But it's not just sailboats. It's all boats. I didn't grow up in a ski-boating family, but I had plenty of friends who did. For them, every day of summer was all about waterskiing and tubing and then later wakeboarding; spending their summers at the lake was their greatest joy. I always loved joining in, but we didn't have a boat so I couldn't quite relate to this particular boat culture.
We did, however, have a driftboat. And while it's a totally different kind of boat life, it is one of a kind nonetheless. River floating trips where the boys would fish with my dad and mom and I would play cards on the shore. Setting up camp, praying like hell you didn't sleep near the rattlesnakes. Pretending I was strong enough to row the boat. Pretending I was responsible enough to help dad clean up after the long drive home from the Deschutes. These memories are a big part of my upbringing and they are unique to a certain kind of boater: a fisherman, a river man, a quiet man. My dad was these things and he shared them with us.
Now we have a crabbing boat at the beach and it's the same exact story. The joy we feel when we're on the boat is incomparable. White water rafters. Kayakers. Yachters. They feel it too. There's just something about being on the water that can't be beat and we all know it.
I spent last weekend on my friend's family's boat (sans the family and plus all our friends) and it was one of the best weekends of my life. Vodka lemonades, endless smokes, dives in the water, wind in your hair when the gas is on heavy, sun frying you when the anchor is down. Watching the sunset from the bow. Watching the wake from the stern. Dreading the drive back to shore. Dreading the goodbye to the sun and to your loves. Waking up lonely with sea legs when the weekend is gone, staring at your computer as it rocks back and forth with memories of the river.
Boat life is a magnificent one. I'm currently taking sailing lessons with the plan that one day I'm going to fall in love with somebody who wants to buy a boat, take off for months at a time and be sailors to our core.
My life, my love, my lady... is the sea.
