The hoi poli
2004-07-30

I'm going yachting for the weekend. I'm really just going sailing, but since we are heading to Newport this afternoon and we have a wedding to go to at one of the mansions tomorrow, yachting seems the appropriate term. Living life like the rich folks. It doesn't suck every once in a while.

Meggan wanted to know why I sail. Well there are lots of reasons I guess. The simple one is that it is fun. There is the challenge of moving 18,000 pounds of fiberglass along using nothing but a couple of strips of plastic (almost all sails are now made of some kind of synthetic) and what ever bits of breeze that are floating by. It's a challenge and I like that. You also learn never to take Mother Nature for granted or she'll slap you down. No matter how good you think you are gale winds and 10+ foot seas are a great reality check.

Sailing also lets me go places that other people can't go easily and to see scenery that land lubbers never get to see. Nantucket, the Vineyard, Cuttyhunk, Block, even Prudence 1sland are all right in my backyard. That's cool.

Sailing is also a very social activity and everybody always has a great time. It's something I can offer to my friends and aquantances that they don't ordinarily do. It is kind of funny to watch them take the helm for the first time. Some of the are just naturals and others grip the wheel like they are hanging on for dear life, their eyes as big as dinner plates. Oh and then there is the beer...

Sailing allows me to compete with the best in the world and occasionally even win. You can't play baseball with the Red Sox or basketball with the Lakers, but I can race against Denn1s C0nners and have several times. It is the ultimate team sport and I like building teams. Winning fairly consistantly doesn't hurt either I guess.

The last and most important reason is because it brings me peace. I have a fairly stressful career and a sometimes rocky life in general. No matter how bad a day or week I've had, when the engine shuts off and there is just the slap of the water on the hull, it calms me right dowm, brings me inner peace. That is something that is worth more than any price I could ever pay. You'll have to try it sometime. From some of your entries, it looks like you could use a bit of that too :-)

Happy Friday all.

See you at Gatsbys.

Ron

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