In this particular case, I would not say anything unless I could see a definite way to improve upon the way they are doing things. Other than that it is just a matter of being careful. But in the case of the lady up the mast, I would have said something. It is just too easy to send her up with a safety tether that could save her life. Or maybe the husband was up to something....;-/
In fact, if unsolicited advice is a bad thing, why are we all reading the TF?
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Some people feel it's their duty to stick their noses in other people's business and like nothing more to have an opportunity to tell someone else what they're doing wrong and how they should be doing it instead. We encounter people like this occasionally who come over and start telling us what we should or should not be doing. Most of the time we ignore them but on a few occasions the person has gotten really aggressive with their "do this" commands so I (my wife is way too polite to do this) simply tell them to piss off.
And there are people like myself who feel that people are totally responsible for themselves and will get what they deserve from their actions and it is not my responsibility to "correct" them. So while I may observe a boater doing something I think may not be too wise I leave it to them to sort out. (Coming to the aid of someone actually in trouble is a different deal altogether.).
Clear as mud.
In this instance I was in the MYOB camp. We all have our own 'line in the sand' on these things, so as in all things you make a choice and live with it.
As she was a stranger that tipped me into the MYOB camp, had it been a friend that probably would have pushed me over the proverbial line in the sand.
Yesterday I was on the boat checking lines etc for some predicted heavy weather when a large sports style boat backed up past me to their pen.
There was this old guy driving from the flybridge, and his wife at the stern out on the Marlin board with boat hook in hand.She was holding on to the transom with one hand and reaching out with the boat hook in the other.
About three feet beneath her were two presumably large props churning away. If she slipped or over balanced I think an extra from 'Jaws' would have had more chance than she would.
I guess it begs the question, should I have wandered up to the skipper and his partner and given them the benefit of my observation, only to receive the succinct Aussie two word reply concerning sex and travel?
I just can't pass up giving my pesos worth here. There are a lot of irresponsible people out there and you could spend the rest of your natural life trying to stop them from making a bad or even fatal mistake. Unless it affects you, your safety, or the safety of the people you are responsible for let it go. Besides the gene pool needs to be cleaned up anyway.