If I had a Half Dozen Whales

No. But I admit living within my means has kept me alive this long. I am not going to lie about an obsession with Cup Racing that I have had since before Dennis Connor sailed out of Barnegat Bay, NJ.

Marconi came to Monmouth County to demonstrate ship to shore signaling from Highlands, New Jersey during match racing. Cup racing, wave ruling, and R&D, were all around us as children. We hiked to the Twin Lights to see where Marconi’s gear was proven. I came as close as I would ever be to those amazing teams in 2013, when they were racing for the America’s Cup in San Franciso Bay.

I’d like to think that I was doing more important things all these years when I was never big boat racing. I am grateful that I got to race the Phantom once on some lake in New Hampshire. We ate at Mike Love’s restaurant there for dinner.

Now I am an old man, without a trust fund or any sort of fortune, grateful to have seen those boats up close in 2013 on more than one occasion.

Too few understand the history of match cup racing, and all the facets that have to come together to make a decent showing. I have peeked through the fences for decades and tossed some thoughts in from the cheap seats. The proof is at the finish line. The effort it takes to get there at all is almost impossible to estimate.

America is not smart enough to care or even be concerned about such an undertaking. We have MMA, and the NFL, why do we need to ponder big boat racing?

I do not have half a dozen whales, and I am grateful for that, as I would have not survived to savor this peace and quiet had I been out there hanging over a rail year in year out. I am sure of that. I have no regrets.

Instead, I am signaling in Raven turned Old Crow tradition, as an agency of one from these pinelands. Where service remains an artform, and things are seldom what they seem. Today I am working with Copilot to make memes:

Yes, I could have wrecked a few of those boats, and died in the process, but as luck would have it, I survived to enjoy communications technology every day.

I did get to sail once on a good-sized sailboat in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Thanks for the memories.