hobiegary, i did read the compilation of posts you had made. i thankyou for looking out for my safety, but i assure you that i am a very safety concious person (just because i know what is safe does not mean i always to that however...) i beleive you were trying help me, and admitedly, that compilation you put up can, at times, sound like me. but i would like to make it known, upon my first capsize, i bought a righting bag, though i have yet to successfully use it, and upon my first turtle, i got a mast float, despite what i think of them. i take a few saftey measures, albeit they are small, but i take them nonetheless. and hobiegary, i was more refering to the comment remarked below. if their name appears with the quote, i apologize that was not my intention.

"I can't argue your points at all. Except that I favor Darwinism. Cruel as it may be the stupid can't be allowed to be protected. We've got enough bad genes floating about. No pun intended."
...and who decided what qualifies as stupid or bad genes anyways???

also, if i appeared WAY too defensive, allow me to explain. i am a devoted rock climber. i have been called stupid, retarded, having a death wish, insane, etc. NONE OF WHICH ARE TRUE. when people see some of the things i do, they often ask me why i do something so inherently dangerous and stupid. i then explain, the reasons i do what i do. and they still call me stupid and insane. they dont want to understand, they just want to sit there and insult me and tell me that i am going to get myself killed. i am not going to go into the reasons that i do things on rock or on a sailboat that others consider stupid and insane because they are not going to understand my reasoning and will not change your opinions of me. and my reasoning is only fully comprehensible through experience. so, again, if i seemed overly defensive, it is because of this constant ridiculing and uphill battle i fight constantly, and i hope that you see my reasoning for being so defensive on the matter.