Sex, Drugs & Rock n' Roll

SEX, DRUGS & ROCK N’ ROLL

What do these have to do with cruising down the East Coast on Symmetry? Probably nothing, but these were among our passions in the 60’s, and the header certainly got your attention.

As a devotee of Roberta’s travelogues on Travels With Tango, you know that we are three weeks into a six month cruise down the east coast on our way to Miami, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. When feasible, we sail “outside” on the Atlantic but the rest of the time we are more or less driving the boat down the canals, rivers, creeks, and bays that constitute the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW).

Cruising down the ICW provides plenty of opportunities for reflection and contemplation—so I have been doing some of each. This trip is a milestone of sorts for Roberta and me because we have been contemplating a long cruise on Symmetry for several years, but other activities and obligations have delayed it until now. For me, boating and sailing have been a passion for most of my life (more on that later). Today I was thinking about the trajectory of my life and realized that spending time on and in the water have been important leisure activities as well as a continuing source of enjoyment and spiritual renewal.

John Kennedy said it well:

All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back to whence we came.


John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), speech given at Newport at the dinner preceding the America’s Cup Races, September, 1962

My longtime friend and colleague Jerry Clore once observed that much of my life seemed to involve seeking stimulation—the hallmark of a certain sub-type of extrovert. ( Students of Eysenck’s theory of personality will recognize the type, not to be confused with being a social extrovert—which I am not) How else to explain my involvement in boat, car and motorcycle racing, SCUBA diving, radical politics, waterskiing, windsurfing, sailing, and construction projects of all types? And— a 46 year marriage to Roberta-- a veritable whirlwind in classrooms,kitchens, churches, libraries, and political and social arenas of all kinds.

Those of you who know me well now realize that a long-winded essay is coming. If nothing else, the musings that follow should be enlightening, or at least amusing, to our sons, families and grand children. My academic history and accomplishments are well known to them and most of you. ( If not, I would be happy to send you my twenty page Curriculum Vitae and a stack of published articles— a summary of one facet of my interests and activities for a thirty five year period which now seems quite distant.

In a succession of blog entries, I plan to tell you, kind readers, about:

--Early retirement and our move to the coast of North Carolina ( Oriental, “The Sailing Capitol of North Carolina.”) Why? Were we really crazy?

--Our boat, sailing vessel (S/V) Symmetry— her history , design, performance, and how we prepared her for this voyage.

--Friends and acquaintances who facilitated this voyage via their expertise, inspiration, efforts,and other kinds of support and encouragement.

--My nautical biography—which I pieced together over the last few days. Even I was amazed. Who knew that reading the adventures of Augustine and Huckleberry Finn would have such an impact? Maybe I am Ahab reincarnated? Captain Bligh?
In short, in my lifetime, I am quite sure that I have spent more time in and on the water than I have in classrooms. (OK— as a student I did not attend many classes and later as a University professor I did not do much classroom teaching)

--The cruising experience—why it is different from driving down an interstate highway or fighting traffic in a large city. Perhaps this treatise will enlighten our Midwestern , landlubber friends who continue to wonder why.

--How does Tango spend a typical day? Can he snag fish with his left paw? Does he miss Gray Cat?

--Finally, for the technically minded (and our insurance underwriter) a detailed description, profusely illustrated, of Symmetry, her equipment, rigging, and systems, and the modifications we have made to make her a more seaworthy and comfortable vessel—which will go a long way toward explaining to our sons and their families why an inheritance will be unlikely.