On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:45:06 -0700, Ellen MacArthur wrote
(in article ews.net):


"Slippery when wet" wrote
My wife and I live aboard, our boat IS our house.

Why not live in a real house?

I've done that, now I want to live aboard my sailboat.

Why do YOU do what you want instead of something you don't want to do?

Why not leave sailing and anchorages to
sailboats?

I HAVE a sailboat.

Why don't YOU leave anchorages to those living aboard their sailboats?

I COULD complain about all the anchorages being full of little plastic toy
boats but I don't OWN the anchorages so, unlike you, I don't feel it's my
right to complain about who else is there or ask them to leave because I have
a problem with them being there.

How would you like it if you DID live in a nice house and somebody built a
factory on
the lot next door. What if the factory made constant noise (wind
generators).
What
if it put smoke out of smokestacks (diesel exhaust fumes). What if it
expanded into
your back yard (dragging anchors or anchoring too close). What if it had
trucks
running fast through your back yard and right under your bedroom windows
(motorized tenders). Get my point?

Unlike a nice house, my sailboat can be moved if, for whatever reason, I am
unhappy where I am.

If the neighbors are loud and obnoxious (radios blaring, drunks yelling), I
move.

If someone begins anchoring too close to me, I ask them politely to anchor
farther away. Most of the time that solves the problem, but if they refuse,
I move.

If the neighbors are smelly (running diesels upwind to charge batteries) I go
for a hike or go snorkeling, or do something somewhere else till they're
finished, it doesn't last forever.

If others run their tenders too close to my boat or display any number of
other obnoxious habits that indicate they just don't have a clue or just
don't care about anyone but themselves, I remind myself that I don't own the
anchorage, that it's best to accept what I can't change, that I COULD be
stuck in traffic on some freeway, but instead I'm lucky enough to be on a
beautiful sailboat in a beautiful anchorage, and to relax and not let minor
irritations ruin my day.

Moving my boat because of self absorbed, ignorant, and/or obnoxious neighbors
is an aggravation, but preferable to not moving it.


I'm hearing a lot of frustration and anger.

I'm supposed to be happy about it? Duh!

I wasn't implying you should be happy about it, but I'll bet feeling
frustrated and angry hasn't done a thing to make the situation better.

Perhaps you've heard of "The Serenity Prayer".

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage
to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."

Why do you sail if it's such a negative experience for you?

Some of us sail to get away from it all. That's why I sail. That's why
I hate it when other people are so rude that they bring it all with them
and impose it on me.....

So now I'm "rude" if I live aboard my boat and have the audacity to anchor in
an anchorage with people who don't live aboard?

Maybe you should be reminded that YOU don't own the anchorages either, and
some might consider it rude to behave as if you do.

If you thought a sailboat was a ticket to a world free of obnoxious,
selfish,
and/or ignorant people, you must relatively young and inexperienced.

Or maybe I just expect people to be a little more considerate of others.

Why, has that been your experience on land?

My experience has been that some people are considerate of others and some
aren't.

It's just a matter of living the golden rule.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Am I to understand that you would have me post articles in which I call you
rude for choosing a lifestyle different from mine?

There's no real excuse to impose
upon others.

You mean like asking others to stay "far, far away" and "out of sight" from a
place which is open to anyone with a boat?

If you impose on others your dumb or rude or selfish....

Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.


Cheers,
Ellen

Cheers,