Now that the Gulf is a mess

For years I've been fascinated by the sea. Don't get me wrong, I love the mountains, but I've always been a water person. Grew up around rivers and lakes. When I first went to the ocean, it was one darn impressive big lake. I fell in love.

My wife grew up in the mid Hudson River area of New York. She grew up on boats. Her whole family would take trips to places like Block Island and Nantucket. When we'd visit her folks, I g spent a lot of time on the water. One thing that always fascinated me what that you could go down the river and travel anywhere in the world.

To me, the thought of a well equipped sailboat was a ticket to freedom. Hardly any fuel to buy, just use the wind. Looked like a lot of fun to me.

Of course, we had jobs and kids and all that, so sailboat dreams got put on hold.

Now the kids are grown. We could make time for that sort of dream. My wife is owed a lot of back pay. If that ever gets settled, we'd have the cash for a good used boat. We were at the point of watching "how to sail" dvd's and checking out sailing schools.

As luck would have it, our first choice of sailing schools was on the Gulf coast. Since the oil disaster, the thought of sailing warm Gulf waters has lost its appeal. It breaks my heart. Yesterday I was looking at photos of beaches I once walked on. They are oil covered now. It was too painful to look at all the photos and I had to stop.

Now I don't know if I'll ever follow those sailing dreams.

Thanks for nothing BP.

-Sixbears