Nautical lessons from the grocery store toothpaste aisle
Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007
It was February as I prepared the May/June issue you’re holding in your hands, so forgive me if my nautical ramblings were inspired by a mundane visit to the grocery store. Still, while my inspiration began at the grocery store, all things have parallels in our sailing lives. All things.
I usually complain to the equally baffled stranger standing next to me at the toothpaste display. You’ve been there. Each brand offers versions with gel or paste, tartar control, fluoride, extra whiteners, stripes, and sparkles. At the risk of sounding old, it used to be a matter of choosing Crest or Colgate. What happened?
Whatever it was, it also occurred in other sections of the store. Take salad dressings, or have a look in the bread aisle. Try to buy a simple box of plastic storage bags. Ice cream! All right, I will sound old: I remember when ice cream came in vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate (and the chocolate wasn’t all that outstanding either, compared with today’s flavors to die for). So while we’re drowning in the sea of over-choice, some of the “New! Improved! products” have, indeed, been an improvement.
Nonetheless, it is possible that — when in search of that little point of difference — maybe the marketing folks went too far. Worse, I don’t think they’re done yet. I imagine a marketing professional standing behind a one-way mirror at the grocery store analyzing my every move. Which product did I look at first? Then where did my eyes travel? What did I eventually choose? How long did I stand there absolutely frozen by indecision?
We’re guilty too
And who am I to talk? Nine years ago, my husband and I started a sailing magazine — another sailing magazine in a world full of sailing magazines . . . a magazine that was not about new boats, the latest must-have gadgets, or how to go deeper in debt while somehow acquiring the illusion of being safer, sexier, or more up-to-date than the next sailor. We thought people would respond to a magazine that was not about owning the largest sailboat, traveling to the season’s hottest cruising destinations, or full of the latest news about the America’s Cup.
Respond they did. It has been a very satisfying adventure so far. We didn’t go too far, I hope, in carving out a special niche of very special sailors: the do-it-yourself types who love and maintain a sailboat from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, or even into the 2000s.
Every special use
If you go off in search of the perfect sailboat, your dream boat, you will reach this same conclusion: there are specialized sailboats available for every use. There are sailboats that will sail the ocean blue and there are coastal cruisers. There are sailboats that go very fast (speed being a relative term, you understand) and sailboats that aren’t all that fast but much more comfortable. There are sailboats that can get you into thin water, sailboats that point like a witch, sailboats you can trailer so you can have variety in your sailing life, and sailboats that are car-toppable and lightweight so the launch is simple. Some can be drawn up on the beach. Some can be lived aboard. Some can be singlehanded. Some are for relaxing and simply whiling away the hours. Some are for the guy in search of extreme sports. But none do it all, unfortunately.
Eventually, you must match your lifestyle and the sailing that you do to the boat that works best for you. Eventually you must (even while faced with so many good old boats) choose one and make it yours. In fact, depending upon the size and age and condition of the boats and your own energy level and aptitude for maintenance, it’s possible to own a fleet. You’re not really limited to just one. Because these boats are such bargains, some people shopping in the used-boat market simply can’t help themselves.
Shoppers for good old boats are confronted with all the problems caused by over-choice that we face at the grocery store toothpaste display. In fact, maybe the grocery store is a good training ground for buying a boat on the used market. Once you’ve figured out the advantages and disadvantages of each toothpaste offering, it is time to make a decision and move on. You can’t stay there frozen by indecision forever. When it comes to your boat purchase, you will have made some compromises. However, with an older-model sailboat, at least you’ll have fewer regrets if you find the one that most closely meets your needs and then set about with a toolbox to modify it so it will become exactly what you’d hoped.
Our magazine is here to help you make those modifications and look at it this way: the marketing people aren’t standing somewhere with a one-way mirror analyzing your every move!
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
