been told that on occasion by my wife, that's for sure. Maybe it's my work history at the Nuclear Power Plant where I worked for 36 years. We used to call the safety systems in place "defense in depth". I guess it carries over in my cruising. I'm just looking at a engine that's down and thinking of the main halyard that just went through some pretty bad weather. Maybe a split seam in the mainsail above the second reef point. How about a spreader that you find hanging and dangling around on the lee side when the sun comes up? Then there is the one where you come up in the morning a after a really ugly night and see your staysail stay (from which you're flying your storm jib) "almost" broken in the middle with the individual strands unwinding both ways, up and down. All these have happened to me at one time or another and more. You and I could make a list a half page long. I just like to keep it normal because when N-1 turns to N-2 or 3 you can be in serious trouble. I'm also sure that as long as these folks have some way to move the boat forward they'll be fine. Most people are fine and they get through something like this and have a great story in the end. I guess that I'm just getting to an age where I would rather be listening to those kinds of "great stories" then be telling them.