Issue 3 : Nov/Dec 1998
My refrain in recent months has been the theme from Barbra Streisand’s song “Secondhand Rose:” “I never had a thing that ain’t been used.” In the tradition of Secondhand Rose, I have a good old boat, a good old car, a good old house, even a good old husband. None of them is working as well as it used to. All need a little extra maintenance, patience, and tender loving care. They have become idiosyncratic. You have to learn to live with them. Unlike Rose, I understand their ways and love them all dearly.
Older equipment means a simpler, less high-tech, more manual lifestyle. I have a manual camera which requires that I turn the knobs, focus the subject, push the button, and make the decisions … incorrect and too late though they may sometimes be. I’ve seen fancier computerized cameras that do everything but point and click for you. A miniature screen gives you information on what settings you’ve selected and choices they’re making on your behalf. I fear I’ll lose track of the plethora of possible settings and eventually have no understanding or control of the end result … even though it is usually correct and always fast.
My older car is manual, too. I hadn’t noticed all the things the newer cars could do until my son bought one: electric door locks, windows and seat belts, automatic transmission, of course, and more. Interior lights dim slowly after the car is turned off. I constantly fight the seat belt that is set in motion every time I open or close a door. This car does everything but drive for you. Some of the newer ones have navigation, and they’ll be following car lanes soon, too, I hear.
And, of course we have a manual boat. Winches are tailed by Karen or Jerry. Anchors are raised hand over hand. Jibs are raised with the help of hanks and halyards. (And we never have the right jib up for the conditions of the moment, sailing in and among islands as we do.) Both halyards are led conveniently — to the base of the mast, rather than to the cockpit. But that doesn’t matter. We’re on deck all the time anyway for one reason or another — usually to change the headsail the old-fashioned way.
Did I mention that, like my used house and recycled husband, I love my manual camera, car, and boat dearly? I wouldn’t trade any of them.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
