Comments?

But we’re going to have a boat, and she’s the kind of boat you’d want to sail around the world in! Ted’s got the floors all in, and the bulkheads, and I’m hoping to see the thru-hulls in now and maybe get an idea from his welder as to how we stand on reconfiguring the stern. I’ve got him working on bedding deck hardware, too, and I’m hoping his welder can flatten out our stanchion bases so I don’t have to buy new ones.

This weekend I think I’ll finally get the bilge pumps in and start figuring out how to plumb the tank vents and head. I need to drop a note to Neil, too, about working on the engine again and whether he can get us the transducer for the depth sounder he scrounged for us.

Still, even though the boat is coming together, I feel like the dream is slipping away. I have no idea how we’re going to get a cruising kitty together – the added expense of my… condition? Disease? I never know what to call it… just feels like it’s put it over the edge. We can’t be sea gypsies, sailing for a while, working for a while – because if I don’t have my medicine, I will die. That sounds so melodramatic, but it’s true. We need to have our ducks in a row – or at least I need to have my ducks in a row – in order to make it.

So what’s the solution? Do a little bit of cruising at a time? I just hope we don’t end up living our lives along, staying here in Maine, with our boat at the mooring, and then we wake up one morning, and we’re 60 years old, and complications have started to kick in and I can’t sail anymore.

Start playing the lotto? Sell our side business? Sell the house? I don’t want to sell the house; I worry we’d never make it back into our wonderful little neighborhood. Well anyways, these are the things that get me stuck.

It looks like a boat inside!

“At

Well there’s our engine, all shiny bright and ready to drop in…

I went up to the barn to meet with Myles yesterday, and got some bad news. He took a job at BIW – a union gig, with benefits and all that. Can’t hardly blame him – he’s got a family now and all that, and it’s amazing how much more you care about things like health insurance and a steady income when there’s a baby involved. But… we’re bummed out. Norman is still pretty much torn apart, and we’re facing losing the barn and don’t have anyone to work on her. He’s promised to get the engine, thru-hulls and bulkheads in before he’s done, and that would be a big help… but it’s still a real bummer.

Anyone want to work on our boat?

“W46

Not the prettiest engine, but it came with tranny, panel and alternator, and they guys said she’s a good runner. I found a place that sells rebuild kits, so if time and budget afford, we will rebuild before heading out. But we have an engine! Yay!