I think it was the great author, Joseph Conrad, who pointed out that those of us upon the sea are mesmerized by the land and those of us upon the land are mesmerized by the sea.

This is kind of strange, when you think about it. To me it seems to be baked into our human psyches. Who among us is not thrilled to walk down, put their toes in the surf, and gaze out over the water? How many of us would run up on reefs without the mate slapping us out of our landward trance? If someone understands why we are this way, please email me immediately. I want to know.

Frugal Navigator is designed, in part, to celebrate this quirk of human nature. I must confess that, being a hopeless cartophile, I couldn't help but build a website that brought these two hypnotic elements together...well, on paper anyway. Nautical charts are so natural, listed right next to topographic maps, and the old NOAA charts capture this contrast so beautifully, I had to keep them on here too.

On a personal note, I've been trying to figure out this land-water thing all of my life. I have a little shallow-draft sailboat, Mrs. Bucket, and whenever I can, I like to cruise the coastline, explore shallow bays, estuaries and islands. I am thrilled to get there by boat, but can't wait to get off the boat and explore. It is this area between land and sea, the littoral zone, where I feel most alive. What is it about this land/sea connection?

I have a couple theories and think it must have something to do with the tides:

Some of my first memories are of old faces getting close to mine. These faces are covered by wrinkly hands, palms away from me, that open quickly like doors and then close again. There she is! Where'd she go? There she is! Where'd she go. When I was a toddler, I loved this game and I see that grandparents are still playing it today. I've got to wonder, though: Is Mother Nature pulling the same trick on us mature kids by rolling the tides in and out? To me the tides are an echo of that childhood thrill. Is this what is happening, and are we still that simple?

Another thought, my gravity theory: I live in the Pacific Northwest and on an average ebb tide, Puget Sound loses over 1 trillion gallons of water. Now that is some serious energy! Think about this....our bodies are made up of 60% water. The power exerted to move trillions of gallons must be doing something to us too. Is it possible when we are in that littoral zone, walking the beach, sailing along, hiking in view of the ocean, that we are more able to perceive this energy. Is it this cosmic force that overcomes and fascinates us when we are in the zone? I can't be sure.

I suppose we will never know what's happening but, until we do, I'm going to keep getting out there, contemplating the mystery, and exploring our beautiful planet. I hope you do too.

We print maps for people like us,

Scott Franz, Frugal Navigator