As I can be.
We started the hurricane season prepping of Papillon, and while we are doing the right thing, it is feeling like a little betrayal to be stripping her of her jewelry. Sails, kayaks, dodger, solar panels, life raft, all the finery that makes her look so strong and efficient has to go. Anything that can move, has to be removed and stored.
Easy enough, you might think. And the physical act of removal really is just that, physical- but the psychological impact of this is much more. This isn’t just a boat, it’s our home. And it isn’t just a house, it’s an escape capsule. It’s more than all of those things; it also has a personality, with her own little quirks and foibles, almost as if she was alive in the conventional sense. Yet she is alive in our hearts and this feels like leaving a faithful pet at a kennel for an extended time. It is tough.
Well, today we removed the main and the jib. I’ll be handing those over to Snug Harbor Sails for review and renewal while we are away. Next down will be the kayaks, then the Monitor Windvane, sure don’t want that to get a boat bite from anything drifting about!
So the process will inexorably continue until she stands naked before us, ready for whatever we can prepare her for. After this we move her into the back harbor of Costa Baja to hunker down, awaiting our return, when she will be buffed, waxed and shined- dressed in her finery and made ready for the next season.