I just got around to reading the article on page 27, Shop Talk, A Boat, a Whale and Fate, by Devin Zwick in the October 2014 issue of PassageMaker. He has managed to say in one page what I thought I had been trying to say for the last two months: it’s not about one particular thing, it’s about a system.
During my Passage, I had a plan for every conceivable contingency and it fact the issues I had, I dealt with and these systems got me to my destination.
I am continuing to harp on this because as I read the many passionate responses to the initial question, there are some here who in their response seem to believe that if they do one thing right, they will be OK. On watch, instead of one eye, we use two, instead of two, we use four, etc., therefore we’re safe and anything less is not.
So this article hit home because here was a paranoid owner who did far more than most and still … Stuff happens.
I think one needs to just relook at the initial question of this thread. It is "Do you keep a constant lookout?" It has nothing to do with what someone else might do or how you feel about what someone else does or did. Stating "I would never do such and such" or "I do such and such all the time" is a simple answer to the question posed and doesn't imply necessarily that you think someone else is wrong. The answer to that question for me was "Yes" and for you it's "No."
The question also has nothing to do with all the other issues of boating. Nothing to do with issues such as fuel, such as weather.
Just because one person does something doesn't mean it's right for others. I do have to say one thing. Just because we get to our destination doesn't mean what we did was best or that we'd do it the same way again. I learn things every day on the water. But then I still learn them on the roads. A few days ago someone ran a stop light in front of me. Thank goodness for anti-lock breaks. He got to his destination. There's not one of us who has never made a mistake on the road or the water and either someone else was looking out for us or we were just lucky.
We're all here to learn. Sometimes it's just about our fellow boaters and when they answer a question like the one posed in this thread with an answer we can't imagine giving, at the very least it teaches us how others think, others sharing the water with us. I remember the first time I saw a boat with no "driver", no one at the helm. You don't see this on the road much. I was worried that something had happened. Then he reappeared with a huge sandwich in his hand and I went on my way.
I made a trip last weekend. I did it in two days and doing it over I would have left a day earlier. If one had asked "Is there anything you would have done differently I could quickly answer, get in a few hours the day before. Returning I took three days.
But to say we would or we wouldn't do something isn't by itself condemning those on the other side.
Now autopilot came into play because it's an essential part of various answers to the initial question.