COVID-19 is going to drag out. A vaccine and significant herd immunity are both more than a year away. We’ll flatten the curve and hospitals won’t be overloaded, but pockets of infection and increased contact will slow the decline.
As sailors, our work is not done. Marinas in Florida were temporarily closed because herds of people crowded together on sandbars and beaches, oblivious to good citizenship. Boaters showed up at ramps with coolers in tow, ready to party. Little by little, clubhouses and marinas closed and then reopened. In one state, Maryland, recreational boating is still temporarily banned.
As we begin to exhume our country, can we learn to sail while maintaining social distance, or is socializing so central to the boating experience that we can’t stop ourselves, even through such behavior risks extended closure of the marinas and increased damage to the marine industry? Are we that selfish, or can we present a united front to regulators, showing them that we can be good citizens? Maybe sailing (boating) needs to change for a while.
Yacht clubs are social centers. Many sailors have told me that without the club or the social scene associated with their racing habit, there’s just no point in going sailing. Asked if they would be OK with racing trimmed of shore-side socializing, 80 percent said, “Heck no.” (See the PS Online version of this article to see how a low-contact regatta might work.)
Cruisers are a different breed. For some, sailing has always been a quest of social distance. I hardly noticed the first few weeks of social distancing; I naturally isolate unless I’m working. I sail with family or one buddy, I rock and ice climb either solo or with a team of one or two friends. Cycling has always been about alone time. It isn’t the exclusive turf of introverts; some solo for adventure and some out of convenience—it avoids the need to organize a crew. Many prefer the simplicity being with family, with their spouse, or simply alone. And yet even card-carrying loners often enjoy sundowner with a few friends or a quiet cookout on the beach.
Boats are inherently close spaces, no matter how we try, even large boats. Will we see a revival of couples boats? A trip to the boatshow makes it clear that 50 feet has become the new 35 feet; maybe that trend needs to reverse. Will interest in both crewed and bareboat charters wane in favor of ownership as a way to maintain personal space?
And what of new social memes that have grown during lockdowns? Today, if you go anywhere but the grocery store you are a bad person, no matter what precautions you take. Will peer pressure continue, even after legal restrictions are eased? Others flout the rules even now, as a matter of personal freedom, with no understanding that it isn’t about them.
And what about when the restrictions ease? Will the peer pressure remain? I’d be happy to wear a mask everywhere and all year, if I could just go sailing with my wife! Though I’d be just as safe as staying at home, I suspect I’ll feel just a little uncomfortable flouting the new norms. I’d do anything to prevent sailing from falling into the cellar of socially scorned activities.
Drew Frye is technical editor of Practical Sailor, he blogs at his website www.sailingdelmarva.com/
