How big’s your boat?

The thing I love about being a boat owner is that, no matter what size or how expensive your boat is, every boat owner gets to enjoy our beautiful waterways just the same. When you’re out on the water, you’re in nature. You can soak up the sun with nothing but the sound of the breeze and the lapping waves. I love where it takes me.

I am a huge fan of the Hacking River. In fact, I spend most of my Saturdays there, with the love of my life, my husband of nearly thirty years. The kids have grown into delightful adults, each pursuing their own lives, leaving just him and me rattling around the house together. To be out on the boat and share the experience is a wonderful tonic for a marriage or a relationship. It’s just the two of us, seeing the sights, basking in the beauty of our local waterway. We can relax and chat with no interruption. That’s what I love the most about our boat – we can escape together and be free together, in a place where there are no chores, responsibilities, phone calls or emails.

Sometimes we can go an hour not talking, just enjoying the scenery, watching other boaties go by with a wave of the hand, or we complain (like grumpy old people do)  about the jet skis zooming everywhere. The jet skis are not the only thing to break our peace, though…you see, our boat farts! It does! It actually makes a farting sound when we’re bobbing up and down in the water, right below the transom, below the engine. We’ll be eating our lunch or fishing in silence, when PHRRRRZZZZZ. It farts. Maybe I’m immature, but it does make me laugh. I wonder if the big boats, the 40-foot Riviera’s or the 35 Caribbean’s fart. Are they too posh to fart? Is it just our boat, I wonder. But, farting aside, I do love my boat.