Fearless
Passions

Do you remember Fisher-Price Weebles that wobble? Yeah, well there are two different types of boats.

The Weebles or what we refer to as floating bath-tubs and us.

Ha! Well, I have to say, it may sound as if I’m judgmental, and I probably am. I don’t want to paint all motor vessels with the same brush, but every once in awhile you get the rogue Captain making a bad name for them all.

This is especially prevalent in the Intracoastal waterway where we all share a very narrow and shallow space. It’s like taking a Sunday drive to look at the fall colors on the back roads and getting some yokel out in his sports car zooming way too fast and not taking any notice of the nature around him or the other drivers on the road.

I have to say, this fall we’ve experiences a much nicer group heading south. The large mega yachts are early enough to slow down for the slower vessels on the road, i.e. us. When we hit the open spaces and turn off the engine to put up sails, we usually don’t have any trouble tacking back and forth. To a motor yacht, we probably look like a drunken sailor. To us, we’re using the wind to zig zag our way south. Not a fast maneuver, but one that is green and clean.

We make use of the wind and as the saying goes, “Gentlemen never spit to windward.” Sailboats don’t go to wind either. So if the wind is coming from the direction you want to go, you have to sail as close to the wind as possible, and we never seem to follow a straight line.

Now, let’s look at those vessels who only have their motors to propel them forward. These folks program their chart plotters to follow the dots. One day marker to the next, effectively following the shortest course possible. Thus the trouble started for us.

Tuesday we were taking the slow and steady, wind generated path and had to hail one of those floating bathtubs. Nice looking boat by-the-way, but on a collision course with our beloved Fawkes. As the kinder, gentler crew member, I picked up the radio and hailed the captain, twice. Finally I got an answer back.

I tried to explain we were under sail and tacking across the river. He asked, “Are you heading down the ICW?”

I looked a the captain with a bemused look and tried again. “We are heading south and tacking across the river. You are on a collision course with us at this time, what are your intentions?”

Dead silence met my comments and finally a very disgruntled voice said, “Don’t worry, we’ll avoid you.” It took several more minutes where impact was inevitable as the Captain and I were sure he was going to race us to the finish line, when finally he took a much more cordial course astern of us.

I’m sure he wasn’t a happy camper.

1) He obviously wasn’t at the helm watching the waterway.

2) He had to interrupt his chart plotter program and then re-program after passing astern. Did I mention he probably had 30 minutes to see us before the ultimate collision?

3) I’m going to assume he felt bad because he wasn’t paying attention, not that he was angry with us for being on this course and giving him plenty of time to change his position. At least I like to think that’s what happened.

There are rules of the road for everyone. Just because you have a faster car, doesn’t mean you can run over a pedestrian. We’re the pedestrians of the waterway when under sail, we have less time to react and less maneuverability.

It’s not always about moving vehicles that get in our way or try to run us over. What part of your life would you like to slow down? Who’s pushing you to race to the finish line?