The Boat Coach

I recently noticed my 25-year-old Danforth/fluke-style anchor was coming apart. We use our boat more often than most owners, so it wasn’t surprising that we needed to replace it with “like and kind.” But for those who are starting from scratch, choosing the right anchor is not just about weight.

In the famous balcony scene in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet muses, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” She argues that a name is arbitrary and superficial. Juliet proved to be fatally wrong when it came to the feuding Capulets and Montagues.

There is no general speed limit on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) or on navigable rivers or lakes in Florida. However, speeds are heavily restricted in congested areas, near bridges, marinas, or protected wildlife zones, requiring strict adherence to posted signs.

Now that summer is upon us, sandbar islands are now a thing again. Volusia County has one of the most famous sandbar islands, Disappearing Island on the east side of Ponce Inlet. It has been popular for generations, a gathering place for family and friends to enjoy the best of what boating can offer.

As summer approaches and boating season begins to scale up, it is important to keep in mind how weather can make or break a day on the water. A sunny morning with offshore winds can quickly and violently degrade to gale-force winds, lightning and torrential rain - if not a waterspout. On an open boat, you are virtually unprotected, and cabin boats are vulnerable to visibility, wind, seas and control issues.

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost ends with the iconic line, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” It is less about individualism and more about the weight of making choices.