Partner and manager of two marinas inMallorca for 15 years Oscar has beendesigner and consultant for marina projects in various countries, and designer of customized marina elements. He has shared his experience through more tan 30 conferences in 12 countries and has written numerous articles for Marina World and other international nautical magazines.Oscar is a Certified Marina Professional, was founder director of the Global Marina Institute, member of ICOMIA’s Marinas Committee, member of PIANC Recreational Marine Committee, Convenorof ISO TC228 WG8 “Yacht Harbours”, member of the Global Marine Business Advisers (GMBA) group and founding member of the Asia Pacific Superyacht Association.
The following is something affecting the whole nautical industry -and many others- from user to builder, from designer to broker, all over the world.
Traditionally, a human being who has made it to an outstanding position, be it by knowledge, management skills, or as a craftsman, defends that position and holds to it like cats clinging with their paws to the back of a sofa. If that person has earned their position by personal effort and knowledge, experience and results (not only economic), then such behaviour is reasonable. Unfortunately, such positions are often abused.
Historically and culturally, lifelong achievement postings have been granted as a prize by governments, associations, clubs and other groups of people united by a common interest. And a lot of people have deserved it and made good use of it, lest for those who have received it as a currency payment for favours done, or for having good connections, and whose merits do not meet those fundamental qualities to deserve it.
We see this almost daily in all types of communications media, and it is perhaps politics where the cases are seen more frequently, not necessarily because it is where it occurs most, but because they are not careful enough, making themselves an easy target.
Now to the point:
In the nautical industry, there are many, many groups of people who are defined by higher and common interests; learning to know the sea and the wind; to live with and enjoy them. And there are also other groups defined by their club, class, sports variant or type of propulsion, among others. And the port and maritime authorities. And the nautical industry associations, and the federations.
Let’s go back to the singular person. Until about 70 years ago, they climbed and climbed and reached the pinnacle of the pyramid, and stayed there at the very top until their retirement or death. That person learned a lot in their career and performance, applied their experience, and made things work. But in the last 20 years, all this has been disrupted. Why? Because we are not coping quickly enough with the way the world is changing around us. Our capacity to adapt drags behind 21st-century technology and the social changes implied. The dependence on the mobile telephone is not totally negative, because if we do not depend on instant communication, someone related to us would.
We live in society and, as part of it, must adapt to its rules and best practices. It is sometimes very hard to reach this speed, especially for those who are over 40 and were hit almost suddenly. We, the mature, had to adapt to taking the blows (intellectual and emotional), as well as to use computers. In the ‘80s, many started with PCs at about 35 years old. Windows did not exist, and we had to make our way to acquire a more or less passable familiarity with the gadget, and then the mouse – which you could not get rid of by having a cat next to you!
I believe that anyone who so wishes can remain aware of what is happening around them, be it the radius of their comfort circle of 100m or 10,000 km. But what should be interpreted thanks to that information will be a mix of what your experience, knowledge and emotions tell you. And that’s where I doubt that in a society that is changing at a much faster pace than it was 50 years ago, someone who was born in the ’40s and’ 50s of the last century, however modern, can interpret what that society demands in 2021.
Much of the experience of those past years will be less and less useful in a world which gives no value to looking back, because those who have already grown with mobile phones, iPads, tattoos and piercings may not have the minimum experience to put into perspective the base values of yesteryear. But it is also true that those base values are being lost as educational priorities, and very few people are interested in applying them.
These social dinosaurs should be kept close to people of the next generation to help them not become an anomaly of the present, clinging to their past. When Rome’s victorious generals paraded into the city after their triumphs, they had to have a slave at their side whispering, “Remember that you are mortal”. It was an anchor that kept them down to earth; a voice of reality at the times when they were flying high. We must venerate those who proved they deserve it but help them connect with a today that they (we) do not understand.
I admire those who realise this and step aside, not trying to perpetuate themselves, and I hope that their example will abound in our nautical industry and help us to take adequate and very, very necessary steps.
