Who else gets the jitters?

After a short meeting with my CPA tomorrow to get my taxes done we're taking off on the boat for 3 days. We're taking it 235 miles down the Columbia to Portland, OR to get new windows and a new Stamoid bimini made for the fly bridge. We'll pass through 4 sets of locks and overnight at two marinas (Arlington, OR and Hood River, OR) and arrive in Portland on Wednesday.


We've made this trip twice before with Beachcomber so it's not like we're virgins in these waters. The weather predictions are for rain (no problem there) and light to moderate winds. he boat is full of fuel and water, we've made our lists for food, clothing, miscellaneous other and we're leaving the boat at a yacht club in Portland for 2-3 weeks so he can get the work all done. All of that has been arranged and everything is in order.


I'm confident in my ability to skipper the boat and have no problems going through the locks or following some of the relatively narrow channels. So why, before any longer-than-usual trip do I get the jitters? Am I the only one who gets them?


What say you?

Much like stepping up to the plate in a baseball game or giving a speech, the jitters are telling you to get ready to perform.....A little adrenaline cocktail, if you will. Another name for the same feeling would be excitement. I get it every time we cast off lines, for across the bay, or to Alaska.

Just as Ken described for me (even to the point of affecting elimination behavior prior to casting off no matter how mundane the trip may appear to be) and I would be concerned if it wasn't. I guess I think that putting 60 tons in motion is worth getting a little jittery about and aids the preparation and acuity for the task at hand.
As Ken alludes to this is similar to my experience as a college athlete. Clear and significant physical effects prior to the start that were part of every pregame prep.

I get excited before leaving the dock even if it's only over to the fuel dock. I get the jitters filing my taxes.

I experience a completely different emotion when filing my taxes and resort to bad behavior such as displaying the T shirt in the photo.
I am aware that this belongs in a different part of the forum so will simply apologize in advance.....

[yt]pmcsr0wt4wk[/yt]

The more times through = more certainty

Except for docking!!!!!

Love that tee shirt! Might be a politically appropriate use for it, too. (It's going straight to my facebook feed.)

I'm jittery on a pretty regular basis when I'm expected to do something right with something big in a small place. Much the same back when I performed solo onstage (now I hide in the back row where I cannot be seen).

My wife's parent's had friends with a huge '30's Elco (back in the thirties and into the '50s). The skipper kept a coffee can at the helm for his inevitable last minute need when docking. (I'm not so couth...occasionally.)

Ken E. said:

Much like stepping up to the plate in a baseball game or giving a speech, the jitters are telling you to get ready to perform.....A little adrenaline cocktail, if you will. Another name for the same feeling would be excitement. I get it every time we cast off lines, for across the bay, or to Alaska.

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+1

3 days cruising, including some challenging locks, to get over a tax affairs meeting with your accountant?
Saturday afternoon sailboat racing on Sydney Harbour required such concentration it was impossible to think about work,one reason I did it.
The anticipation of difficulties usually evaporates once you start doing it. Perhaps prior concerns helped work through the issues in advance.

I’m always jittery when leaving on a trip, long or short. I don’t really use the boat that often so it’s a not a routine thing for me, so the adrenaline is always pumping. After a few hours it goes away, until I come into an unfamiliar dock that is. [emoji30]

If I used the boat more often, like weekly, I think the jitters would go away. But maybe not— I’m kind of on-edge/nervous most of the time it seems. Unless I’m having cocktails. [emoji15]

The bushes surrounding the base of most rock climbing routes smell like piss, much for the same reason.

I get jittery leaving single-handed.

markpierce said:

I get jittery leaving single-handed.

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Not me. I get jittery when there are people on board, watching.

Ted

The beauty of it. Makes me feel like a kid again.

Well I guess I can find some comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one who gets the jitters. I've never single handed this boat so I can't comment on that vs having guests on board, but I know I do get a feeling of pride in backing into the slip or coming up to a side tie when there's a crowd on board and nailing the task at hand.




"I guess I think that putting 60 tons in motion is worth getting a little jittery about and aids the preparation and acuity for the task at hand."
--Yeah, I can agree with this. The level of attention to detail certainly is higher.


"I get excited before leaving the dock even if it's only over to the fuel dock. I get the jitters filing my taxes."
--No issues with my CPA. He's done my taxes for years and our annual get together is mostly about catching up on what's new in our lives.


"3 days cruising, including some challenging locks, to get over a tax affairs meeting with your accountant?"
--I hadn't thought of it that way, but there's no stress in meeting with the CPA.


"I'm jittery on a pretty regular basis when I'm expected to do something right with something big in a small place."
--You may have just nailed it.


"The skipper kept a coffee can at the helm for his inevitable last minute need when docking. "
--I'm not admitting to anything but I know of what you speak!!!!

I think it just means you're on point. Kudos!

** Some of the things that give me the jitters and or P me off **

Realizing you left your spouse or significant other, on the dock.
Close quarter maneuvering
Docking/undocking
Line handler(s) who do not wait for directions of the person at the helm. Trying up is a joint effort. Single handing brings back the old say, "You have no one to blame but yourself."
Backing into or out of a slip
Green water over the bow
Traversing an unfamiliar cut
Sleeping while anchored

** Guests onboard **

Unruly children onboard (their one and only trip) That "oops, I forgot", goes only so far on a boat.
Children who think they don't need to wear a PFD and parents who do not contain their kids (on their one and only trip)
Adults who do not listen or get drunk (on their one and only trip)
People who plug up the only head on board (on their one and only trip)

That's a start.

Don't be worried - be concerned.

GFC said:

"The skipper kept a coffee can at the helm for his inevitable last minute need when docking. "
--I'm not admitting to anything but I know of what you speak!!!!

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I keep one of the hospital thingies with a top, near the helm.
You can buy them at a drugstore.

Not sure what the ladies use.

Al and Ken said it....on point. Mee too!

OldDan1943 said:

I keep one of the hospital thingies with a top, near the helm.
You can buy them at a drugstore.

Not sure what the ladies use.

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I've got to get one of those. Nature seems to always call while approaching the home berth.

Ken E. said:

Much like stepping up to the plate in a baseball game or giving a speech, the jitters are telling you to get ready to perform.....A little adrenaline cocktail, if you will. Another name for the same feeling would be excitement. I get it every time we cast off lines, for across the bay, or to Alaska.

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I couldn't have described this better. It is the way I feel and I believe it's why. Gotta perform and be alert and take it seriously.

And I love it!!!!!!

Wow! I'm surprised at the responses.

When I hop on the boat and toss off the lines, the feeling is complete relaxation. Perhaps the difference is the lack of boat traffic. Once I leave the marina, it's just me and the ocean. Sure the weather can get ugly, and the seas get wild. On a few occasions I been 100% sh!t-scared dealing with scenario; but when setting off in good weather the feeling is just blissful.

Perhaps it's the sails that makes the difference.

AusCan said:

Wow! I'm surprised at the responses.

When I hop on the boat and toss off the lines, the feeling is complete relaxation. Perhaps the difference is the lack of boat traffic. Once I leave the marina, it's just me and the ocean. Sure the weather can get ugly, and the seas get wild. On a few occasions I been 100% sh!t-scared dealing with scenario; but when setting off in good weather the feeling is just blissful.

Perhaps it's the sails that makes the difference.

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Yes, we all try to steer clear of those kind of boaters.

Ted

I get them on a calm windless day moving my boat to the pump out dock. And, I have been running powerboats since I was six (no child services back then!) I guess I'll be more worried the day I don't get them.

Group9 said:

I get them on a calm windless day moving my boat to the pump out dock. And, I have been running powerboats since I was six (no child services back then!) I guess I'll be more worried the day I don't get them.

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Hark, a wise man.

Maybe should get the jitters when we move the car too.

OldDan1943 said:

Hark, a wise man.

Maybe should get the jitters when we move the car too.

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I was a federal drug agent for twenty one years and we used to say the same thing about kicking doors. The day your heart isn't racing before you do it, is the day you need to find a new job.

Group9 said:

I was a federal drug agent for twenty one years and we used to say the same thing about kicking doors. The day your heart isn't racing before you do it, is the day you need to find a new job.

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Constant training and muscle memory.

OldDan1943 said:

Constant training and muscle memory.

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It's not, not knowing how to do it. It's knowing that negative things can can happen unexpectedly, "unexpectedly" being the operative word. When you think you've seen everything, all you know for sure, is that you are wrong.