Get off your butt. Go outside. Do something.
My brother, sister and I heard these phrases from our parents on occasion when we were kids — and with train-schedule precision during our teenage years. But we were too busy planning our music careers (see how well that panned out) or hanging around the house with friends, talking about all the things we weren’t doing. My parents were reminding my siblings and me that every day is a gift, and it’s up to you what to do with it. Looking back, they were right. (Don’t tell them I said that.)
Some days, they were more successful than others at driving the point home. But time on the boat was the one thing that always got us to rouse our teen-angst-ridden selves out of bed and venture into the great outdoors. That time could be as simple as a few hours of fishing or cruising around our local waterways, but we always said yes to being on the water.
And while the music career went out with a whimper, getting us outside led to my life in the marine industry. My brother and I eventually earned our captains’ licenses too.
These days, my sister comes out any chance she gets. As I write this, it’s mid-December in New York, and my brother and I have spent the past four weekends on the water enjoying an unseasonably mild stretch of weather. We are heeding our parents’ advice, even if it is a few years down the road. It’s never too late to listen. (Hear that, Kevin Aidan Sciacca?)
So I would like to pass along my parents’ keen words to you. I know you’re enthusiastic about this amazing pastime, or you wouldn’t be reading this magazine. But all too often these days, I hear from boat-owning friends calling me from some landlocked location explaining why they can’t take time for the family summer cruise or to go looking for that new boat I know they’ve been dreaming about since they sold the last one.
I hear, “I’ve got too much stuff going on. I’m busy at work. This new project is taking up my weekends. The kids. I really need to get out on the water, but ... ” Maybe the pace of our technology-driven world has led to this scenario. And if so, it’s within our ability to change it. Take some time for you and your family. Get that boat. Plan that cruise. Go outside. Do something. If not now, when?
