Sailors, Sailing, Tea and Coffee
There’s a theory out there proposing the dark ages ended and the Renaissance began with the introduction of the stimulants tea and coffee to Europe. And who brought them there? Sailors! Of course besides bringing home tea from the orient and the coffee bean from Africa and the Americas they also brought home rum! But prior to the introduction of tea and coffee in Europe in the 16th century most of Europe was drinking the other great sailing beverage – beer! Now most sailors are drinking tea and coffee all week to try and keep up with the amped up planet we all now inhabit. Then when it’s time to chill we try and find time to sail and perhaps have a beer.
Now, in the face of current economic challenges, it’s time for sailors to bring the world a fresh Renaissance and a new age of sail. One of the greenest things available that’s going to help power the world of the future is windpower and sailors are an ideal group to prove it’s value. It’s been the primary source of power for sailors for over 6,000 years! Windpower is not going to give the world all the power it currently wants to run all the over-juiced toys of the new millennium but perhaps that’s another thing sailors might help demonstrate. For one thing sailors have discovered is how much more fun life can be with less.
Do people with 500hp engines have more friends and happiness than people with 300hp engines? Most sailors find horsepower has nothing to do with happiness. A nice breeze, a quiet cove, good food and friends is about all it takes to keep a sailor happy. Possibly also ice in the icebox. And though some sailors may live in homes large enough to house a complete tribe from the antiquities they find the best days of their lives are aboard their sailboats where their carbon footprint drops to 10% of their life ashore.
This is the foundation of a new Renaissance and the new age of sail. By sailing, sailors can demonstrate the value of windpower as a power supply but also demonstrate the value of reducing demand by living simply. Even aboard a luxurious boat you watch your amp hours very carefully. Does anyone do that at home or even think about how those amp hours get there? Solar power, windpower, LED lightbulbs, extra insulation on the refrigeration are all things the cruising sailor considers. By finding more environmentally friendly sources of supply and living like cruising sailors many of the world’s ills will be solved or at least improved.
The Sailing Renaissance
Towards this end a group of San Francisco Bay Area marine businesses and members of the sailing community have worked together to create new opportunities for sailing. Facilitated by John Arndt, Associate Publisher of Latitude 38 and founder of the Summer Sailstice sailing holiday, San Francisco Bay sailing community has been meeting regularly with the goal of developing initiatives to increase participation in sailing with the belief that what is good for sailing will also be good for the planet. In a short period of time, the meetings, going by the name of the Sailing Renaissance, have created several local success stories. Now, with the help of Sail America and several other regional sailing industry leaders the Sailing Renaissance process is poised to create more local opportunities for sailing.
Attended by 50 – 60 members of the sailing and marine business community, the periodic meetings have been structured to allow everyone the chance to step forward with ideas to grow participation. On the list of results to date were was a boat show put together in 2 months to replace a cancelled winter show, a sailing display at a local Ocean Film Festival, creation of a website, www.gosailingsf.org which provides a directory of sailing access points for the region, local media coverage of sailing on the radio and in newspapers, a Celebrity Regatta on June 14th being run in partnership with the San Francisco Giants baseball team with local media personalities scheduled to sail and focused on promoting the local San Francisco Summer Sailstice Festival, www.summersailstice.com/sf, occurring the following weekend, June 20th.
“It’s been a rewarding process and has given people a proactive way to combat the adversity we’re all facing” said Arndt. “Sailing survives on the collective efforts of individuals, businesses and associations but it’s often hard to coordinate them with a common purpose. The Sailing Renaissance meetings have allowed people a forum to offer ideas and collect support to move these from ideas to action. The Celebrity Regatta and expanding Summer Sailstice event will happen in June and are more evidence of the results of people working together to tackle a tough market”
For those interested in starting a local Sailing Renaissance effort there is a Powerpoint presentation available to create the framework for local action. Besides San Francisco, it’s already at work in Seattle, Southern California and the Chesapeake. For an interview with John Arndt on the Renaissance click here.
As the painting by John Michael Groves shows, it was a lot of work getting tea, coffee and spices to Europe in the old days. In an easier time us sailors can certainly put in a little effort working together to bring the world a new Renaissance. And, along the way, perhaps we can hoist the sails, turn off the engines, relax with friends and an old world beer or rum and just slow down to enjoy a sail!
For further thoughts on this life read sailor Ferenc Mate's 'A Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence' or, as recently recommended in Latitude 38, Andy Deering's 'The Best Life Money Can't Buy' and also, Richard Bode's 'First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living'. Finally, to quote Carleton Mitchell owner of the renowned 'Finisterre', ''To desire nothing beyond what you have is surely happiness. Aboard a boat, it is frequently possible to achieve just that. That is why sailing is a way of life, one of the finest of lives.' Carleton Mitchell