never just another day...

It's a day much like any other day. In many ways I am simply moving through the everydayness of life with little regard for what the last two years has brought. Working, paying rent, scheduling meetings, doing laundry...but in just as many ways the everydayness, even with it's often deeply satisfying rituals, will never be the same as it was this day two years ago. And that is why it is not, and never will be, just a day like any other day. It's difficult to see tragedy as turning point and somedays, when it feels like too much to handle, the tragedy feels more like a futility, a sadness for having chosen such a path. In these moments it has little to do with the accident, which feels more like a bump in the long road of this journey. Rather it seems to have more to do with the dream that I have given myself over to, which because of the accident has become even bigger and more meaningful than I could ever imagine. Sometimes it's this weight that keeps me going, keeps me pushing that big old stone up the hill. Some days though I sit, bewildered, on this boat and feel the absence of the true dream, which was never to rebuild a boat but to provide the rich experience of being on the water under sail to people who also want to think through their lives using the powerful metaphors of sailing. So, come hell or high water, Summer 2008 is the goal for these trips on Epilogue and the hope is that the story of this wild dream will only inform the stories that take place when she finally sets sail, with a boat load of dreams.

Busted Stuff...

This is the vessel that ran into my boat early this week. I got a call from the Port of Seattle telling me I should come check out some collision damage on my boat. My stomach dropped to the floor. Surely, they didn't do damage to the 18 months of work I've done. After racing over to check the damage I was relieved to see that it wasn't as bad as I suspected. The man who hit it was backing his boat out of his slip and his throttle/transmission cable failed leaving him drifting towards my boat. Still can't figure out how he made it all the way across and didn't do more damage. Lucky for me he's an honest man and willing to pay for repairs. Unlucky for him, he's uninsured so it's coming out of his pocket. I'm pretty sure we can fix it ourselves and charge him nominally for parts and labor. Just exactly what I wanted, one more project that needs to happen.

This is the damage to the starboard toe-rail on Epilogue. It's about an 8" section that was smushed and will need to be either removed and replaced or bent back into shape. There is a very small amout of paint that was scraped off on impact. No hull or fiberglass damage.

Fisherman's Terminal

There she sits, a sailing yacht among workboats. I think the Fred Sanford canopy gives her more of a commercial appeal among all the hard working fisherman, not usually a fan of sailors. The folks on the dock are some fine people and everybody looks out for each other. I have a neighbor, Rick, who lives on his old wooden Colin Archer designed sailboat. He's also in the midst of a major rebuild so it's nice to share stories and struggles with a neighbor on the dock.

The focus of this winter is fitting out the engine compartment so we can install the engine in the spring. First task is to hang sound-proofing insulation all throughout the engine compartment to keep things quite down below, then pre-plumb and wire for eletricity before the engine drops in.


I'm also working on developing my eletrcial system plans so we can start re-wiring the entire boat. Again, very much over my head but well worth the experience to learn every system of the boat.