May 30th 2011
Memorial Day: Honoring, Remembrance, and Ringing in Summer
by Charmaine Smith Ladd

On a brighter note, Memorial Day is also viewed as the first day of summer vacation. Families and friends gather to celebrate with cookouts (whether at the beach or in the backyard), games, activities, and general fun just being together. In the boating and cruising communities, there is a tremendous increase of people out on the water enjoying the merriment of ringing in summer. “Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high….” Love that song!

The long weekend is a perfect time for cruisers to get out and about. Whether by motor or sail, Memorial Day weekend is the time many get their boats off the hard and into the water. If already in the water, they get out of the marinas, mooring fields, and harbors and go out for fun and adventure. Everyone loves summer and the ideal weather it brings as its invitation to participate in various activities in, on, and around the water.

There is nothing quite like sailing all day and finding a nice place to drop the hook before sunset. The peace and tranquility is second to none. Boating is a recreation, a time for rejuvenation of the senses with adventure instead of that which has become routine. Sailing, exploring, enjoying nature’s marine life, fishing for a delectable dinner, and then watching the stars come out without city lights nearby to dull their brightness. Life for the full time cruiser is not for most as it takes skill to know and maintain all your own systems. But the reward is priceless. The window of opportunity for this lifestyle is not very long for we who have waited until our children reached adulthood. Our bodies age with each day and before we know it: our physically demanding sailboat becomes an easier to use trawler; our trawler becomes a house back on land with a wheelchair ramp. We are as young as we feel; as long as we keep the freedom to feel young!

September Sea and her Crew comfy at anchor after a long day sail. Son Bj in hammock. He so loved life aboard!

In memory of those who have fought and died for freedom of all Americans, and to those who continue to serve and help others of this world gain their freedom…the petty bickering of those who sit on land and complain of we who sit afloat seems surreal. There are real problems and issues in this world that demand our attention. “Visual intrusion” is not one of them. Anchoring rights for cruisers are key to navigational safety and freedom. One of the last freedoms of this great Country of ours will be harnessed and fenced to a fault if we as its citizens do not speak up against it.

“To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.” – Ella Wilcox Wheeler, American Poet

Please attend the Pilot Program Stakeholder Workshops. If you are not able to attend, then write to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC). But let your voice be heard. Do not let the sun set on the rights of cruisers to anchor. The photo shown below is one I took a few years ago while anchored blissfully outside Boot Key Harbor. The cloud formation reminded me of a Native American Chief, his spirit watching over the waters and keeping them free to all who wish to navigate, anchor and enjoy.

Big Chief Autumn Sunset

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day!

Charmaine Smith Ladd,
s/v September Sea
SSECN Correspondent, Florida Keys
“Bringing you the low down from down low!”