3/30/2010

So I want to apologize for the laps in updates; it has been a two fold issue.

First off, my internet situation was odd at best, and often non-functional.

Secondly, it would have been a dull read. I've enjoyed the past month like hell, and I've learned so much, but I don't think that reading about me painting for three days straight would have been all that much fun.

But she's a boat again. All but one of the sails are bent on, and the Main Gaff Topsail is close. We'll have it good to go tomorrow.

We're hopefully getting underway tomorrow afternoon and headed back towards Baltimore.

The family is talking about trying to come up and visiting sometime in the next couple months before we head north which would be wonderful. I can't wait to take my Dad out sailing.

Really, I can't wait to take a lot of people out sailing. I want to invite people to come see my new life.

I'm tired, and I'm sore as hell, but I'm ready to sail... I'm ready to start the voyage.

3/7/2010

Got a few back dated logs to put up, but I'm about to go to sleep after my first standing watch. Just wanted to note that. Up again in just about 7 hours. Cheers folks.

3/4/2010

Good day today.
Got the topmast shrouds and the stays and all the rig to make the up high work. I got to do a whole bunch of hauling, which I like. Hauling is easy, and it makes sense. Make a good hitch onto the line you're hauling up, make sure it's a fair lead... Pull real hard. I dig it. My hands feel like they did something today, and their getting hard again, aside from one hole in one of my fingers. It feels good.

I also was put in charge of the flags on the ship. I had to sort, organize, and stow all the flags we're going to need for the voyage in the summer. Turns out it's a whole lot. It was kind of fun, really. Hopefully my system works out well.

3/2/2010

Learned a new stitch today, the Baseball stitch. I'm curious as to what it was called in the pre-baseball days, as I'm sure the stitch came first. I did well, but I did make a few mistakes. Hopefully I'll get another chance to try again; do better.

I did a few more seizings. I still need more practice. I need to figure out a good useful way to practice, because I'm way too slow and not good enough at it yet.

I also need to start studying the pin rail diagrams. We're rigged to a point where it's going to start mattering pretty significantly.

3/1/2010

I had the duty today, so I spent a good deal of time cleaning and taking weather reports. I admit, I'm growing frustrated with myself. Some things are just going very slow, and it almost feels like the harder I try the further behind I fall. I'm sure this is in many ways due to my own unrealistic expectations for myself. I just need to keep my focus, keep honing my edge and getting better.

We started setting the jibboom before the day was done today. Every day, every step brings us that much closer to being ready to sail. I have high hopes for that first day of sailing; renew my energy some. My ankle is starting to feel better, and hopefully it'll be back to full strength soon.

I'm really looking forward to a day where I don't have any stupid questions. I don't think that day is particularly close at hand, but I'll get there.

2/28/2010

Long day today. We finally got the cover off, and she's starting to look like a boat again. Spent a lot of time on the paint float, got more harbor water on me than I like; c'est la vie. Twisted my ankle some, but tape and Ibuprofen should keep that under control. I'm sore and tired, and still absolutely thrilled.

I was pulling splinters out of my hands, and I got to thinking, this job is kind of like a splinter. You get it in and it digs deep. It pushes under your skin.

Sitting around the table, we talk about the long hours, the lack of time off, the low pay. We talk about how much we love it. People talk about going and getting other jobs, mostly on boats still. Tugboats are a popular choice, research vessels, fishery observers and other such things. They talk about going to do that to make money so they can afford to sail more.

You get this splinter under your skin and it doesn't let go. It absorbs into you; it becomes a part of you. I try to remember when I loved waiting tables, and I just can't. I can't remember wanting to be anywhere else.

So I pick the splinters out. I'm counting each one of them as a lesson learned. Perhaps I'm romanticizing again, and I'm certainly being pointlessly philosophical, but it just stuck in my head.

It was either this or the rant about the warning label on my shampoo... this seemed way more relevant.