Life is full of people, signs and laws, telling me what
and what not to do. But I do find solace in being on the water. On the water I can temporarily participate
in a kind of anarchy. You may bring rules and conditions with you when you’re
on your boat, but I don’t, and I don’t recognize your baggage. The really
refreshing thing about this is that I get to be totally responsible for who I
am and what I do – it’s never anyone else’s fault that I’m confused, angry, frustrated
or not happy. I just make my own adjustments so there’s never a problem.
You can pass me to port or starboard or on whatever whistle
you like, but don’t expect me to bless your decision on the VHF. I don’t care
what speed you pass or how much wake you make because I have made my boat wakeproof.
I am courteous and tolerant so pretty much anything you do is OK by me unless you expect me
to comply with your expectations or obey your rules – remember, on the water I
don’t recognize any obligations, yours or anyone else’s. I’m out there to do my
own thing on my own time. I run aground on my own without blaming inaccurate
charts – I can find happiness waiting for a bridge to open no matter how long
it takes without voicing my intentions on the radio – I gladly pay whatever
price is asked for fuel when I need some – if I don’t like your marina, I don’t
complain, I just don’t go back – if you want to be an ahole about passing, I
let you – If I don't like what's going on around me I go someplace else - if the ICW traffic is uncomfortable, I go offshore - if you anchor too close I’ll move or we can raft.
