Friday, July 17, 2009

You should be happy

OK I know that I should be happy, no matter what the weather is like, or how people are driving, or how I get screwed over at the airport. I should just be happy just to be alive, healthy, yadda yadda yadda. Come on, this weather sucks! I've been out sailing four times. Four times, and it's mid July for crying out loud. I wanted to anchor out tonight, in the still waters of the bay, with the frogs croaking, and the fish jumping, sitting in the cockpit with a sundowner feeling the warm breeze cool the sweat on my back, but no, we're getting thunderstorms. The warm breeze will be about 55 degrees, and I would be up all night, in my flannel pajamas, checking on the anchor when the wind kicks up. I'm not happy. I want to sweat.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Life on a boat comes to a close...for now

I thoroughly enjoyed the boating life for the last two weeks. We capped it off with a hearty sail on Sunday. We stuck our nose out in the lake, and got it punched pretty good, so we did a bit of Bay sailing. Deb loves Bay sailing, as it gives her a chance to work on her tacking and gybing skills. Actually, Deb hates Bay sailing. Too many boats, and not enough space. It was when we were heading for Eagle Island at 8. something knots, and the rail in the water, that the look on her face meant that I should shorten sail. Maybe she still sees that guy's bimini, stuck on our anchor. We pulled in about half the genny, and took off again. We spent the afternoon going up and down and across the bay, and then packed it in. One thing about Bay sailing is you get to see your neighbors up close out on the water. Great for pictures. Unfortunately most only had one sail up, and who wants a picture of your wuss boat, dogging it on the bay :) I got to work today, once I figured out where it was, and spent the day writing up new electrical specs for a new manufacturing cell. Kind of boring. Then I find out where I will spend the rest of my career, and I'm not feeling overwhelming comfortable with the decision, but I remain positive. Stressed again. What a difference in lifestyles. I was working on the boat, but it didn't feel like work. Ok, when the windlass handle hit me in the nose, that felt like work, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself the whole time afloat. I can really see myself doing this full time. I know full well that it will not be paradise 24/7, but like Jimmy says, "I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then". The next boat project is to re-bed the ports (a must), and to install the Mack-Pack. I also need to wax the deck (WoodyWax) and the cabin top before the freakin birds (not sure what kind) that show up at the end of the month, sit on the mast, and crap their asses off all over everything. Oh yea, and they eat berries. We're going to start getting ready for the cruise up to the islands. Should be an adventure. Follow in our wake?

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Friday sailing...One of the best

Wow, what a day we had Friday. It started with little wind, and flies, so we were getting a little discouraged about our day on the water. We were rewarded for our patience, and our drifting became a sailors dream, flat water and 15-20 knots of warm air. What a ride! We hit 8.8 knots of speed through the water at one point, but I only managed to photo the speedo at 8.3. I do this because nobody ever believes the tub can fly. They think because it's a Morgan, that it's a dog on the water. Not so. Friday night we met some friends at the bar for food, and drinks, then were going to grab a table with Gary, and Deb on the patio for the band. The keyboard player for the band collapsed after a few minutes in, and that kind of put a sad ending to the night. We stayed at the bar for a while, and I was rewarded with a pain in the head in the morning. I can do all the salty sailor stuff, except drinking. I'm not quite up to the competition any more, which is ok I guess. Nothing worse than a hangover on a boat. Saturday started ok, but the storm put an end to all activities. It was quite the storm, but somehow Sodus Bay was in a nice hole in the storm, and we saw lightning all around, but got mostly rain. I was still cowering in the aft cabin, which I calculated as the safest part of the boat in a storm. Deb was asleep in the cockpit for the whole thing. No fear. Today we hope to get out, after the wind settles down to about 10-15. Nice day so far, and boy do we deserve it. Could be warmer, though it's about 80 in this cockpit with all the canvas up. We should grow tomatoes in here. We went up to the point to see some classic yachts that had sailed in for the weekend. They were pretty cool, but up close, you could see they needed some TLC. Still, they were nice, and I would sail on them any day. My life on a boat is coming to an end, as I'll be back at work on Monday. It will take me a while to adjust. I had a ball, even though the weather was not perfect. Deb is praying that I'll practice better hygiene when we are doing this full time. Guys tend to get a little lazy when left alone :)