WORK AND STUFF

It's was a long July for me. Mostly because I have only been able to spend a few weekends on the boat. The rest of the time has been spent working a freelance job 250 miles away from the boat. I keep forgetting how much time work takes out of your day and how little time it leaves for living. I use to live to work and now I work to live. Though when working it affects ones leisure time and the creativity that looking at a full day with a blank slate usually inspires. Blog posts seem to get pushed aside for other more mundane activities that seem more pressing like a nap or making dinner.
On the plus side work helps one to refill the coffers and allow certain things on the wish list to be purchased. So I will be adding a few more things on board that I have been considering for my upcoming  cruises. Things like a new  Engel MR040 Portable AC/DC 12 Volt fridge-freezer (40qt) having it on board will now allow me to have both a freezer and refrigerator on board.  Which opens up more provisioning choices for  cruising. I've also splurged on a  Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker which I expect to use to make a variety baked goodies. At least that's the plan.  Another item I've bought is a Cellular Signal Booster which I hope will solve a frustrating communications problem in BIANKA's home port. How well it works is to be determined. Anyway as I wrap up my last day at work I'll be posting about these new additions to the boat  and how well they are working out as I finally get to get back on board and back into the cruising lifestyle.

YOU CAN LEARN A LOT FROM BIRDS

I often anchor in waters where the bayman work. They head out in their workboats and skiffs with long aluminum clam rake poles. They spend hours scratching Davey Jones back for clams, mussels and oysters. I hear the jangle of the shellfish and rocks they pull up when they dump the rakes contents onto the sorting table as I have my morning coffee. It's a unique sound and one that you will only hear if you are on or near the water where the bayman are working. It looks like hard and lonely work. Except maybe for this bayman who seems to have a friend on board pointing out the way to the next mussel bed:

As those who fish on these waters know. You can learn a lot from birds.

MONSTERS & THE PROJECT BOX

I was thinking about the late Spalding Grey recently. He used to perform a monologue on stage called MONSTER IN A BOX which was about a cardboard box in which he put in scraps of paper with writings and thoughts to use in future performances. It sounds like it eventually became so full that it must have terrified him to begin to go through it.  I don't have a "monster in a box" on board but, I do have a "project box" that holds items for various projects in one place so I can find the easily and that box is now over flowing.

It's not terrifying just sometimes hard to get started. I think it is easier to work on these projects in the off season because when one is on board with the boat in the water it is easy to get distracted by things.   I  might have some good intentions to start a project but, while having my coffee I might spend twenty minutes watching an Osprey hovering around the harbor looking to snag an unsuspecting fish from above. Only to see it get chased off by a small black bird when the Osprey got a little to close to it's territory.  Then the lines of a Ketch sailing by might get my attention as a fine looking craft:

Then a I might decide to spend some time to checking emails and posting to this blog. All of sudden a swim might seem like a good idea, followed by lunch, a nap and another swim. Pretty soon it's too late to start on the project as it's time for some afternoon boat drinks, prepare dinner and to watch the sunset.  As the refrain from Bruce Hornsby song goes "It's just the way it is."

WORKING ON THE WATER

Those of us who own a boat know that just repairing, modifying and maintaining it can certainly add to the economy. Here is the money quote on how much:

"Information from the Recreational Marine Research Center at Michigan State University indicates that in 2008 nearly 700,000 jobs in America were directly and indirectly related to recreational boating. Sales related to boating exceeded $81 billion and the total impact on labor income exceeded $26 billion." 

WORKING

Back in early March I received a call to help renovate and rebuild a high tech facility in Washington D.C. I jumped at the chance to replenish the coffers and build up my sailing fund. But, not having worked full time in several years I forgot how much time work takes out of ones life. Not to mention how tired one can be at the end of the day. I also really missed the opportunity to take a little afternoon nap. While it certainly was a financial pleasure to have some money coming in. Other parts of life went out the window. Enjoyable things like posting on this blog and working on the boat. Happily, the project is ending this week and unstructured time returns to my life. This will allow for more frequent postings on the BIANKA BLOG and the even more important spring outfitting of the boat. But, first I'm going to be taking something that I have not really felt the need for in years and that is a vacation. Two months of working full time including some weekends and a number of 12+ hour days has me really looking forward to relaxing on a chartered boat in the Bahamas for a week. Swimming, watching sunsets and saying: "Yes, I think I'll have another rum punch."