Friday, April 25, 2014

I suspect I may not be in the best of moods today...

A hobbit analogy, why you might want to read this book, and the word for today is d-i-v-e-s-t-m-e-n-t...

The other day I got the new issue of Sail magazine which was even more disappointing than usual.

For the record, I was actually looking forward to it as I'd heard there was going to be a good article about doing the Panama Canal... Sadly, it turned out to be just another puff piece more about big buck cruising with the World Arc than the canal.

Worse, there was an editorial of sorts about the need for laws to make us all wear PFDs whenever we are on our boats. I'm sure it was written with the best of intentions but, as someone who lives on his boat 365 days a year, I'm uncomfortable with any new laws that may be interpreted by law enforcement agencies to mean that I have to wear my PFD while sitting in the cockpit at anchor, cooking dinner, or sleeping.

By the way, if you don't think well intentioned laws wind up being enforced ass-backwards you have not been reading the news for the last decade or so...

Of course, if you really wanted to radically cut back on boating accidents simply outlaw power boats under 26 feet which is where the bulk of fatalities occur. Or, here's a thought, actually enforce the existing laws that are already on the books.

I really need to make another cup of coffee.

Listening to the Youngbloods

So it goes...