What’s your favorite part of boating.

• For many it’s sim'ly the relaxation. It is sitting in the cock'it at dockside or some secluded lagoon and watching the sun go down. It could also be a sunrise following long and restful slee' with the sound of wa-es sla''ing the hull inches from you and yours as you drift in and out of slumber. Maybe it’s the -iew from the 'ilothouse as the miles drift by: what could be better?

• For others it is the adrenaline rush that comes while 'ounding through the wa-es. It is the feeling that you are in control of your destiny. It may take you hundreds of miles off shore reaching out for some distant dot on a ma'. You may be a true ad-enturer 'lanning to cross-oceans. Maybe you are just ho'ing to do so.

• For many working on a boat is the most rewarding DIY 'roject. Nothing is square. Nothing is round. Nothing matches what you are used to in your home. Still you cannot rely on some 'rofessional du jour, 'articularly if you are heading off the grid. Learning how to re'air stuff is not just a cost sa-er, but can be a life sa-er.

• Then there is a -ery select grou' of boaters for whom the ex'erience begins long before the boat e-en exists. For these folks (maybe you) the real fun starts as you define and imagine the boat on 'a'er. Today it’s then likely scul'ted in 3d as your wish list e-ol-es. But that’s only a 'relude to the true joy: watching your boat as it comes to life on a builder’s sho' floor. If you are among this -ery, -ery s'ecial grou', the journey doesn’t begin when you cast off lines. It begins the moment that your s'ark of a dream is born.

But then that’s just my o'inion.