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Old 12-12-2012, 21:31   #1
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A Life Worth Living

Not being an unnecessarily soppy sort of bloke, I rarely opine on the character of those who share my love of a life afloat.

In life we meet people from all walks. Some are good, some are not, some are just painful to be around. But when the common denominator is boat ownership, the ripples tend to smoothe and even terminally painful characters adopt an attitude which at once, makes them more agreeable when they are indulging in their favourite passtime.

I love boating and motorcycling for much the same reasons. Those who do it for the love of freedom, an appreciation of nature and to get away from it all, are my kind of people and I love them all. To meet a fellow sailor, or biker, in a remote location where social divisions do not exist, but where humanity exceeds, is one of the truly great pleasures in life.

Listening to and retelling stories of adventure, mishap, maintenance woes, homesickness and love of family and friends are the recurrent themes. Politics, conspiracies, hatred of work and the boss, or the neighbour with a barking dog are, for the most part, noticeably absent.

Life on a boat (or a motorbike) distills out the dross and leaves only the sparkling effervescence of new friends, well met.

Of course there are excpetions, but they exist in lesser numbers 'out there'.

As my extended period of motorcycling in South East Asia comes to an end and as I prepare to head for the Americas to relaunch my boat for the sail back across the Pacific to Oz, I cannot help but reflect on a life well lived and to look forward with great relish to the experiences yet to come.

I salute the free spirits and exhort all those still in chains, to go boating.

Life was meant to be good and if we don't give it a fair dinkum shot, the end will come all that much sooner and will be tainted with regret!
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Old 12-12-2012, 21:39   #2
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Re: A Life Worth Living

Great sentiments. Well said.

However, while the love of boats and boat ownership may bring us closer together there are those that I would still have a very hard time making a passage with.

It seems some folks miss out on that "tribal" learning that helps one conform to the crowd. I get those that have opinions, I get those that go their own way but the inflexible PITA that can't get along in a group I will never understand how they survive in and around society.

I guess because it is now frowned upon when the tribe beats them to death with a rock...
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Old 12-12-2012, 21:59   #3
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Re: A Life Worth Living

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I guess because it is now frowned upon when the tribe beats them to death with a rock...
Damn that political correctness!
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Old 13-12-2012, 09:14   #4
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Re: A Life Worth Living

Being both a biker and a boater myself, I concur. Both lifestyles do seem to draw from similar pools. I've enjoyed discourses and discussions with all manner of folks with all kinds of backgrounds. I've often found that the non-conformists are some of the most interesting and thought provoking, though I'm generally happy to see them off on their own boat or bike. I think both lifestyles attract independent thinkers, and as such non-conformity abounds. You meet more diversity of thought, so you have to take the wonkers with the gems.
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Old 13-12-2012, 09:29   #5
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Originally Posted by Saltyhog View Post
Being both a biker and a boater myself, I concur. Both lifestyles do seem to draw from similar pools. I've enjoyed discourses and discussions with all manner of folks with all kinds of backgrounds. I've often found that the non-conformists are some of the most interesting and thought provoking, though I'm generally happy to see them off on their own boat or bike. I think both lifestyles attract independent thinkers, and as such non-conformity abounds. You meet more diversity of thought, so you have to take the wonkers with the gems.
Thats why we enjoy being 'Wonkers..'
But I am a posher wonker with a boat... rather than just being a 'Jap Crap Wonker'... now I'm a 'Cheap Old Crap Wonker'...
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Old 13-12-2012, 09:33   #6
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Re: A Life Worth Living

Well said! My wife and I made the choice to live life completely a couple of years ago and we haven't had any regrets since! It's amazing what happens when you meet people stripped down to who they are instead of who they pretend to be...(Doctor, Cop, Mechanic, Accountant....all just hats we put on later in life over the REAL person underneath) You sound like a kindred spirit, and maybe our paths will cross someday! Until then, much love, fair winds, and safe travels!!
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Old 13-12-2012, 09:46   #7
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Re: A Life Worth Living

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Thats why we enjoy being 'Wonkers..'
But I am a posher wonker with a boat... rather than just being a 'Jap Crap Wonker'... now I'm a 'Cheap Old Crap Wonker'...
Posher Wonker
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Old 13-12-2012, 10:46   #8
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Re: A Life Worth Living

" in a remote location where social divisions do not exist"
Bit of an illusion, isn't that?

Just the fact that you and they are both in the same remote location, says that you are both IN the same social division, and that you've set up a gatekeeper to keep out the folks who aren't in the same division that you are.

The gatekeeper being the requirement for money, time, and the penchant for spending both to get to the remote place. You're very much in a small and exclusive club and if you don't meet the riff-raff from the streets, that's because there is always a gatekeeper in one way or another. Harry Potter's sorting hat, perhaps.
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Old 13-12-2012, 19:52   #9
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Re: A Life Worth Living

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" in a remote location where social divisions do not exist"
Bit of an illusion, isn't that?

Just the fact that you and they are both in the same remote location, says that you are both IN the same social division
It means that irrespective of our social status in the city, irrespective or wealth or lack of it, irrespective of the style or quality of boat we sail, irrespective of the manner in which we made our living, irrespective of the amount of money we have left and whether we are eating rice or rib eye, we are coincidentally in the same geographic location at the same moment in time.

What has gone before is of little relevence; what is yet to come may well be absolutely divergent.

The circumstances of the moment dictate the social intercourse and that has nothing to do with the way we arrived at the location. So it is absolute reality, with no illusory aspect whatever.
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Old 23-12-2012, 13:34   #10
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Originally Posted by Ex-Calif View Post
Great sentiments. Well said.

However, while the love of boats and boat ownership may bring us closer together there are those that I would still have a very hard time making a passage with.

It seems some folks miss out on that "tribal" learning that helps one conform to the crowd. I get those that have opinions, I get those that go their own way but the inflexible PITA that can't get along in a group I will never understand how they survive in and around society.

I guess because it is now frowned upon when the tribe beats them to death with a rock...
Not everyone desires to be like everyone else.
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Old 23-12-2012, 18:24   #11
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Re: A Life Worth Living

"It seems some folks miss out on that "tribal" learning that helps one conform to the crowd. "
In the 1600's the British had some disagreements with the Pilgrams about religious and societal issues. So the Pilgrims booked passage to Virginia and left England.

And went off course to Plymouth Rock, but hey, it wasn't England, so they stayed.

And then a couple years later, the Pilgrims had enough of the continuing ongoing religious intolerance and THREW OUT a chunk of the colonists, who fled south and started Connecticut. Well...That didn't last last, the Pilgrims in CT, who had been thrown out of MA, who had been thrown out of England, all because everyone was so intolerant, promptly THREW OUT another batch, who started Rhode Island. Kind like the Bangladeshies, the folks in RI got stuck with what was left.

Tribal learning?

As the Arabs say, I and my brother, against my cousin. I and my brother and my cousin, against our uncle. We and our uncle, against the tribe. We and our tribe, agasint the next tribe...
Tell it any way you please, tribes and tribal infighting have always been the norm. Tribes only co-operate against larger enemies with less common bloodlines.

Tribal swings both ways.
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Old 23-12-2012, 22:10   #12
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Re: A Life Worth Living

"It seems some folks miss out on that "tribal" learning that helps one conform to the crowd."


Others, of course, prefer to sidestep the crowd altogether. Stoning might get some temporary compliance. Conformance? Nah.
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Old 24-12-2012, 01:41   #13
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Re: A Life Worth Living

Gentlemen, As a retired "techie" (airline pilot), I don't command the "flowing prose" that seams to permeate this thread, but am enjoying the hell out of it. Always enjoy Auzzee's posts! I would like to add recreational flying of any kind (hang gliding / ultra light / Piper Cubs / etc) to the sailing / cycling list of activities where one feels a sense of complete freedom. One of the things that I particularly enjoy about these posts is the general lack of "sugar coating" (political correctness) that one gets so tired of these days. One can still speak one's mind without being rude! Please continue to delight me. gts1544 PS I should add that the strain of folks one encounters in the flying game are very similar to the sailor / cyclist crowd - great folks to associate with!
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Old 24-12-2012, 01:46   #14
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Re: A Life Worth Living

A boat is the product of a tribe, and if you use cash, green dollars or credit card you are a partaking in a tribal agreement for the exchange of work. We all partake in a number of the tribal activities and its much more productive than going solo. There are some who resent their ranking and others who are smug about theirs. Neither are great company.
The joy of the sailing community is that there is a general feeling we are all in the same boat - battling costs, maintenance, technicalities and obstacles to getting "out there." A lot of empathy.
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Old 24-12-2012, 01:50   #15
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Re: A Life Worth Living

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Posher Wonker
And if anybody fakes it, then they are a shonker wonker. To all who have posted on this thread,. I too have been a sailor and a biker for 45 years or more and some of the best people that i have met have been either one or the other or, occasionally, both.

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