Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Size does matter

Carlos Slim sailed into San Carlos Harbor today. At least his yacht did. Word around here is that he comes quite often, leading people to speculate what he's up to. As the world's richest man, when he does anything, there is usually money involved.

Oddly enough, his "jumboat" (as those of us with lesser boats call the big ones) isn't all that big. Maybe a hundred and twenty-five feet or so. Heck Tiger Woods has him by a good 25 feet.

I found it interesting that the richest man in Mexico isn't Hispanic, but Lebanese. His father fled persecution in Lebanon, married the daughter of another Lebanese business man, had six kids, and Mexico slim took his inheritance and built it into a telecommunications empire.

But back to that yacht. Anchored out in the harbor, she makes the other boats look like toys in a bathtub. She's too big to come into the marina, so there she sits, accessible only by a tender larger than my boat. Does that sound like yacht envy? Dang right it does. I consider our 34'er as smallish--we downsized after our 42'er sank--but I'm perfectly content with her. In fact, she's perfect for us.

As I sit at my desk on the boat, writing this blog, I'm sure that everyone down here on a boat is happy with their choice. Shoot, we are all lucky to be here, no matter what size boat we have, and don't we know it. I hope Slim is as happy as we are, but with all those billions, why wouldn't he be?

And Slim, if I may call you that, if you are reading this blog, I have these great books that would make fab movies...let's do lunch. Aboard High Jinx, in Mexico's beautiful Sea of Cortez.

1 comment:

1st Mate said...

No matter what size boat you've got, when you're out in the vastness of the ocean, you're pretty small. Hey, maybe you'll run into Sr. Slim at Barracuda Bobs!