The following is a 'reflection' I appended to my log entry on 14th April (day 7), at 1:00 am.
A boat at sea should be thought of, by those that want to be 'a crew', as a complete entity. To think of the boat as a set, or worse a collection of sets of tasks, spars and ropes, or as a mode of transport, is to fail to grasp something important that is going on out here.
The boat is my whole world for the duration of the journey. It is the sum and extent of things on which I can exert any direct influence, and my life, no less, depends on it. Off hand I'm not sure if that is re-assuring or terrifying, but I am certain that it is important, and that those 'that go down to the sea' do well to think of their vessel as a complete entity. And their 'vessel' it is, for it both contains and carries them, or doesn't do either, in accordance with the degree to which they have been mindful and caring for the complete entity that is a boat.
Now, several weeks later, I can't remember what inspired those thoughts. It was something to do with taking a holistic view of the experience, clearly. But it was also a reflection on focussing on details and in doing so missing out on appreciating the whole concept of what a boat is and what it can do. The boat can be lost for the failure of a small bolt or piece of wire, and those things are thus important, sometimes crucial. But their importance is in what they contribute to the integrity of the whole; and looking after those things is not done for its own sake, but for the well-being of the boat.
The fact that I wrote it at one o'clock in the morning may have had something to do with it as well. :P
Sunday, June 3, 2012
whoops ... were did the time go?
errr ... sorry 'bout that.
So I went home, did the stuff that needed doing (most of it, anyway), and flew back here a couple of days ago. I'm now back on-board Hellcat, compiling a list of what needs to be done before I make the second attempt at a passage home.
The great thing about compiling lists of things to do is that it feels constructive, and is much easier than actually doing the stuff that you put on the list.
I took a couple of days putting the below-decks area back into livable space after the sudden departure. I'm reasonably happy with it now. I've re-organised some of the storage spaces, and done some wood oiling. No, seriously, the interior woodwork is teak, and in places was effected by water ingress discolouring the teak surfaces. Not enough to set rot in, but looking at it after an absence of a couple weeks I was surprised at how obviously the teak was marked where water had trickled across it. There were pale streaks across the front of the lockers and shelf facings. A simple fix was to wipe across the surfaces with a rag soaked in teak oil. Ahh ...'s pretty again!
I promised a couple of excerpts from the log I maintained in the first attempt. I'll put one up right now, in a separate post.
Cheers.
So I went home, did the stuff that needed doing (most of it, anyway), and flew back here a couple of days ago. I'm now back on-board Hellcat, compiling a list of what needs to be done before I make the second attempt at a passage home.
The great thing about compiling lists of things to do is that it feels constructive, and is much easier than actually doing the stuff that you put on the list.
I took a couple of days putting the below-decks area back into livable space after the sudden departure. I'm reasonably happy with it now. I've re-organised some of the storage spaces, and done some wood oiling. No, seriously, the interior woodwork is teak, and in places was effected by water ingress discolouring the teak surfaces. Not enough to set rot in, but looking at it after an absence of a couple weeks I was surprised at how obviously the teak was marked where water had trickled across it. There were pale streaks across the front of the lockers and shelf facings. A simple fix was to wipe across the surfaces with a rag soaked in teak oil. Ahh ...'s pretty again!
I promised a couple of excerpts from the log I maintained in the first attempt. I'll put one up right now, in a separate post.
Cheers.
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