Writer and fellow sailor William F. Buckley died today at age 82. In a classic interview with Rush Limbaugh, Buckley was asked: "Why did you sail the sailboat."

His answer:

"I sailed the sailboat as a result of a gradual acknowledgment of the coefficient of work over-against satisfaction. The kind of work you need to do in order to maintain a sailboat, to sail it competently as I did three times across the Atlantic, once across the Pacific, requires an investment of certain ergs of energy, and those ergs of energy give you, classically, ergs plus pleasure."

Ergs plus pleasure. An equation for why we sail.

Fair winds and following seas, Mr. Buckley.

Photos: courtesy of Amazon.com.