I don’t think Lao Tzu got it right when he wrote in the Tao Te Ching: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” All my long cruises began with a daydream, an idea that captured my imagination and made every step possible. Those that kept their hold on me pleasantly occupied my thoughts for months if not years and carried me through whatever work I had to do to bring that daydream to life, even if it meant devoting the best part of a year to building a boat, carving oars, and sewing sails.It's not likely that I will take any cruises as long as those I did in my late 20s and early 30s, but even the least ambitious of my boating endeavors now begin with daydreams that knit ordinary days and weeks together with a sense of purpose.
It was late in the afternoon of the last day of October last year when it first occurred to me, here on a backwater of Lake Washington, that my recently acquired Piccolo canoe could be a very pleasant place to nap or even sleep on an overnight cruise.
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“But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”
First thought: rigging, launching, rowing, and sailing a small boat seems to have endless opportunities for head injuries. I came within a whisker of buying a climbing helmet a few weeks ago. Perhaps these might warrant consideration for a review article?
Second: as a very green boat-owner, I had a friend help me get my Catalina 21 off its mooring and onto the trailer. My friend showed up in his 40’s era Internal Harvester pickup truck, not his Toyota Highlander. It was a calamity-filled day that included (but was in no way limited to) a parking brake failure on the ramp, a dead battery on the ramp, a cracked cabin top when lowering the mast, and ultimately a rear wheel flying off the when the axle broke.
When I saw him the next day I commented that it was quite an experience. He replied, unruffled, “Naw, just a typical day boating.”
And yet, we keep coming back.
Ahh, the real world… easy does it old man.
Pretty soon Washington will have us in HELMET IN THE SHOWER. I have paddled Interior Alaska in the bush for years and seldom came across people. Common Sense will beat a helmet any day.
Reminds me of the time….. Oh, so many times.
Yet we go back out.