The Boat as Idea

[Feral Cement]

How many of us still have a baseball glove in the closet? Do you have a weight set that gets moved more than used? How 'bout power tools that still aren't dirty after 10 years?

I know a dozen guys with hot-rods in various stages of decomposition and/or reconstruction. They get blocks milled, seats redone, new gaskets, etc.

It's easier for sure, and sometimes more realistic, to act out parts of the dream even if we can't - or won't - alter our lives to realize the dream. That connection to the life we would live gives us hope that we could do it if "normal" life weren't in the way, and we love to picture ourselves doing something great, something cool.

I used to be bothered by dreamers, but I have come to appreciate the joy they get from touching the vehicle of their dreams.

John
(on my first extended cruise)

[Hudson Force]

My favorite boat as an "idea" was presented by John Steinbeck with those that hung out at the docks of Cannery Row. The dock crew continued to glue barnacles on the bottom of the boat that stayed on the hard.

[sailorboy1]

seems there are a lot of lost dreams and fading memories under the surface of a lot of these stories

hope this article does something to make want others to collect their own, instead of talk about a charter company

[Jimbo485]

Jim, I could be wrong but my impression is that your magazine is written mostly for the dreamers, not for true cruisers. And from a circulation point of view, that makes absolute sense to me because there are a lot more dreamers than cruisers and you need to sell magazines.

But how about an article that puts a fire under the bums of these dreamers? No sweet, tear-jerking stuff like the above posts! Stir them up! Do a Nike!

Tell them, in no uncertain words, to:

Stop wasting their time and money in boatyards, when their boat is crying out to sail oceans.

Stop wasting their years in a cubicle, that only resembles a cell, when their soul requires a blue sky and empty horizon.

Basically, tell them, with righteous anger even, to piss or get off the pot!

Cheers,
Jim
Paradoxically, we are stuck in a boatyard in Curacao trying to finish painting the topsides, I am looking out the hatch above the bunk while typing on a tablet. The rain is bucketing down, thunder and lightning doing their thing and I mentally delay our splash date by one more day! Haha, the irony is beautiful! But it is an extra day, not eternity....

[boatman61]

The 'Boat' as an Idea is beautiful... it carries one through tedium and lends bouyancy to depressions... a refuge from the 'Modern World' where fantasy rules...
The 'Boat' as a Reality is awesome...
It shows one the reality of the expression
'Blood, Sweat and Tears'

[JoeDiver]

I don't get nearly as much sailing time as I'd like....but my boat is so much more to me than just "sailing".

I love to just hang out onboard.
I love to sleep overnight onboard.
She's an escape from the rest of the world.
Sometimes I just motor out and drift along.
If I haven't been onboard in a while, I'll go out just to check on her and say hi.
Nothing beats reading a book or taking a nap in the v-berth, gently rocking with the waves lapping at the hull and a fresh breeze blowing through.
Fresh coffee, the smell of sausage cooking in the galley, while sitting in the cockpit as the sun comes up and lake comes alive...is one of the greatest pleasures in life.

I could go on and on....but there's so much more than simply "sailing".

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Feral Cement

I used to be bothered by dreamers...

Topic drift, but I'm curious why. Seems there are several here who think it is somehow important to stop other people from dreaming, and get them out there doing, RIGHT NOW!

I don't get that. What difference does it make if someone wants to just dream about someday, and never actually do anything about it? Or maybe take lots and lots of time to finally getting around to doing it? What was it about that that "bothered" you? (And I would point out that "bothered" is a very mild reaction compared to others I've seen.)

I should also mention that, if everyone who dreams about sailing off to paradise actually did it, paradise would turn into a DUMP in no time at all! It's really a very good thing that most of the dreamers never actually do anything about it.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I'll admit it, I'm a dreamer. I've thought about getting a sailboat for quite some time and going off to Europe/Med and sail around to different countries or around the world. The boat IS an idea for me. The idea of what I'm going to do when I retire from the military. Dreaming of where I could go. I look at boat listings and think of ideas of what I can do, where I can go and the adventures that can happen. I still have 6 years left to retirement and plan to take a year off to destress from work. I've thought of buying a house when I retire and settle down but after growing up and living around the military my whole life I'm not sure I can or want to settle down. I do like the idea of a sailboat as a way to still do things, still travel but take a slower, laid back approach to everything instead of stressing out about everything going on in the world.

I have a dream and hope to someday make it reality.

[mrohr]

Hi Jim:Boats are floating philosophies. Yes many do not go anywhere ,but they are sooo satisfting to the dreamers,;that's fine with me .Step aboard any boat and look around and one can read the owners mindset without even words passing. How things are stored,the books aboard ,the size of the liquor cabinet, the condition or even the absence of ground tackle,overall condition inside and out, a womans touch, bullet holes in the hull,etc. etc..
But in all cases there seems to be a theme of escapeism and dreaming even among those who are actually "getting away".
Me? I try to be always ready for an impromptu quick sail or by throwing my seabag and some groceries aboard I can go today,otherwise I'm just dreaming.

[Feral Cement]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Seems there are several here who think it is somehow important to stop other people from dreaming, and get them out there doing, RIGHT NOW!

I don't get that. What difference does it make if someone wants to just dream about someday, and never actually do anything about it? Or maybe take lots and lots of time to finally getting around to doing it? What was it about that that "bothered" you?

I value self-awareness very highly, and a failure to differentiate between a dream and a plan put into action somehow seems insincere, disingenuous. But I have come to realize that the self-deception is necessary for the dream to sustain the dreamer. Most cruisers are 'walk it like you talk it' types, and the talk minus the follow-thru seems hollow. Does your calendar have "Someday" on it?

John

[Charlie]

Everybody has a different idea of what sailing is and there is no right or wrong is how I started off a presentation I gave to a fifth grade class a few days before they were going to go sailing. My idea of a boat is transportation from one place to another. I like to have the boat ready to go so that I can sail off to some place I've always wanted to see. Whether it is Desolation Sound or Mexico or Alaska or Italy. The boat sits more then I would like but it is there ready to go and when I get my kids thru school then I am going to spend more time with my idea then at home.

[SaltyMonkey]

I know too many people who love the build, but end up hating sailing...yet they consider themselves sailors. They know all the skills of boatbuilding, know all the best or latest gear, and know very clever ingenious ways of dealing with problems - in sailing, cruising, or maintenance. But, when they are done with the major stuff, and end up having to take the boat out, they are bored or unaccustomed to the lifestyle change. They try to acclimate, but end up selling the boat. {and perhaps buying another to fix up }

The opposite for sailors - they love to sail and know everything about it, but can't stand being in the yard or dock, or educating themselves on maintenance and boatbuilding.

I suppose there has always been both - ship carpenters / boat builders, and seaman. They're not always one and the same.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Jimbo485

Jim, I could be wrong but my impression is that your magazine is written mostly for the dreamers, not for true cruisers. And from a circulation point of view, that makes absolute sense to me because there are a lot more dreamers than cruisers and you need to sell magazines.

But how about an article that puts a fire under the bums of these dreamers? No sweet, tear-jerking stuff like the above posts! Stir them up! Do a Nike!

Tell them, in no uncertain words, to:

Stop wasting their time and money in boatyards, when their boat is crying out to sail oceans.

Stop wasting their years in a cubicle, that only resembles a cell, when their soul requires a blue sky and empty horizon.

Basically, tell them, with righteous anger even, to piss or get off the pot!

Cheers,
Jim
Paradoxically, we are stuck in a boatyard in Curacao trying to finish painting the topsides, I am looking out the hatch above the bunk while typing on a tablet. The rain is bucketing down, thunder and lightning doing their thing and I mentally delay our splash date by one more day! Haha, the irony is beautiful! But it is an extra day, not eternity....

I respect most of your input Jim.
But not this one. Just a tad arrogant, one eyed, and insulting to people still on the journey or who get different things out of thier boats to you.
Someone burn your toast this morning???



But this one is arrogant and dumb.

[Jimbo485]

Yep, VV, my toast was burnt this morning, our plans were set back another day by the weather and I have wasted too much time here on CF.

How was your coffee today? Got you a little sensitive?

[GorillaToast]

JIm,

To me, a boat is just an RV without tires; a tool to get me from here to there, and provide a livable space along the way. I've splashed 3 boats within 2 weeks of getting them registered. I work like mad getting them sea (lake)worthy (so far), and continue to work on them almost every day. I also sail the current one 4-5 times a week in season.

It's not that I don't dream of cruising the seas, and I will in a few years when I retire, but the only way to prepare for that day,for me, is to sail, sail, sail... and then sail some more.

I just pretend that I can't see all four shores from anywhere in the lake...