Aleria's Adventures

A boat is not a simple thing. A boat is many things to different people. A fishing boat can provide pleasure or livelihood. A cruise ship provides a means to travel in style. A dinghy gives the option of racing or playing. But a sailing boat has many options of things it can deliver from racing on Thursdays to sailing off into the sunset. It delivers absolute freedom in an increasingly complex and controlled world. It uses the wind to propel us around the earth with the currents. It lets us escape the rigors of the "real world" which we quickly learn wasn't real at all. A boat is about dreams and fulfilling them. It's about being drawn out to sea to see what is beyond the horizon. Last week, we were contacted by a young man doing a research project for his dissertation. The subject he chose was studying what instigates a decision to sail offshore. We were fascinated, particularly since he was the winner of a goodie basket from the Irish Sailing Association at

Impulse Research Corporation, Los Angeles, USA conducted a survey of nearly 1,100 Americans on-line. The survey queried 542 boat owners and 536 non-boat owners. The survey commissioned by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) finds boat owners report higher levels of satisfaction in marriage and romance than non-boaters. In addition, many key areas of life, including overall well being, friendship, spirituality, health, work, leisure, sleep and finances, are more likely to be rated "excellent" or "very good" by boat owners than by their non-boat-owning counterparts.