As rally director for the Salty Dawg Sailing Association,<\/a> I often heard comments suggesting that sailing in a rally meant help was close at hand. While excellent communication and shoreside support are valuable, they don\u2019t change the fundamentals nearly as much as many believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Casual dockside conversations\u2014especially with those who haven\u2019t spent time offshore\u2014often include some version of, \u201cWell, it must be safer having others around in a rally.\u201d<\/em> They\u2019re usually surprised when I explain that during an offshore passage we almost never see another rally boat, even when a hundred boats are out there together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tracking map reinforces the illusion. Watching dots crawl across the screen gives the impression that everyone is close. They aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simple fact is that once you\u2019re offshore, you\u2019re subject to the same perils mariners have faced for centuries\u2014albeit with better odds of a good outcome. You are essentially on your own. The real advantage of modern weather tools is not safety in the moment, but avoidance<\/em>: the ability to steer clear of truly dangerous conditions, or at least receive enough warning to prepare when challenging weather is unavoidable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone once told me, \u201cA real sailor should be prepared for whatever they encounter. If they aren\u2019t, they shouldn\u2019t be out there. And if you\u2019re prepared, just go\u2014weather or not.\u201d<\/em> With the tools available today, leaving without the best possible information is not bold\u2014it\u2019s irresponsible, and it puts others at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most passages last a week or two. With good forecasting\u2014both before departure and underway\u2014it\u2019s generally reasonable to avoid most conditions that would otherwise test the limits of boat and crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good information, however, is only part of the equation. A successful voyage ultimately depends on the condition of the boat, the quality of preparation, and the conditions encountered along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just as important as all of that is attitude<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many sailors, the Fisherman\u2019s Prayer speaks directly to this point. The classic poem by Winfred Ernest Garrison goes like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thy sea, O God, so great,<\/em> Thy winds, O God, so strong,<\/em> Thy world, O God, so fierce,<\/em> Though not explicitly about sailing, Garrison\u2019s words speak directly to our relationship with the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garrison was born in St. Louis in 1879, which surprised me. I had always assumed the poem was centuries old. More surprising still: he had never been to sea. And yet he captured, perfectly, the universal thoughts of anyone who has found themselves hundreds\u2014or thousands\u2014of miles from land in a small boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What technology cannot provide is nerve, patience, and judgment. It is attitude\u2014every bit as much as electronics\u2014that gives us our best chance of a good outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strip away shoreside support, Starlink, and the most current forecasts, and the truth remains: offshore, you take what you\u2019re given and deal with it as calmly and deliberately as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s an old adage: \u201cIf you feel like you should reef, you should have done so already.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last summer, on my approach to the coast of Portugal\u2014the final night of a passage from S\u00e3o Miguel to Gibraltar\u2014the GRIBs suggested 20\u201325 knots on the beam. What I found in the middle of the night was closer to 30\u201335. A big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was double-reefed with a partially rolled jib, but I should have put in the third reef. Once things were fully \u201con,\u201d with waves occasionally breaking over the cabin top, I couldn\u2019t bring myself to go forward to secure the clew. We did fine, but the boat was clearly overpowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mention this because while I\u2019ve used Chris Parker for weather routing throughout our cruising life, on that passage I only requested forecasts for the first few days. I assumed I could handle the rest unless something changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I didn\u2019t know\u2014and learned later from Chris\u2014is that models routinely underestimate winds immediately east of Portugal. I simply wasn\u2019t as prepared as I should have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I strongly believe in using professional weather routing for the entire passage. In this case, I went against my own advice. We were lucky. Pandora came through without damage, and while it was tough at times, we were never in real danger. Still, luck played a role\u2014and next time, on a 900-mile run, I won\u2019t skimp on support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Support or not, the truth remains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thy sea so great. My boat so small.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When acquaintances learn that we have a boat, one of the first questions is always, \u201cHow big is it?\u201d<\/em> My answer is, \u201cThat depends on how close you are to a dock.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pandora feels enormous when I\u2019m inches from something hard. Hundreds of miles offshore, she feels very small indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those words\u2014\u201cThy sea so great and my boat so small\u201d<\/em>\u2014have been proven to me more than once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe strongly that it is the skipper\u2019s responsibility to use every available resource, even while accepting that offshore we ultimately rely on ourselves. One area that concerns me is what I think of as amateur weather routing<\/em>\u2014skippers who believe models alone are enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After more than a decade and over 30,000 bluewater miles, I\u2019ve learned repeatedly that unless weather is your full-time focus, you simply can\u2019t match the knowledge of someone who has spent years refining that craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-found boat, modern equipment, and weather support are only as good as the skipper and crew. To believe otherwise is dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Malcolm Gladwell put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt takes ten thousand hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more proficient you are, the more valuable you\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Getting on a boat\u2014whether as skipper or crew\u2014without using every available resource is folly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A young friend recently asked me to serve as a reference when he signed on as crew for a late-season Annapolis-to-Caribbean passage. After answering the skipper\u2019s questions about my friend, I asked what weather routing support he planned to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He told me\u2014proudly\u2014that he\u2019d been in the Navy, had seen plenty of weather files, and didn\u2019t need a router.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That worried me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I cautioned my friend. Sure enough, they only made it to the mouth of the Chesapeake before turning back\u2014the front they were trying to outrun arrived early. Could they have avoided this if they’d had professional support? Who knows, but my money is on the professional for good guidance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Forecasts are far better than they were even a few years ago, but I\u2019ve seen many passages where GRIBs painted one picture, only for reality to deliver something very different a few days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conditions change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n No kidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might be smooth sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/all-boats-1-2.jpg\")
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My boat so small.<\/em>
It cannot be that any happy fate<\/em>
Will me befall<\/em>
Save as Thy goodness opens paths for me<\/em>
Through the consuming vastness of the sea.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
So slight my sail.<\/em>
How could I curb and bit them on the long<\/em>
And saltry trail,<\/em>
Unless Thy love were mightier than the wrath<\/em>
Of all the tempests that beset my path?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I so frail.<\/em>
Yet, though its arrows threaten oft to pierce<\/em>
My fragile mail,<\/em>
Cities of refuge rise where dangers cease,<\/em>
Sweet silences abound, and all is peace.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Winfred-Garrison-1.png\")
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