News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

FROM THE HELMHalf-BacksIthought a halfback was the guy inthe backfield who could run, catchor block and get lots of glory. Not so,in this case. I learned a new definitionrecently while reading the Septembereditorial, titled “the Opposite ofFlorida,” in Spinsheet, a well-puttogetherfree sailing rag out ofAnnapolis, MD.Turns out a “half-back,” a termnow being made famous by TheEconomist, is someone who spendsmuch of his life up North—particularlythe Northeast—dreaming ofescaping to warm and wateryFlorida. This “half-back” eventuallygets his wish and moves south to theSunshine State. Time moves on, andafter experiencing the high propertytaxes, hurricanes, hurricane homeinsurance, traffic and—shuffleboardcourts, this transplant from the Northmoves back. But he doesn’t move allthe way back; he moves “half back.”Hence, the name. He moves, not allthe way back to maybe New York orBoston, but just part way, that is,halfway—like to the Carolinas orVirginia, or, as the case may be for theSpinsheet editor—to the Annapolisand Cheasapeake area.So, it’s the “opposite of Florida,”although I would have guessed thatstate to be Colorado where it’s high,dry, cold and unpopulated, at least ineastern Colorado. (It’s also the mostfit state and has the least number ofsmokers—also the opposite ofFlorida.) What David Gendell (theSpinsheet editor) is commenting on isthat a lot of these people are movingto his area and becoming sailors orcontributing to the sailing community.If that’s the case, then I say theyowe us. Can we sum this all up bysaying that Florida is now supplyingAnnapolis with sailors?Well, we, too, are benefiting. WhenI first came to Florida in 1979 andbought a sailboat, sailors—includingliveaboards and cruisers—were treatedwith envy, kindness and respect. I firstlanded in Fort Lauderdale. It was thena major sailing mecca and jumping-offpoint for points south. Today, it’s ahaven for megayachts, and sailboatsare rare. The Keys were cheap, andhouses there and in Key West could bebought for under $100,000—waterfront.Today, after 30 years of Northernersmigrating south and raising the propertyprices, jamming the roads,crowding the marinas and filling thecondos, we have suffered from thisswelling. If they all went halfwayback, maybe the Ol’ Florida can comeback to life, and it could then be thesleepy, watery and unknown havenfor cruisers it once was.I would even settle for somequarterbacks, who maybe only go aquarter of the way—maybe to justGeorgia or South Carolina. Fullbackswould be acceptable, too.Are the people in Annapolis surethis population increase is a goodthing? If a lot of people are movingin, it’s not the opposite of Florida.Steve MorrellEditor6 October 2006 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com