Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Powerboaters Are Sailors Too


Sailors - listen carefully, for you have been misled.

You sailors, you think you are so pure with your devotion to the arcane art of making a boat zig-zag through the water using the wind alone, without resort to the use of a noisy, smelly, engine burning fossil fuels. You sailors, you look down your noses at powerboaters like me. You sailors, you even made sarcastic comments on my posts this week about the simple joys of powerboating.

Oh, you are so superior, you sailors. You don your fancy schmancy sailing clothes and tweak your lines and waggle your tillers and feel so superior to us powerboaters. You join your fancy schmancy yacht clubs and, if you are American, even pay your annual dues to US Sailing to strengthen your identity as sailors.

But I have news for you sailors. US Sailing supports powerboaters too. There is an organization called US Powerboating and... get this... it's part of US Sailing! It even has a few pages on the US Sailing website!

US POWERBOATING is organized to directly address the educational needs of powerboat owners and operators in the United States and is an affiliate of US SAILING, the national governing body for the sport of sailing. Its powerboat courses are offered through participating schools, community programs and clubs. These courses highlight on-the-water training for recreational powerboat operators, rescue boat operators, race support boat officials and instructor candidates, starting at the entry level and progressing into advanced boat handling, cruising, and applied piloting and navigation. The Certification Series of US POWERBOATING has established definitive national standards to validate knowledge and practical skills of operators of sport and cruising powerboats.

Ha! Take that. Powerboaters are sailors too. It's official.

18 comments:

Baydog said...

You're scaring me. I think it may be time for an intervention. I'm worried, Tillerman.

bonnie said...

O-Docker is right. That thing in the picture is definitely a seatboat.

O Docker said...

I think that was Doc, not Dock, who fastened your seatboat.

This is certainly becoming a confusing blog.

Pat said...

So, if you host ads on your blog as an affiliate of Amazon.com (TM) (R) (C) (etc.), does that make you an Amazon?

Oh, yes, many sailing and yacht clubs do have powerboat squadrons and members. And, MacGregor Yachts even manufactured a Power Sailor. And people did set sail on the Titanic with nary a scrap of canvas in sight.

But, when I'm allowed to do so, I'll say...

"No soy marinero.
Soy el capitan!"

Doc Häagen-Dazs said...

Yeah, I think Bonnie gets the credit for dubbing this a "seat boat". I'm thinking she has a knack for calling a thing for what it is.

I'm also feeling Baydog's comment.

Antolin said...

Timonel...stop it already, you are scarying the children

Anonymous said...

Sad but true - in the UK all stinkpots are adminstered by the RYA - yes that is the Royal Yachting Association.

The RYA is the national body for all forms of boating, including dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and sports boats, powerboat racing, ...
www.rya.org.uk/ - Cached - Similar

Posje

Unknown said...

If you think sailing is in decline, just imagine what power boating will be like when gas is $5/gallon.

Doc Häagen-Dazs said...

It was too late in the day when I first encountered this thread for my memory to kick in. Refreshed, I feel that Tillerman calling powerboats sailboats was anticipated by Abe Lincoln when he said,

If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No, calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg.

bonnie said...

Oops! Sorry Doc! And Dock!

Reminds me of a weekend at aunt & uncle's cabin in Michigan. It's on the banks of the mighty mighty Manistee (actually that's the body of water in the background of my profile), there'd been a lot of rain, somebody came in from outside & said "The dock is underwater" & somebody else got confused because they thought my uncle was underwater.

PS - best shark ever? Miami Shark.

PPS - Tonight, at the Pier 66 Boathouse in Manhattan, the North River Power Squadron will be teaching paddlers to Paddle Smart.

Pat said...

I'd worry about a dock that was over the water.

Zen said...

Be afraid...

Turinas said...

There is only word to say about this.

Pshawww!

Yup, I think that pretty much sums it up

Pat said...

Truly shameless it is the extremes that bloggers will resort to in order to boost ratings.

bump!

Doc Häagen-Dazs said...

Just make sure your daughter doesn't marry a blogger, Pat!

Pat said...

We only have a son, and he's more of a Twitterer and Facebooker than blogger; he also recently got certified as a sailing instructor and has been out camping.

Baydog said...

Amazing are the long lives of posts by only certain authors. Other posts die as quickly as they are born. A testament to the exalted one. Can't wait to hear about the weekend in CT. You had great weather, right?

Pat said...

Several powerboats from Rock Canyon Marina, New Mexico State Parks, and the local flotilla of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary were part of the initial search effort when our friend Marty went overboard from a sister sailboat on May 1, 2010, at Elephant Butte Lake.

Although Marty's body has not been recovered, a memorial service was held this past weekend, with many of Marty's sailing club members in attendance.

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