Why cruise?

My friends Rich and Lori are planning a long, long cruise. As I’ve talked to them about their plans I’ve come to realize something about myself: I’m – at heart – a daysailer. Yeah, I like to go out for several days, but if I want to sail someplace exotic, I’ll fly there, rent a boat and head home in a week or two.

It’s real clear to me that days on end at sea and the threat of serious breakdown with only me there to fix it is beyond daunting. I simply won’t touch it.

And I’ve thought many times that my friends who enjoy the cruising life are wired differently. And didn’t think that in a positive way. But I got the following from Rich. He’s landlocked right now, but even though he’s in East Cupcake Minnesota, he’s come to an important insight about the life he’s about to embark on.

dan

I’m trapped!

For the last week I’ve been trapped in a town of 88 people in Western Minnesota. The city sign says 122 people, but after talking to Orville (ya…Orville….like the popcorn guy) he told me that they didn’t want to change the sign, because it would make them look to “small”. Now Orville not only runs the café, but the city’s water plant (where I am working), the city’s waste water plant, does road maintenance, and is on the city counsel, in fact, he had just finished his turn as town mayor! So at 70 he is a busy man.

So this morning I needed to get a fitting from the local hardware store, but with my luck they are closed on the weekend. So while having “Dinner” in the café (I call it lunch, but it is called “dinner” here, so I go along) I asked what was the closest town that had a hardware store open today. Tammy, Orville’s wife, looked at me with that “you aint from here are you” look and asked if I had tried the “key box” at the hardware store? “Key box? What’s a key box”, I asked. Tammy went on to tell me that the owners of the hardware store often would be out fishing on the weekends and would leave the store key in the “Key Box” when they went out of town and then started to take my empty cheese burger plate back to the kitchen.

I think Tammy was surprised when I again asked for directions to the next town with an open hardware store. That’s when the four ladies at the table next to me listening to our conversation, of course, jumped to save me. After introductions and answering questions about what brought me to their town, taking about 10 minutes, I was told that the “Key Box” was there for me to go into the store, get what I needed and then either leave payment on the counter or leave my name and I could pay later during the week!

Now….I was sure that these nice old ladies were playing with this young dumb boy from, as they called it “away”, but after asking for confirmation THREE times, I could tell they were serious!

So after indulging in a slice of home made Rhubarb pie (damn was it good…but that’s another story) I headed down to the local “Hardware Hank” store, and sure enough the Key Box contained a key that opened the front door. Feeling like I was doing something wrong the whole time I walked the isles, I found my part (a ¾ ball valve). I left $10 on the counter along with a thank you note, locked the door and drove back to my jobsite! The old style price tag sticker that I hadn’t seen since I was a kid on the valve said $6.75, but with no smaller bills in my wallet, I wasn’t going to check the old style cash register to check for change! That would just be going to FAR!

Now as I sit here on site alone, taking my readings every 30 minutes, I just can’t help but dwell on what just happened. It’s as if I went back in a time machine 50 yrs, when people would talk to a stranger sitting in their town café. A time when talking about the “weather” wasn’t just an awkward conversation filler, but was talked about with sincerity and interest. Then it hit me. The feeling I have been getting from the people in this small town is the same I get when walking the docks talking to boaters and comparing notes with people dreaming of casting off Cruising. It is one of genuine hospitality and caring. Communities of Cruisers are like these small 88 person towns, so in reality, dreaming about going Cruising isn’t trying to escape the trappings of modern society, but a desire to return to something better, when people knew their neighbors or as the case may be, the people sharing their anchorage. Now I’m not feeling so trapped here in this small town, but rather blessed for the experience. When does the Boren Family cast off and go Cruising? In 410 days and we can’t wait.

God Bless ya’ll

Rich

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