A little sad :(

Maybe it's a guy thing, maybe I'm just a wuss, but I really got attached to a big piece of fiberglass. WhisperIII has been a part of our family for ten years. Now she's going to hit the highway, I90 that is, and go to Ohio to have some fun. I know she's in very good hands, better hands than mine, but I feel like I've ditched a friend. If Deb is reading this, she's rolling her eyes right now. "Get over it", she'll say. Well, we've had some great memories on our floating home. The night anchored in Little Sodus Bay, with us all sitting on the coach roof, looking at the lights reflecting off the water on a warm beautiful night. "Stars on the water" we sang. The day we got her home in the fog, without a GPS, just charts, compass, knotmeter. We nailed the entrance to our home port dead on. But not before a bat decided to buzz the boat and cuddle with Deb. The bees ( thousands) descending on, and in the boat! Harmless as they were, they flew off after a visit. The storm that snuck up from behind. The pea gravel that caught the keel. Embarrassing the captain. Our first lake crossing, taking pictures of our first lake buoy. Our first Canadian landing (good beer). Kingston. Did I mention Kingston? Yes, Kingston. :) The surprise fireworks (that's why all the boats were around us). The river snakes chasing dad (thanks family members, for the no-tell dad about the snakes). The biting flies, the sand flies, the stupid flies. Seventy five miles, nine foot waves, thirty knots of wind, close hauled, and one tack. Amazing. Beating every Beneteau out there (pure fun). Estrogen IV (lady sailors rock). Cutting through the Prince Edward pointe shallows (you guys nuts!). The perfect night in the cockpit....

It's a long list of memories, but it's time to start a new adventure. So here's to ya WhisperIII. Fair Wind.

The Off Season

I get so bummed out at the end of sailing season. It's not so much about the fact that it will be eight long cold months before I sail again. It's the other things I have to do, when I'm not working on, or sailing a boat. Wallpaper. That's right. Wallpaper. I hate it. Let me go on record here, and say that " If my wife ever decides to put up more wallpaper, I will leave her." I would rather go through a root canal, than remove wallpaper. I would rather have a dentist clamp my mouth open, drill boring holes through my roots, and stick thin metal files in there, and scrape out the remainder of my nerve endings for hours on end, than remove wallpaper. I have a love hate relationship with the machine to the left. I love the fact that it removes the wallpaper with ease. I hate the fact that I have to use it. The vinyl come off easy. The paper backing scrapes off easily too. But nothing, and I mean nothing, will fully remove the goo. You ever paint over the glue? You can't. The paint will separate like oil in water. I have to remove all the glue, before I can paint. Goo on my hands, the scraper, the floor, my shoes, my hair. It sticks to everything. Why must she torture me so. I know... I'll pretend I'm scraping the bottom of the boat, getting her ready for the season. The sun is shining, and the birds are chirping, the sanders are spinning. People with tyvek suits, goggles, beers, and good stories to tell, all working hard at something they love. Three more months, three more months... My tooth hurts.

Time

While showing WhisperIII, I was asked if I find it harder to work on a boat as time goes by. Do you find yourself wanting to spend more time sailing, rather than making improvements? My initial thought was that the boat must look like crap to prompt such a question. I started thinking about all the projects that I wanted to complete on WhisperIII, and I realized that ten years have gone by in a flash! Questions about the boat brought me back through it's history. I remember talking about these projects a long time ago, and I started wondering what my excuse was for not getting these things done. I'm not talking about regular maintenance, or fixes, but things like teak care, waxing, replacement ports, etc. One reason would be money I guess. The other more acceptable reason would be time, or the lack of it. We launch our boats in May, then haul them out in September. Between that time there are weekends for sailing, or projects. There are in fact about twenty two weekends of which to accomplish some of these things. If you are married( marry a sailor!), subtract at least 3 of these weekends for visits to relatives, craft shows, friends, etc. Bad weather weekends account for about 3 to 6 depending on where you live, and the state of climate change, El Ni'no and stuff. So now you could be left with about thirteen weekends. If any of these weekends offer great sailing conditions, which you hope they do, then your project weekends dwindle even more. So why the hell would anyone buy a boat from up here? I guess you have to find those retired guys, that store their boats inside all winter. On the plus side, boats up here are cocooned, or preserved for seven months, and if the skipper is a hardy soul, can be worked on with a decent heater, and some fine spiced rum :) I remember taking a week off to paint the deck, and showing up at the marina with all the tools, brushes and paint mixing stuff in the cart. This was a great week of work in the hot sun. I loved it. I felt quite a bit of pride in getting something done to make the old girl look pretty. So I guess given enough precious time, I would get some projects done. We just need to be more efficient... as time goes by.

Happy Holidays!

Got soup?

Well, it feels pretty good to have a full house for the holidays. My Indiana girl arrived friday, sick as a dog, and hoping her parents can nurse her back to health. I just know my chicken noodle soup will do the trick. Good thing she got in early, as I imagine all the flights are screwed up right now, because of the BIG storm. By the way, since when is 8-10 inches a big storm up here? I'm going to be a little short on pictures for a bit, as my laptop bit the dust. Always remember to back up everything. I found a little interface that will turn my laptops hard drive into portable drive. Good thing, as I only backed up a few folders before the Dell went all silent on me. Buy an Apple! Well, we wussed out on a party because of the weather, and the fact that #2 is pretty sick, and wants her mommy :) Yea, I know, I know, I said 8-10 inches is no big deal, but the roads look icy, and I would go heavy on the wine so Deb would be driving :o Deb and I both made soup this weekend, one for Nic's health, and the other for the party. It was a soup party we were going to. Turns out, the host only makes the soup. I didn't know, so now we have two large pots of soup. Sorry Charlie and Liz, we'll make another batch for ya. It's raining ice! Good time to think about next years boat projects, and do some planning. Ever replace the packing in a stuffing box? Good pictorial here. I was poking around on the web before the Bills game (losers) and found some fun sailing stuff. Play the docking game here. Dinghy sailing anyone? Check it out.