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View From the Chair

The view from this chair is pretty much the same it has been for the last 3
weeks having been “locked down” by the health situation that has shaken
the world. It is a very different view from the one I wrote about last Winter
when we were all looking forward to the back of the Brexit debate, and
forward to our respective sailing seasons.
Right now, I would welcome a discussion on Brexit (or indeed any non C-19
subject) rather than the sad news coming in from around the world every
time I check the news.

So, to start, I am hoping that by the time you read this you will have been
spared personal loss and that you remain in good health and spirits. Our
demographic suggests that by now, we will be accepting that the cost of
this crisis to our liberty and plans will be higher than those much younger.
I’ve heard from SOA members in Europe fearing a lock down till after the
Autumn, and others stuck on their boats in far flung places, unable to go
ashore for weeks on end.
But as sailors we know that “it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good”.

C-19 has mainly spared the very young, and those that you and I would call
young (which these days seems to include way too many people!). We
wish the best of health and fortune to all of them as the costs of paying for
this disaster will be borne by working populations the world over for years
to come.

Many of us have taken the opportunity to reconnect with friends and
family, long overlooked and ignored, through the power of the Internet.
We have probably all checked on our neighbours and offered to help them
and our relatives in any way that we are able. Our Thursday “clap for our
carers” has turned into an impromptu, socially distanced “is there anything
I can do to help ?” session which to me harks back to the tales my
grandparents told of earlier dark times.

SOA Committee held the Spring Committee meeting over the Internet, and
apart from a couple of glitches, we managed to hold a productive and
workmanlike meeting.

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