Sale: Quality bluewater cruiser for sale, well-maintained

[ebast]

while browsing sailboat listings (for absolutely NO remotely justifiable reason), came across this one:

http://www.westsail.com/forsale/arete.htm
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1975/We ... ted-States

marked down to 25k, so may be still a little on the steep side, but a little internet sleuthing reveal it to be a minor celebrity, at least as far as little sailboats go.

[Ego]

Is that this one?

http://www.bananawind.us/Zen.htm

[jacob]

25k is pretty cheap for a wet snail. Of course depending on condition. I'd probably be dumb/irrational enough to pay a premium for a boat with a history. I was actually googling for Satori to see if it was for sale too

[ebast]

Knew a guy with a wet snail 32 who loved it - always proudly told the story about whoever it was that won whatever Bermuda race on one, and hey, those things (literally) sail themselves.

but even for those not on the lookout for a boat, the page from Ego has a link to "Cruising Blues and Their Cure" (http://www.moq.org/forum/Pirsig/cruisingblues.html) which you might like:

as for boats with history...

Old gear that has been through a storm or two without failure becomes more precious than it was when you bought it because you know you can trust it. The same becomes true of fellow crewmen and ultimately becomes true of things about yourself. Good first appearances count for less than they ever did, and real virtue - which comes from an ability to separate what merely looks good from what lasts and the acquisition of those characteristics in one's self - is strengthened.

or modern 'reality':

If this is so, then it follows that those who see sailing as an escape from reality have got their understanding of both sailing and reality completely backwards. Sailing is not an escape but a return to and a confrontation of a reality from which modern civilization is itself an escape. For centuries, man suffered from the reality of an earth that was too dark or too hot or too cold for his comfort, and to escape this he invented complex systems of lighting, heating and air conditioning. Sailing rejects these and returns to the old realities of dark and heat and cold. Modern civilization has found radio, TV, movies, nightclubs and a huge variety of mechanized entertainment to titillate our senses and help us escape from the apparent boredom of the earth and the sun and wind and stars. Sailing returns to these ancient realities.

or the potential pitfalls of retiring early...

For many of the depressed ones, the real underlying source of cruising depression is that they have thought of sailing as one more civilized form of stimulation, just like movies or spectator sports, and somehow felt their boat had an obligation to keep them thrilled and entertained. But no boat can be an endless source of entertainment and should not be expected to be one.

A lot of their expectation may have come from weekend sailing, whose pleasures differ greatly from live-aboard cruising. In weekend sailing, depression seldom shows up, because the sailing is usually a relief from a monotonous workweek. The weekender gets just as depressed as the live-aboard cruiser, but he does it at home or on the job and thinks of these as the cause of the depression. When he retires to the life of cruising, he continues the mistake by thinking, Now life will be just like all those summer weekends strung end to end. And of course he is wrong.

[jacob]

I still think I prefer racing to cruising. Nothing like putting in an exhaustive effort to go 0.1 knots faster than someone who couldn't care less.

I fondly remember "racing" other boats just to hail them and ask if they were racing and if not could they kindly tack to give us some wind. The few times I went cruising I always felt a little bored by the prospect of tying the tiller fast on an upwind tack and just let the wind do the driving.

[plantingourpennies]

Oy! I would have gladly payed 25k for Pirsig's sailboat! Probably pay even more for his Honda motorcycle...

Hope it found its way to a fan of his work.

[tommytebco]

Def: BOAT :" A hole in the water filled with money"