Posted by Jonathan Labaree on November 11, 2004 at 22:48:46 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: One is scandalised, to say the least! (was Re: 'Bent on') posted by Laurence Monkhouse on November 11, 2004 at 21:47:58:
I don't know, Laurence. I agree that, for the most part, adult sailors are more than happy to overlook minor mistakes in others -- we've all made hard landings, run aground in awkward places, been caught with too much sail, or forgotten the right term. But children can be much less sympathetic.
To that extent, I think AR got it right in the books. When I was a lad, learning the ins and outs of sailing and boats was serious stuff. We were indeed terrified of being thought a duffer. Being in the US, we used different words - "farmer" was about as low as you could go from our point of view and we used the term exactly as AR uses "duffer". (Mind you, I only used that term on the coast where we were fortunate enough to spend the summers – otherwise I lived in a farming town, where I had nothing but respect for my friends who came from farming families.) We strictly watched the straightness of our wake, the exactness of our terminology, and the "seamanshipness" of our actions afloat. On land, we practiced knots we'd never use, drew ships we'd never sail, and learned nautical terms we would only read in Hornblower.
I can completely understand Peter's position. Naturally, we play it up a bit here on Tarboard, as AR did in his books. It's more in the nature of good-hearted ribbing (at least I hope it is). To be perfectly honest, though, we sailors do look for little things in other sailors (and their boats) that might indicate the depth of their experience or attention to detail. It's only human, if not particularly commendable. I agree with you, Laurence, that a similar tendency exists in other realms of outdoor enthusiasm such as hiking, camping, and skiing – and that, perhaps, was your point all along.