Everywhere I go there’s some old salt with thousands of sea miles under their belt who seems to believe in me and my little boat more than I do. Perhaps for every one of them, there is someone who thinks I’m fool hearted. My own thoughts of this whole endeavor fall somewhere in the middle.

dirtbag sailor

The past ten days being in the boatyard have been like an extended self survey. I’ve learned every weakness of my boat, and her strengths. The crazy thing is, I think I can fix damn near everything. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m finally starting to understand all this. I can speak the language, decipher diagrams, ask the right questions, and use the tools. I know what needs to be done, and I more or less know how to do it.

The winds are up which means no boats are being launched today or tomorrow. I’m scheduled to launch first thing Thursday morning and then I’ll navigate to my home port, where the real work begins.

“Don’t get stuck in Florida,” one of the old salts said to me.

“What do you mean, like don’t run aground?” I asked. 

“No,” he said. “Don’t be one of those people that never leaves…and don’t dawdle in the Bahamas!”

8 Comments

  1. Love the “Don’t get stuck in Florida” comment!!!

    I have a 1966 Pearson Commander and wonder what it would be like to live in a small space like that. I am always looking to see some of your “hacks” to make it all work.

    • Haha! Thanks for the comment. I’ve only been ‘living aboard’ this particular boat a few weeks….first order of business is my ‘no drill spice rack!’

  2. How tall are you? I’m 196cm. Really. (6′ 5″ in feet/inches)

  3. Here on the West Coast of Canada we warn people who are heading south not to get stuck in the Baja Black Hole!! So many do…

  4. Like your two last dinghy dreams. Carry on strong! & keep writing.

  5. The difference between a New Salt and an Old Salt, is the Old Salt has thousands of mistakes under their belt. Every mistake you make gets you closer to Old Salt status.

  6. Those old salts believe in you because they used to be where you are now; everybody starts at the begining. They made it so they see that you could too.