Cast off those chains nicely please
June 10, 2021
On Saturday, my boat finally splashed. You could tell it was happy and I was too. This has been painful. Nonetheless, I have not yet left the dock nor had a social moment aboard. My excitement has been limited to standing and admiring the scene while thanking the boat gods for vaccines and declining case numbers.
You are likely experiencing something similar as marinas and boat clubs gingerly step forward amid caution and distancing signs. There is a collective sigh of relief heard across the land because the timing of the delayed launch appears to coincide with a national heat wave. It would have been infuriating to sizzle on the hard with the escape boat stuck in its cradle. I’m grateful for getting this far.
Patience has been stretched well past the limit and our mind reading talents used to anticipate what the authorities will do next have been expended. But here we are – it is what it is to use that over-used cliché.
We have seen as the beaches and parks open the pent-up public has gone somewhat nuts packing all available space and pretending everything is back to normal when it clearly is not. Because of all this lockdown business, the level of chaos now is sometimes hitting high levels of rowdiness that wouldn’t be expected in a normal summer. At this writing there are still too many cases to allow this kind of shenanigans. Hospitals continue to be strained and the border remains closed both to travel and boating. It’s not over until the fat virus sings.
So as you cast off literally as well as figuratively, it would be really terrific if we can go boating with some constraint. A fourth wave would be no fun at all and perhaps by keeping our wake down we can avoid contributing to any more of this. I am confident we have all had enough so let’s hope the boating community can differentiate itself with good manners and lots of best practices.
