My wife doesn’t get it.  She sees me running gleefully off to the marine parts store and she thinks I’m a kid with a new toy.  Yes, new Evinrude parts do offer a certain inexplicable excitement, but this isn’t a toy.  I don’t look at it the same way I do Call of Duty or my iPhone.  This is building and improving something that will teach my kids a skill.  This new winch or mercury outboard parts will show my boys how to tighten up the mainsail, or how to release the sheet before we tack. 

Learning to sail a boat is a thing of character.  The sea can’t be controlled or be bidden, and the harder you try to coil your mortal hands around its unruly strength, the faster it will rush through your fingers and foil you.  How could she not see that, not wish that for our boys?  The sea is a source of limitless calm and ultimate responsibility while still being an escape.  I mean, come on, it’s so much better than a video game! 

Being responsible for a boat, especially a boat that will carry my family, I may get excited about, but I take it very seriously.  I want to make sure everything is in tip top shape and best working order, because it is easy to get hurt.  That said, yes, I do have an obscene amount of fun.

Technorati Tags: call of duty, evinrude parts, Marine parts, mercury outboard parts