Greetings SSSers. I am out doing my Navy thing and just generally missing sailing and solo sailing in particular. You can't be a solo sailor and near the ocean and not look out at the water and think about sailing all the time. When it's snotty outside, I'll admit I'm happy to be on a big ship, and nothing goes upwind like a boat with 1000' of waterline and two nuclear reactors.
I am sure I will never make the California to Hawaii run faster than I've done it on 'work trips' but I still think about it all the time. Barcanova is getting occasional visits from my family and friends, but she has got to be annoyed at her skipper's lack of attention. How's the racing been going? Looks like the 3BF this year was a slow one... I have to admit, it was super exhilarating to race in last year's singlehanded-only monster and hope that someday I'll again get to square up against 124 other singlehanders at the same time!
When I'm afloat out here, I tend to spend some free time working out on a rower that's outside the skin of the ship, where I can stare at the water and think about solo sailing. I have been thinking a lot about how to get some more people on the water. I think everyone's intimately aware of the super-high barrier to entry for our sport ($$$$$) and it is a hard problem to work through. When I was in my early 30s, I bought a Moore 24 with eyes towards the SHTP. It didn't take very much grade school level math to determine that I did not have the resources to compete, or even complete the course safely, to say nothing of the time required to prepare and sail. Nearly ten years later, I think I could probably pull it off on a Moore, but I got a much bigger boat... and having stepped into my old Moore recently, I think it's safe to say it's going to be hard to go back! The running costs and time required to play this game are really problematic for working stiffs. I haven't fully made up my mind about 2023, but I suspect I will conclude that racing would be a financially irresponsible move. I guess I could try to raise some cash, but it sure seems selfish in this day and age for a guy to beg for scratch to use on a cause as frivolous as a yacht race--setting the 'accomplishing your dreams' factor aside, anyway. I am sure I will be able to get over the money bar with a little patience. So, anyway, here's what I came up with:
1) When I get old and hopefully can pull it off, I'm going to buy a cheap little toy like a Moore or something to that effect. Then, I'm going to find someone like myself ten years ago and put the boat in their hands and say, "Here, go racing." So there's one more boat on the water and it probably makes a lifer out of that guy/gal, too.
2) I think it'd be cool to one day create a little stash of the 'pricey bits' that keep people off the water. Think liferafts, satcoms, autopilots, ect. I'd imagine our community could probably pool some stuff like this easily enough. Then, if we spot a dreamer who's just a little short of getting to the start line, we can loan him/her some gadgets. Probably the most valuable thing we can loan out is time and expertise in prep, and I've met very few singlehanders who didn't love to chip in a little with that sort of stuff. I (and Barcanova!) have certainly been the beneficiary of much of that sort of aid! With a little organization, the combination of gear, knowledge, and time probably gets another couple of young guns (or other first-timers; I'm not ageist!) out on the water, too.
3) On another note entirely--I hope the younger generations do better than I, or my father's generation, at figuring out what a balanced life looks like earlier on than he or I did. All work and no play does indeed make Jack a dull boy.
I wrote all of this down and posted it here so that one of you can catch me in ten years and say, "Hey, did you ever try to do that stuff you said you were going to do ten years ago?" Accountability! Hold my feet to the fire lest I risk shaming myself by saying, "Nope, I decided to get into small planes instead and blew all that cash...."
I am sure I will never make the California to Hawaii run faster than I've done it on 'work trips' but I still think about it all the time. Barcanova is getting occasional visits from my family and friends, but she has got to be annoyed at her skipper's lack of attention. How's the racing been going? Looks like the 3BF this year was a slow one... I have to admit, it was super exhilarating to race in last year's singlehanded-only monster and hope that someday I'll again get to square up against 124 other singlehanders at the same time!
When I'm afloat out here, I tend to spend some free time working out on a rower that's outside the skin of the ship, where I can stare at the water and think about solo sailing. I have been thinking a lot about how to get some more people on the water. I think everyone's intimately aware of the super-high barrier to entry for our sport ($$$$$) and it is a hard problem to work through. When I was in my early 30s, I bought a Moore 24 with eyes towards the SHTP. It didn't take very much grade school level math to determine that I did not have the resources to compete, or even complete the course safely, to say nothing of the time required to prepare and sail. Nearly ten years later, I think I could probably pull it off on a Moore, but I got a much bigger boat... and having stepped into my old Moore recently, I think it's safe to say it's going to be hard to go back! The running costs and time required to play this game are really problematic for working stiffs. I haven't fully made up my mind about 2023, but I suspect I will conclude that racing would be a financially irresponsible move. I guess I could try to raise some cash, but it sure seems selfish in this day and age for a guy to beg for scratch to use on a cause as frivolous as a yacht race--setting the 'accomplishing your dreams' factor aside, anyway. I am sure I will be able to get over the money bar with a little patience. So, anyway, here's what I came up with:
1) When I get old and hopefully can pull it off, I'm going to buy a cheap little toy like a Moore or something to that effect. Then, I'm going to find someone like myself ten years ago and put the boat in their hands and say, "Here, go racing." So there's one more boat on the water and it probably makes a lifer out of that guy/gal, too.
2) I think it'd be cool to one day create a little stash of the 'pricey bits' that keep people off the water. Think liferafts, satcoms, autopilots, ect. I'd imagine our community could probably pool some stuff like this easily enough. Then, if we spot a dreamer who's just a little short of getting to the start line, we can loan him/her some gadgets. Probably the most valuable thing we can loan out is time and expertise in prep, and I've met very few singlehanders who didn't love to chip in a little with that sort of stuff. I (and Barcanova!) have certainly been the beneficiary of much of that sort of aid! With a little organization, the combination of gear, knowledge, and time probably gets another couple of young guns (or other first-timers; I'm not ageist!) out on the water, too.
3) On another note entirely--I hope the younger generations do better than I, or my father's generation, at figuring out what a balanced life looks like earlier on than he or I did. All work and no play does indeed make Jack a dull boy.
I wrote all of this down and posted it here so that one of you can catch me in ten years and say, "Hey, did you ever try to do that stuff you said you were going to do ten years ago?" Accountability! Hold my feet to the fire lest I risk shaming myself by saying, "Nope, I decided to get into small planes instead and blew all that cash...."
