Why We Bought a Sailboat

“If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, Quaint little villages here and there…”

This is why I wanted to buy a sailboat. This is a song by Groove Armada called “At the River”. These are the only words in the entire song. They are just repeated throughout the song. But it is oddly soothing and can bring me to a place in my mind that I really like.  

I heard this song in a movie, and it encapsulated an approach to life that I wanted. The idea is one of slowing down enough to enjoy life. The song itself has very few words. It doesn’t need to explain all of human existence. It doesn’t need to go into deep and intricate details with a long description. It is just about enjoying moments. It is about capturing a feeling. 

I think all of us truly are fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there. Don’t we all dream of having days to just wander and enjoy these things? Doesn’t it really sound wonderful?

I know the reality of the world is that we cannot long live in this space. We do have to work. We do have to support ourselves and our families. We do have responsibilities. It is not a world where we can just spend all of our time walking the sand dunes or wandering in little villages.

But some of the time we can.

Do we do so enough? Do we allow ourselves to enjoy those times, when we have the time to do so? Do we preserve times like this? Do we enjoy the simple times?

From this blog I know that you may tell that I can be someone who tends to complicate life. Why can’t I just be more calm and enjoy good things when they are in front of me?

A few years ago I told my wife that I wanted to buy a sailboat. I had a hard time explaining why. The only way I could explain it was to play this song. I think I confused her by it. To me the song confronted me with my flaws and told me how I needed to slow down and enjoy beauty and quiet and times with others. I needed to find a way within myself to force myself to do this. And the answer I came up with was a sailboat.

Now after a couple of very nice sailing seasons, my wife understands. When we are out on the water with engine turned off, it is perfectly quiet. We are with our family or with friends. We are together and we cannot jump up and go running after doing things. We are just together, appreciating the beauty and the quiet and just being together.  

There is of course rough weather or heavy wind sailing. That can be challenging and fun. But what we like to do is quiet and calm sailing. We like to enjoy being together or with people. We like to let the world go away and just be there. It really is a wonderful gift. We have now stored up hours of time of this. I think these are some of the most meaningful and wonderful times of our summer.

You don’t have to buy a sailboat to do this. You could of course just go sailing with us! Or maybe you would be more disciplined and be able to do it sitting in your back yard – or in your living room? For me it is just hard because I struggle to quiet myself in those settings. I tend to see things that I ought to be doing or have things distract me. Rather than paying attention to the people, things grab at me. And so, the sailboat is a trick that brings me to a place where I want to be and a way in which I want to live parts of my life.

“If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, Quaint little villages here and there…”