“The little world of childhood with its familiar surroundings is a model of the greater world... the child...will tend to feel and see its earlier miniature world again in the bigger world of adult life.” —Carl Jung
We just returned from a family trip to Florida—me, Anika, and our three kids—that culminated in two days at Disney World. For those of you who’ve made the same obligatory pilgrimage, you have my condolences, but ultimately the quality time spent with the kids was worth the high price of admission. Fortunately our excursion also included some warm-water sailing, as the catalyst for our trip to the Sunshine State was an invitation from Hugh Horton (Cartop Cruising) to attend the annual Cedar Key Small-Boat Rendezvous. Hugh has invited me each year for most of a decade, but somehow this time the stars (and our kids’ ages) aligned.
Cedar Key was a treat. I sailed several boats, including JF Bedard’s excellent made-for-adventure-races RoG design. I was also finally able to put faces to names, visiting with several longtime contributors to this magazine and other friends I hadn’t yet met—including authors and adventurers Ida Little and Michael Walsh. It sounds cliché, but Cedar Key really is a small-boat paradise; warm, shallow water, white sand beaches, steady winds, and loads of wild-looking islands to explore.
Having been on the brackish waters and jungle islands of Cedar Key (and the Weeki Wachee River) in the days just before Disney World, I was struck by the similarities between the kind of sailing I’d been doing and a few of the famous Disney World rides. Obviously Cedar Key and Orlando couldn’t be more different in most ways, but when I boarded the boat for the Jungle Cruise and we set off in the park’s humid air, ostensibly to explore the mysterious and wild waterway, I couldn’t help but think of my real world sailing a few days earlier.
Are these favorite sailing spots linked to my unconscious—indelible archetypes from the books, movies, and amusement park rides of my youth?
There are sections of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride that bear an uncanny resemblance to the narrow backwater sloughs I’ve sailed off the Columbia River, passing unsavory fishing shacks and derelict vessels, never knowing what sights or dangers are around the next bend. And there’s a spot on the Texas 200 route (Cedar Bayou to Ayres Dugout) where I’ve sailed the prescribed route like my boat was on a track, passing flocks of pink Spoonbills and little uninhabited islets, that feels just like the stage set of an amusement park ride.
Are these favorite sailing spots linked to my unconscious—indelible archetypes from the books, movies, and amusement park rides of my youth? Who knows. Whatever the case, at least I’ve found places that offer all of the same wonder and sense of adventure without the long lines and ticket prices. —Joshua Colvin
As first appeared in issue #118
Michael and I were so glad to meet you and your family in Cedar Key, Josh. Bringing the kids to a still-pretty-wild area of Florida will serve their emotional memories long in to adulthood. More than the Disney rides I suspect...and the lines...
Thanks to the isles that are still wild and mangrove-y, we can sail with the whim of tide and wind to these islands, poke through the creeks, and really feel 'out there.' And not get town shock even when we return to Cedar Key.
Time to come back don't you think?
Josh…I’ve sailed those same waters (Cedar Key, Crystal River) with Hugh & my cousin B. Frank a time or two….SCAMP, SF Bay Pelican, P15, M15,….Too much Fun!…Fact is I just returned from a 7,000 mi. r/t in my Kimbo Camper….visited B. Frank in Two Egg, and a son & family in Tampa….worked in a father/ son/ grandson quality fishing trip into the Glades with a Pro Guide for 3 days….catch & release…many great memories from that neck of the woods!!