Why Bother?
Why would anyone, in their right mind, bother to spend fifty years trying to create a boat which - "At a modest cost, could accommodate a small group of people, in reasonable comfort and, within reason, enable them to travel where and when they choose - without being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment."? More to the point, why should anyone bother to become associated with such an endeavor? Even more to the point , why should it take such a long sentence to describe my "Grand Illusion"? Perhaps "A boat that works" will suffice.
In answer to the first question, it just seemed obvious to me, from a very early age, that life was simply not possible without such a boat. Clearly, fifty odd years later, I have been proven wrong. Life is indeed possible - but it has turned out not to be a whole lot of fun - for a whole lot of the time. Initially, I did not expect to have to design and build such a boat and it was a very rude awakening to find out, after many bitter disappointments, that there simply weren't any such boats available.
As it turned out then, the role of boat designer and builder was, in fact, thrust upom me - although, very early on, I had begun playing with these possibilities. With repeated lessons in the school of hard knocks (literally) it didn't take me too long to come up with the general design parameters for the required boat. Unfortunately, fifty years later, I still have not raised the capital required to build it.
My own personal need for such a boat has certainly not lessened and I am mystified as to why everyone else, with any experience on the sea, does not see it the same way. The sea (or more accurately water in general) is clearly the optimum transport medium for providing human beings with the option of wondering around a huge portion of their planet.
We clearly inhabit a "Water World" (which, in the near future, is likely to become even more watery) and not to be taking full advantage of this transport medium, at this stage of our civilization, seems very strange indeed. To be sure, we have taken full advantage of it, in regard to the transport of freight and large numbers of persons. Oil tankers, containerships, cruise ships and, more recently, fast ferries are currently providing excellent solutions towards fulfilling these needs.
Clearly also, there are many who continue to make the best use of currently available boats for "pleasure boating". Generally speaking however, (if open ocean runs or passage are included in these activities) one needs to be blessed with extraordinary natural assets and talents (including a cast iron stomach) or very deep pockets, to honestly find them enjoyable
Those with very deep pockets, naturally, account for a fairly small percentage of the "Boating" or "Yachting " population. In this day and age, with a decent 50 ft boat costing well over a million dollars and 100 footers starting at around 15 million, one would have to say that virtually all owners of boats, over say 60 ft, fit into this category.
Seeing as I never had a cast iron stomach -nor deep pockets, my only option was to continue my pursuit of this mythical boat - or my "Grand Illusion". I make no claims (nor do I plead guilty to being so stupid) as to having continued this pursuit 24 / 7 -for fifty years. There were many periods when I threw in the towel and sought another route. However, these alternative routes never panned out and I inevitably found myself back in pursuit of my "Grand Delusion". That, then, is why I "bothered".
Which, clearly, is of little importance. What is important, at this juncture, is why anyone else should bother getting involved in this pursuit. The web site Spirit of the Bahamas is devoted, in it's entirety, to providing an answer to this question - from one perspective. I would suggest, starting at the end, like Alice, with "A few thoughts on the road less traveled" In the broadest terms, however, the answer is simply as follows.
We believe that there is a great need for the boats we can produce. This is not to say that there are a lot of people out there who want them - in fact, there are probably very few, if any. Satisfying the needs of people is a "good thing" and often benefits those that do so - in many ways.
A very good and very wealthy friend once gave me the following piece of advice on becoming wealthy. "Never, ever, produce anything". He is still very wealthy and I am still very poor. However, I would beg to disagree with his advice.
True, it is a safe bet, that if one restricts one's business activities to buying and selling, one is likely to become wealthy. However, if one provides people with what they want, and actually creates that "want", one can become very wealthy indeed -as evidenced by Coca Cola and McDonalds - among many other enterprises.
On the top of the heap, however are those who provide people with what they need - as evidenced by such individuals as Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Bill Gates and many other individuals. A couple of hundred years ago or so, very few people wanted a car, or a telephone or "Windows ". However, they needed these things very much) and these individuals were visionary enough to fulfill these needs.
I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, attempting to suggest that our "product" should be equated with the automobile or the telephone or "Windows". I am, however, suggesting that there is, indeed, a need for it and that "If we build it - they will come."
Who "they" might turn out to be is a whole other question. We certainly expect to do very well (financially and otherwise) operating our 2 prototypes and there is little doubt that many others will see the wisdom of following in our footsteps. While we have stated elsewhere that any idiot could design and build these boats, it does take some time and a bit of effort to get together the required resources - in my case, 50 years and a lifetime of effort.
These boats are, also, just a tad too big to build in one's garage. It would appear then, that others, wishing to follow in our footsteps (in regard to our charter operations), would be likely, for the time being, to look to us to provide them with similar boats. No doubt, as time goes by, others may seek to compete with us in the manufacture of similar boats. Being a relatively new product however, for some time to come, there should be plenty of room for everyone in the market place.
Why bother?
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Light dances with crystal seas - Time flows at a gentle pace -
Space goes on forever and
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Stretch your horizons!
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