To Be a Pirate

I want to be a pirate. 

I've always wanted to be a pirate. Not the historical, real kind. They were desperate, murderous people with short life expectancies and few redeeming qualities. I want to be the Captain Blood kind of pirate. The Dread Pirate Roberts kind of pirate. A sort of nautical Zorro or Robin Hood - a scallywag, but one with honor, even if it might be a little worn around the edges. 

I want to be Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

I also love the ocean. 

I love everything about the sea - its ecology, its role in history and industry. I think I love the sea mostly because of my grandfather. He wasn't a pirate, but he loved the sea and he passed that feeling, that tradition, on to me. 

Because I love the sea, and my grandfather, I learned to love boats. Because I want to be a pirate, I learned to love sailboats. They represent everything wondrous about the oceans. Cooperating with the wind, currents, tides, waves and weather to travel where you will is a kind of magic. Part science, mostly art, sailing creates a profound connection between the sailor, the ocean and the maritime history that defined the modern world. Oh, and pirates use sail boats. 

I love sailboats - so much that just seeing sails on the water lifts my spirit. I've dreamed for years of having my own boat and using it to chase the child's pirate adventures still hiding in my heart. After all, a pirate without a ship is just a guy on a beach with a sword and a funny hat. I'd learned to fence, and I still have an earring, long after the social trends and my own age say it's out of fashion. The next logical step was to finally get my own boat.

So now, as of 02.06.09, after a number of false starts and frustrations, and after a lot of angst and a long search, and with the generous support of my wonderful wife, I finally have my boat. Corsair is small, and old, but she has a good soul and she is mine. I can't help feeling there's a bit of destiny about her, as the name means pirate after all. She is perfect for cruising all around Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, and we have plans to do just that over the next couple summers.

This blog, a suggestion of a best friend and crew mate, is intended as a way to share my sailing adventures with friends and family, and any one else who still has a little pirate in his soul...