Slow Down, You Move Too Fast … Go Sailing

Besides Elon Musk, very few people want to leave this planet. Though it can be challenging, Earth is one of our favorites. Sailors know that when you are ready to scream and get off the planet, the best solution is to go sailing. And most sailors enjoy their weekend sailing because they get to slow down.

We were reminded of this when a quote in a “tech utopian future” newsletter twisted our saltwater-infused brains. The quote: “I have to spend nearly 24 hours trekking from Abu Dhabi to L.A. What a waste. Instead of being crammed in a seat for 20 hours, I could’ve been home with my kids, reading one more bedtime story. I want supersonic flight, and I want it now!”

People who can never have enough or never go fast enough can forget that the people who spend the most time with their kids, reading books and magazines, or having fun together, don’t get onto a plane. The people who want to spend quality time with their kids slow their lives down and take their family cruising.

The best way to spend more time with your kids is to travel at about six knots, not 600 or 1200 knots. Moe Roddy’s podcast with the van Dycks, who are currently cruising with their kids, is an ideal example of how slowing down is actually better for family bonding. We just finished a podcast with Commodore Tompkins, who’s sailed about 600,000 miles, the vast majority of which is probably between five and 10 knots.

Conversely, at last year’s boat show, we were standing next to a twin-600-hp-outboard powerboat when we overheard a mother saying to her child as she stepped aboard the aft swim platform, “Look, honey, we could get to Tinsley Island in an hour-and-a-half with this.” We’re not sure this was a top-of-mind concern for the 6-year-old, but it would be a way for a parent to minimize family time in nature and maximize time for adult socializing while the child is in the sailing program.

Typically, the reason people love weekends is that they get to slow down. History’s lesson is that all the technology designed to help us save time has largely been a failure. The tech world, in particular, has had workers spending five days a week working to create faster services so everyone can slow down on the weekend. If it worked, three or four days a week the Bay would be covered in sailboats sailed by tech workers enjoying their leisure time after creating all these digital-efficiency tools we all use. The Bay Area is the epicenter of AI and technology productivity, yet it feels hard to find a technology worker who has time to relax and go sailing on the weekend. Or time to spend with the kids varnishing the rails of their classic sailboat.

We recently read the tagline for a magazine called In Formation: “Computers make humans so much easier to use.” It’s a good reminder of our “relationship” with tech. There is no speed of life that is fast enough for anyone to be able to slow down. Legislatures everywhere are trying to figure out how to get kids off devices and off social media so they can connect with each other and their families. Legislation will help, but so will the example of us adults choosing how to use our own time. Sailing the world or sailing the Bay with your kids is an alternative to leaving the planet, and a good way to slow down and spend more time with your kids.