T&T: Bankrupt choice

[Candy Chapman and Gary Bell]

I found this wonderful quotation from Sterling Hayden's book "Wanderer" 
on the Michael Kasten yacht design webpage (and shamelessly swiped it)!  
It answeres directly to the recent discussions about first boats and how 
to start cruising, while having a lot to say to those of us somewhat 
beyond the first steps...

         "To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a
        firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed
        to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with
        their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs
        to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will
        not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the
        means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then
        will you know what the sea is all about.

        "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't
        afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are
        enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the
        worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of
        routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

        What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each
        day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form
        of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment.
        That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are
        brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb
        beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous
        gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer
        idiocy of the charade.

        The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they
        lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it,
        the tomb is sealed.

        Where, then, lies the answer?

        In choice...!

        Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life...?

                - Sterling Hayden


                I think Mr. Science has a new library assignment next
                week...