Canadian Yachting June 2021 - 62

CROSSING THE LINE

NFTs AND
CRYPTOBOATING
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE
By | John Morris

R

ecently, I sold a video of me driving
my boat into a pier at a prominent
Georgian Bay marina for just over
30.4 Bitcoin. What does that statement
mean? For those of you who have not
yet joined the booming world of NFTs
and particularly boating NFTs, this article
will explain in detail the whole relationship between crypto currencies, unique art
work and boating.
First, some basic premises. When I
drove the boat into the dock at that prominent Midland pier, I was indeed fortunate
that standing on the dock was an opportunistic attorney from Celino & Barnes who
videotaped the whole thing anticipating
a significant property suit. That was the
source of the original video that, as noted
above, netted me just over $21 million,
that is, if I can ever cash the Bitcoin.
Like boating, which relies on acronyms
like GPS and PFD, the parallel universe of
crypto investing has a number of initially
hard to understand terms that keep the layperson from actually understanding much
of what is going on. The video of my boat
taking out a good section of B Dock is an
NFT; a Non Fungible Token, a term that
could mean pretty well anything.
For most of my life, I understood that
" blockchain " was a term used by the
harbourmaster referring to securing the
underpinnings of the dock structure.
Apparently not. It is the methodology
that; 1) is burning up all the electrical
energy you and I save by replacing our
running light bulbs with LEDs and 2) a
highly technical method of recording
transactions, or something like that. Or
perhaps not.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE
BOATING COMMUNITY?
Understanding this way of looking at
digital artifacts is an important first step.
Up until now, the boating population, at

62

least in Canada has occupied its thoughts
with decidedly more mundane issue such
as hard vs inflatable dinghies, correct
docking procedures and charming lakeside fish and chips stands.
But boaters are sophisticated and, at
least at some level, understand the nuanced
world of virtual artifacts. I wouldn't be
surprised if you and your boat neighbours
haven't recently discussed the digital picture of a cat that Paris Hilton recently sold
on the Ethereum-based auction platform
Cryptograph for 40 Ethereum (roughly
2.8 million old-fashioned real dollars).
Yes, a steal, I hear you saying.
Since an NFT can be virtually anything
of which there is but a single source, you
might be inclined to capture and sell your
family's lunch on board, a sketch of the
finish of Wednesday's race, or a snapshot
of your bilge pump. Is there a market for
such artistic jewels? I guess we will see.
Will they appreciate? Anyone's guess.

CANADIAN YACHTING | JUNE 2021

NEXT STEPS
Now that we understand the basic concepts, it's time to make some initial
investments.
Here on the page is a reproduction of
a masterwork NFT entitled Besonderes
Angebot !!! that I have created myself. As
you can see, it begins with a sensitively
photographed pink flamingo paddleboat
at a European boat show with an important message to share. The Flamingo can
be seen to acknowledge that the value of
this NFT has been set at 25 Bitcoin as a
starting price.
But, this may be your lucky day. For
some fortunate Canadian Yachting reader,
I am willing to trade this remarkable NFT
for a fairly large boat plus just 10 Bitcoin.
A spectacular opportunity, don't you
agree?
Canadian Yachting June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting June 2021
