I’ve never been much of a boater. I’ve swallowed a lot of lake water over the years and boating, to me, has either meant speeding on someone’s silly-fast machine with a frightened perma-grin on my face or paddling a canoe a few dozen metres before turning around and paddling it back. I’ve had some experiences that don’t fit either category, but they’ve been few.
This summer, we’ve had two boating outings and they’ve both been wonderful. Yesterday we spent several hours aboard a gorgeous sailboat on beautiful Lake Huron, leaping in for refreshing swims and lounging around and talking about life with some good friends. Our previous outing was aboard a cabin cruiser – also lovely. In fact, if we are ever shopping for our own craft, I won’t be opting for a sailboat – too much work!
And that’s the point. I can actually see the wisdom of having one’s own boat, where I really couldn’t before. It’s a floating cottage. A slip in the harbour at Bayfield, for example, becomes your cottage lot. You can start your cottage up and take it out on any waterway you choose! You have many of the comforts of home and if you don’t, you pull ashore and get them. Dropping anchor in the lake and diving off for a swim beats a pool any day. It’s a way of life with a lot of protocol and fascination. It also takes a lot of money so I don’t have my heart set on one but I can see its allure. Our friends with the sailboat just returned after a month of floating exploration and it sounds like it was glorious. Finally, I get it.