Why do we boat?

J

JamesTXSD

Active member
This post from localboy Mark on another thread got me thinking...

Not to be too deep or heavy, but M and I have only scratched the surface of the "What do you want to do?" conversation. I'm a bit older than she is (8 yrs) and I still have probably (more realistically) 8 more yrs in my career before I can pull the pin. But having recently lost my father, after losing my mother last year, it seems the topic has a bit more urgency, at least to me. Funny how life moves.
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Not wanting to hijack that thread, thought I'd start a new one for this question: why do we boat?

It certainly costs more than nearly any other type of land travel in terms of miles per gallon. If we trailer our boats, we have to have more vehicle to haul 'em down the road. If you fish, you will certainly spend more money on fuel, licenses, rods, reels, tackle, ice, etc than what a nice seafood meal out would cost. With boats our size, we are willing to put up with lesser amenities on our boats than we would ever consider in a house or a condo. Spend more than a night at anchor and you will eventually lose some sleep over "will the anchor hold in this blow?" Pull up to a dock at a marina and you will be charged usually by the foot (RV parks don't charge that way)... often times you could get an inexpensive motel for less than a marina charges, and you wouldn't have to walk so far to the shower!

Is it the "romance" of being on the water? Do we like the "motion of the ocean" (not on those days when it's pounding)? Is it the sights we can't see from land?

Sailing was an escape for us when we were still working. I knew if I could just make it to the weekend, we could spend a couple nights on the boat or head out for a race (A race? Even with a high performance sailboat, you're still going slower than most vehicle races. :mrgreen: ) Boating was guaranteed time with no yardwork. Kinda like a date, since we'd occasionally bring a movie to watch before turning in. Yep, an escape.

I just spent 4 of the last 6 months working some long days on boats. Not our boat. And, I have been anxious to get back to our boat. We arrived back home a few days ago, and I broke a tooth the next day... been making trips to the dentist for a root canal and a crown. Unloading the 5th wheel that has been our home for the last six months has taken time. Getting moved back into the house has taken time. Then, yesterday, I came down with a nasty upper respiratory crud. I just want to get my boat out of storage, clean her up, and get her back in the water! :crook

I boat because I need to. The sunrises and sunsets just seem more vivid out on the water. There are other boats out there most of the time, but the real "rat race" gets left mostly behind. A quiet cove is like a little bit of paradise. We are not independently wealthy - sometimes we have to make choices that determine how long and how far our travels take us... but, we're willing to put boat bucks into the budget.

For the past few months, I have gotten my C-Dory desires taken care of vicariously, thanks to you folks. I am appreciative for those of you who take the time to share your boating adventures.

So, why do YOU boat?

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Because every time I pull away from the dock it is aaahhhhhhh. I have developed the ability to leave all th B.S. on shore
 
Without a doubt it is an escape for most of us, I know that is how I feel when I'm out on the big blue. You and nature at it's best. Never even thinking once about mowing the lawn or paying a bill, not once. It's that kind of thing that lights the fire in most of us I guess. Yes sirree, just feels right. :D

H :wink:
 
Love that gentle rocking  & surging along, yep a wonderful feeling, but not quite sure it makes up for the equally bad times the water can create.  Not really into fishing so for me boating is all about where the boat can take Jo-Lee  & I & what we can  see & experience along the way.   

Have always felt living without adventure or solitude not really living, but what I have found fairly late in life is with the right boat, solitude, adventure & the challenges I've sought throughout my live could be experienced without the pain & loneliness that came with most of my previous adventures in the mountain wilderness.  From a canoe to RIB to CD 22 I 've  progressed to increasingly more comfort while at the same time accessing more remote & wild places then ever in the mountains.  Combine this with the  diverse, intriguing,  knowledgeable people one meets here & at the CD gatherings makes boating though started late in my life the best of all my endeavors so far.

Jay 
 
I have always enjoyed this speech.

All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea -- whether it is to sail or to watch it -- we are going back from whence we came.
John F. Kennedy, Speech given at Newport at the dinner before the America's Cup Races, September 1962
35th president of US 1961-1963 (1917 - 1963)
 
Because every time I pull away from the dock it is aaahhhhhhh.
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And here's the C-Dory difference...

When I pulled away from the dock in my old boat, a Montauk, I was constantly aware that I HAD to be back at the ramp by dusk to retrieve...along with everyone else.

The ramp at dusk is HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.

Once I got a "campable boat" I left those fears behind and discovered that the best times to boat were overnighting, especially as the sun ebbed out into total darkness.
 
Well, we boat because we just enjoy the heck out of it!

Slow cruising, anchoring up and swinging on the hook, the first coffee in the morning on the cockpit, sundowners in the evening on the cockpit, sharing conversation with good friends, kayaking, taking Baxter to shore, cooking, eating, sleeping, reading, writing, listening to music, hiking...

What more could you ask?
 
Here is an excerpt from coastalanglermagazine.com that helps explaine why we boat.

"Boating remains one of our nation’s greatest pastimes. Time spent on the water frees the soul from the dreads of everyday toil. The freedom of boating can’t be replicated at the gym, opera or sports stadium. It has priceless rewards.

No matter if you’re tooling along in a 53-foot Viking or hopping its wake in an 18-foot Hewes, the adventure and self-reliance of boating connects us with our primal instincts of freedom and survival. Our forefathers came to America aboard ships to escape persecution, and still today there are many people willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to cross the high seas to embrace America’s freedoms.

The majority of us are weekend warriors, working nine-to-five weekdays, waiting and biding for our time on the water, living for the freedom it provides in small doses. It doesn’t make us any less adventurous or independent, only tied down by responsibilities. It’s no wonder many of us have dreamed of owning a fishing boat and making a living on the water or, perhaps, buying a sailboat and cruising into the distant horizon.

However, with the freedom of boating comes great responsibility. Caring for the safety of those aboard your vessel, other boater sharing the water and the environment that surrounds you is a priority.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain
 
Like Jay, for me it's largely about access (in comfort!) to remote and wild places. The incredible beauty and wonderful critters of the Inside Passage make cruising there so good for the soul. There aren't many places as unspoiled where I can practically spend extended time.

Put that together with the endlessly interesting learning environment of boating and cruising - after 13 years of retirement I haven't been the least bit bored yet.
 
We really just enjoy traveling through space with freedom to choose our path and see something a little differently than we did yesterday. We do this by car, motorcycle, boat, bike, and also on foot and they all have pluses and minuses. We choose one over another based on our mood and our needs coupled with conditional prudence and plan to enjoy them all for a long time to come.

But after 50+nights and 4500 miles aboard Aurelia, we do plan to alter the boating portion soon.
 
Why do i boat...as soon as i leave shore i become another person with not a care in the World, i become a priate, an adventurer free to dream and roam the Seven Sea's. There is the fishing that i love to.

I had a friend who died of cancer about 5 years ago, a few days before he died his wife and friends brought him down to his boat so he could take one last ride in his boat all by himself.He did one small run around the Bay where he spent years boating and fishing. Ray died about a week later and had his ashes spread there,but i think he died happy ,dreaming of himself and his wife out fishing in his boat. Tug
 
Why do I boat?

I don’t do to get away.

I don’t do it for relaxation.

I don’t do it for the excitement.

I don’t do it to escape from whatever.

I don’t do it for closeness to nature.

I don’t do it to catch fish.

I don’t do it for the adventure.

All these things I can do and still do without ever getting into a boat.

So why do I boat? I boat because I want to. However, I enjoy all the things I listed above while boating.
I seek variety in my life and boating ads to that variety. I tell people, I have done just about everything at least once.


Dave dlt.gif
www.marinautboats.com
 
Well there was the time that I fouled the prop with the docking line. Or the time that the overheating alarm went off and we limped home on one engine. Or the time NOAA said it was going to be so nice but the wind picked up, then picked up some more. Or....the feeling that I get when we leave the dock. Or the sight of Mount Baker on the horizon. Or the sun setting over the San Juans.

So we boat because, despite the fact that stuff happens, we get to see and do things that we otherwise wouldn not be able to do. And we get to tell tall tales about all the mishaps (and memories of the mishaps seem to fade pretty fast).
 
oldgrowth":260r8o7d said:
I tell people, I have done just about everything at least once.

Dave dlt.gif
www.marinautboats.com
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Well said Dave, me too! And there are many things I've done once that I've learned never to try again... :roll:

Some in a boat, some in an automobile, some while jumping out of an airplane, some with a woman. :shock:

Most of them that I've done in a boat, I would do again, gladly!

(Ain't going there on the woman thing!)

Charlie
 
The sights, and sounds of being on the water. Wildlife rarely seen from the road. The sound of an evening rain shower as it strums the cabintop. Meeting others with like intrests while exploring new places.

I find working on the boat as much of an outlet from the daily grind as going out. Our nest for when we're out in the wild, with all the basics needed. Sometimes it's the little irritations that one has finally fixed, or found a solution for that makes it even more enjoyable. Now if I can only find a fix for the headnocker door, short of wearing a bubblewrap hat, or learning to walk like an old man..... hunched over.
 
I like seeing new places, meeting new people, experiencing new things, and challenging myself. I like variety. I like nature and seeing the most beautiful places around. I love to travel.

I've traveled a lot and in many different ways. In the last year, I've been to 11 countries on 4 continents. I've spent time on five star African safaris and backpacked through the Andes, explored the Galapagos Islands and wandered the streets of many European cities.

But I always come back to boating and the Pacific Northwest. Truly, I believe the beauty is incomparable. And there's no better way to see it than by boat. The C-Dory allows me to get off the beaten path, get up close and personal with nature, and meet people I never ordinarily would. Boating also offers challenges. Whether it's planning a route around the many constraints that we have (fuel, weather, daylight...) or troubleshooting a problem with the boat when anchored far from the nearest help, there's always something to think about. Other forms of travel (backpacking somewhat excepted, but it's not as comfortable...) just don't challenge me in the same way.

There's something special about the feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction (and frustration!) I get when I'm on the water. It can be something simple, like docking the boat perfectly when there's a stiff crosswind. Or the first time crossing the Strait of Georgia, or pulling up to the dock at Chatterbox Falls. It's nice to make a plan and then realize it. That's what boating for me is all about.

Boating enables me to go places that I otherwise couldn't. It's liberating, challenging, and rewarding. What more could I want in a hobby?
 
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