As I write these words, it is less than one week since the unspeakable tragedy that has engulfed this nation. Like many, maybe most, I watched the nightmarish destruction to concrete and flesh unfolded before my eyes. That image is burned into my mind, and yours, forever.

As a result it is difficult to elevate decisions about whether or not to have a bulb bow, or bilge keels, or what the draft of a boat should be to any level of real importance. By the time your read this, I’m sure a bit of today’s single minded consciousness and passion will predictably have diminished. All of that nit-picky stuff that usually occupies us will gradually regain its place as a major focus of our lives: yours and mine. That return to normal (whatever normal will become) is as it should be.

Those who brought this horror to us will never understand why someone would buy a glitzy yacht, or for that matter a beat up canoe. Our lifestyles, our very lives are alien to them. We will probably never be able to change that difference in perception. Hopefully this nation will never again see its airspace or its waterways closed to the traffic of the nation whether for recreation, or commerce. That the devastation we have seen to humanity should never be repeated goes without saying.

The strongest way for us to stay free is to act free. Simply stated that means going ahead with life, not forgetting the pain, but not being crippled by it either. The terrorists that brought about this destruction must not be allowed to win.