From Florida to Yankeeland

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, February 7. 2021

From Florida to Yankeeland

Mrs. BD and I came home from our enjoyable if grueling seamanship courses last night. We got certificates, plus FL boating safety licenses. Why did we do that? Why not? Navigation and boat handling are basic life skills and we both have plenty of room for improvement.

Photo is from now. Florida wasn't hot though.

Either way, I like both places. The Maggie's Weather Rule is that any day you are lucky enough to wake up, or wake up healthy, is a beautiful day. I love snow dumps.

These guys make backing into a slip look easy. It is NOT - especially in a narrow lagoon with a current, a 20 knot breeze, and manatees as special navigation hazards.

Posted by Bird Dog at 13:02 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I can see finding boats entertaining (As the Water Rat said to Mole - "“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”) But navigation and boat handling are not basic life skills, any more than shoeing a horse.

#1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-02-07 13:34 (Reply)

AVI:

Years ago somebody here did a post on Basic Life Skills.

As I recall, it included handling horses, boats, and chainsaws. And lots of others.

What's on your list?

#1.1 Bird Dog on 2021-02-07 13:56 (Reply)

As boats are a hole in the water into which you throw money, making owning or using one a choice, boat handling is far from a basic life skill. Horse shoeing? Just cannot foresee the day it will be necessary. Chain saw use is certainly a useful skill.

My list of life/manly skills includes being able to chose a decent suit and tie a tie correctly. Apparently that has gone by the boards as casual is becoming the disgusting low standard for funerals, among other things.

Everyone cannot do everything, nor needs to in AD2021.

#1.1.1 barnhill on 2021-02-07 16:40 (Reply)

There’s a nice trawler for sale in Cape May.

https://www.boattrader.com/boat/1983-marine-trader-double-cabin-7730869/

#1.1.2 Jon in Illinois on 2021-02-07 18:24 (Reply)

It depends on where you live, I think, whether boat handling skills are basic. Navigation comes in handy off the water too, so some skill there is also basic.

#1.2 Donna B. on 2021-02-07 21:55 (Reply)

Sounds like you had a fabulous trip, BD.

However, I agree with AVI. I am old and have never been on the ocean. The ocean is 1200 miles away, at least. hard to see how handling a boat was an "essential skill" for me.

#2 feeblemind on 2021-02-07 15:16 (Reply)

I have a friend in Washington State and he has a boat at Friday Harbor. He is not a novice by any means but he breaks out in a cold sweat every time he re-enters and heads for his slip. It is never the same. Could be wind, could be tide, could be rain, could be sun...no limit to the possible combinations of bad things that could make docking a challenge. And of course there are all the “experts” on the other boats watching closely.

#3 rocdoctom on 2021-02-07 15:40 (Reply)

BOAT
Break Out Another Thousand...

#4 Earl Wertheimer on 2021-02-07 20:36 (Reply)

Do envy you the easy access to sailable waters. Here on the prairies, that just doesn't happen. Which may explain why, back during WW II, a lot of the prairie boys signed up to join the RCN.

#5 Frances (Link) on 2021-02-07 23:33 (Reply)

Two words for docking a large power boat under any conditions - 'Twin Engines'! I could dock my dad's 28' cruiser under any conditions without touching the wheel.

#6 John Fisher on 2021-02-08 07:48 (Reply)

Mr. H has insisted that we spend winter in Florida for the last four years. I do not like Florida, especially in winter. It's drab and dreary, and unless you liked sitting in sand and staring at water for hours, there's not much to do.

Lord, I miss snow.

#7 RebeccaH on 2021-02-08 14:27 (Reply)

See if you can talk him into South Carolina, then Virginia Beach. You will have to play the long game here. If it's golf he likes, both of those places will work.

#7.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-02-08 15:34 (Reply)

Come to think of it, there are really cheap places in other countries and you could do a different one every year. Greece. Baja. Black Sea. Dominica. Three months a year, flight tickets the major cost.

#7.2 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-02-08 15:39 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, February 7. 2021

From Florida to Yankeeland