Scott Vernon wrote:

The difference that you're missing, as I see it, is, these guys are on boats
while at work. You need to compare this to Simps former job as postman/sewer
worker, whatever he was.

Good point. I hadn't thought much about the fact that Nil spent his
working life in a miserable and unrewarding existence and needed
desparately to escape to his fantasy role of mariner in order to
survive. He probably lacked the courage or spirit to go to sea, or maybe
he tried and failed, and is bitter about his fate.

It must rip his guts out to know that we make a very good living doing
what he can only read about on the net. It must be Hell for him to know
that we not only travel the world by sea as a career but also own and
sail our own boats. It must be even more an assault to his ego that we
don't differntiate between sail or moter, they are all boats our manhood
is not measured by the manner of propulsion. His fantasy world requires
him to create his pecking order so that he might assume a higher level
than reality has assigned him ... in the bilges of a broken plastic
trailer boat, without a trailer or a car to tow it.

Most pleasure boaters just take pleasure in boating. Nil seems bent on
convincing us that he is some kind of professional, another Slocum,
Jones, or someone he can never be. The people he pretends to be don't
need to play the role he plays. They just do it, quietly, with great
delight. He is neither quiet nor does he seem to delight in his hobby.
It has become as much of a strain as the drudgery of his past employment.

When his ego is so fragile as to balance on the price of a discontinued
GPS there really isn't much more that one need say on the subject.

It would be sad if it were anyone other than Nil.

Rick