Happiness is a New Deck Brush….

As long as you didn’t get sucked into buying it at W#@$  Marine.

In fact, I did not buy a deck brush. I bought a roofing brush. What one normally uses a roofing brush for, I cannot say. I live under a deck, so roofing is alien to me. But this I do know. A “deck brush” will set the cruising budget back some $30 or more. A “roofing brush” will fly off the shelf at your neighborhood mom & pop hardware store for $4.50. I guess the concept is that if you take shelter under a deck, you must be rich and therefore ripe for the plucking, but if you need to fix your own roof, you deserve financial mercy. Actually. I don’t know that anyone has thought it through that way. I only know how it looks from my vantage point.

And please don’t take this the wrong way , but I have to admit that I feel pretty intense pity when I see the modern “well dressed” weekend crowd with the ubiquitous oval “W” logo on everything from the dinghy to the purse dog life vest. After you’ve been out a while, it really does sort of become the calling card of the sheep led to slaughter, except the sheep would be smart enough not to brag after being fleeced. Now I’m not rallying to boycott the mega stores. I’m just astounded that it’s taking so long for them to fall of their pedestal and I don’t think it speaks well of the overall awareness of the boating demographic.

Am I the only one who's noticed that the retail kingpins in both the general merchandise and marine retail markets start with "W"? At least general shopping public has been sucked in by the relatively honest tactic of selling low grade stuff for low prices. Baffling that the marine "W" has been so successful at selling lower grade for higher price.

Anyway, It’s not that I derive pleasure from swabbing the decks. It’s just that I feel a little less put upon doing so with a $4 brush than I would with a $30 one. So if you see me pause  my swabbing to watch the catalog poster dinghy go by, I’m not shaking my head in disapproval so much as true sympathy.

On Anchors….And Religion

For a long time I’ve had a theory about similarities between ground tackle choice and religious bent. When my trusted 45lb CQR dragged in a squall in Newport earlier this summer, the resulting shock waves revealed the cracks in the foundation of my ground tackle temple….

I was asked at a presentation I did aboard Charis once, why I had so many anchors and why they seemed so large for the boat. I answered that I liked to sleep soundly. I reasoned that the difficulty of retrieving heavy ground tackle occupies but a tiny percentage of the time one spends secured to the bottom with it. But I know there was more to it than that. Having different types and sizes of anchor is recognition that there is no universal truth in the matter. It’s an admission that perhaps each has its strengths and hence weaknesses. It is a sort of nautical Universalism.

Part of this theory has evolved along the way as a reaction to the frequent cruiser discussion topic known as the anchor. Time has taught me that the more dogmatic someone is in their gear choice, chances are, the less technically versed they are in it. My reaction, having always been sort of an obstinate human, is doubt in direct proportion to dogma. The best of these conversations are with other techno-types who leave behind the superiority complex and delve straight into the actual features and functions of each anchor type. There needs to be an element of admission of failure to validate the claims to success. This is sort of sermonizing that one can learn from. And really, learning is the key, because it really all boils down to this:

Worship not thy anchor. It is nearer human than deity in that each one has its strengths and weakness. Every one will prove fickle if you do not handle it sensibly. Some will serve well in one situation but abandon you in others. Some will inspire your faith and be your rock of Gibraltar. Some will inspire less confidence. Just remember, even rocks move sometimes.

So go forth….and stay put. Especially if you’re the boat upwind of me. Not that I mind you visiting. I just prefer you arrive in your dinghy.