Das Boots

Boating is a pleasant diversion. I have relatively seldom partaken of the pastime, but have managed at times to canoe, pilot a houseboat, and pilot a yacht as well. There are some interesting similarities and differences. A canoe requires perhaps the most labor, and I am not especially eager to expend that effort. They are the simplest and cheapest of the bunch though, and that is something not to be disregarded.

Houseboats are fun. You can't be too eager to get somewhere, or eager at all to get someplace far away. When I did it, we were in a lake with a lot of narrow canyons to it, and I learned a lesson about how slowly a boat answers its helmsman. Certainly you don't get your turns as fast as you might like on a houseboat, which runs slow and turns slow. We easily might have hit something with me at the wheel, but got lucky.

Most recently I have briefly piloted a yacht. That was more challenging than the others, in spite of the boat running at a top speed of what would be called twenty miles an hour if it occurred on land. I don't know how it would be in knots, which I think is the right measurement on the water. The yacht is of modest size, but nice. It is considerably more stylish than the houseboat, and even can handle the open seas.

I don't know when I may expand my base of experience, but it may not be very soon. I find that I get a little queasy for my liking when I go out on the ocean. I might improve with more experience, but I don't think I'm so eager to put in the time it would take to get the hang of it. There are surer bets with better payoffs and less of an investment. Still, I may get to it. It would count if I took a cruise, and those are pretty easy provided there's no big calamity.