Wild islands along the Maine coast provide an almost endless trail of playgrounds for camp-cruising in small boats with my kids.
Each summer, we load up the boats, hoist the sails, and head off to whichever island lies in the path of favorable winds and currents of the day. The experience of that day is pretty much shaped by the forces of nature.
Thanks to generous islan owners and our friends at the
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Richard Greenway says:
Steve,
Leaving school at fifteen I embarked on a five year apprenticeship as a
Toolmaker.
Two years into it I started spreading my wings as a commercial diver and wanted to quit the apprenticeship as I felt it was holding me back.
Not one to listen to my Father he said “finish your apprenticeship. They are skills that
you can fall back on for the rest of your life as you explore it”.
Finished the apprenticeship and have been exploring ever since.
I have much to thank him for.
Sometimes it is a simple statement made at a critical junction
in a young life that makes all the difference!
Dana Grund says:
Thank you Mr. Stone, for the excellent essay. I received and read it literally minutes after thinking I should write a blog essay on creative thinking! I am a self employed designer / goldsmith and I spend my days working with clients to design and then hand make custom jewellery for them. In this capacity, I see many people faced with the task (opportunity?) of collaborating with another to come up with something entirely new… and it is an experience entirely foreign to most.
I find the majority of people have little vocabulary to articulate their own tastes or sense of style, or even what they are looking for when it doesn’t already exist, and are embarrassed to pick up a pencil to scratch out and idea on paper when words fail them. Some people don’t realize that jewellery can be hand made. Generally, it comes out that when people want something special, they settle on the words “personal” and “different” to describe it.
I have come to feel that my role as a designer, in part, is to help people figure out what is important to them, and to reference this somehow in the design. In the end, the little sculpture that we create together, and what they adorn themselves with, is a unique reflection of who they are, or someone/thing they wish to remember, and is truly their own. For them, it is meaningful, and likely to be cherished and passed on with the stories attached.
In my earlier years I was very conflicted about becoming a vector for precious metals and mineral mining, and all that that is destructive in that industry. And for what? adornment? But I feel my approach, as it has evolved to become, is quite the opposite of the overconsumption of finite resources; A good deal of thought and skilled labour go into making something with relatively few materials, that will then last generations, be meaningful to those who have it, and bring people closer through the sharing of family history. I hope also that the experience reminds people that there are craftspersons who can make just about anything we need, and if we shift our sense of what is valued away from gobbling up the flavour of the month to slowly savouring the personal and meaningful, these craftspeople may survive and multiply, along with local cultures and sustainable economies.
It is all very rewarding, but like everyone else, after the day’s work and other obligations there seems precious little time to do the other things that I am passionate about. I was fortunate to grow up spending summer weekends in a cottage on an island, scraping,varnishing and re-wireing, and sometimes sailing the 24″ full keel ketch my father built in the driveway. I have wanted to build a boat on my own for as long as I can remember, and more recently to share some of that experience with my own kids (ages 8 and 11). For the last seven months I have had the plans for Storer’s Goat Island Skiff under my bedside table, but still haven’t found time to get started. This essay has given me another well needed nudge in the direction of the back yard shed. Thank you!
Fritz Richardson says:
Steve,
Thank you for presenting this topic so clearly and beautifully. My wife and I have had the same concerns for years as you. My wife Diana is a geography professor at SDSU in San Diego. She is also the undergraduate advisor and works lovingly with students to help them plan their academic future but ends up counciling about life. I graduated with a degree in engineering, but followed my passion and have worked as a sailboat rigger for over 40 years. Our two children were raised with the sense that education was important, but to include all forms of education. We sailed, backpacked and generally experience the outdoors together. So far so good. Our daughter is living on her third small sailboat in Hobart Tasmania, while pursuing her PHD in ocean pollution matters. Our son has taught English in foreign countries and just finished his time with the Peace Corp in Vanuatu. We couldn’t be prouder of the people they have grown up to be. What has so far worked out well for us may not be for everyone, but we are happy with the choices. I wish you all the best on your respective paths.
Regards, Fritz Richardson
Steve Stone says:
Stella’s twin brother Jack just checked in for an 8-week summer school program at a U.S. university where his roommate is from India and most of his fellow classmates are not from the U.S. It’s going to be amazing what he learns at the age of 16 about the global market for education, jobs, and everything else.
Stewart Simpkins says:
Steve, thank you for writing this piece. I am completely interested in this site for water, boats, and things watery/boatery, so this writing was unexpected and very appreciated.
Thank you,
Stu
Jack Stone says:
Proud.
Love, Dad
Virginia Gerardi says:
Dear Steve,
How wonderful to come across such an intimate sharing of concerns and aspirations for a young woman’s future… on a website about classic boats! To be sure, my days spent out in nature bird watching, horseback riding and sailing with my Dad served me well as I bumped my way through adolescence and early adulthood. It provided me an enduring refuge from society’s pressures and negative influences as in the drug culture of the 60s-70s.
Your love for your daughter and total support in her finding happiness and prosperity is touching and, if I may add from my viewpoint, uncommon. That love, by itself, would be ample fertilizer to grow a contented life.
I would like to offer the following excerpt in support of the wonderful job you are doing:
“The missing link in all systems of education is that educational institutions fail to teach their students how to organize and use the knowledge after they have acquired it.
Many people made the mistake of assuming that because Henry Ford had little schooling he was not a man of education. Those who made this mistake did not understand the real meaning of the word educate. That word is derived from the Latin word educo, meaning to educe, to draw out, or to develop from within.
An educated person is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated person is one who has so developed the faculties of mind that he or she may acquire anything they want, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.”
—Napolean HIll, “Think and Grow Rich” orig. pub 1937
You and your daughter might explore together the alternatives to consumerism. There are grassroots movements springing up worldwide that are advocating for and embracing a sustainable future for our planet. (ie., The Transition Movement, Co-housing and Permaculture). Your daughter may not necessarily find a career in this area but could have the opportunity mature within a network of people who value community over individualism, neighborliness over competition, sustainability over convenience. Good reading: “Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change” by Pat Murphy
I would be delighted if you would continue share about your and Stella’s journey.
Steve Stone says:
Thank you Virginia, for such a thoughtful reply. I’ll check out these things and look up Plan C for reading.
Sharon Stone says:
Yes, tears to my eyes. You are an amazing son and a great father, and Jack and Stella are pretty amazing too. You make me very proud.
David Tew says:
We have a ‘Stella’ in our family, too, and what you hope for yours can be done. Our Alice started out sailing in Maine with us, enjoyed Outward Bound programs and then became a river guide in Jackson Hole during her first college summer followed by a junior year in Tasmania studying eco-tourism. She moved to the Pacific Northwest after interning for National Geographic Adventure Magazine during her last college year and took a job with Mountaineer Books and guided kayaking and climbing trips on weekends. Now she’s in her thirties and likely in line to become president of the Adventure Travel Trade Association serving eco-tourism efforts worldwide. Should your Stella want to talk to someone who’s pursued a path like that, drop me a line.
Steve Stone says:
Hey Dave, Very cool. I’d love to connect Stella and Alice sometime.
Tim Gallogly says:
A thought provoking and inspiring essay – be confident that you are giving Stella things of great value when you give your love, when you give your time and when you listen.
Peter Brackenbury says:
Steve, I too have many of the same worries as you for my boys when I see their older cousins faced with some of the same pressures on time and school programs. We both didn’t feel these pressures until much later in high school and we worry what we are doing to our children in our worries for them. Will they still have the ability be inspired by the feelings of being moved around in a small boat by nature’s power, or to make something that is truly useful by hand? In the end, my wife and I hope that giving them love, support and exposing them to a wonderful variety of experiences such as outdoor pursuits and technical trades instead of narrowing their focus too early will give them the confidence and resilience to choose whatever, or create whatever job they want in the future. We are watching out for the need to push them in any specific direction. Your video gave us another perspective to weigh in our ongoing conversation about this challenge facing parents and children. Thanks. That video clip of Stella bouncing was just wonderful!
Steve Stone says:
Thanks Peter. Glad it helped spark conversation. Like you, part of my perspective comes from watching several family members try to navigate the modern world after what I call “million dollar” educations. Stand by for my piece on “Educating Jack” which will explore “making things by hand”.
Charles Barclay says:
Steve,
You are a filmmaker.
How did you manage to knock that one out of the park as a philosopher?
Steve Stone says:
“Philosopher” may be overstating it, Charles, but thanks for the compliment.
Claas van der Linde says:
Stella, you have a pretty cool dad!
Harry Bryan says:
Steve,
You have brought tears to my eyes. The very best kind. Thanks,
Harry Bryan
Steve Stone says:
Thanks Harry. That’s the ultimate compliment. As you know, this is why I brought the kids along with me when I came to shoot those videos at your place. I still remember the look on Jack’s face when he walked into your shop… and when he got to take the peddle-boat out for a spin.
Stella says:
pretty cool dad!!
Alison Langley says:
You’re on the right road Stella, and in good company!
Hank Kennedy says:
This should be required reading for new parents. No doubt in my mind that Stella will be a shining star in what ever she does. Well done Dad.
Havilah Hawkins says:
Thank you Steve