It seemed so easy. There were only two things that we had to do and we had two days to do them. I was harboring a secret wish to finish them all on the first day and then sail, to the point where we actually brought all of the sailing necessities, but man, I can’t get this maintenance monkey off my back.
Continue Reading "My Butyl Heart"
It is shockingly easy to cut off a padlock.
Continue Reading "Maintenance Extravaganza"
This is the time of year when the sailing mags trot out their feel-good articles extolling the giddy anticipation of getting a boat ready for another season—pure poetry about the catharsis that is bottom painting and deck swabbing and pulling rotten things out of moldy things. I’m not sure if I disagree with this based on the fact that I’m not an optimist or that I’m not a masochist, but we’re clearly not on the same page. For me, this time of year has all the excitement and wonder of standing in line: a line in which I am repeatedly punched until all of the money falls out of my pants. I get that it’s part of the gig, and I might even try to make the best of it [maybe], but I’m not going to break out into haiku over the bruises and the filth and the distinct lack of actual sailing.
Continue Reading "Spring has Sprung"
The Nor’easter that pummeled Massachusetts this weekend mostly missed New Jersey, and we only wound up with a couple inches of snow. However, with gusty winds and reports out of our marina that the unusually high tide had once again come up into the parking lot, I thought it was safest to take a trip down and see how our cover had held up.
Continue Reading "Finesse, Force, and Physics"
There isn’t a lot of sailing going on at this latitude this time of year, so sailors often get together in the off season to catch up and commiserate.
Continue Reading "Winter Meetings"
I’d like to say that it’s unusual for us to wait this long to get Fortuitous covered up for winter, but this is about par for the course. It hasn’t been freezing or snowing though, so we got away with it again.
Continue Reading "Covered"
Ugh. Hurricane Sandy is currently heading this way, and let’s hope that the spirited language that’s being used to describe it turns out to be hyperbole in retrospect. I wasn’t even going to write the word “Frankenstorm” in this log entry because it reeks so heavily of weatherman rating bait, but if this storm were any more unusual it would have gone straight to a Boo Berricane.
Continue Reading "Hurricane Sandy Preparation"
You know how people can get a little nutty after being at sea too long? Or maybe that doesn’t happen; I don’t actually know. But it’s possible, right? I feel like I get that way if I’ve been away from the boat too long.
Continue Reading "Ode to the Speedy Stitcher"
This was supposed to be a maintenance day. Jen had a family obligation, so I went to the shore by myself to address some minor upgrades and repairs.
Continue Reading "I Feel Like the Master of the Sea"
Unless something goes horribly wrong, I believe bottom work is complete on Fortuitous. I don’t have a lot to say about it, so I’ll just post some pictures, possibly with hilarious comments.
Continue Reading "Bottom Work Complete"