The Boating Barrister

  There are two things that matter in life: hope and fear. That’s what 53 years of living has taught me and I’m right as rain. You’re a time traveler of sorts in that when you read these words, you’ll know the outcome of this 2024 presidential election and yet as I type, I don’t. I’m not here to pummel political positions because the outcome is fated, but that ‘hope and fear’ bit – that’s determinative. On…

March 2021 – While John Fulweiler claims his close friend collaborated with him on various projects including content for this column, it appears Johnny Walker is the brand name of a blended Scotch Whiskey and not an actual person. We have asked John to refrain from referring to Johnny Walker, Jim Beam, Captain Morgan, Jack Daniel, Jose Cuervo and Sam Adams as his friends or writing partners. January 2022 – Reference was made by John to a…

There’s a guy in the house next to our office who financed forty slave voyages. That level of trauma is hard for me to grasp. I don’t care if your underwear was woolen and your Bloomberg terminal was a quill pen and parchment — you knew that was wrong. You don’t need modern hindsight to check your moral compass. He doesn’t live there anymore, given his 1700s business, but the rancor of his efforts lingers too close…

By Langston “South” Fulweiler Editor’s note: A favorite WindCheck feature is John K. Fulweiler, Esq.’s monthly column; invariably informative, incisive and witty. The Boating Barrister’s daughter checks in for Dad this month with a valuable seamanship lesson…and with words like “intentionality” in her lexicon (at 17!), she’s welcome to pen this page any time. “Everything has a place, and everything in its place” was a phrase I grew up resenting. With a nautical New England family, the…

Tom Whitwell is a man known for making a list of 52 things he learns each year. It’s the analog version of the stream of tidbits social media gives you. I like the idea. Here are some salty things I’ve learned vaguely relating to the maritime law and which might give you some cocktail ammunition for your next gathering: 1. In maritime law, a yacht is often classified as a pleasure vessel, and owners must comply with…

The problem with boating is the sea bends, passengers slip, depths change, boats collide, winds gust, things sink, tides ebb and, well, this wobbly world is generally unforgiving. While all these variables might give boating its charm, there may be occasions where an admiralty lawyer’s guidance is the well-needed salve to your most recent liquid adventure. The challenge is in finding and hiring a lawyer who knows this hoary patch of legal precedent at a rate that…

The problem with boating is the sea bends, passengers slip, depths change, boats collide, winds gust, things sink, tides ebb and, well, this wobbly world is generally unforgiving. While all these variables might give boating its charm, there may be occasions where an admiralty lawyer’s guidance is the well-needed salve to your most recent liquid adventure. The challenge is in finding and hiring a lawyer who knows this hoary patch of legal precedent at a rate that…

The way it was, you’d have the boat captain and the owner swapping stories all night. The vodka and beer didn’t do anything but make the stories sharper and the memories brighter and a little louder. Now how it is, they sit languid at the bar or sprawled on the wicker. No one talks ‘cause they’re all staring at a pixellated screen. I think video didn’t just kill the radio star; it’s done killed us all! I’ve left Johnny at home…

There are stupid questions. Don’t let any boater tell you different. From the owner of the boat show production vessel to the teak decks of a German build, there’s a lot of stupid. Here’s my list for your galley amusement and maybe some teaching. I mean, OK, OK. Cool your jets, Bar associations, it’s not legal advice. Don’t rely on what I’m saying. Every situation is different. You get the idea; don’t be stupid. If I find…

Jimmy Buffett was a people person; an easy breeze in any social setting. You go sailing in the southern climes and it’s not hard to find similar smooth souls with quick smiles, good memories and coiled springs of go-go. They are fun people. They are adventurers, compatriots and those that introduce you to the persons whose faces still raid your morning sleep with sea dappled memories of youth, sun and starboard rails. That Buffett was also an…