Boaters are Gripers. I do it, other boaters do it, it’s a thing. And we are griping about a completely optional activity! It is not like someone is forcing us to be boaters.
We complain about insurance -they require too much training, it’s too expensive, they want a periodic insurance survey. Granted we ask them to pay for the results of our, and every other boater’s bad decision and even deferred maintenance-but still!
We complain about our maintenance team- Yep, this is the group that were sitting around all winter while we were skiing, or in the desert. Now we are trying to leave for the Memorial Day Cruise, which we clearly told them about 3 days ago and they are still not done with the annual maintenance! It is so hard to find good help these days that can READ MY MIND.
We complain about the boatyard-those goofballs! I called and gave them a brief 30 second description of a complex problem and now they are late and over budget! And to heap more hardship on me, the coffee I am swilling for free tastes like tar! Why don’t they have a De’Longhi Magnifica Evo Espresso machine!
We complain about our marina- the money grubbers, they raised my rates 3% this year! Can you believe it! Sure, their expenses went up 25% but they should absorb that!
We gripe about the weather, sailors complain about powerboaters and powerboaters complain about sailors. We whine about the wait at the Ballard Locks and the wait time on the Garmin support line. We vent at length about the latest whizzbangy gizmo we bought on Instagram that turns out to not be very whizzbangy. You name it, we’ve got something to say. We train in the art of griping like elite athletes.
I used to think that boating was a chance to see the beauty of nature and spend time with family and friends, but I have finally realized it is even better than that. Boating gives us the chance to enjoy human’s favorite pastime-griping!
Todd Powell Boats 