Why This is the Best Time of Year at New England Boatyards
We are approaching what I may argue is the best time of year at boatyards.
From the Connecticut shore, along the Rhode Island coast, up to Massachusetts (and The Islands), with the final destination of the Maine coast, this is the time when we feel most at home. The season is opening up.
Thus, here are the top nine reasons why this is the best time of year at New England boatyards.
9. Animals milling about
“That’s the one thing you have to remember about WASPs: they love animals and hate people.”
- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street.
There are always dogs around a good boatyard. The launch driver probably has a Golden named Spinnaker or Fender.
But they seem more plentiful, more free, even happier this time around. They smell everything. The explore. Their joie de vivre is infectious. They are the good will ambassadors, the greeters, and the food cleaner uppers.
8. Fewer Competitives
Obviously, this thing — whatever you want to call it, such as “preppy” or “WASPy”— abuts a culture of voracious narcissism. (Or worse, aspirational voracious narcissism.) Nowhere is this more on display than along the New England coast in summer - boatyards, yacht clubs, anywhere near the salt water.
Leaning into the snark, if I may, their presence is pervasive. While most of us may prefer to be in a world where all boats are the same size or size doesn’t matter, others want the biggest boat. While some value sportsmanship and comradery, others value winning above everything else. While some crave the sea, other crave photographs of themselves at sea.
And this has always been the case. Making progress with strange bedfellows is table stakes. (Hunters and environmentalists against developers, et al.) It is only together can much of this world be preserved.
But one can be forgiven for appreciating that this time of year around the water has a mix of people more skewing towards the former in the list and not the competitives. We do enjoy that, while it lasts.
