The Times They Are A Changin’

Come gather ‘round people wherever you roam And admit that the waters around you have grown And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone For the times, they are a-changin’

- Bob Dylan

Over 60 years of boating and fishing experience has taught me a few things, including lots I’ve forgotten. We baby boomers were born in the greatest period of world history, and we have certainly born witness to an extraordinary period of change. In fact, more than our memories can store.

It wasn’t until my late high school days that calculators and computers were introduced to our curriculum. Around the same time, both fibreglass and aluminium all but replaced timber, bringing the world of affordable boating to the post WW2 population.

Marine electronics progressed from funny old depth sounders with flashing lights on a rotational “spinner” to expensive paper printed readouts, and eventually to the first of the highly pixelated digital screens in the mid to late 1980s. Radar was the realm of the military and GPS eventually revolutionised navigation, eliminating the need for compass skills and memories of land-based features to line up to find your fishing hot spot, or indeed the way back to the ramp.

Recreational angling has mostly gone from an ethic of kill, kill, kill to a theology of limit your catch, not catch your limit. Tag and release has mostly replaced gaff n grill, with a host of modern products making our fishing method so much more successful.

Meanwhile boating has undergone an unprecedented change from often clumsy inboard shaft drives through to highly developed petrol, diesel, outboard, pod and stern drives and now electric power.

One can argue that hull design has never been bettered ever since the deep-V and multi-hull revolution spawned from the offshore powerboat sector of the 1950s and 1960s, although like all technology it has been refined both successfully and unsuccessfully by a highly varied boating market ever since.

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Our sense of styling has also shifted through many fads. It wasn’t all that long ago that New Zealand’s Stabicraft boats were considered the ugly duckling of the marine world, yet there’s very few that will now criticise these time proven battlewagons, and in fact their current styling and construction is being celebrated by their world-wide popularity. They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, yet imitation is often detrimental to the innovators! (wink wink)

When the likes of Jeanneau, Beneteau, and Arvor introduced the “trawler” styled upright cabins to the world, many replied, “what are they thinking?” Yamaha had previously introduced island longboat hulls to their now redundant Southwind brand, forcing many to reflect their amazing efficiencies.

Multi-hulls, tunnels, ballast, chine, strakes, Vee, relief, stem, entry and transoms have all transformed into an amazing array of combinations, and construction has followed suit with new materials and technique producing increased strength vs weight ratios in the hulls. Modern synthetics, moulding and production technology have improved structure forming nautical constructions with limitless lifespan.

It’s truly a world of change. The resurgence of the “Old School” brigade is certainly justified in reflecting on the grand designs of yesteryear, especially in the offshore fishing and diving sectors. However, “Euro” design is strong throughout luxury boating with many such craft often portraying striking presentations with minimalist styling overtaking the lavish fit outs of more traditional boating.

Ski and wakeboard boats have taken innovation to extremes with their use of automated ballast, all manner of wave forming apparatus, automated speed controls and remote devices that allow the riders to adjust the wake from their wristbands! That’s not to mention smart hull designs, billet alloy towers and features, thumping marine sound systems and luxurious upholstery.

I still look at many modern designs and think yuck, that’s not attractive–but there’s no rule that says fashion needs to be sensible. Others look at suave and sophisticated craft seeing contemporary beauty, whilst others turn up their noses thinking them gaudy. Beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder–old or young.

My lifetime in boating has taught me just that the best boat in the world is the one that is keeping you afloat at the time!

See ya in the wet bit! Bear