Blue-water boats are built to go sailing

Author : Nikki Henderson

Owning a new boat is like owning a new pair of shoes

The first day you take ownership is so fun. Finally, after such a long delivery time, the shoes have arrived. The delivery agency seemed to mess up the timeline slightly. So, you are a bit miffed at how many calls you have had to make to rearrange the package drop off. But, not to worry. They delayed gratification makes the prize that bit sweeter. In a way, the longer wait has increased your expectations. The excitement is palbable.

Standing back, you look upon your new purchase. Two soles coloured a brilliant perfect white. They look so perfect. No scuffs. No marks. No previous owners. The laces so smooth and clean. The eyelets not even worn. The inside cloth, not a thread out of place. Purely and simply – these shoes are yours. You can’t resist help but touch them. Picking them up, you notice they still smell like the factory. Rose tinted glasses still firmly on, the smell of new plastic and glue feels sort of … handmade? Authentic? Nothing a little spritz of perfume won’t clear off. You love it!

The experience is not just one of looks and feel. The new shoes carry more meaning. You bought these shoes to take you places. And how far they will, you think to yourself. You wonder what adventures you are going to have. You imagine that you will build a bond with these shoes. Together you will voyage through rain or shine. You will build trust in them. They will mould to you. And together you will achieve so much more than it was possible to apart.

Woah there… steady! You aren’t there yet! No. You check yourself. That would be crazy. You don’t want to mark that gorgeous white edge. These shoes are for good weather only. They are more of an ‘indoor’ shoe. Unless it’s bright sunshine, no wind, no rain and absolutely no sand, mud, paint, oil, diesel, dirt… you aren’t going out. It’s important to look after expensive things. So, for now the shoes will stay in their box. You will live amongst them and admire them on their shelf.

On the rare moments you do wear them, people comment on how good they look. How much they suit you. How brave you were to spend so much money on a pair of shoes when everyone else is spending their hard-earned cash on more ‘sensible’ things! How bold you are to choose a brand new, white pair of shoes to be your long-distance all-in-one adventure footwear! And you smile, proudly. These shoes are proof that you are a free spirit.

But inside, something isn’t quite right. They look good. They smell good. They are good for your reputation. But you aren’t really enjoying owning them. They are uncomfortable. They feel awkward. You have sores on the back of your heels. You walk a little wonky when you wear them. It all feels a bit … dissatisfying? Why…. You wonder?

Ah… you are being too careful. You are only wearing the shoes on good days.

These shoes are adventure shoes. You bought these for long journeys and to explore the world. But, right now, they spent most of the time in the cupboard. So that they stay … perfect. But what is a ‘perfect’ adventure shoe? A clean, scuff free, rarely worn shoe? No. Perfection and adventure don’t go together.

Adventure shoes – especially the really nice ones – are made from strong and sturdy material. The material is stiff, and reliable. And so, it takes a long time to soften the shoes. They need: ‘breaking’ in, or they will forever give you blisters in places you didn’t expect. You need to wear down the shoes, and harden up your skin, and create compatibility.

So, wear the shoes! Wear them on bad days, stormy days, easy going days and sporty days. You need to jump in muddy puddles with them. You need to exercise them. Work out their kinks. Adjust the laces so that they better fit your feet. Find out their weak spots. Start to understand the shoes. Maybe even return them for repair when you discover their defects.

Unfortunately, in wearing them, they will look worn. You will dent and dink them. Their white sides might be a little stained orange from that glorious day on the beach. The laces might have frayed a little. There might be a few grease marks – because – well, that’s just life when you are an active person.

Now prepare yourself. The first bump or dirt mark on your shoes will feel awful. You will go home, and you will try to scrub it out. Maybe you will bleach it. And then the bleach will stain it more yellow than before. That night, you will regret going out in the shoes at all and feel really downtrodden. You will convince yourself never to go out in the shoes again. You are just going to destroy the shoes! You should never have bought them.

But our minds soon forget … and some time later, you hear that all your friends are going to an event down in the South of France. It’s just the moment! They are all racing on sailboats in an event called the Outremer Cup and you want to get involved! You fly down and jump onboard. But no! It’s windy. Waves are splashing over the deck. The breeze is full of sand. Then it rains. The shoes are soaked and salt ridden. The docking in the evening is chaotic. Boats bumping here and there. You use your foot to help fend off a pole and it picks up a black scuff. The coffee you are holding as a much-needed energy boost splatters brown stains on your feet as the boat suddenly whirs into forward to avoid a collision. And the celebratory beer and wine later at the party … it’s game over! Shoes well and truly ‘worn’.

Something special happens to a shoe owners’ perspective on the first day they really ‘wear’ their new shoes. When they look at the shoes, they no longer see the scuffs and stains; they see memories. They recall the fun associated with every mark and splash and defect. Like the wrinkles and blemishes and sunspots in our face, the creases and scratches on our shoes are evidence. They prove that we have chosen a life of adventure. When we wear the shoes, we choose not just to be alive, but to be an active participant in our life: to live.

Buying a new boat – especially if you spend a lot of money on it – can feel scary. It can come with huge expectations. And you, like all adults, will want to make it all ‘perfect’.

You will want everything to work perfectly, immediately. You will want to be an expert at using and sailing your boat, immediately. You will want your boat to be the cleanest, shiniest, most impeccably kept boat in any marina you go to, forever. You will plan to service and grease and lube and look after everything on your boat from day one, forever.

And I have a very important message for you

Your expectations of yourself, and your boat, are not realistic.

Expect perfection, and you will be forever disappointed. Expect adventure, compromise, and imperfection – and you will find fulfilment. In a few years, as you make a new home in the sailing/cruising community, your definition of ‘perfect’ will change. ‘Perfect’ will be a salty deck and an even saltier story to share with your friends. ‘Perfect’ will be waking up at dawn after eight hours sleep under the stars. Because your hatch leaked on your bed. ‘Perfect’ will be a winter in the Mediterranean that you didn’t plan for, and an extra year of time to spend closer to your family. Because the boat had so many warranty issues you had to change your plans.

And with that, a final word of advice: race to make that first scuff on your boat. It’s a rite-of-passage. And once its done, your anxiety levels will drop. You will realise it’s time to play. And it’s not a failure to bump it, and drag anchor, and flap the sails a bit because you flew too much canvas. The only failure of owning a blue-water cruising boat like an Outremer is to leave it ‘perfectly’ on the dock.