Transition of the Mind

There are the obvious lifestyle changes associated with being back on land but there are some things that are not obvious at first. The larger everything at home is nice and perhaps the real icing on the cake is the dish washer. That is one duty I don't miss about being aboard. The other is the constant quest for quarters to use in the next laundry room wherever it might be,. The silence of a land dwelling is defining. Pumps, water slap on the hull and wind make the cruising world actually very noisy yet somehow soothing to the soul of a sailor. The sounds on a boat provide the constant feedback as to the health of the boat. More than a few times I have been awakened from a REM sleep by a barely discernible sound, perhaps not even noticeable to my mate, that warns me of a change in our world. On other nights when most people cannot sleep for the noise, my sleep went uninterrupted because all the sounds had been previously registered as normal. Wind in the wire and the motion on the water makes for near perfect sleep atmosphere not possible on land save a shaded hammock on a soft summer morning. Those things do not happen on land often.

I had to make a run to the store yesterday, which in itself is a treat. One does not do that on a cruise lest one have some form of transportation such as a bicycle. I was standing in the store considering a purchase that would not have happened on our cruise. You see, it would not have fit into my backpack. Then another obvious thing hit me. I do not need to get the giant sized dish soap because we won't be away from a store very far. The consideration on the cruise was how long it would be until resupply. Thus, case lot quantities and large bottles were necessary and did pose a challenge when transported by that backpack. We did not buy just a six pack of soda, we made it a case or two. On land we can think small and fresh. There is no need to eat our way to the bottom of our provisions before leaving for a break. It is a way different mind set on land.

So, I had the new bottom paint applied by the yard and after the fact it dawned on me that I overlooked something which will be obvious until the next haulout: Why Knot sits at least four inches higher in the water than when she was rigged for the cruise. That leaves a four inch band of bottom paint exposed above the waterline. Guess that will identify us to those who notice that we had an extended cruise. That waterline was raised twice along the way.

We have traded sea gulls, dolphin and crabs for squirrels, fox and deer. We are no no longer fixated on the weather forecast. The bed no longer moves to the rhythm of the sea. If it moves on land then there are a whole set of other problems (at least in our age group). The vehicles are ready to make the provision run any time. Scurv gets extended land runs and digging at will for the critters under the rocks. Why Knot is still waiting for someone to install the infamous fuel pump but otherwise is almost ready for her overnighter to Port Aransas. Bear gets her favorite local tv shows and I water the newly planted grass whilst day dreaming about Block Island, or Boothbay or the Chesapeake or a view around the corner at Seguin Island. Pnobscot Bays beautiful schooners framed on a northern summer cloudless blue sky as only they can be are still fresh in the memory. Enough of that. I have to keep the seeds wet and it is supposed to be a hundred degrees today.