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Who’s Sailing and Where?
So far, sailors from every U.S. state except North Dakota and West Virginia are represented—c’mon you two, there must be some nice lakes and fresh breezes in N.D. and W.V. to take advantage of—don’t get left out. Sailors in Buzzards Bay, MA; Lake Hopatcong, NJ; Caloosahatchee, FL, Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor Club, NC and Dead Horse Bay in NY will be out there celebrating. And we can’t forget sailors in the Apostle Islands in Minnesota, or folks sailing in Nockamixon State Park, PA or on the Banana River in Florida. We’ve also got sign-ups from as far away as England, Bermuda, Ireland, Panama, New Zealand, Australia and Mexico.
Yacht clubs with good representation include the Corinthian and Richmond Yacht Clubs in California, the Deep Creek Yacht Club in New York, and, with the most sign-ups from a single club, Stingray Harbour Yacht Club in Virginia with 20 members listed so far.
The names of boats sailing are as varied as the sailors, of course. Putting the name on a boat is like wearing your heart on your sleeve—what sailing means to you is right out there for all to see, interpret or misinterpret as they like. Based on this completely amateur theory, most of our Sailstice celebrants see sailing as the great escape, a way to check out for a while. The great majority of boat names follow this theme. Farewell, Free and Clear and Logged Off all attest to that, as do No Answer II, San Souche, Time Out and Escapade. Some of you folks see sailing as the road to good mental health, like HydroTherapy, Mental Floss, Emotional Rescue and Painkiller. For others, like Luna Loca, Mast Confusion, Psycho and Fruitcakes, it’s too late to be saved. Luffin’ Life, Life is Good and Nirvana are out there for the sheer joy of it, while Truant, Hazard, Uh Oh, ARRR! and Grrr may have a more deviant agenda! And, of course, we are always big fans of the play on words and double meaning of names like Sail La Vie, Idyll Vice, CrewZen, Wine Knot and, our favorite, Fun Sway.
Music for the Masses (or is that Masts’s?)
For many of you, the cruising life needs music like, well, like a boat needs water. And as far as favorite cruise music goes, it’s probably no surprise that the favorite music maker amongst the sailing set is . . . drum roll, please . . . Jimmy Buffet, of course. Sailstice entrants listed their favorite songs, and the top Buffet sailing songs included, but were not limited to, “A Pirate Looks at 40,” Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Margaritaville,” “One Particular Harbor,” and “Son of a Sailor.” Chris Cross came in second for favorite songster with his famous “Sailing.” Stephen Stills’ “Southern Cross,” (performed by both Crosby, Stills & Nash and by Buffet) was third. Quite a few of you like to stick with the classics, listing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” (is that really a sailing song, a drinking song, or just a good song for any social situation?) “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Drunken Sailor” as your favorites. And not to be missed are: “Bitty Witty on My 24 Skitty (!);” Them Eastport Oyster Boys’ “Good Hat, Good Dog, Good Boat” and Tom Waits’ “Shiver Me Timbers,” as well as the themes from Popeye and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean (the ride, not the movie).
And You Read, Too?
Summer Sailstice sign-ups included many mentions of favorite sail-related books, and the list is long and deep. Most frequently listed were: A Salty Piece of Land (Buffet, again!), Chapman’s Guide to Piloting and Seamanship, Latitude 38 magazine, Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (also fondly know by many of you as “My” Old Man and the Sea), Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Sailing for Dummies by J.J. and Peter Isler, and Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast. But there were so many great reads submitted, both fiction and non-fiction, that these few mentioned don’t even begin to hint at the extensive list you sailors recommended. We might have to post a Summer Sailstice reading list. Not that it would matter for those of you who listed “None,” “Whatever I’m reading,” or “Why read when you can be out there?” as your favorite literary picks. But for the rest of you, a good seagoing yarn just adds to the enjoyment of the sailing life.
So there it is, just a little bit about the who, where and what of our Sailstice sailors. Whoever and wherever you are, we wish you the loveliest longest day to sail or longest night to party. Rock on and read on!
'Boats large and small on lakes and oceans
participated in Summer Sailstice 2005'
