TIME FOR ADVENTURE
Boats offer a recreational outlet with which owners can chill or thrill.
It’s March, a time when many boaters begin looking toward the year ahead: the ports and harbors, the big fish, the big smiles. Such thoughts pervade as we pull the tarp, check the trailer tires or dewinterize the engines. One of my spring rituals consists of heading out to purchase safety gear to replace that which might have expired; as when purchasing milk, always check the date stamped on flares before you pay for them, and reach into the back of the rack if needed in order to get maximum value.
I’m sure most of you have your own “Things that Must Be Done” lists. Ticking items off such a list well in advance of truly needing them makes great organizational sense. But I enjoy buying flares, new life jackets and replacement batteries for SOS lights and performing advance maintenance not just because I am organized. Doing these things keeps me connected to my boat—and my passion—at a time when other means of connection are scarce.
The muse for our annual Adventure Issue springs from that sentiment. We compile articles about boating adventure that serve in one sense as how-to checklists for embarking upon a specific cruise or participating in a certain activity. In another sense, these also serve as general boatingadventure guidelines. Consider “Island-Bound” by Craig Kotilinek (who also photographed the article) on page 76. It serves as a great primer for any boater heading specifically from Florida to the Bahamas. It also makes a wonderful guideline for any US boater making an open-water crossing, whether the destination is the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean or Mexico. The gear required, the prep needed, the clearing of customs, etc. all apply in a practical sense, regardless of your boating adventure’s destination.
But there’s another element. We hope some of you get inspired by the possibility for adventure that such an article might raise. We hope you look at your boat in a new way, or in a way you hadn’t in some time. Finally, we hope you remember that a boat transcends mere consumerist acquisition and provides us with a vehicle for both dreaming and dreams come true.
Admittedly, most boaters cannot cruise to the Bahamas or make any foreign port of call. However, many boaters can head down the coast, cross the lake, or trailer to new grounds, and in so doing acquire a sense of accomplishment and bonding with friends and family not found in the pursuit of any other activity I am aware of.
Kevin Falvey, Editor-in-Chief editor@boatingmag.com
Doing these things keeps me connected to my boat—and my passion—at a time when other means of connection are scarce.