All well and good. We live in a land ruled by the Invisible Hand,
after all. In any case, I'm tempted to observe that if man has owned 11
sailboats and then pleads poverty, he need only look to himself for the
explanation. This, however, would be unkind. Still, I can't resist
putting in my oar. I'm only sorry that it isn't a Seagull.
Perry invites us to contrast his record as a polluter with Geoff's.
He'll bet, he says, that Geoff's costly and effete four-stroke Honda has
polluted more than his stalwart, manly Seagull.
OK. You're on, Percy. At a conservative estimate, your Seagull dumps 25%
of its fuel-oil mix right out the pipe, unburned. Add in gaseous
combustion by-products, and that's some 1.8 pounds of hydrocarbons for
every gallon of fuel consumed.
A _carbureted_ 4-stroke, on the other hand, probably emits only 7% of
this amount. Fuel-injected 4-stroke engines with electronic ignition
should do even better.
The conclusion? Geoff will have to run his engine at least 14 times as
much as Perry runs his just to break even. Submit your log-books to the
judges, gentlemen. My money's on Geoff.
Oh, well. That's not the point is it? And Sunday is the day for sermons.
I might as well add my own gloss on the beatitudes.
Perry begs Geoff's pardon for having "failed [his] test." It is not
Geoff's pardon he should beg, of course. He must look to himself. It
_is_ cruel to observe that "pleasure belongs only to those who can
afford it." Yet this is arguably the case. The poor -- the genuinely
poor, that is, not the boat poor -- do not, in the main, live pleasant
lives. And their plight won't be bettered by dumping raw gasoline in the
water they swim (and wash) in. As for Perry, if can't have fun without
his Seagull, more power to him. I'll continue to rely on the wind and my
own muscle, and meet "emergencies" as they come.
Neither Perry nor I has a monopoly on virtue, of course. Both of us
claim to be "environmentally aware." But one of us is doing less harm to
the waters we both profess to love. I don't imagine that I need point
out which one, do I?
Forrest Brownell
forrest@slic.com
South Colton NY
XL Tripper LEVIATHAN