I have a theory that being a boater helps you stay young. As we age and surely fear the changes such as Alzheimer’s….. so challenging our brain cells seems to be an important concept. Go, get a boat.
A dirt dweller rolls out of bed each day in a pretty similar place. It’s kind of the opposite for the cruiser. Every day you seem to have a different surrounding. A new anchorage or dockspace greets you. New neighbors may be present. You have a sharper sense of weather, particularly winds and waves. Sunrises and sunsets are no longer over the same familiar horizon and you’re presented a new daily view of the world. While we loved our past sunsets over the waves of Lake Michigan for many years from our dirt cottage…. we now have the changing horizons, as well.
Boating seems to have a new challenge every day too. It feels like a day never goes by without teaching me a new lesson. (And unfortunately, the bruises show me that I didn’t yet learn to avoid the protruding step up to the bridge that I’ve hit more than once at night before!) Just when you think I should know something, I get another wake up call. Like tying the boat up with only 3 lines while in a nice current. I forgot about the power of an unexpected stern wind and here I was moving forward on the dock without that aft spring line! Many more knots to go before I sleep.
It’s fun enough working on the maintenance of our bodies….trying to get enough exercise while boating can be a challenge. But the maintenance of the boat and all its systems certainly gives you the daily challenges to stay young. Climbing up and down. Body contortions to work in tight places. Lifting items of various sizes and weight. Finding and avoiding problems. Reading books and manuals on electrical systems. Cruising Guides. Diesel maintenance. Navigation. Researching the internet database. Joining chatrooms. Sifting your opinions. And making decisions. There is certainly the euphoria that comes from the “I did it!”
Another great thing is the people you meet. You have an introduction to new folks almost as often as you want. New faces, new boats, new stories, new suggestions and maybe even new friends. And you can never know when or where you might bump into them again. We often ask ourselves…..don’t we know them? Where was it we met them? I’m sure we’ve seen them somewhere before! It’s there in those brain cells somewhere. What a nice and diverse community we are a part of. People coming from all walks of life and backgrounds….great stories to tell and lessons learned.
Like people, no two boats are the same. Oh, like twins, they may look the same, but there will be differences. Looking at other boats, their configuration, their contents and their owners is an age old pastime for boaters. Big boats and small boats, common boats and different boats, new and old, all fun to look at and compare to your form of passage. Boaters are fun to watch! And how they lay out and organize their boat and lives varies widely. Then you look at your ways of doing things drawing obvious comparisons and contrasts…..maybe making changes.
Maybe some of the best games are played on the boat. It’s called “where did I put that” or “where did you put that”. Boats are inherently full of places to hide things. Some of these places are designed into the boat and boaters seem to be able to find other nooks and crannies to stuff things into. It’s like that Russian Doll game sometimes, containers stuffed into containers stuffed into containers. All full of different things. To play the game right you don’t keep a log of where you put anything. “I know I put it somewhere” Then you dig through everything looking for that widget you know you have, often multiple times. That’s how you remember what you’ve stowed on the boat.
I read something about how the brain is wired and avoiding falling into routines….like driving home from work the by same route every day, or sitting in the same chair every time you go into a conference room. Well, while there are boating routines, I think the very nature of cruising definitely keeps you from falling into too much of a rut. Anchoring out may be our favorite approach, but every anchorage seems different. Even a return to the same place is somewhat enhanced. And the other nights spent on a wall or in the marina certainly give you a different and valuable perspective.
“Change is good.” And the boating life offers you a good measure of change. We embark on a voyage, not sure of where we are going next, what we will see, challenges we will face, the good and the bad, and even the ugly. But you respond, make a decision and move on. Some decisions will prove to be better than others too….that’s just life. Around every bend may be another sight or situation. What an environment we get to enjoy. What wonderful perspectives. Thank your lucky stars!
We are soon to leave the sweet waters of the heartland and enter those salty tidal seas…..just another Looper opportunity for change. I have saltaphobia, a fear of what salt is going to do to my boat. I am sure that the corrosive salt environment will be giving me a few more seasons of lessons. We choose to Loop a bit and take a break, spending more time in some areas than others. Now we’re looking forward to the Bend, ICW, Keys, Bahamas and St Johns River system for a couple of seasons. So salt water and hurricanes, here we come!
My father’s favorite toast…..May you have love, health, wealth, …..and most importantly the time to enjoy them….glass of wine in hand.
(Grandkids ain’t too bad either…and both ours (the twins) had swine flu this past week!)
Jim and Vaughn….looking forward to the change to warmer weather at Wheeler this week!
