Some days are filled with the sound of voices coming from above. Voices that clarify themselves into spoken words laced with love and urgency and requiring help. Voices with just a hint of query and sometimes an Oh-My-Darling. And most times they spoke volumes. Volumes that require participation and patience. Volumes that had me cringing by the time I'd heard the third "I need". And voices that are sometimes tinged with audible frustration and desperate "I need's". Voices that result in much dripped sweat, and hard Elbow Grease...

And damnitall, why do I feel like I worked HARDER than my Capt'N?

****

The day started off with his jobs and her jobs. Not that they were blue jobs or pink jobs, but we each had a list of things to do that were starting to appear to be longer than the arm we were writing them with.

Wanting to get some manoeuvring room in our living space, one of the jobs was to pack our now-empty-suitcases into the vacum-seal-bags, and along with a dryer sheet,



suck the air out of them.



It would help keep the contents safe and sound and dry. Once done, I could them stow them under our floorboards.



Which, as all my cruisers friends and readers can attest to, one simple job of placing a vacuum sealed bag of suitcases under floorboards can require a bit more time than just putting them there.

Like find the vacuum. Like connect it to the power. And find the bags which we know we've just recently unpacked. And find the gadget that lifts the floorboards. And while we're at it, why not vacuum under that floorboard. And wipe it all out, just cause. And during all that, remember to take pictures. And then, damnitall, start all over again because I forgot the dryer sheet!!

"Oh ? Dear ?" I heard from up above.
"Yes?" I answer, and as soon as my Capt'N saw me poke my head out of the companionway, he responded with,
"I need..."

And so I found the roll of paper towels (which, would you believe, was now an empty roll of tube. So I had to scramble over the floorboards that you may remember were lifted, over the vacumsealed bag, reach behind the cushion, and grasp out a new roll of paper towel.)

"Hope he appreciates this" I sweated out loud, as I handed him his request. And went below to finish my stowing of the suitcase job.

"Oh ? Dear?" I heard from above.
"OH DEAR" I thought.
"I need..."

And this is what he needed



"Oh ? Dear?"
"Yes dear?"
"I need... "

The sandpaper.



"Oh ? Dear?"
"Yes Dear!"
"I need... "

The grease.

Which after some trials and tribulations we realized was a total His Job.



And all that for a little Iddy Biddy Pin called a GooseNeck Pin.

I went down below to sort out my list of jobs. Would you believe I hadn't even located my pencil (and admittedly my reading glasses) when,

"Oh ? Dear?" I heard from above.
"Damn..." I sighed.
"I need you... "

And so I went above and pulled and heaved and pulled some more



until things were tight and taut and just right.

We had had the stack pack re-sewn in places where the sun had damaged the threads and the wind had caused some ripping of the material. We had also requested the idea of grommets to allow the accumulation of torrential rainwater to pour out, but Michael nay-nayed it, and this is the idea that he proposed.



Aesthetically it is pleasing to the eye. We'll tell you how they work after the next rainstorm.

And I went down below and Dave went to get the MainSail which had been placed with Turbulence for washing and checking over purposes.

"Oh ? Dear?" I heard.
"Yes..." I whispered as I was... Oh I don't even know what job I had wanted to start.

"I need..."

And, with a sigh I knew I might as well give up on me, myself and I, and MY JOBS, and I rushed up to help with the heavy sailbag that needed to be gotten on the boat, and then in our cockpit, and then the sail out of the bag, and the bag put away, and the sail placed on deck, and then because we had it the wrong way, replaced on deck the right way to unroll,



and look, brand new, shiny red ticklers.



And so winch pull by winch pull (which of course required a stop in the action to find the winch handles, which had, (of course!), been locked away during our absence, and it's NEVER EVER in the first place you look, right?)



the sail was slowly raised,



up its track, not without first being inspected and the whatchamacallits greased and whatever else my Capt'N was doing up there,



while I was stuck in the cockpit, staring up at the clouds and listening to the murmurings of my beloved as he talked to himself, talked to the sail, cajoled and pleaded and swore, and sweated through it all, every so often issuing an "I need..." proclamation,



which of course had me coming out of musings in my head, and standing back at attention, going below and grabbing whatever, coming back out, and handing it over, with a smile, along with a glass of ice cold water.

And so the minutes and moments tick-tocked by, with me winching and staring at the blue skies (oh look, it's a teddy bear with open arms, do you see it?), going below to get the batten tool, and then back up, and then below to get the batten and manoeuvre that long thing up through the companionway, hand it over to be clasped firmly in the Capt'N's hands, winching some more, which resulted in a cry of it being too high, and so lower the sail back down, just a half an inch now (WTF !!) and start all over, and whine again, and oh now it's just right, going to the mast and placing said batten properly into its holder while the Capt'N velcro-locks it into place, and back into the cockpit again.

"I need..."

"Just wait" I said, there's someone here, as I turned to the voice calling out to me from the dock,



selling some mangos. They'll make for perfect Mango Daiquiris for later on tonight I thought.

And back to pulling and winching and get the batten and up to the mast and back and back in my quiet zone I turn



And notice Thaddeus working hard at sanding down our teak rails, prepping them for the new varnish job.

And pull and winch and get the third batten and up to the mast and now it's time for the reef lines



"I need..."

And down below I go, and back out I come, lighter in hand, which was needed to burn off some escaped threads in one of the lines.

And as I pulled and winched and hauled and hoisted and responded to the "I need's", I took some photos, and played with my new camera, and then I wondered about that Mango Daiquiri for sundowners.

Plugged into the marina we enjoy shore power, which is awesome as we are able to vac-seal our bags, And then I planned for supper, which made me realize that we were out of yogourt and fruit (and would there be any tomatoes this time round?) and almond milk and perhaps some Ting, which is nice and light and refreshing when ice cold and you're sitting and swearing cause you're sweating more than buckets can hold.

"Didn't your momma teach you not to step on the freshly washed sails" I laughed to myself as I emerged from my moment inside my head at the next proclamation of I need's.



Almost done (Thank God!)



and voila, the end result.



That evening, showered and ready to relax, the sun just was beginning to set, we sat in the cockpit with Mango Daiquiris in hand and raised our glasses in a Cheers type of moment.

"Here's to I need You's " we toasted, our eyes locked and speaking volumes of the work we'd accomplished. Together.