Biden's Bridge

 Joe Biden, born November 20, 1942, is less than seven years older than me. Yet he seems of a different generation. Pondering this a bit more, I realize that Biden is not technically part of the Baby Boomers (1946 – 1965), as am I.

Biden is in the tail end of the Silent Generation, a small cohort within the birth years of 1928 – 1945. Parents of the Silent Generation were in the Greatest Generation (1901 – 1927); these mothers and fathers had lived the Great Depression and the World Wars. Biden exhibits an echo of his parent’s generational attitudes. He was of the time before meritocracy fully took hold of us, leaders were more humble stewards of position and power; perhaps feeling less entitled and less confident.

Our last four presidents, Clinton (born 1946), G.W. Bush (1946), Obama (1961) and Trump (1946) have been Boomers, governing for almost three decades (1993 – 2020). Of late, much of the progress and achievements of these Boomer governments have lost their lustre. More than a touch of hubris has been exposed.  The last of these, Trump, was a gargoyle of Boomer privilege, laying waste to his inheritance and making a mockery of merit.

Biden somehow comes across as “older”, with more grounded experience than I think I have. But this doesn’t really make much sense. Only 8% of living Americans are older than me; Biden’s percentage is 5%, so not a big difference. There must be something else at play. It is also no coincidence that the runner up for the nomination is also a Silent Generation member, Bernie Sanders, born in 1941. Please know that I’m not wishing to give the Silent Generation sainthood; they had their sins: segregation, misogyny – and let us not forget Vietnam. No rose coloured glasses are being worn.

But here is my point. Many studies have found that crowds have a certain uncanny wisdom, and we may be seeing this play out in the current election cycle – I hope so. Perhaps Biden is the bridge connecting the past Silent Generation’s humility and art of compromise with the hopes and dreams of the younger voting cohorts of late Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z. Maybe this election is about slowly moving us sixty and seventy year olds out of the picture, and out of power. 

I’m hopeful that Biden and Harris put together an idealistic yet grounded group of smart younger people to find fresh solutions to climate, China, race, gender, and income disparity. I’m happy to put the last years of my life into their hands as they create a better future.

But first, let’s defeat Donald Trump on November 3.

Croatia Sailing: July - August 2020

Our second half of the season was more of a vagabond affair. After getting back to Šibenik on July 5th from our southern trip, we had a few days of bad weather with very strong winds out of the northeast. Tilen and I did a minor repair on the skipper's cabin hatch drain, we got in some provisions but generally lazed about. And on the 8th Tilen left for an extended weekend to attend his mom's birthday, Cornelia went to a multi-day safety course and Judith and I decided to spend a few days ashore so checked into one of the hotel's villas.

While at the hotel I chipped a tooth that required a quick repair at a dentist in Vodice, but finally on the 16th we motored to nearby Kakan, had lunch aboard, and then were off to Tijat and Tijascica Bay for the night. Of course, dinner was at Spirito's - I had two appetizers: a nice shrimp tempura followed by beef tartare. In the morning we headed back to Šibenik.

After another day in the marina we took the long trip to Vis, motoring for the first two hours and then sailing on a broad reach in a steady wind of 16 - 20 knots; we used the traditional rigging for the genoa and MISSI performed admirably. We secured to a buoy in Kut and took the Williams to dinner at the lovely Villa Kaliopa, surrounded by it's 16th century gardens. After a glass of wine aboard, it was easily to sleep.

Villa Kaliopa

In the morning I did some maneuvering practice before leaving under sail to St. Clement Island and the Bay of Vinogradiŝĉe. While setting the shorelines I unfortunately ran the Williams over the line, which was sucked into the jet intake; wrapping around the shaft. Tilen and I worked on dislodging it for hours but to no avail. This certainly put a damper on our evening dinner with Tilen's family at Zori's. They had taken a charter for a few weeks and we had planned to meet here. That evening I dozed off annoyed for hacking the shorelines!

We arranged to meet the Williams dealer in Strobrec Cove, south of Split. We anchored, had lunch and rendezvoused with the technicians who towed our stricken tender to their base. Luckily they were able to remove the line and we had our Williams roaring back to us in about an hour. It was then motoring again to our overnight off Drevenik Veli. We anchored and laid out shorelines (I swam to shore this time). Cornelia prepared a nice dinner onboard.

Drvenik Veli

The following day, July 22nd, we had a swim and some sun. In the afternoon we were off to Rogonzncia, taking a buoy off Kopara, deep in the bay and away from the marina. It was a peaceful spot. In the morning  Tilen took us ahore for a long walk around the rest of the bay and after lunch motored back to Šibenik, once again disappointed by the wind. We tied up in a strong crosswind, cleaned up, had dinner and were soon asleep. The next two days we were in our marina; weather was not cooperating.

On July 26 we were off again, with a nice sail on a close reach to Žirje and Stupica Vela, taking a buoy for the night. Lunch and some swimming followed, but the day turned cloudy with a strong west breeze. We left early the next morning for the Kornati Chain and the island of Ravni Zakan, anchoring nearby the pontoon of Zakan Restoran.We had an excellent dinner and some interesting people watching since there were a number of large motor yachts tied up at the restaurant's dock.

Zakan Restoran

Zakan Restoran
Judith's "no pictures" face

We had a nice morning in the cove with some swimming and sunbathing. It was then off motoring to Murter Island, anchoring in the shallow bay off the marina. We sometimes plan our interrary around our stomachs - we were once again dining at Fine Food Murter, greeted as usual by the lovely proprietor Gracia. 

The next day, we had lunch off nearby Cape Mala Zecia and afterward motored up the narrow channel between Pasman Island and the mainland to Biograd na Moru and the Kornati Marina. Dinner was onboard; another wonderful Cornelia creation.

We took about a week off to attend to some dental issues, fun getting old! It was then back to S/Y MISSI. I arranged our flight back to London, but we still had a bit of time to take some nice day trips.

There was a good sail west on a broad reach in a fresh breeze to Mali Borovnjak off Kakan Island. We stopped for a nice lunch but decided not to go for a swim; a bit windy. At 3:30 we upped anchor and motored home, encountering some rain on the way. Luckily we avoided the strong gusts that were popping up and safely got onto our pontoon in the marina without incident. 

Mali Borovnjak

On our last weekend, we had a nice trip to Žirje Island and its tranquil bay of Stupica. We had a bit of sailing, then motored for the balance of the trip. A lunch followed aboard, and some sun and swimming afterward. Around four, we left the bay and headed northeast on a broad reach in 16 - 20 knots of wind. It was a great last sail, MISSI pushing over 9 knots at times. We were through the Šibenik channel around six, stopped at the fuel station to replenish some diesel and tied up the yacht for the last time this season.

S/Y MISSI's Croatian flag off Stupica

It was a wonderful 9-weeks and 752 nautical miles of adventure on the water and away from the worries coivd-19. We left for London on August 10 - back to real life on land.