I'm having motor problems, and mentioned this fun fact to friends. One of them thought having a motor on a sail boat to be cheating, I disabused him of this notion with the following argument:
The slip that I'm living in is in a channel about this wide-> | | (roughly the width of a thumbnail held at 4 arm lengths from your eye). Typically the wind is blowing directly east, meaning that I'd have to sail dead into the wind (impossible) or tack like nuts to get up wind without running into the many expensive boats nearby, all the while dodging the Olympic paddling crew that are furiously racing up and down the same channel. Running the motor for about 15 minutes every time I go out makes life easier and less bloody for us all.
Also, what happens if I rip a sail? Or the wind dies? Or my mast snaps in two? Or I feel like spending $200 in parts for a motor I use rarely? Or I see some cute manatees with no propeller scars yet? See, a motor is needed. I almost got a paddle the other day as a backup to my backup... but paddling a 24' 4000 pound sailboat is tiring, and I can't carry enough ice to keep all the beer cold that would be needed if I had to actually paddle the boat.
Hope that clears it up. I am cheating, but I'm manly, and smelly, enough that no one will call me on it!
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