Leisure: Perils of the Surface

In the days when every boatman knew the difference between a jib and a jibe, a man who ventured upon the water in any vessel, large or small, did so with a lively respect for the perils of the deep and an awareness that the mariner's world required special skills and knowledge. Today the ubiquitous cabin cruiser seems to many a Sunday skipper like nothing more than a watertight version of the car he left parked at the marina, while the outboard motor has evolved from a poky put-put to a roaring, soaring substitute for a jet fighter plane....

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