The old man and the sea: apologies to Ernest Hemingway. I'm the old man here, and I'm trying to get acquainted with the sea.

I'm trying to be retired. In an all-out effort to accomplish this I sometimes find myself among the beaches and marinas of South Florida. My specific interest is in trawlers. They are beautiful boats that despite having 900-1,000 horsepower in two big engines, move slowly and gracefully (10

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There are three "infinities" near South Florida to explore in these wonderful cruisers of oceans. The first are the glorious islands of the Bahamas where a person could spend years exploring and still not see everything. The second infinity are the hundreds of islands that make up the Florida Keys where the water is shallow and the weather is perfect. The third infinity is the Intercoastal Waterway. This is lovingly called the "Ditch" and is a water path beside the ocean that takes one from Florida to New York. It sure doesn't take long to figure out that boating is big business in South Florida. My guess would be a million boats in Florida and three quarters of a million jobs in the industry.

Which takes me to this month's lesson on management.

I was with a friend recently in the office of a substantial marina near Miami. My friend was trying to find out why he couldn't park his car in a close-in lot that was only a short walk to his slip and his boat. He was upset because he now had to park about 150 yards farther away, which made it harder to carry groceries and other supplies to his boat.

The marina owner told him that he was planning to tear up the facility's best parking lots in order to build a big circular drive with a grand entrance, rebuild the office and lounge with a suite of new offices for all his staff, and include a couple of beautiful offices overlooking the marina for him and his brother.

"My brother and I will have the finest marina between here and Fort Lauderdale!" the owner said, ending his explanation. My friend and I left unsatisfied with it. My friend, in fact, was furious with the owner but didn't quite know why. We talked it out and decided it was because there wasn't one shred of customer benefit in any of the things the owner was doing. He was set on building a monument to himself and his brother ... no matter where customers had to park.