Dear Editor, Please Stop Encouraging My Husband

    0

    Dear Editor, Please Stop Encouraging My Husband

    There is a madness to our methods. And, for better or worse, it is a madness that consumes unfortunate friends, neighbors, and relations who have better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than test various ways to clean ropes, or gnaw through chafing gear . . . or fix washing machines.

    A few months back, I received an email from Laura Frye, the apparently very tolerant wife of Drew Frye. (Drew is pictured above repairing the familys washing machine-again.) In the most polite way, she suggested that Drews ongoing study of holding-tank deodorizers for Practical Sailor might be better carried out in a remote location, rather than at the Frye household. (Without giving too much away, the project involves large amounts of iguana poop.)

    Drew is the chemist responsible for some of the more exhaustive PS tests in the past few years, including tests on wire corrosion and fuel additives. This month, he reports on his adventures in rope washing-a project that soon became adventures in washing machine repair.

    Drews interest in the effects of various cleaning methods on rope was more than just a mild curiosity. Apart from doing a fair bit of cruising aboard his PDQ 32 catamaran each summer, he also is an avid ice climber in winter. In either world, the consequences of carrying a rope-cleaning routine too far can be disastrous.

    I have no idea how Frye squeezes PS testing into his schedule. When hes not working, sailing, or climbing, hes busy revising his self-published cruising guide, Circumnavigating the Delmarva Peninsula: A Guide for the Shoal Draft Cruiser. Its for sale on his blog, www.sail-delmarva.blogspot.com.

    This was not the first time Id received a letter from a loved one suggesting that perhaps Practical Sailor was losing touch with reality. My own wife has raised this issue many times when the elements of my latest PS project were strewn across the kitchen or garage. Usually, the message goes something like this: Enough already! I want my (fill in the blank: kitchen, garage, office, spare bedroom, basement, backyard, husband, wife, son, daughter, boat) back!

    However, I must point out that in most of these cases, the obsessed soul ripping apart sailing gear for the sake of our loyal readers rarely required more than a gentle nudge to initiate the downward spiral into Dantes Fourth Circle of Product Testing. In many cases, it was the testers idea in the first place. (Drew is the one with pet iguanas-not me.)

    You don’t need to climb ice walls, like lizards, or write a cruising guide to be a PS tester. It helps to be an avid sailor with a technical background, but more importantly, you need to have friends and family who tolerate your incurable curiosity. If you are cursed with a desire to discover what makes sailing products fall apart, drop me a line at practicalsailor@belvoirpubs.com.

    I have a feeling Drews holding tank-odor project might be his last one for a while­.

    Darrell Nicholson
    Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Supported entirely by subscribers, Practical Sailor accepts no advertising. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him by email at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.