic is any number of other threads dealing with modern piracy. The premise is usually that incident X of piracy justifies carrying a gun aboard. Setting aside attacks off the Somalia coast (of which there have been virtually none since 2009, the year of the Maersk Alabama hijacking that inspired the film Captain Philips), the incidents of piracy at sea are so small as to be almost nonexistent. One's chances of getting hit by lightening at sea, for example, are infinitely higher than being attacked by pirates.

Now, I know what you're saying. Yes, these things do happen. A pair of incidents last year off the coast of Trinidad (involving Venezuelan pirates) were quite brutal and got a lot of attention. Even a cursory examination of the incident, however, shows how useless a gun would have been in this circumstance. Five to six pirates, all armed with assault rifles, on a fast-moving boat. Those hapless sailors didn't stand a chance. It's unfortunate indeed, but it pays to keep things in perspective: these attacks are directed at a fraction of a fraction of the cruisers out there. Ninety-nine point nine percent of us will never experience more than petty theft at anchor.

Yet other common forum threads go something like this: "I have absolutely no sailing experience but want to buy a boat for a solo circumnavigation. What kind of boat would be good for this?"

To land lubbers, it probably seems like an exceedingly naive query. Indeed, it seems so to most sailors, too. The problem is that while only a tiny fraction of even much more experienced folks will ever embark on such a voyage, some percentage of rank neophytes do so each year. Many of them learn along the way, doing just fine, albeit after a typically steep learning curve. Others make headlines. Does giving encouragement ("Follow your dreams, man. Yolo!") amount to a moral hazard? I never decided.

Nearly as controversial is the subject of what constitutes a "blue-water boat." Should it be a monohull or multihull? Some brands have a "blue-water" reputation; others not so much. No easy answers here and no entirely right answers either. Feelings get hurt in these threads because someone invariably runs down a certain brand as "not blue-water" and someone else who owns that boat takes umbrage.

My personal opinion: the sea will find any weakness in construction, so a poorly constructed boat is not a good choice to go offshore. I can think of a few of those boats, but won't mention any by name. When it comes to design, some boats (and I'm talking sailboats here, because that's what I know ...) are designed to go on long voyages; others, not so much.

I acknowledge that in the past, I have been a partisan in the seemingly never-ending monohull vs. multihull debate. I still prefer monohulls for their practicality, cost and aesthetics. But, I am much more of a moderate on the subject than I used to be. I can see lots of advantages to a cruising catamaran. I certainly understand why people make that choice. If cost were not an issue, I would have more seriously considered that option myself.

Anyway, don't get me wrong. I did learn a good many things by my online participation. There always seemed to be a contingent of forum folks who actually have enough experience with the subject at hand to be useful sources. But while I still occasionally browse the topic threads when I have decent wifi (which is rare these days), for the most part I don't have much desire to post anymore. That's ironic, I suppose, because I know a lot more now than when I was enthusiastic about jumping on the threads and dispensing advice. Some of it probably wasn't very good.

I suspect I am not alone. It seems more than plausible that I represent a natural trend -- the talkers vs. the doers.

It probably explains a lot about these forums.