An enlightening read, a worthwhile endeavour, and a bill in California that deserves support...
Having followed the world of sailing and cruising for longer than I care to admit is that, as a whole, it's a herd animal mindset.
Forget those old guys with the wispy ponytails going on about how cruisers are open-minded free spirits and sea gypsies. Sure, they talk the talk but show them someone doing something a little different from the norm and they go all judge and jury on their asses... I recall sitting in a bar in Las Palmas hearing just such a "we're all sea gypsies and free spirits" rap when the guy turned to me and asked me what sort of anchor we had and when he heard our ground tackle of choice, turned away from us with the words...
The herd likes to stay within its norms.
Not all that many years ago, the herd was not really open to multihulls and our beer-swilling ponytailed old fart would tell you that cats and tris were unsafe death traps and an abomination to the very core of nautical tradition. Hardly surprising as the sailing magazines looked on multihulls in the same way and would continue to until a couple big charter companies bought some catamarans and, not wanting to offend an advertiser with deep pockets, all of a sudden cats overnight became the new hip thing.
Herds like to be led...
I was mulling this over because a friend of mine is wanting to downsize and is seriously considering buying a shoal draft sharpie which, in fact, is a pretty cool design I've mentioned before and he desired my opinion...
I relayed that I thought the boat was an excellent design and certainly able to take him anywhere he wanted to go, as well as fulfilling all his stated wants and needs extremely well but there was a downside...
It's a different boat.
Fact is, anyone sailing or cruising such a boat will find they are the most talked about boat in any anchorage and little of it will be good. Sad to say in any community there are always some mean-spirited folks and the cruising community has more than its fair share.
Personally, I have a pretty thick skin and criticism from folks who don't have a clue does not overly bother me though it does become tiresome and, as such, it should be a factor for my friend to consider.
On the plus side, having such a boat is something of an instant litmus test for open-minded/close-minded when you meet new people because their reaction tells you all you need about someone.
Listening to Zachary Richard
So it goes
