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Bruce in Bangkok[_7_]

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:49:48 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:30:13 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:26:57 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:07:54 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

Thus, Skip is right there with the rest of us. Except he is out there
doing it and the nay sayers are sitting at home.

Maybe because they aren't prepared yet. Gotta be ready.
Can't have anything go wrong. Must be shipshape.
Just not quite ready. Few things to take care of first.
Won't be long. Have to be patient. Why take any chances?
Could lead to disaster. Or even embarrassment.
Must be a good sailor, so want all just right.
Anything less would be lubberly.
Now, my legs are just right on the ottoman.
Gimme another beer. And turn on the light - it's getting dark.
No sense I risk tripping on the dog when walking to bed.
That could be embarrassing if somebody found out.

--Vic

Yup. to quote Frank Hill, a 78 year old Australian mate of mine, "you
can spend your whole damned life getting ready to go. Or you can just
GO!"

Apparently Skip listened to the latter part of the quote.

Clearly you are not familiar with the Skip Gundlach story from the beginning.
It's the story of a man who constantly puts obstacles in his own path to
sabotage himself. He does not want success. He delayed this trip in every way
possible, until he could delay it no longer, and then continued to try and cut
it short, even to the point of creating the setting for a shipwreck to try and
end it.

I forget how many years he wrote about the search for "the perfect boat". He set
unrealistic goals for this imaginary craft, so he hopefully wouldn't find one.
Once he found the perfect boat and that excuse no longer washed, he spent many
years refitting "the perfect boat" to make it more perfect. People commented
upon the endless boat search and the endless refit that followed.

The man may have a goal, but it has nothing to do with sailing. Some people with
a similar goal, jump in front of trains.

I am superficially familiar with Skip's odyssey although I admit that
I viewed him as a rather unexperienced individual who was searching
for a "dream boat" not realizing that there is no such thing (as soon
as you find the perfect vessel you realize that if the dumafletchit
was a little further aft it would be better) but I've heard even more
unlikely dreams voiced by others.

Live and learn, I thought. And, that is exactly what he has done. I'm
sure that his vision of a dream boat has changed a bit from what it
was several years ago, but so has mine, and probably everyone else
that ever owned a boat, wife, car, house, or dog.

But, Skip is out there living his dream and the rest of the group
seems to be sitting on their collective ass' and rambling on about how
he "should be doing it" forgetting that he IS doing it.

I don't remember whether you are on the East coast or West coast (or
Kansas) but get your butt out on the water and send up some SailMail
about Skip. Don't just sit at home and chuck spears at him. You'll be
a lot more credible.

I'm sure that you will have some disparaging comments to make about
this post but I really don't care a bit. Go sail somewhere and post an
honest report of how many times you made a small error in judgement,or
a big one for that matter, and I'll be a bit more inclined to listen.

Or, just tell us that you've never made a mistake.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)