Friday, June 30, 2000
Port Townsend
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What the heck
am I doing?
The number one
conflict with a trip such as this is, how do you take two months out of your life and just
stop? I have managed to cram every day with activities and commitments. I have a very
understanding partner. She is supportive of my dreams even if she doesn't understand them sometimes. And, hey…I don’t understand them most of the time
either. But that’s what we’re here to find out isn’t it? Who we are and why
we’re here?
So I resolve to not think too much about the conflict and just get through all the
necessary things it takes to make this happen. There will be plenty of time to hash out
the
why’s later. Many things on my "to do before I go" list are fairly
unique. The band, work, house, relationship stuff isn’t what I am here to discuss.
It’s that wind thing.
 On top of the
list, as any boat owner will tell you, is the haul-out. This can be a very interesting
time in a skipper’s life. I have a relatively small fiberglass boat with typical
problems and probably less-than-average knowledge as to what to do about them. So hauling
out is the only time I get to glimpse what it is that's keeping the water below, and me on
top of it: The Hull. Any type of material that is spending time in the sea has two things
to contend with: corrosion, and growth. On boats such as mine, hull corrosion takes place
as blisters in the fiberglass and growth is just animals, plants and other sea life that
makes any surface home for life. Growth is dealt with by painting the hull with
anti-fouling materials (poison). Corrosion is temporally battled with the gel-coat of the
fiberglass hull.
Objects small and large have to battle with these two elements of
erosion. One example is my poor dinghy which spent a bit of time in the water this spring.
And these photos were taken after an hour of scraping off the varmints.
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My lack of respect for these little creatures caused me to have to add
even more to my list of "to do's"!!
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So the preparations are at hand! And soon, the
fruits of my labor will overflow my fruit bowl. As the July 1, 2000 date
approaches—with it’s new moon and clean clarity—it becomes apparent that it
may be too soon.
The amount of stress involved with a deadline such as this can be devastating. Alas,
Safety (and sanity) First would dictate the new departure date to be Independence Day
2000. (Symbolic enough for my needs) But anything could happen.
Frank
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