Who wants the ball?

Shane Falco: I want the ball.
Jimmy McGinty: Winners always do. (from the movie The Replacements)

I have just started reading another new book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Passages South by Bruce Van Sant. One of the early chapters in the book, which is now in its 9th Edition, talks about the perils of placing your trust (safety!) in The Experts. The Weatherman, The Mechanic, The Sailing Master and The Local are some of the characters that he describes. Obviously just starting out, with so much to learn, it would be easy for us to defer to The Experts, placing our faith in them. He warns against this though, for the experts may not really be as knowledgeable as they appear.

Having been self-employed, running a small business for more than 20 years I (we!) have learned that the only way to be truly secure is to take care of yourself. Like most entrepreneurs we have had to acquire a wide range of skills to keep our business running. If we don’t do our jobs no one will be writing us a paycheck at the end of the week. The flip side of that of course is that we have no boss to appease, hoping that we get a raise or a promotion, and there is no chance that we will end up another casualty of corporate downsizing. Regardless of the challenges we have faced we have been able to make our own path, and have enjoyed the process.

Self-reliance seems to be the hallmark of the live-aboard cruiser, or at least the successful ones. As we have learned to do so in our business lives we shall make a point of acquiring the skills so that we too can take care of ourselves.