A bit of trivia about this old A&J strip from 1998: for those of you who really know your vintage production sailboats, and for the rest of you, the boat in Arlo’s daydreaming was very closely based on the original Tartan 27, an early fiberglass boat originally manufactured on the shores of Lake Erie. They were heavy, capable little boats, though not considered so little in their day, and I owned one for many years. Hence the influence on Arlo’s fantasy boat. Eventually I sold my boat to a friend on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He had it removed from the water and placed on a stand for repairs by a boatyard in Bay St. Louis. It was there, high and dry on the yard, when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. It was never seen again.
14 responses to “‘I have to look like I’m listening?’”
And Janis had her old hairdo—
I used to drive my ex crazy by doing that. She would say I wasn’t listening and I would repeat back her last couple of sentences word for word. Sometimes having a multi-track mind is a life-saving condition!
Two best days for a boat owner are the day the boat is purchased and the day it is sold. Boating is fun, but the boat is just a hole in the water in which to throw money. Still, I miss mine every day.
Rick, have heard that many times, but never found it to be true. Even if I was trading for another boat, always hated selling the previous one. Have owned 5 now, from a wonderful little 16’ day sailor (Luger 16) to a 40’ long Catalina 400. Cheers!
Rusty
I owned a 1978 25′ Oday for several years. Loved it until I didn’t.
A friend’s also-not-little and just reworked boat was (eventually) found many miles inland following the arrival of Katrina. It was not insured.
A beautiful classic boat, at one time a neighbor on Yellow Creek – sorry to hear of its demise…
I have to admit, that although I would want a boat as soon as I would want an albatross—and all those $$$ stories I read don’t help—that that romantic third panel really, really gets one to wishing, just a little bit.
What is it about old sail boats and motor boats that is so
pleasing to the eye? Unlike the new stuff.
Old Bear–The appeal of older boats is the way in which they were made. The beautiful craftsmanship, the care of the designer and builder who worked with the owner to create a masterpiece that was as much art and beauty as it was engineering and technology. Today’s boats are built like today’s house. They’re cookie cutter copies of every other house in the block. Now a days, a person would have to be a real person of wealth to have a boat custom made with the beauty and care that went into the boats of yore!!
Little boxes, little boxes,
they’re all made out of Ticky Tacky
and they all look just the same.
Even new yachts don’t have the aura and presence the old boats had.
Maybe I’m old, but like Bing, and Perry, and Nat et-al that made you want to
be in their vicinity (I know off stage they were different). The new crop of
noise makers make you want to be miles away.
You are right it “was as much art and beauty as it was engineering and technology.”
Sounds good to me! And that’s why we all read cartoon strips like these.
It’s all about the fantasy. Reality is never so exciting!
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar