by Pat Corbitt

Created on: April 19, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

MY RECESSION LESSON

This economic mess can teach us things about ourselves in the oddest of ways. Consider this.

Feeling poorer than usual, this winter I conceded a small victory to the first cold snap we had. I went to the Army-Navy store and bought the best winter coat I ever had. By "best" I mean it was really warm but, more importantly, it cost just $35. I bragged about that all winter and now I am a little sad that I'll probably have to put it away pretty soon, and save the braggadocio for next season.

Why do we care, you may ask? Bear with me. It's really about one of my favorite subjects: money... or the lack thereof these days. Now since we're all probably really sick of hearing about the recession/depression, let me put a more positive spin to it. There are actually some lessons here.

I'm a sailor with a lovely little sloop. When it comes to fuel costs we sailors are sitting pretty, right? No $6-a-gallon go-juice for us! I'm happy I don't own a powerboat. Don't get me wrong I really like powerboats. I'm counting on one to take me fishing for stripers on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay this year. So I don't have a lot of those wisecracks in me that some sailors usually like to make at the expense of the stinkpot crowd. Oh, did I say that out loud? Sorry. You know what I mean.

It's a fact that gas problems have been a big part of the recession; boats were even harder hit than cars. For example, I discovered recently that even the most efficient of the trawler (the new darlings of power boating fuel economy) burn somewhere around "2.5gph at 7 knots." Even if you're not a boater, you can get the idea that's not great. I seem to remember using a lot less than 2.5 gallons of diesel all season with a little Hunter 28' sailboat I once had. I put about twice that in the bigger Catalina 32 that I sailed for a couple of years. Sailboats are for sailing, right?

Well, no matter, those bigger sailboats are gone for me. The economy and life changed all that. And I learned something very important: there are no big expenditures necessary to fully enjoy sailing (or, for that matter, just about anything else in life). Ever.

I now, through a friend's incredible kindness, have an amazing little 25-foot sailboat that is 35 years young, and in better shape than I am. I intend to sail the fenders off it this season. Sure, it has a little outboard but that's for emergencies, right? No, this is a real sailboat.

Then, as I was poking around her on one of those rare March 60-degree days on

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