Sailing with Tom

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2010.

My friend Tom and his wife Emily often disagree about the wisdom of his decision to buy a powerboat just to leave it in his garage. She says it was silly to spend all that money on a boat that hasn’t been wet for two years, to which Tom counters, with devastating accuracy, that it gets wet every time he washes it.

I like to go over to Tom’s and sit in his boat with him because, like any good captain, he gives me free beer. Often I’ll help him with nautical chores, such as the time we installed his fish finder, which is how w...