True at First Light
At sea, in between the periods of high-adrenaline adventure, clinging-to-the-bow-trying-to-pull-down-sails moments, were some of the most amazing and beautiful experiences of my life.
“In Africa, a thing is true at first light and a lie by noon and you have no more respect for it than for the lovely, perfect weed-fringed lake you see across the sun baked salt plain. You have walked across that plain in the morning and you know now that no such lake is there, but now it is there absolutely true, beautiful, and believable.” ~Ernest Hemingway, True at First Light (more…)
And the adventure began…
The morning arrived.
We cast off of the dock and head out of the harbor, and I realize it is the last time he will ever see my boat, this harbor and town where I live.
I am, as always, pre-emptively nostalgic.
He grins at me and says “This is really happening!”
I put on my sunglasses to hide my eyes, bite my lip, and just… let the adventure begin.
Filling the Tanks
As I sit up on deck at 6:30 in the evening, the breeze out of the south and the sun on my back is still warm in this fall weather. I am partaking in a biweekly ritual…
Filling the tanks.
It has been two weeks, and I have gone through 42 gallons, and the increasing hum of my water pressure pump tells me its time…
So I sit, perched on the starboard side, water hose stabilized between my toes over the deck fill.
This time, I conquer…
Friday evening.
Look at the forecast, which I, as any liveaboard/sailor does, follow with an almost nerd-like obsession on a day-to-day basis.
Sunny, and still forecasting 10-15 mph winds out of the north all day on Saturday.
When your river runs west to east, that is pretty close to perfect for a beam reach.
Friends down the river want to know, if I’ll show up to their party and play the drums in their jam session at the marina there.
Perfect opportunity for a sail.
Yo Ho and a Bottle of Rum
It is, in fact, exactly my one year anniversary of moving aboard a boat.
I am, in fact, at this moment, lying on a bottle of rum with a bungee cord tangled in my hair, and I am staring at a spiderweb glistening from the cabin top.
Pretty typical day…
Joking… It only happens, maybe, once a week?
The whole purpose, I suppose, of an anniversary, is to recall the memory of a significant event in one’s life, so as not to forget it, so… (more…)
Maiden Voyage
I’ve always said, I’m not gonna be that liveaboard.
The kind that lives on a boat but never takes it anywhere. But first there were engine issues, and then there were back surgery issues, and then slip access issues, and then more engine issues. This dock, this river is not somewhere you can sail out of with this kind of draft. It has taken me a little longer than I would have liked, but I finally have gotten the essential pieces together, so last weekend…
Away we went! (more…)
A Bunch of Goonies
We are a bunch, aren’t we?
We, the lost souls and lovers of sailing ships, we who gaze belovedly at the horizon at sea.
We, are the all too common lost souls of society, but a rarity in our admittance of this.
We have tried to play the game by the rules and failed, frustrated by society’s limitations, ignorance, resistance to change, and own failure to live by the ideals it espouses.
We have left for the last frontier.
Dear Jon Stewart: A Love Letter
I have known you now for over 10 years.
Which is to say, I have had a crush on you for over 10 years.
I used to watch you on my 13” TV/VCR combo in the room I rented in my sister’s townhouse. Then I watched you on my 27” huge box of a TV in my apartment during grad school. After which I got a job and started DVR’ing you on my 36” flatscreen.
Now? Now I live aboard a sailboat and I don’t own a TV. (more…)
Rain in the Afternoon
…is a better title than “A Morning in the Bilge,” I think.
Here’s how the day began:
I had the full intention of attempting to replace the alternator bracket on my diesel engine. A couple of months ago, when looking to order spare alternator belts to have on board, I discovered an issue.
Which is pretty much how it goes for any seemingly simple boat repair or maintenance job. (more…)
Ripple…
The scenery of the Southeast, I do love. Trails of Spanish moss, dark brackish water, the smell of the cypress swamp. Having moved from the Northeast, though, I find that some people of the South, however, tend not to understand me. I eat vegetables and grains they have never heard of, I do not use air conditioning for love of this heat, and I use cloth re-useable bags to carry my groceries from the store.
Oh, the puzzled looks I get…. (more…)
I’m on Fire…
So, let’s start at the beginning.
Let’s go ahead and remind ourselves of why we were going to call this blog, “Stupid Girl on a Boat.” Probably should have kept that one.
Before I left my boat last week, a guy on my dock handed me a bag of fresh caught shrimp. As my grill (the kind that hangs off the stern rail) is defunct at the moment, I didn’t really have a way to cook them, but I also didn’t have the heart to turn them away. So, I kept them in the icebox overnight, and then handed them off to someone else. Then I left for a week.
When I came back…. (more…)
A Moveable Feast, A Manageable Space
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
Everyone should have a “Paris,” feeling about it as Hemingway does. I have never been to the Paris, but I know, when I replace the city’s name with “a sailboat,” or “the water,” I feel strongly the same. It was a feast I dreamed of before I ever even tasted it, before I ever owned or lived on a boat. And a feast it remains, now that I do. The thought of being on my boat, of being on the water and sailing and waking up at anchor, is always on my mind; a feast that is always with me. (more…)
Shelter from the Storm…
Shelter from the storm
I am getting used to you
Talking about the future without reference to me
I am getting used to the idea
I may never meet any of your friends
I am trying to get used to the idea
Your family still doesn’t and may never have, any idea who I am
Yet still
I breathe you in
And wrap my arms around you
And offer you shelter from the storm (more…)
What the French call, “Les incompetent…”
Some days are just like this.
Everything you do, or attempt to do, short-circuits. Blows a fuse. Fails.
Everything you have, somebody else has a better version of. Every sentence you write ends in a preposition. Every sentence you say doesn’t come out as intended. And all the eloquent sentences you meant to say vanished in the quagmire of your brain.
You just can’t seem to get it right today. (more…)
Stupid girl on a boat…
“You must be stupid, stupid, stupid.”
I believe that’s a quote from a Matt Damon movie. Can’t remember the title of the movie, but I do remember Matt Damon was in it…
This whole blog began with a bad night and a rather large bottle of wine. Somewhere during that night, I decided to and actually did, create an anonymous blog entitled, “Stupid Girl on a Boat.” Published my first post even. Yep.
Woke up the next morning, looked at that big empty bottle of wine, and thought, “Woopsies.” Went up on deck, and found a fairly full glass of wine still sitting perfectly beneath the hammock. “Woopsies” again. Not sure which is the worse find…
I (obviously) have since decided to rename the blog. Naming a blog based on how you felt on a bad night seemed at bit harsh. But I thought, since that was how this all started, I could at least review. If only I could remember…. (more…)
Like Water For Sanctuary 