For the past few years, Sailing Uma, Green Yachts, Oceanvolt, Electric Yachts and others have been showing boaters that electric propulsion technology is real, it is here and it is better.
In a recent Tedx talk, Kika from Sailing Uma reminded us why. This blog is a reflection of listening to Kika’s Tedx talk, which you can skip to 3:41:34 on this recording and listen to yourself.
Kika’s spot-on comparison of climate change to credit cards reminds us all of what is at stake. Credit cards allow one to buy something now and pay later. Using oil is similar and the irony of a plastic credit card being made of oil is not lost upon us.
Most people use fossil fuels to drive or boat or fly. Even for those of us who own electric cars or electric boats, buy products made and/or delivered with the use of fossil fuels. Just like a credit card purchase, the debt of CO2 and methane emissions will come due. And there is no bankruptcy, refinancing or default option to bail us out.
Eliminating the cycle of credit card debt doesn’t mean you are limiting yourself from buying things, it means you gain your freedom. Freedom to be debt free. Freedom to live a longer and healthier life that is not dependent on material things.
Electric boating is the same. Electric boats have less range than a boat with a diesel engine. But what good is range when every ton of CO2 emission is killing our coral reefs, altering weather patterns, potentially affecting global wind and current patterns and driving marine species to extinction? What we are giving up is far greater – just like when we buy a couch and give up our financial freedom.
Using an electric boat, according to Dan and Kika, who have more experience living on an electric boat than any of us, gives them freedom. Freedom to travel at their own pace, freedom to not depend on fossil fuel, freedom to live simply. Hundreds of thousands of people watch Sailing Uma, live vicariously through Dan and Kika and dream of following in their footsteps.
What is stopping you?
Anyone you talk to who has solar on their roof is happy to not be beholden to the monthly electric bill. Anyone you talk to with an electric car will never go back to gas. Anyone you talk to with an electric boat will tell you that it is so much better than the fumes, noise and repairs of a diesel engine. Yes, for all three of these choices, if someone gets a solar array or a battery bank that is too small, you don’t have enough power and/or range, but those are frustrating tactical errors not counterarguments.
We encourage anyone reading this blog to follow Kika’s advice. But, what does that mean in our lives? Regarding climate change, choose to buy things that give you the freedom to move around and not condemn your kids, grandkids and their grandkids to a future that pays through quality of life for the debt of CO2 emissions we ‘gift’ to them.
Dan and Kika were determined to start a new life together and in making ‘sacrifices’, they found freedom. What we all need is the courage to make the decisions that end our dependency on oil and give us the freedom to thrive for generations.
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