By Mike Jastrzebski
Seventeen years ago today Mary and I bought our 36′ Islander sailboat, and trust me, my life has never been the same.
If you were to ask me if owning a boat is good or bad, I’d have to say it depends on the day. In fact, sometimes it depends on the hour. You see, owning this boat has been a love/hate relationship like none other that I’ve experienced in all my life.
On the good days, and there are plenty of those, I can honestly say I wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for a mansion in Beverly Hills. But it’s the bad days that get to me.
I curse more than I ever did before I had the boat. I’ve got more scars and aches and pains from working in the confined spaces of Rough Draft. And finally, there’s the cost of maintaining an old boat. If you’re not a boater you wouldn’t believe the drain Rough Draft has been on our bank account.
But that is the reality of owning an old boat. Had I known seventeen years ago what I know now, would I have bought the boat, or any boat? Maybe, but things have worked out for the best. Today I’ve got a great wife, a good dog and an old boat. What more could a nonconformist and a wanderer ask for in life?
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