Thank you, sir! Glad somebody understands
my point.

I didn't really expect the tugboat captains
to understand but my love of the sea is so
great that I thought I'd give them a chance
to see how they are but glorified truck drivers
and far less a sailor than even week-end
sailors, for example, who go to sea only
a day or so at a time.

It is really a shame that they are so afraid
to be on their own that they have to surround
themselves with an entire crew of people and
tons and tons of metal driven in haste, noise
and polluted air that totally divorces them
from any real intimacy with Mother Nature at
her finest - the open ocean experienced up
close and personal.

S.Simon - Master Mariner and USCG licensed
Merchant Marine Officer who's
happier sailing his small yacht than
commanding the largest ship of the line.


"Scrappie" wrote in message ink.net...
Excellent reasoning Simon!

Nothing beats taking to the sea, singlehanded in a small craft. These
tugboats captains just live and work on board a spartan ocean liner. The
ship is too big and too far removed from the water to give them any sense of
the sea. It's the same as an airline pilot claiming he is a bird.

Scrappie

"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
I've come to a conclusion after having to deal
with the likes of Shen44, otnmbrd, and RickyTugs
and some others this past year or so that perhaps
I have misjudged their motives.

I think I owe them all an apology because I
underestimated their love of the sea. It dawned
on me as I was pedaling to the store a little while
ago that, given all their other shortcomings and
faults, their love of the sea must be a match or
greater than that of the average sailor.

Why did I come to this conclusion? Easy.

Just examine what they do. They sit in a
wheelhouse surrounded by modern technology.
They breath air-conditioned air full of noxious
fumes from the operation of the ship. They
are subject to constant vibration and unnatural
motion. Noise is a constant companion. They even
admit to becoming seasick on a regular basis.
They spend their time alternately gazing at a
radar screen a Playboy Magazine and perhaps
a video tape or television.

If they are willing to ruin their health and
well-being and put up with such conditions just
to say they work at sea then they must truly
love the sea in order to sacrifice everything
to it.

What one must wonder, though, is why is it
they are either too stupid or too afraid to go
to sea in a small sailing yacht where they can
commune with their love of the sea and actually
enjoy what they're doing being close to the sea
in a healthy and challenging environment.

Go figure!

S.Simon - Master Mariner