Archive for January, 2010
I am paraphrasing from the cover of a recent Latt’s & Att’s I saw on a magazine rack. It’s a tough question, somehow, even though it seems like it should be obvious. Sailing along on a broad reach yesterday, temps about 75-80, sun shining, watching the bottom slide by in 10 feet of crystal clear water was a pretty good argument. If it was like that every day I guess I might take it for granted. Being in recovery from our 2 weeks of chilly weather, having had to fight (under sail) our way upwind with daytime temps in the mid 60s (hiding in our plastic cockpit enclosure), even having a full wind blown day of no sun, grey skies and rain makes the perfect days something to really appreciate.
Fortunately those ugly day’s do not happen very often and this is the part that I think Latt’s & Att’s is missing. Preparation and knowledge made those days that were not so sweet merely uncomfortable, not dangerous or out of control. Knowing how to plan a trip, read a chart, have your boat shipshape, knowing how to sail makes being out there even when things are not perfect fun in it’s own way. And it really makes you see the beauty when things are wonderful. So I will close with a line from Southern Cross by CSN&Y
“Sailing on a broad reach
before a following sea
80 feet on the waterline
nice to be making way”
Fair Winds and Following Seas!
It sure was nice to look at the 5 day prediction for Miami and see our normal weather for this time of year return. High’s of 80 and lows of 65 are much better than the chilly (Coldest 6 day stretch in Key west since they started keeping records in 1876) past couple of weeks. Our boat has a full plastic enclosure in the cockpit making it comfortable to be out sailing but still… We even had to turn on our space heater several mornings. Our customers, who had recently lived in Montreal, even went snorkeling (the water temps on the reef are about 70) but this Florida boy will wait till the air temp is warmer than the water to get in!
Ok, I think I know the answer but a recent study by Ryan Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University suggests that, in the long run, experiences make people happier than possessions. This from a recent CNN article;
“While most people were generally happy with the purchase regardless of what it was, those who wrote about experiences tended to show a higher satisfaction at the time and after the experience had passed.
The most striking difference was in how participants said others around them reacted to either the purchased object or experience. Experiences led to more happiness in others than purchases did. A sense of relatedness to others — getting closer to friends and family — may be one of the reasons why experiences generate more happiness.”
One of the reasons Margie and I enjoy taking people sailing is the ability to help make those memories. Our last sail had a pod of dolphins playing in our bow wave for 5 minutes as we sailed along at 6 knots. We see this quite often, but the excitement on the 11 and 14 year old boys faces make’s me sure this will be an experience they won’t soon forget.
Dolphins in front of the sailboat
Dolphins surfacing while under sail