It's About Our Wacky Lifestyle
Published: Sunday, November 13, 2022 12:00 pm
By: Bob Bitchin
A version of this article appeared in the Buyer's Guide 2023 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
There is something that happens to me as soon as I see a small gap of water between my boat and the dock as I am leaving for a sail; a feeling of freedom that is the same no matter where the day's destination is.
This first became evident to me when I was taking the boat from the slip to King Harbor Marine Center to pick up my new booms. As soon as the boat was clearing the slip, I felt like I was leaving on an adventure. Yeah, I know. Stupid, right? I was just going around the marina, but still, I felt my heart start to beat a little faster, and I noticed this stupid grin on my face.
As I motored through the marina, I tried to analyze just what the hell it was that made me smile like that. It's not like I was taking off to cross an ocean or on an epic voyage. I wasn't even going out to anchor for the night in front of the harbor, as I often do. I was working. This was just moving the boat from the slip to the marine yard and back. No adventure. No epic life-altering distances. Just a five-minute motor.
Then it hit me. Here I am, looking back at more than 60 years of life, and I still turn into a little kid the minute I push off from land on a vessel. I remember as far back as when I was in grade school. During summer vacation, my brother and I'd go behind the Sepulveda Dam (where we weren't allowed to go) and build a raft every year. As we'd launch the raft in the five-foot-wide Los Angeles River, I would get this feeling inside as if I'd just joined Huckleberry Finn on a voyage down the mighty Mississippi. We'd push off with a couple of sticks, and we'd wind our way through the bushes on our great adventure.
At night I'd have a hard time sleeping, knowing the next morning we'd be "voyaging" again.
Now, I know I'm a little weird, but when I can't take my boat out – which has happened a lot during my refit – getting on any boat I can hitch a ride on brings the same stupid, insipid grin to my face. I stand there on the deck, watching as the skipper pulls out, and as the gap between us and the dock grows, so does that feeling inside.
People spend so much time just trying to get through life that I think sometimes they look at their hobbies that way as well. Yet I know people who have boats more for status symbols than for the enjoyment they bring.
A few months ago, Jody and I had the honor of spending some time with our friends Lin and Larry Pardey. I know they'll hate to hear this, but as I was getting ready to head out for my very first "voyage" almost thirty years ago, I read every line they wrote and lived vicariously through their adventures. As we sat enjoying a cool libation at our favorite waterfront dive, I listened as they talked about their latest cruise. After all the years and all the sea miles, they still have the same excitement in their eyes as they talk about their voyages that they had thirty years ago.
As I am sure you know, many people plan a voyage, complete it, and then go on to underwater basket weaving or hang gliding without looking back. People like Lin and Larry are the most fortunate. They have found what they like, and year after year, the excitement not only doesn't diminish, it actually grows.
As we sat there listening to Larry describe the hundred-year-old boat that they had bought and just finished restoring and the joy they get out of taking her out for a day sail, I couldn't help but smile. What a joy it has to be, getting your juices flowing, doing what you love for so many years, and not getting jaded or losing the "zing!"
Yes, there are times I want to shout, "I hate boats!" to the world. But fortunately, that feeling goes away as soon as the swelling stops in the thumb I just smashed or I realize that the broken rudder can be fixed. Not only that, but the feeling that fills me when I have fixed that rudder and sailed my vessel back to a safe harbor more than makes up for the trials and tribulations of skippering a boat.
I guess it's a lot like life. You have to have a few bumps in the road in order to really appreciate that paved highway.
The next time you're in a storm, keep in mind how good it's going to feel when you see the clearing skies. How many times have you clenched your teeth to get through a particularly rough passage, and then as you enter the safe harbor, you feel like you've conquered the world?
We have chosen a pretty wacky lifestyle. We pack up everything we own into a space slightly larger than a jail cell, push it out into the water, and put out a couple of bedsheets, thinking somehow we will not only reach a destination, but we will be smiling when we get there!
And we will!
tags: Feel Good Story, Sailing
