Great Post. I hope to be that old man some day. At least he isn't standing
there on the dock saying I wish I would have done it. MORE POWER TO HIM



"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
I met a real character today.

The folks at C-Dory marine got me together with a customer to whom they
just
delivered a new 25-footer. We whizzed around Puget Sound for a while so I
could
make some notes on performance, ride, and handling.

The guy just got laid off from Boeing, so he's going back to college to
learn a
new trade. He's going to be a massage therapist.

He's 73 years young!

He just stepped up to the 25-footer from his previous boat, a C-Dory 22.

I asked why he had decided to go to a bigger boat, and this is his story:

"I went into the Coast Guard in 1947, at the ripe old age of 17. Five
other
guys and I took an 83-foot cutter from Seattle to Ketchikan, and that was
really the first time I'd ever been up the coast. I swore right then and
there
that if I ever had the money to be able to afford my own boat, I was going
to
duplicate that voyage from Seattle to Alaska. A few years ago, I finally
had
the money together and I bought the 22-footer. After I got it, I realized
that
I would want a little bit larger boat- and particularly something with a
permanent head and a shower stall. So I'm heading to Alaska in the 25. It
looks
like it's going to be 2005 before I go though, my massage therapist
classes run
through the summer of 2004."

Once in a while it's refreshing to stop and contemplate just how much this
pastime can mean to a person. :-)