Picture This: Arrival
Arrival - Coming back to the dock after one of the first sails on our new boat last summer
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How to Tell if You've Arrived at the Port of Mid-Life Crisis*
" The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. " -Henry David Thoreau I remember as a kid occasionally hearing adults mention the term "mid-life crisis". Usually it was in reference to some 40-something balding male who just purchased a Corvette or quit his stable white-collar career to try his luck at professional fishing. I never knew what the term actually meant and I couldn't seem to identify any particular crisis. Corvettes are cool and fishing is fun, so what's the problem? It finally hit me just the other day: A mid-life crisis begins the moment you realize the value of time. The REAL value of time, not the monetary value of time. That sounds simple, right? It's not. Let me explain. You see, I've known for a long while that society has trained us to trade our time for money. You've known that most of your adult life too. For example, if you're a skilled craftsmen, you know you can get X dollars for
Sailboat Rigs According to Perry (Guest post by Bob Perry)
"I hate those cute names like “slutter” and “cutter rigged sloop” or the worst one, “cutter rigged ketch”. We already have all the terms we need to describe rigs that have been around for 200 years. A sloop is a sloop. If someone chooses to add a staysail it’s still a sloop." - Bob Perry (see below) Sailing can seem pretty intimidating if you're bound to learning it from a book. All of the rigging jargon, varieties of sails, and especially the rig types can feel overwhelming. Luckily, once you're on the water ghosting along on a summer zephyr, none of it seems as complex. But if you insist on figuring it out through reading, Bob Perry's words can fill your intellectual sails. Once again, it's my pleasure to welcome Bob back as a guest blogger here at SailFarLiveFree.com. Recently I asked Bob to share his insights into sailboat rig types. What follows is his thoughtful response. [Thanks, Bob! If you haven't read Bob's previous guest posts
Sailing a Serious Ocean - If you aspire to cross oceans, you'll want to read this book
"Those of us who sail aboard her are the lucky ones, the quixotic ones, the knights-errant of the sea." - John Kretschmer from Sailing a Serious Ocean I write as much as I can, most of it here on SailFarLiveFree.com . But when I’ve got free time (not often enough!), I’ll also spend time reading. Sometimes I read for motivation when I’ve got writer’s block. Sometimes it’s when I’m trying to research and learn. And occasionally, I get a chance to read for pleasure. John Kretschmer’s latest book, Sailing a Serious Ocean , was a rare find that combined all three occasions. What more could you ask for in a book than to be motivated, educated and entertained? I've read Kretschmer’s other books and found them to generally be worth the time, but his latest is a real crown jewel. John (or his editors) found a great balance between personal sailing stories, technical offshore sailing advice, and honest assessments of specific sailboats and gear. At first glance, the c