Lessons From The Ocean

(And my Dad) #4

Your boat will get thrown around relentlessly, but it will never capsize.

(Thank you Dad)

My dad was self-taught. He was only 12 when his parents got him a skiff that he took out onto the ocean by himself. I experienced a kind of safety on our boats with my Dad that I haven’t had since, and he taught me everything that I know about boating.

I used to think the waves were unnerving when I was very young. We forget, it’s hard to hold on when you’re only 80 pounds. The wake from the Port Jefferson ferry had me clinging for dear life on our tiny Bayliner.

When I was 9, we got a rubber dinghy for our boat to access the shallow waterways of the Great South Bay. We kept it on the front deck of our 29-foot Maxum and used it for clamming and fishing excursions where the Atlantic met the bay. Situated in a small nest of synthetic rubber just inches from the water’s surface, it was both invigorating and vulnerable.

“These things are basically unsinkable.” My dad asserted.

He was right, even if one of our fishing hooks happened to puncture a hole in it, the remaining air chambers would keep us afloat (which never happened).

Sailor’s Haven Marina, early 2010’s

We were indeed thrown around a lot in the dinghy, as well as all our other boats over the years. It was especially terrifying in the flybridge of our Mainship, which in the worst weather had us swing around so violently it felt like we were going to be flung out into the water like a ball in one of those launcher toys for dogs. Often, we encountered large wakes, or the incoming surf from the ocean on an adventure in search of clams or fluke. You learn over time that even if it feels like you’re in a state of peril, you’re not. Heck, most of the time it made life more enjoyable, as a flat ride is peaceful but lacking in excitement.

Perhaps we forget that we are in a boat that is designed for the element. It has only one purpose, and it will do just that. It’s easy to imagine all the ways things can go wrong, and there were certainly countless opportunities for them to occur over the course of my life as a boater, but they never did.

The Ocean, and my dad, would like you to know that even while you’re being given a run for your money out on the water, the craft you’re on is designed for your journey, and it will not go down easily.

Focus on what is working, and hang on.

Tim Kelvas Sr. 1957-2018

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