The Ant's and the Grasshoppers.......life in a weekend marina.

Keeping the faith when your stranded on the Lot Dock! 

It's best to prepare for the days of necessity

Ok, I'll admit it....by Sunday of this past weekend, I had enough of that "F-ing Boat".  Tom and I are the marina ants.  It's been 4 summers.  We work in the parking 'Lot-Dock' (which is easily 5-10 degrees hotter than in the water), we (Tom, Spirit and I) sleep in a 2-man tent (sometimes cozy, sometimes not) and we toil away on our boat projects all weekend desperately trying to check off yet another task on the never ending list.  Sometimes, we take the occasional 10 minute break to throw ourselves into the pool to cool off, or drink a much deserved beer.  Otherwise, it's work, work, work....   Then, there is everyone else.  The Grasshoppers.  They come down on Friday night, step on their boat (in the water), turn on their magical air conditioning, and then go out for a fun weekend of sailing and socializing.  Am I bitter?  No.  Sometimes a bit envious?  Yes.  

We were tired this weekend, it was humid and nothing was going right on Luna Sole.  Tom had re-painted (for the 4th time) the head of the boat, and just like in the past, it got the orange peel look thanks to either the flattening agent we used to dull down the paint shine or the humidity level, or both.  Disheartening after so much work to say the least.  Unfortunately, it is what it is.  It's time to check off "Paint the Head" on the list and move on.  We'll just call it "anti-skid" for the head to any prospective buyer who inquires. After all, it can get a little rough down there sometimes so you need some "gription" when you're doing your business.  (ha ha)  Actually, even with the less than perfect paint job, it looks really great, and once the head, sink cabinetry and teak floor grate go back in, you really won't even notice.  It's just the principle of the thing...grrrrrrr     

I was working outside the boat on re-sealing the deck to hull joint.  I had pulled out all the old caulk because it looked awful.  Completely cosmetic, but hey- a pretty boat sells faster than a crappy one right?  I then spent about 45 minutes taping one side so as to get a perfect seam.  Went up on the ladder and proceeded to run my bead of sealant and then smooth it with my handy dandy tongue depressor.  What happened?  It refused to flow.  The more I tried to fix it, the worse it got.  I did about 1/3 of the area when Tom came down and said "Stop- just let it dry.  Take it out and start over".  AUGH!!!  I glanced over at the sparkling blue pool and all the grasshoppers......sigh. 

Why is everything on a boat so hard and take so darn long?  

I know that we have a different dream than the other residents of our marina.  99% of our sailing mates are working professionals.  They work very hard (or have worked hard and are now retired) and are able (and choose) to pay the yard staff to take care of issues that arise on their boats so that they can enjoy their weekend relaxing and sailing.  We work hard at our day jobs also. However, we want to be cruisers.  We don't plan to live at marinas where there is access to mechanical help.  We also don't have the desire or luxury to pay someone else to do something we can do ourselves.  Not only from a $$ standpoint, but more importantly because we want to know that the job was done right.  When your travelling across oceans, the difference between a good job and a great job can mean your life.  Working on Luna Sole these past 4 summers means we have learned to fix things and be self sufficient.  There is no price you can put on that education.  

So, after our less than perfect work session, we then did what any hard working couple would do.  We quit working and went to the pool, with beer in hand.  Sometimes, you just have to be a grasshopper.