Why having a sailboat is worth it

[seafrontiersman]

Today (Xmas) I went sailing at the crack of dawn for a few hours and it was the best thing I could have done. I was away from the rampant, competitive, wasteful consumerisim and the constant pressure to BUY MORE!! GET A BIGGER AND BETTER ONE!!! KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES!!!

I've always thought that an Aussie-style beach party/beer bust was a much better idea!

A few hours ghosting along hearing nothing but a little quiet music and the wind and attending nothing but the needs of my vessel was exactly the thing my holiday-jangled nerves needed; better even than a stiff drink.

My little sailboat gave me enough peace on this Xmas. to more than justify every cent I've spent on her.

[sailingdog]

Nicely said.

[speciald]

On the other hand, I spent the day in paradise waxing one side of my hull.

[lapworth]

Iced in up here so couldn't take the boat out. Did the next best thing and took the dog for a walk had to do that twice. If I was able to take my boat out I would have slammed it into a shoal and waited till next year before getting off.

[bljones]

If you think it's hard to keep up with the joneses, imagine how rough i have it, keeping one step ahead of you.

Sailing- the natural stress reliever.

[FishSticks]

Out with the new..in with the old!

[Rangernewell]

Speaking of dogs, every time I let mine out...BAM... there she is. Being my mirage is stored on a trailer for the winter, with alittle bit of work I manage to get her into my back yard. It does save on expenses, and is great that I can work on her late into the fall and start in the early spring..But It sure makes the off season go by slowly when all you can do is look at her 5 times a day

[omaho5]

Not today. However, I will be putting the snow plow on my tractor for an approaching blizzard.
Stragely, I enjoy using the J. Deere with a Yanmar 26hp also.
Absence makes me like and miss sailing untill May

[svHyLyte]

One of my most memorable Christmas’s occurred in the mid-1970’s while I was working on a consulting contract in Seattle. One of the fellows in the office I was in at John Graham & Co, invited me to join him and some friends for a Christmas Eve day sail from Seattle to visit pals that lived on the western end of Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. He had a wonderful old wooden sailing boat and we had a great sail across the sound to Bainbridge Island and easily worked our way to the shallows at the western end of the bay. After a few hours of visiting, and having Irish Coffee’s, we prepared to leave but discovered ourselves hard aground. The tide did not extract our keel from the mud until well after dark and light air and falling temperatures made for a slow, cold, traverse back to Seattle. Just as we passed Tyee Shoal, it began to snow and the falling snow created a hushing sound over the gurgle of the water along the sides of the ship. We remained silent as visibility was reduced to almost nothing and we strained to hear the sound of any approaching traffic. Then. Faintly, in the distance, we began to hear singing—only a whisper at first, but gradually louder until, suddenly, out of the gloom the bright red of a running light appeared close aboard our port bow. Just as suddenly, a bright light lanced out, framing the yacht, and we could then see the bright orange slash of a Coast Guard boat in its reflection off the snow, close aboard our port side. “Is everything alright with you fellows?” enquired the crew chief. Yes replied our skipper, explaining our grounding earlier in the evening. “Well then, have a Merry Christmas and keep safe” the chief called out as their light winked out and they swung away, slowing, into the dark. Shortly, a chorus of “Silent Night” resumed, out of the dark, to which we all joined in and then we sang our way back to Bell Harbor.

And a very nice Christmas Eve it was….

[cb32863]

Very well put. I resorted to watching the sailing videos I had taken during the past season. When I start to feel stressed I close my eyes and put myself back on a sailboat, works everytime.