Every endeavor takes leg work. Lots and lots of leg work. For my lawyer friends it means pouring over case law, writing briefs and getting little sleep. For the programmers it is looking at endless miles of code, looking for the missing or extra bit. Every task has leg work.
I am in the thick of it now. In the past 3 days I have looked at more than 14 boats. Boats I have wondered about from home. I feel a bit like Goldielocks. This boat is too small, this boat has a squishy deck, this boat is not finished enough, that boat doesn’t have enough sail area; that one the v-berth is to short.
So I leave the east coast sailing capital for destinations south. Virginia, the Carolinas and eventually Florida. Friday will be a good day to be on the road for a while. The weather men are calling for a rainy and stormy day and at some point I will see 2 boats. A Departure 35, designed by the same gent as Toad’s About and an aluminum boat with a Gibraltar hailing port..tres chic!
Yesterday was almost perfect, and I say almost because S was not here. After having a stroll in historic downtown Annapolis we (Priscilla, Bob and I) went for a lovely afternoon sail down the river where their Cal 25 is docked and out into the Chesapeake Bay. With a nice breeze and clear skies I was gently reminded by the experience why I am out here. Why I am being so picky. Why I am chasing a dream rather sitting at home thinking about it. It was so simple. The rhythm. The gentle pace. The sheer simplicity of it all. Traveling at such a pace with the motion of the water, the motion of the boat strips me of all pretense, strips me to my core, and at the center of me I find wonder. Total amazement with the world around me. Total amazement with the world within me. That is why I want to sail, that is why I want to travel. Because I want to know who I am. I want to know why I tick the way I do, I want to know who you are and why you tick the way you do.
The rain is starting to fall as I write this. The rain has found its own rhythm and pace. I will find mine.
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