By borisheir on Skatehive
Preface I’m four months into my 80th year on this planet, and it’s been called to my attention by a friend that for the past 40+ years my writings have been almost exclusively about ethics, law, and government – and very little about myself and my journey through life. Reflecting on this fact, I’ve decided to write about the subject of sailing as a metaphor for life and the lessons I’ve derived from it. For me this is a highly experimental endeavor, so I’ll be looking to the readers’ comments for questions to be answered and suggestions concerning content. Introduction Stepping aboard a boat always entails risk. And, as a result, almost every aspect of sailing involves compromise and trade-offs, for example: • Cost vs. Safety • Safety vs. Comfort • Comfort vs. Speed • Speed vs. Payload ...and many others. In fact, as a science, sailing is very imperfect. There are so many unlikely events that can and do occur. It is impossible to anticipate and fully prepare for them all. Having said t