And quickly got to learn the meaning of the word… Indeed, comments abound when you start telling people you’ve bought a boat, and you suddenly get pitchforked into the not-so-secret society of boaties. A special race of people who talk, think, and breath boat, and expect you, now that you’re one of them, to have become a boat expert, overnight. Which makes me reflect, there are two types of people in the world, those who don’t have a boat (and wish they had) and those who do (and whose partners probably wish they didn’t).

Anyway, I thought I’d start with a few quotes related to our new status.

B.O.A.T. = Bring On Another Thousand

“The two happiest days of a boater’s life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell it.” – Anonymous

“He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea.” – Thomas Fuller

“Now – bring me that horizon.” – Last line from Pirates of the Caribbean

“A tourist remains an outsider throughout his visit; but a sailor is part of the local scene from the moment he arrives.” – Anne Davison

The latter is what made me personally want to sail again. As I deeply felt it from the moment I set foot on Waiheke Island after sailing there for the first time 8 (?) years ago all by ourselves on Footsteps. No matter how short a trip it had been, it was all there already, the sense of entitlement, pride, and belonging.