Once upon a time - and this is a true story -

"there was a yachtsman making a single-handed passage in the Caribbean Sea. He struck a bad patch, about four days of heavy weather. When the wind moderated he was not at all certain of his position. So he took his sextant and tried to shoot the sun, but he was unable. He carried on sailing, and within a short while sighted a lone fisherman in a dinghy. He was delighted about this, because it meant that he must be near land, and he hailed the fisherman, asking his position. The fisherman made no response. He continued to fish without even glancing at the yacht. Evidently a surly type. So the yachtsman sailed on - and soon he sighted land and a small harbour. From this harbor a pleasure launch put out, crowded with trippers, and passed within 50 feet. He hailed the launch. Not a soul aboard answered or showed the slightest interest in his plight. Proper bunch of curmudgeons, he thought. Anyway, he shouldn't worry. He had made landfall after a rough passage and had found a snug harbor. He sailed into the harbor and - because nobody paid the slightest attention to him (no Customs blokes, no medical officer) - he chose a clear area, got out the lead-line and found eight fathoms, and anchored. Then he dropped through the hatch, hit the cabin floor and flaked out for twelve hours. On awakening he clambered on deck. His yacht was securely anchored. But there was no harbor, no pleasure launches, no fishermen in dinghies, no land in sight. But - he was anchored in eight fathoms. He'd got that right anyway. The rest was pure hallucination - wishful thinking - brought on by sheer, overwhelming fatigue." excerpt from Handling Small Boats in Heavy Weather by Frank Robb.
A friend let me borrow this book today, and pointed out this story. I think I've read or heard it before. It's always very interesting to me. Hallucination. seeing things that don't really "exist." Often in life we see things that don't really exist. It may not be physical things per se that we see but don't exist, but rather we may see things in a way that may not be. In the study of Buddhism we learn the inherent emptiness of everything. Our world exists the way it does because of the way we view it with our biases, desires, past experiences... How much of what we observe is really real? And with a phenomenon like hallucination... makes you kinda wonder, doesn't it? Are you really reading this? Did I really write this? Did a man really land on the moon? Is the Earth really round? Does the Earth really exist as we think it does... Do you really exist as you think you do? How do others really see you? Do you hallucinate that you are a kind loving person? Do you hallucinate that others are ignorant and selfish? Nothing is inherently as we see it.

Big Remodeling Project - Day 4

Another day on the big remodeling project. Today was painting day. Painted the newly remodeled storage. Spent the rest of the afternoon while the paint was drying doing further dust removal on the other side of the salon, and doing a little more reorganizing so I can sleep on the boat tomorrow night! My work day was cut short by this impending cloud... Seeing it appear and grow and slowly move towards me, I took everything down below and closed the boat up. With the smell of the paint, I couldn't keep working in the closed in area, so the work day ended early. It was still hot on the boat today with temperature in the boat getting up to 94 degrees F.

Captains Class

In between work work and working on the big remodeling project, I took a captains class. I really wanted to learn how to navigate the old fashion way and learn a lot more of the book side learning of boat operation. I sure did learn a lot. I passed the tests with flying colors and received my diploma.

Now, to work work work at getting my sea time. Just in time for sailing season right around the corner.

Big Remodeling Project - Day 3

Take 3. Today I sanded sanded sanded. Sanded down all the wood filler. The picture on the left is a good indication of the amount of dust around the salon area of the boat...
Then I started to vacuum vacuum vacuum.
Then to start painting. primer first.
The picture on the right is everything primed.
I also re teak'd the insides of the drawers. I didn't catch pictures of that because the rain came... and that project I was working on outdoors. I'm thinking of using the drawers without the face panels in the closet. I never thought the closet was very efficient... next big remodel project ;)

Special Fittings...

So, Athena's engine has had a leaky fuel hose for some time... okay, close to pretty much over a year now... Captain John found a fittings place and offered to have them make special fittings for me so I can fix my leaky fuel hose. They're special push on fittings...
I measured and cut the fuel hose, and pushed on the fittings... I then attached to engine and fuel filter... and, bled the engine. I wasted perhaps less than a 1/4 cup of fuel to bleed the engine. It was a triumph. Except for the fact that I drained my batteries listening to my radio all day and then had to shore power recharge the batteries to start the engine... she started right up!! ran her for an hour. next todo was to buy a radio that ran off shore power. oh how i wish i had a good solar panel...

Big Remodeling Project - Day 2

Here's day two of the big remodeling project.
Not necessarily two days later...
After all the cutting, I needed to head to the hardware store for some longer screws to put into place new supports for the new access boards. To increase the attachment, I used some liquid nails.
Then to try and hide some of the imperfections (determined not possible), I attempted to use wood filler... This worked for at least smoothing over holes from where previous drawer supports had been removed. Hiding the cut imperfections, that was impossible. oh well. such is life ;)
While the wood filler was set to harden, I started working on the drawers. The face plate of the drawers i had to unscrew and pry off... not always with perfect success, but, we're not going for perfectionism here ;) and, actually, at first i was thinking i would dismantle the drawers completely, but now I'm actually starting to rethink that.
Once the three drawer faces were off, I sanded them to make them a little nicer for re staining, since, once hinged, the inside of the once drawer face will be visible. The inside drawer face on the right in this picture is sanded and the other two are yet to be sanded.
I think I should do a photo shoot for Dewalt...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (Peppermint Patty's input)

Big Remodeling Project...

So, earlier in September, I tried to motivate my spirits by just digging in to a big remodeling project. One I've been thinking about for a long time. There are these crazy small three drawers beneath on of the benches in the salon area and all this potential storage if the drawers were not there... So, I'm working on taking apart the drawers, making their fronts into hinged access and cutting new larger openings in the top of the bench.
Unfortunately, i don't really have the right tools for the job, so, we're far from perfection on this little project... but, it's a going anyways.
How does one cut into a solid piece of wood that is secured on all four sides and has two supports in the middle... These pictures are from day 1 of this project.
Where do you think our strive for perfection comes from anyways? And is it really necessary for happiness? Are we unhappy if things are not perfect? unhappy if things are not as we wish them to be? Perfection is like expectation and expectations will get you every time.
I've been learning to live without perfection. Perfection can also sometimes become a stumbling block to action. we might not try something because we are afraid of failing, of being less than perfect. If we can't be perfect, than why try? you never know, not being perfect may be more fun!

Blog Action Day

today has been deemed Blog Action Day. A day when thousands of bloggers around the world will post with an environmental theme.
http://blog.blogactionday.org/
I've had a few blogs here and there that have spoken on the environmental theme.
Today, near and dear to Athena's and my heart is of course, the oceans and seas.
Here are my suggestions for Seven Steps to Stewardship of the Seven Seas.
1. Properly secure, stow, and dispose of trash. Under federal law, it is illegal to toss ANY garbage from a boat while you are anywhere in lakes, rivers, bays, sounds, and from zero to 3 miles offshore. Yes, this means you cannot throw a banana peel or your half-eaten sandwich overboard!!! Plastics should never be thrown overboard in any waters. FYI, cigarette butts are considered plastics because of their filters! If you fish, and your fishing line breaks, do everything in your power to retrieve as much of the line as possible, and then recycle it at a monofilament recycling bin, or properly dispose of it. Monofilament strangles birds and other marine life.
2. Take proper precaution when boating in shallow waters and snorkeling or SCUBA diving around corals. Propeller scars through seagrass beds can take up to 10 years to completely recover. Corals take longer to recover.
3. Respect wildlife. Observe wildlife from a distance. Show compassion for all living beings equally without exception. The dolphin is no more important to this planet than mollusk or catfish.
4. Watersheds drain to waterways that most often drain to the oceans and seas. What we do in our watersheds can affect the water quality of our oceans and seas. Be cognizant of how much fertilizer and chemicals are used on your lawn. Better yet, grow a native yard with native plants that doesn't require fertilizers or chemicals for maintenance.
5. Don't eat marine life. Our commercial fisheries including shrimp, etc, which provide to our beck and call, react to supply and demand. Don't demand. Fishing practices damage the marine environment. Fishing wastes resources and precious life (i.e. not every fish or other catch makes it to the table). Don't fish, not even catch and release. Species continue to decline. There is mortality associated with catch and release that can't be prevented even with the most ethical fishing procedures.
6. Don't promote or support development that destroys marine habitat. No habitat - No fish. No fish...
7. Share what you know. Others may not realize their impacts.