Naturally I heard the song as "Michael rode the boat ashore" and figured he must be a passenger since everybody else was working.
Until I was into my late twenties I could count the number of times I’d been on a boat on the fingers of one hand, despite having spent about 15 years within 10 miles of the ocean. (We swamped an overloaded motorboat in a lagoon and spent the next half hour trying to find the tools that went overboard, and some relatives down in Mississippi took us fishing once. That’s about it.) So we moved to Madison where water sports are huge. Odd ducks we were, still not taking to the water.
At Devil’s Lake I was impressed into taking some kids out for a turn in a canoe. I had a theoretical notion of how to use the paddle, and I succeeded in not accidentally beaning any of the kids along the way. Though I dripped a lot of water on them, and we wound up pointed in odd directions.
A generous co-worker loaned the use of his cabin-on-the-lake, and now once you pry me out of the chair it is fun to pilot small boats around a quiet lake (not so sure about places with big waves). Wish I didn’t swim like a brick, though.
Day camp took us deep-sea fishing a few times in my childhood. An uncle had a yacht, but we never were invited. It was lakes and more lakes for us. I learned the J-stroke early and we rowed or skied as well. When I get a chance, I still like small outboard navigation, a bit different than on-road.
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