
Waterlines: On Writing and Sailing - Thevet
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/02/05/waterlines-on-writing-and-sailing/
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fwsgonzo
I'm renovating a sailboat at the age of 34, so it's never too late to start.
My father had a sailboat he would take us up and down the coast with, but it's
been a long time. And one thing that sailboats beat everyone else with: They
don't make sound while you're sailing. You can just hear the sea, the birds
and it's like nothing else.

See you out there.

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OrangeMango
Additionally, dolphins enjoy playing in the bow waves of a sailboat; they stay
far away from powerboats if ever they can.

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dzhiurgis
Are there any vagabond developers here? I’ve been dreaming about this
lifestyle for over a decade. Now that I’m finally freelance and saved up a bit
for a boat I’m reluctant to jump the fence. Last year we’ve chartered a boat
for two weeks and i couldn’t do any work. Partly because of all the admin -
anchoring, weather, moving to another spot, monitoring system status. Another
reason was it was vacation for rest of the team plus it was sport hot to work
down below.

What are others experience? Is there any forum where you congregate? With
Starlink coming I feel this is going to be much more viable.

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rhythnic
The only developer living on a boat that I know of is Dominic Tarr, creator of
secure scuttlebutt. I think one of the other main contributers lives off the
grid somewhere. Seems like a cool group. They could probably tell you what
it's like.

I lived on someone else's boat in the marina for 2 months about 10 years ago.
It gets pretty damp in the cabin, so electronics might have a short life. I
would love the opportunity to sail and code at some point. I haven't looked
into weather proof gear, but a raspberry pi in a plastic shell case might work
well. At least the pi is easily replaced.

Scuttlebutt is a peer to peer protocol with peer discovery on the same LAN,
which seems like it would be good for making friends while docked.

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dzhiurgis
I haven't heard anyone loose gear due to dampness (even tho salt spray
eventually gets to everything). I think it depends a bit on the size of the
boat.

I've fried couple of iPhone chargers tho. Just touch the charger end with wet
fingers and it gets fried instantly when on fast charge.

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kchhina
Sailing has really helped me get away from it all; 'it' being the stresses of
work and life. Besides the allure of open waters and beautiful sceneries,
getting out of a marina, unfurling the sails, killing the motor, and then just
using the wind and the water to propel a boat towards a destination is one of
the most gratifying feelings I've experienced.

And then there's the myriad terminology and theory, with the various points of
sails, different types sails, fine-tuning their shapes for optimizing speed,
navigation rules, man overboard procedures, various knots, etc. Those, with
the occasional spray of salt water, the feel of the rudder, the way the boat
reacts to minor adjustments keeps the activity exciting enough to not get
boring and monotonous.

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hadlock
"we’d spend hours on the water trying to obey the instructors’ yelled
commands. I was freezing cold, I understood nothing about the wind"

I think this is too many people's first experiences on boats, why husbands and
wives fight on boats, and why their partners ultimately leave the sport. We
used to go out every weekend, but now we are more selective, choose those
sunny, flat days. We still pick a couple of "wet" events like Spinnaker Cup
down the coast during early spring, but everyone's enjoyment has gone up
considerably. Orientation and comfort go a long, long ways towards getting
people back out on the boat again.

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jmiskovic
Very well written, I was taken aback with footnote that it is a translation.

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prideout
Agreed! Note that the author has recently published a French novel ("Le chien
de Schrödinger") and an English translation is available for pre-order.

