Opua: on the mooring
Opua: on the mooring
Ashby’s Boat Yard is clean, as boat yards go; and there are some conveniences such as shore power, though generally my solar panels produce more electricity than I need, a better Internet connection, being able to walk to the shower and the chandlery, and usually water, though this time I was too far from a tap for my hose to reach and still had to haul water in a jerry can.
The annual haul out is one of the rhythms of boat life, like the seasons, and each year I feel such happiness and sense of freedom when the boat is back in the water and I’m powering away.
Yesterday was another perfect day. I was on the mooring around noon. Had lunch, then, not having been able to use the hose in the yard, scrubbed the deck with Ajax and water dipped from the bay. My hands did not appreciate this, but it does not seem to have done them any harm.
Moving coiled lines for the first time in four months, I disrupted the lives of many spiders, one of them big enough to handle the tiller. A properly trained spider would make a good crew, with sufficient arms for all tasks simultaneously. I have often felt the lack of a third or four arm and wondered why we didn’t evolve with extras. I concluded that such a creature couldn’t run fast enough during that period of history when being fleet of foot was essential to survival.
Evening was perfect, and I had a glass or two of wine and freeze dried spaghetti on my clean deck, watching birds, feeling the boat move gently, accompanied by a gibbous moon over the mountain to the east.
The view from the boat yard is good, but the view from the mooring is better.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008