Boating and Life Lessons Collide

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  1. Keep your lines neat.
    1. Messy lines on a boat are a trip and fall hazard. 
    2. Why is it that in daily life we leave our lifelines dangling? Our self-made messes trip us up but we still won’t stop and fix it for ourselves. Cleaning up our Mess
  2. Be kind to crabs.
    1. Crabs collect in “pots” otherwise known as crab cages. If a boat hits the pots the rope can do a ton of damage to a boat and its passengers. In addition, if the lines break and the cage tears free it becomes a “ghost” pot and usually not only do the crabs die but it continues to catch more sea life and cause additional trapping and death.
    2. How many times are we cruising through life and unexpectedly get intertwined with someone or something that leaves us or someone else dead in the water? Feeling more Alive
  3. Admit your weaknesses, especially sea sicknesses.
    1. One of our captains told us about a day when he encountered rough waters and needed to feed the fishes.
    2. Being prepared. Thanks to Google a checklist of things can always be found in seconds. Pilots do an extremely good job of training, preparing, organizing since the flight is so obviously life or death. Some boaters are equally prepared, but many others neglect that calm diligence that is needed to have great experiences.
  4. Weathering rough water. 
    1. Steep and slippery when dry there is nothing quite like navigating boat stairs and small steps and ladders while your surface is moving. Our boating hosts kept telling us, “Go down backward and hang on tight” when we needed to transfer to another level of our boat. Accidents happen quickly on boats and the consequences of falling into the water, especially if it’s cold, can be dire.
    2. The life lessons from rough water training seem deep and meaningful. If we practice even a fraction of bad weather lessons in our daily lives the quality of each day would go way up. From being aware (especially of bad weather), listening carefully, wearing appropriate clothing, having a back-up plan… A perspective on ocean lessons.
  5. Steer clear of shallow water. AKA running aground. AKA grounding.
    1. Maryland has vast waterways and much of it is deceptively shallow. Everyone has a running aground story. Ocean City. Sinepuxent Bay. 
    2. When our boat gets stuck, #1 piece of guidance: stay calm. There are lots of life skills take-away’s from getting stuck on rocks or a sandbar but since Balance is my personal most important life skill I wanted to share have you run aground?  

Published by tferrari

Over 25 years as an entrepreneur, business owner, consultant. BA in Psychology from University of California at San Diego MA from Alliant International University/California School of Professional Psychology

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