starting with dismasting an El Toro dinghy when I was about 10 years old. But I do try to learn from mistakes, mine and other's. A fellow glider pilot once gave me this advice: "You start out with two glasses - one is called Experience and it is empty, the other is called Luck and it is full. Your job is to fill the one before the other runs empty..."

At least in a boat errors are rarely fatal. We both got a little lucky with the seacock, if that is the worst mistake we make, we are doing well!