Oh, yes . . . sailboats are a distraction
Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013
Sailboats are clearly a distraction in the lives of sailors. At Good Old Boat we see a predictable and seasonal pattern in our readers’ attention spans. Once boat-launch season and summer rolls around, you submit fewer articles, write fewer email messages to us, list fewer boats in our classifieds, visit our website less often, and buy fewer T-shirts and back issues. We’re on to your habits. This is even true if you happen to live in Florida or Texas or along the Gulf Coast, where — we’re reminded regularly — the seasons are reversed.
My observation is that they’re extended, yes, but reversed? Not exactly. Northerners know you have winter down south. We’ve all shown up as tourists there with nothing but a bathing suit, shorts, and a few T-shirts, only to learn the truth about Florida’s (and other states’) winters.
My argument stands. In the height of winter (let’s say December through February), we hear a whole lot more from our readers, including those many miles south of the Mason-Dixon line. Likewise, in the height of summer (that’d be June through August), we lose touch with those who know without a doubt that their season is short and over all too soon.
Once our boats are launched (or, with a nod to the southerners, even if their boats have been left in the water year-round but are now actively in use once more), the volume of communication drops precipitously. We’re OK with this. After the first year or two in this business, we learned that the company wasn’t going under when summer arrived. We learned to hold our breath and you’d all come roaring back by late fall (or perhaps a bit later for those folks with enviably long sailing seasons).
Once we understood the trend, it worked out for us. What’s going on is that your sailboats distract you. The short season in which to use your sailboats causes you to look outside for things to do, as long as it’s not mowing the lawn. Gone is your interest in hiding behind your computer to escape the blustery winds. Your energies are instead diverted toward sailboat tasks, no matter how mundane, and to hoisting your sails to catch every cat’s-paw. This works out beautifully for the crew at Good Old Boat. For the most part, we’re scattered all over the United States and Canada working in our home offices. The vast majority of us are located “more or less northish” and are subject to the same seasonal compulsion. Your distraction with your boats means that we can feel free to be distracted by ours. We’re not lonely. Your absence gives us the time we need for sailing too.
Based on 15 years of observations of “sailorly habits,” my postulation is that our sailboats are a distraction. But part two of my theory is that they’re an incredibly valuable distraction. Our sailboats offer a way to get away from the computers, the stresses of our jobs, families, and the news. Many of us even sail out of range of our cell phones regularly, truly a blessing in disguise. Our sailboats are a way to delay any responsibility for mowing the grass, tending the yard, maintaining the house. They are without a doubt our getaway vessels.
Our sailboats offer an important distraction and means of escape to a world where priorities are clear and the number of channels competing for our attention is reduced to the few that matter. Out on the water is where we have the solitude to ponder, to think creatively, and to focus on what’s really important in our lives.
Sailboats are indeed a distraction of the very best kind. For my part — since I know this attention-span deficit is temporary and that you will rediscover Good Old Boat and the thread between us when the north winds begin to blow — I will savor the quiet season and revel in every day on the water.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
