The perfect antidote

Producing Boating New Zealand during lockdown has not been easy. Unable to travel, to go boating, review boats or conduct face-to-face interviews – unable even to leave home except for essentials – we have Zoomed, telephoned, emailed and digitally collaborated to bring you the magazine you hold in your hands. Thank goodness for fast broadband and a great team of contributors!

And while most of New Zealand is now enjoying the relative freedom of Level 2-plus, Auckland remains tightly locked down, so producing the November issue will likely be challenging as well, though hopefully less so. At least we’ll be able to organise stories outside the Auckland region.

Of course, thousands of businesses around the country face their own challenges. Families and individuals too, trying to balance work with home-schooling, or doing essential work in a strangely empty world. Those engaged in hospitality or tourism may have no work at all.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Kiwis seem to have embraced the jab and vaccine supply is now assured. Conceivably, we could all be twice-jabbed before Christmas!

We may still have to live with certain restrictions and Covid-safe practices, but hopefully without any more blanket lockdowns.

I’m also encouraged by the positivity of the boating industry – boatbuilders, dealers, brokers and marine retailers. Around the globe, recreational boatbuilders and marine equipment suppliers are reporting unprecedented demand as people refocus their lives on things important to them – like boating.

It is the same story in Aotearoa. Clearly, Kiwis haven’t fallen out of love with boating during the pandemic. And as happened in 2020, I suspect we will embrace the boating lifestyle with redoubled enthusiasm once present restrictions ease. Indeed, a friend in Northland (Level 2) told me the Mangawhai boat ramp last weekend was the busiest he’s seen it – ever!

Being in, on or around water is good for the mind and good for the body, writes Wallace J Nichols in his best-selling book Blue Mind. It’s true: boating has been shown to reduce stress and invoke a sense of wellbeing. It’s the perfect antidote to the pandemic blues.

In a recent letter to members, the president of the Australian Boating Industry Association wrote: “The restrictions and stress associated with the pandemic over the last 18 months have created social isolation and frustration… We need access to boating now more than ever.”

I have to agree.

Summer’s coming, boating is good for us – bring it on!