If you own a boat, then you will understand the feeling that a boat owner gets every once in awhile that totally takes over his body. The unrestrained urge to stand on the deck of said boat, and to shout at the top of one’s lungs, “I hate boats!”
When that feeling grabs you, don’t hesitate. As Larry the Cable Guy says, “Get ‘er done!” Get it out of the way.
You see, if you have a passion for sailing, you have to keep in mind that it is just that – a passion. It’s not a like, or even a sport or pastime. It’s a passion, and passions take control over you.
Because it’s a passion, it is going to be a love/hate relationship. It’s this way from day one. You may love your boat, but you hate what you have to spend on her. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference, and very few people are indifferent to their boat.
What brought this into focus for me happened yesterday. I had to wait to write this, because right now I am anchored in a beautiful bay about 1200 miles south of my home port. Yesterday I was a few miles outside of said port, and fighting the sea dragons that reside offshore.
As we sailed south from our home port, our transmission decided it was tired of working and took some time off. This was done, as usual, at the time it was most needed. We were 350 miles from civilization in either direction.
We did manage to limp into port in Cabo San Lucas, and the good folks at The Cabo Yacht Center helped us make it work again. Most kewl!
But 500 miles farther down the coast, our 25-year-old transmission decided that, even though we had paid attention to her in Cabo, she wasn’t happy. So, for no apparent reason, as we motored out of a night anchorage in Ipala, she had a temper tantrum. At first she held her breath until she turned red (glowing from overheating!) and then she just stopped working.
We were about five miles south of the anchorage, and about 50 miles from our next anchorage.
It was at this point where I moved to the designated spot atop the deck, placed my hands firmly on my hips and shouted my passion to the world. I hate boats!
I felt a little better after that. Of course, the rest of the crew looked at me as if I was nuts. But I felt better!
Then I did what sailors have been doing for thousands of years. I took inventory of the situation and made the best of it.
We are a sailboat. I learned how to sail on Stone Witch, which was a 74’ square rigged topsail schooner that didn’t have an engine. Actually, I sailed these very waters 30 years earlier with no engine.
So what would be different now?
Well, for one, I now have a generator. I have refrigeration, and I have an autopilot. How kewl would that have been back then?
All of a sudden I felt OK. We had a good wind, and we were within daylight of a great anchorage.
Oh, and did I mention it was Christmas Eve? Well, it was.
As we entered the anchorage at Chamala we trimmed sail and prepared to sail to our anchorage. What fun! I actually felt better than I had in a long time. I felt a little pride as we saw a couple on another boat pointing at us as we sailed right up, dropped our sail and put the anchor right where we wanted it. I could see my crew swelling a little bit too.
All of a sudden I was starting to look forward to the process of sailing sans engine. My mentors, Lynn & Larry Pardey, did it for years. I did it for the first major voyage of my life, some 30 years ago, and for the first time in a very long time I felt as if I was actually accomplishing something by using my knowledge and skills.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I like having things that work well on my boat. I don’t wish for things to break down.
But having the knowledge that, when they do fail, as all things mechanical will (‘specially if they are electrical in nature!), I can make do with what I have left.
As I write this I am anchored in Chamala and it is Christmas day. The sun is shining, life is good, and the crew is looking forward to sailing off the hook and continuing on down our planned voyage.
Am I worried about not having an engine? Not really. I can recall how we brought Stone Witch into the estuary in Puerto Madeira using a 7.5 HP outboard, and how good it felt when we dropped the hook. Now I have a new 20 HP Honda to help push me in. Life is good, and all is well with the world!
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