T&T: The old-timers' skill

[robbyr67 at att.net]

Re Mike's comment: "Real sea skill is acquired by doing and by studying the
problem. Not by the exchange of tea cups at garden parties. At sea, reality is
in infinite supply; skill and luck sometimes in short. You can never have
enough of the latter"

I rarely comment anymore, but Mike's article struck me. After many thousands
of miles in the Pacific and Atlantic, IMO current and ongoing "sea time" not
gadgets seem to make the difference with luck being the deal breaker.  Skills
learned by doing trump those by reading and discussing.  I've found that the
skills I've learned over the years get pretty rusty when not using -- it's not
quite like riding a bicycle.

Sometimes luck is all you have.  Last year while crewing aboard a 45' racing
trimaran returning from Hawaii, the port ama ruptured and flooded 200 miles
off the west coast.  Luck, along with the skill of the skipper and crew,
played a major part during the next 56 hours in our sucessful return to SF
Bay.

Robby
Dolores E., SF Bay