Conference unifix::sailing

    Buckley appointed himself.  But the problem isn't Buckley, it's
    the people who give him airplay.  Check it out: continuing war in
    the Persian Gulf, 25 folks are running for President, airplanes
    keep falling from the skies, and mass murders in Cincinati; and
    ABC News Nightline features William F. Buckley minding someone else's
    business.
    

    
    	..you know I,kinda had the same impression as Buckley. I think
    	there are just some limitations some people have whether they're
    	handicapped or not. To attempt to sail the Atlantic solo is a
    	tremendous undertaking even non-handicapped. I don't think I'd
    	try it.
    
    	I don't believe Buckley intended to disparage his handicap any
    	more than I when I say it...of course the media played it up
    	as they always do.
    
    	remember in the last BOC race when, I believe, Roux or Le Roux
    	was lost at sea (Aug '87 Cruising)...the Sea is not too easy on
    	man.
    
    				___GM___
     

    Can someone elaborate on .0?  I gather WFB mouthed off about the
    blind sailor trans atlantic crossing?
    
    					=Ralph=
    				
    	( I stopped reading Atlantic High after two chapters, I couldn't
    take his preaching style)

    My recollection of the troubles encountered (per the Boston Globe)were
    failures of auto-steering, satnav and tangled rigging. My thoughts
    at the time, and still are, were that the electronic failures were
    probably not cause to stop the attempted crossing but that the tangled
    rigging was cause to abort the attempt. the inability to see the
    physical state of both standing and running rigging could cost him
    his life. I realize he's on a Freedom with as potentially simple
    a rig that you can find but apparently lines can still get tangled...
    
    I know Buckley can get preachy but if the report I saw was right
    about the tangled rigging then Buckley is expressing a responsible
    position in urging that the attempt be aborted.
    
    Can anyone provide specific details about the problems encountered?
    
    thanks,
    
    Ed
    

    Buckley stated in his syndicated column that Dickson wasnt furthering
    the cause for blind people by undertaking a solo Atlantic crossing.
    Buckley said it was a stunt. That blind poeple have no business
    doing things like this, and in fact used a term like vulgar to describe
    the assumption that the blind can appreciate activities like sailing.
    
    What he overlooks is the fact that senses do compensate for loss
    or reduction of another. While Jim may not be able to see many things
    with his eyes he can see with his more acute hearing, smell, taste
    and feel (all over not just as in fingers).  Buckley even said it
    was vulgar to take a blind person to to something like the Grand
    Canyon or a ballet. His underlying assumption here is that if one
    cannot see it with eyes there must be so little enjoyment as to
    make it a futile exercise.
    
    As I have thought about this, I am now more appreciative of Buckley
    raising this. First, I totally disagree with his assumption that
    life must be experienced on Wm. F. Buckleys terms or it is not
    worth living.  But, I probably wouldnt have understand just why
    Jim set out in the first place if Buckley hadnt infuriated me
    with his column and on Nightline. Also, I know that Dickson's funding
    is nearly exhausted, and the exposure will win not only greater
    understanding of the prejudice the blind (and other "handicapped")
    face, but some additional funds (although Jim asked for none...you
    know how giving people are).

    
    
    Gear problems:
    
    The full picture isnt out as far as I know.  From what Jim said,
    on Niteline, the main reason he turned for Bermuda was because his 
    auto-pilot failed. There were some problems, like he was unable to 
    properly interpret the approaching tropical storm which showed up on his
    radar and he thought it represented several ships.

    Also, if you have ever taken a close look at a Freedom, you will
    find it is not even close to simple, from a running rig standpoint,
    like say a Nonesuch.  About the only simplification from a typical
    sloop's running rig is that there is only one jib sheet. Of course
    there are no shrouds, but then not many of us fiddle with them
    very often.
    
    Walt

I started watching the show and was so bored I had to shut off the tube.
    People like Buckley really make me sick,  however he has a right
    to express his opinion.  Unfortunately I dont agree that it should
    be a topic for Nightline.  As for Jim,  if he's crazy enough to
    attempt sailing across the Atlatic,  he has every right.  I wish
    him luck and look forward to reading his story about it.
    
    

    RE .4 
    
    From what I read the initial problem was failure of the auto-steering
    unit. That prompted the decision to head for Bermuda for repairs
    at which point he caught the storm. I read that the boat's designer
    went out in a dinghy to guide Dickson into the harbor, jumped aboard
    in 12 foot seas and after arriving at the dock proclaimed that the
    rigging was so badly tangled that "he couldn't have raised the sails
    if he wanted to".
    
    On Preacher Buckley, in all fairness he didn't say Dickson shouldn't
    do what he's  doing ("it uhhhhh, is after all uhhhhhhh a  uhhhhhh
    free country") he really is just asking what purpose does it
    serve and I think that's justified.
    
    

    While at the Freedom Rendezvous last weekend we heard first hand
    of the rescue of "Eye Opener", Jim Dickson's Freedom 36 by a
    representative from Tillotson-Pearson. The TP rep flew to Bermuda, 
    contacted Jim and advised him to remain below decks to ride out the storm.
    Jim did indeed do this for 48 hours!  The TP rep went out to meet
    Jim on a pilot boat but with seas of about 20 feet could not get
    close enough to jump aboard.  A helicopter was hired to air lift
    the TP rep aboard but that was also dangerous so he finally got
    into an inflatable dingy towed by the pilot boat, timed the waves
    and got dumped aboard Eye Opener.  Jim Dickson's first remarks were
    "Am I glad to see you", to which the TP rep replied "But I thought
    you were blind".  Anyway, after a couple of days of frustration
    and fear on all parts Jim had maintained a sense of humor.  I thought
    that they then sailed the boat to Bermuda, makes me wonder about
    the tangled line comment in previous notes.  
    
    As for those tangled lines it is true that the cockpit of a Freedom
    can look like a spilled pot of spaghetti at times but after 4 years of 
    sailing a Freedom I've never encountered sufficient problems to keep me
    from raising a sail.  All lines are lead aft through stoppers and
    it is a simple task to pull up a sail.  Lowering one with tangled
    lines is another story, however, a kink or knot is certainly not
    going to pass through a stopper!  Though there is a lot of running
    rigging on a Freedom it is still very easy to sail thanks to the 
    sail plan.  Freedom from stays is not what makes it easy, it's the lack
    of genoa to haul around and the fact that it is rarely necessary to 
    leave the cockpit.
    
    I may be mistaken but I think that the talking loran failed and
    therefore the link from loran to autopilot went too. The only other 
    compass Jim had that he could use was a brail wrist compass.
    He had difficulty navigating with that but he did get within 20
    miles of Bermuda!  How many of us can say we've done that alone?
        
    Tillotson-Pearson is very supportive of Jim, surprised at the media
    coverage, but is trying to convince him to wait until spring before
    trying another crossing; this time of year is just too dangerous.
    
    Pam
   

    I recall the story of a blind skipper sailing solo from San Diego
    to Honolulu.  Cruising World gave the trip a good deal of coverage
    - focussing mainly on the "how to" rather than the "should he or
    shouldn't he".  Good article, gutsy skipper.
    
    Jim Dickson also got his main point across - and it didn't have
    anything to do with sailing, really.  
    
    The Nightline interview/debate which I watched with disbelief pointed 
    out that the saga of the person without
    sight (Dickson) will usually differ in its essence for the story
    of the person without vision (Buckley)

         If a blind man or woman wants to sail the Atlantic, let him
    or her. You never find the limits of capability by trying to decide
    whether or not it can be done, while ashore. You have to get out
    there and try it. Maybe he'll die. Maybe it can't be done. 
    
        BUT MAYBE IT CAN!!!!!!!!
    
         Whose to say whether there is pleasure in sailing, for a blind
    person? Certainly not Buckley! Does it denigrate the art if a blind
    person tries to make passage across the Atlantic? I don't see how.
    Does it detract from the art if a quadraplegic tries it using his
    teeth? No. I see no support for Buckley's position, whatsoever.
    
         But what's all the fuss? Wm. F. gets to have his opinion.
    Nightline gets to air what they want. 
    
         And all of the real men and women in this world, who know how
    to live, don't need to be affected.
    
    			Gregg Germain