A Different Kind Of Doorway | The Quirkiness Of Boat Living

A pal of ours came to visit me the other day on Tickety Boo. As I watched him climb onto our boat and make his way down below, I started thinking to myself how very different boat living is. 

When you go to visit someone on land, you ring the doorbell or knock on the door. When you go to visit someone on their boat, there isn't a doorbell to ring, let alone a proper door. Instead, you knock on the hull. Tap, tap, tap. You cry out, "Hello, is anyone home?" Someone pops their head out of the companionway and says, "Hey there, come on board!"

Then you take a look at all the obstacles in your way and think to yourself, How in the world am I supposed to get on this boat without breaking something? You put one foot on the deck, grab onto one of the metal bars and pull yourself up. Not on the first try though. The water level is high and it's a long way to jump up. Maybe it's time to start heading back to the gym. 

Finally, you end up with both feet on the deck, hanging on for dear life, but then realize that you need to climb over the lifelines. You wonder why they call them lifelines. It's a little disconcerting. You lift one foot carefeully over, then the next foot. Phew. You've made it on board. Kind of. You're still standing on the deck and somehow you have to make your way down below where you've been promised treats and beverages.

But how do you get into the cockpit? There are these bars in the way with tiny, irregularly shaped openings between them. And there is this awning thing in the way. You take a deep breath, size up the options and choose Door #1 to the left. You crouch down, try to squeeze your way through without banging your head on one of the metal supports or stub your toe on the cleat which is right in your way. So, that's what those yoga fanatics mean when they talk about the Downward Dog posture. How embarrassing. You really hope no one was watching.

Finally, you make it into the cockpit. You wonder why there is so much crap in there and what all that crap is. Your friend tells you that she had to take everything out of the lazarette to check for leaks and has left it in the cockpit for the time being. You have no idea what a lazarette is, but don't really care because you've now encountered your next obstacle - an air conditioner.

How are you supposed to climb over this? It's perched in the doorway on a cinder block with towels stuffed on either side of it. There's a tiny bit of space on either side of the air conditioner. Are you supposed to step there first and then over the air conditioner? Or just make a giant leap directly over it? Or go back out the way you came and find somebody else to visit who lives in a normal house?

You look down below and you see coffee. You like coffee, so you decide to attempt yet another yoga movement and clamber over the darn obstruction.  

 

You stick one foot over and realize there is an extremely tiny step you have to manage to get your foot onto. While, of course, trying to avoid the cord for the air conditioner which runs across it and over to the outlet in the head. You've been told that "head" is sailor talk for bathroom. You really don't care at this point. The heck with coffee, your friend better have a very large beer waiting instead. 

Finally, after twisting and turning and hanging on to the grab rail, you manage to make it down below. Your friend quickly puts the washboard back in and closes up the hatch. Bugs out, cold air in. While she's getting you that promised beer, you look back the way you came. What is all this stuff hanging up on the wall? This is not your normal kind of doorway.

 It's all kind of weird. 

Okay, this kind of seems normal. Keys. You have a table by your door where you put your keys. Wait a minute, there's also some stuff you don't recognize here either. 

Ah, boat living...it's a bit quirky, isn't it. I wonder if our pal will be back to visit again?

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Around The World In 80 Books - Update #4

I've just finished up another month of the Around the World in 80 Books challenge. The idea is to read books set in 80 different countries, effectively exploring the world from the comfort of your armchair. Since my last update, I've read books from five different countries - Australia, Haiti, India, Mali and United States. That makes a total of 20 books since I started the challenge. 60 more to go!

You can read more about the challenge here, as well as check out Update #1, Update #2 and Update #3.


THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by ML Stedman | Australia

One of my dock neighbors at Indiantown Marina loaned me this book and said that I would love it. She said everyone who has read it loved it and she was sure I would too. She was right - I loved it!  The story was compelling. I just had to know what happened next after the lighthouse keeper and his wife found a baby washed up on shore of the remote island off the western coast of Australia where they lived. But what was even more fascinating was trying to imagine what I would have done at each critical decision point that they faced. I sobbed at the end. I find that's often a sign of a good story.

Australia is a great country - down to earth people, wonderful scenery, a mix of big cities and small towns and an incredible diversity of flora and fauna. Only one problem, a lot of the critters in Australia can kill you. Like creepy-crawly scorpions.

"As she sits there, drawing patterns in the sandy soil with a twig, she notices a strange creature, longer than her finger, approach from under the log. It's like nothing she's ever seen before: a long body, and legs like an insect or spider, but two fat arms like one of the crabs Dadda catches sometimes on Janus. Fascinated, she touches it with a twig and its tail rapidly curls up in a beautiful arch, pointing to its head. In that moment, a second creature appears, a few inches away."

You can find out more about The Light between Oceans on Goodreads.


HAITI NOIR by Edwidge Danticot, Ed. | Haiti

Haiti Noir is a collection of short stories set in Haiti. It sounded promising. I've always been intrigued by Haiti, I like short stories and I like noir detective novels. I sat down with a glass of red wine and my Kindle and was prepared to love it. I didn't. I didn't even like it. In fact, I didn't even like it so much that I only got halfway through it. And when you're talking about short stories, where you get a chance to start fresh every few pages, that's saying a lot. Yes, I broke one of my cardinal rules for the challenge, which was to finish every book I started.

I'm sure the authors have written some fine stories, but I'm guessing that this genre isn't really for me. I like hardboiled noir detective novels by folks like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, but these noir stories were just too creepy and disturbing for me. I have plenty of nightmares imagining that alligators have chewed holes into the side of my sailboat and that it's sinking while I'm asleep. I don't really want to be reading stories where people die gruesome deaths without the mystery of their death being neatly tied up at the end. 

I decided not to include a quote from the anthology as (a) I'd have to reread one of the stories and (b) it might give you nightmares.

You can find out more about Haiti Noir on Goodreads. Who knows, you might like it. Everybody has different tastes.


THE SEDUCTION OF SILENCE by Bem Le Hunte | India

I picked this novel up at the book exchange at our marina. I love book exchanges - a no-risk way to try out new authors and genres. It costs you nothing and if you don't like the book, you can put it back and take another one. I chose The Seduction of Silence because of its cover art. I often don't actually remember the titles of books I've read, but I'll remember the cover art. This one depicted an Indian couple embracing - I'm not sure who was seducing who.

The Seduction of Silence follows five generations of an Indian family on their quest for enlightenment from a rural village in India to England and ending in Australia. I loved seeing how the different characters' stories intertwined across time and space.

Be warned, if you're off to search for enlightenment in India, keep a sharp eye out for snakes.

"He sat down, irresolute, defeated. Slipping his legs out in front of him, he felt something pierce his foot, cutting through his skin, his last defense. He yelled as he heard the weighty slither of a snake sliding away along the forest floor, satisfied and poison-free. The noises in the forest were not trapped in Bahadur's head. The crickets screeched inside his ears as he felt the rush of poison numbing each toe in turn and pushing waves of dead pain up his leg."

You can find out more about The Seduction of Silence on Goodreads.


THE BOOK OF NEGROES by Lawrence Hill | Mali

Another book I loved. I loved it so much that I stayed up late reading it at night. Always a sign of a good book. And when I finished, rather than put it back in the book exchange at the marina, I passed it on to a friend and told her she had to read it too.

The Book of Negroes (you find out why it is named that partway through the book) describes the life of Aminata Diallo who was abducted in West Africa by slave traders, enslaved in South Carolina, eventually gains her freedom, makes her way to Nova Scotia, returns to Sierra Leone in Africa with British abolitionists and finally ends up in London. It's one of those sweeping historical novels that you can't put down.

Although the story takes place in Africa, North America and London, I chose to use it to tick present day Mali off my list as the story starts off there and Aminata's roots in this corner of West Africa and her Bamanan and Fulani heritage infuses the novel.

If you're going to go to South Carolina, you should watch out for the snakes there too.

"With the next line about to come from Georgia, I readied my foot to dig. She began to sing and I put my foot down on a snake. It slithered and hissed and coiled, tongue flickering. I screamed. Fomba flew to my side, sliced down with his hoe and severed the snake's head. Before I could say a word of things, he picked up the head with one hand and the quivering body with the other and tossed them away."

You can find out more about The Book of Negroes on Goodreads.


THE MAN TO SEND RAIN CLOUDS by Kenneth Rosen, Ed. | United States

Kenneth Rosen noted a lack of contemporary short stories published by Native American authors in the late 1960s, so he decided to track down writers and collect their stories, the result of which was this collection published in 1974. The authors come from a number of tribes including the Choctaw, Navajo, Pawnee, Otoe-Missouria, Mescalero Apache and various Pueblo peoples.

Probably my favorite story from the collection is Yellow Woman by Leslie Silko, which tells of a young woman who meets a cattle thief, ends up sleeping with him and wonders if he is a ka'tsina spirit from her tribe's legends and history. But, in keeping with my theme of creepy-crawly wee beasties, here's a quote from Opal Lee Popkes' Zuma Chowt's Cave instead.

Would you follow rats in search of water? Did you ever read George Orwell's 1984? If so, you might share my aversion to them, especially in small, confined spaces.

"The rats angled up a burned slope. Chowt followed. They ignored him. He was too far away to be attacked, but close enough to see the hundreds of gray bits of coarse fur, slipping in and out among the rocks, clinging with long tails and claw feet, always upward on the smooth slope, bypassing the boulders, going around the steep upward crags, speckling the side of the hill. They angled back and forth, but their general direction was to the north, from where even Chowt could smell the water."

You can find out more about The Man to Send Rain Clouds on Goodreads.

*****

If you're participating in the challenge too, I'd love to hear what you've been reading. Even if you're not doing the challenge, let us know what books you've been enjoying lately.

COUNTRIES READ TO DATE: Australia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Cuba, England, Ghana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, North Korea, Norway, Scotland, United States, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

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It's A Long Story

A gloomy day at Indiantown Marina.

Indiantown Marina is crowded lately with boats coming out of storage and getting ready to head off adventuring for the season. There are also the transient boats who are passing through from one side of Florida to the other via the Okeechobee Waterway who stop by the marina for the night. Then there are folks who don't have a boat but still come to stay at the marina campground for the winter because anything beats shoveling snow in Minnesota and Ontario. Even a campground in Indiantown. 

Everyone is friendly. They stop by to say hi and pause to chat. If they're American, they often look at the side of our boat and ask, "What does Tickety Boo mean?" {The Canadians among us are familiar with the expression, so they don't ask.} I explain the meaning behind our boat name and we chat some more.  

But, inevitably, they ask the dreaded question, "And where is Tickety Boo headed to this year?" 

My usual answer is, "It's a long story." Then I try change the topic. Something like, "Did you see the alligator swimming over there?" Or, "It looks like it might start to rain." The curious and brave usually head over to the dock to take a closer look at the alligator. Those walking small dogs (or the occasional cat) beat a hasty retreat so that their furry friend doesn't become a tempting afternoon gator snack. The folks who left their hatches open scurry back to their boats before the rain starts to pour down and drenches everything. 

And I breathe a sigh of relief not having to explain yet again why Tickety Boo has been tied to this dock for months and doesn't appear to have any plans to head off adventuring anytime soon.  

Because, you know, it's a long story. Most of you know it. If not, here's the short version. We spent hurricane season at the marina for insurance reasons. Scott had to go back to Scotland to finish up a contract. Work is taking longer than he thought. There might be more work he has to do. Tickety Boo and I wait in Indiantown. I work on boat and writing projects while Scott's away. Adventuring is on hold. 

When pressed, I tell some form of the short version. Which leads to more questions like, "What kind of work does Scott do?" {Archaeologist. No, it's nothing like Indiana Jones.} "What do you do during the day?" {Work on my very long list of Very Important but Very Boring Boat Projects. Or procrastinate.}  "Aren't you lonely?" {Nope. If I ever get sent to jail for knocking over an Oreo delivery truck, I don't think solitary confinement would be a punishment. At all.} "Aren't you scared living all by yourself?" {Nope. Except when the alligator looks like he wants to board the boat.} "Wasn't it hot here during the summer?" {Hotter than you can imagine. Air conditioner from Walmart - best investment ever.}

Honestly, I'd much rather hear about people's plans for adventuring, then explain why Tickety Boo is still on the dock. It's such a long, rather dull and slightly depressing story. 

So, tell me. What are your adventuring plans for the coming year? Where are you going to travel to? What are you going to experience? Let me live vicariously through you. Pretty please.

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An Acceptable Form Of Schizophrenia

I recently stumbled across this quote by E.L. Doctorow.

I liked it.

It spoke to me.

It had kind of a sharp, piercing little voice, but I guess that's what got my attention. So, I listened to what it had to say.

"You know all that really weird stuff and random nonsense that floats around in your head, banging on the walls of your cranium and giving you migraines? Just put it into words, type it up and call yourself a writer. Sure, society will still think you're a nutter-butter, but at least you'll be a socially acceptable nutter-butter."

Of course, all of the voices in my head started jumping up and down and pushing each other out of the way to shout out weird stuff and random nonsense in response.

"Man, keep it down over there! She hasn't even her first cup of coffee yet."

"EL Doctorow - who is this guy anyways? Why is he calling us weird and random?"

"Jeez. How can a quote you saw on a computer screen speak to you? It's just written words, it can't talk to you. You just read it. Quietly. To yourself. Can we get some coffee over here?"

By this point, I had started to have enough. And, I had still only had one cup of coffee.

"All of you - settle down this instant! Is it any wonder I get migraines, what with you idiots constantly yelling at each other and banging around inside my head. Just let me get another cup of coffee and I'll have a think about this quote."

I got another cup of coffee. And a cookie. Cookies and coffee really go well together.

I thought about things. I thought about writing. I thought about schizophrenia. I thought about why I like this quote.

Curious? Well, here's the deal. Over the past month, I've been feeling really schizophrenic about my writing. Not my blog writing - that's always a bit schizophrenic. Which doesn't really matter as it's just a series of disjointed posts which don't need to hang together and be coherent. I let the little voices in my head have free rein here on the blog. They're like little kids - they need to burn off energy so that they fall asleep at a decent hour.

But, when it comes to writing a novel, it's a whole different deal. You really need consistency, continuity and a general sense of harmony. Things should hang together. You shouldn't feel like a million different voices have ganged up to write the novel. Unless, of course, that's what you're going for.

Remember how I had my big NaNoWriMo fail? I was supposed to write a 50,000 word draft novel during November. Didn't happen. So, I got an extension from my mom (she hands them out by the way in case you need one).

It's January now. I'm still not done. Because things are all over the place. Those little voices inside my head have been having a field day. They've been experimenting with different styles, voices and ways of writing scenes. They've been playing around with adjectives and adverbs. They've been writing very short sentences and very long sentences. To be honest, it's a bit of a mess.

In general, it's been fun. We've got some creativity going on over here. It's all tickety-boo. Except when I worry about the lack of progress on the novel writing front due to this whole schizophrenic approach to putting words down on paper. I think I'm going to have to put the little voices in my head in the corner for a bit of a time-out so that we can wrap up this first draft during January.

I have no idea what E.L. Doctorow meant by his quote. I'm fairly certain my interpretation is far from the mark, but it got me thinking about the chaos and disorder in my writing and what's holding me back. From what the voices in my head tell me, that's what really counts.

So, now over to you. Any thoughts or tips on how to shut the wee beasties up and get some focus? Also, advice on how to wheedle yet another extension from my mom would be most appreciated too.

Linked up with the lovely folks at the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

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December In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left - (1) Christmas Eve antics at Indiantown Marina with Charlie, Matt, Jessica, Jane, Bruce & Michele; (2) Santa Claus, Florida cowboy style; (3) Our dodgy honeymoon hotel in Paris; (4) A little reminder of the Bahamas, Goombay Punch in a can; and (5) Christmas Day picnic at Hobe Sound beach.

It's hard to believe December had come and gone and that it is now 2016 already!

It was a crazy month at Indiantown Marina. There are tons of folks here right now getting their boats ready to go cruising so there's been a lot of socializing going on. I think Canadians have been outnumbering Americans for the past month, and a fair few of them are French Canadians, so it's kind of fun to hear people chattering away in French all around you. From time to time I try practicing my French on some of them, but it always ends up with everyone looking confused and we quickly switch to English.

Here's the usual recap of last month in numbers and in English:

• 24 - The number of years Scott and I have been married. This was the first year that we haven't been together on our anniversary. Scott celebrated by going into Glasgow for a curry, while I celebrated with eggnog spiked with Frangelico. While Frangelico makes almost anything better, it really didn't help with the fact that we were apart this year.
• 2.5 - The approximate number of miles my friend Jane and I have been walking most mornings. After being a complete and utter slug for months on end, because let's face it summer in southern Florida was just way too hot to do much of anything outside, I've finally started to get a bit more active last month. 2.5 miles isn't a lot, but it's a start. And it helped counteract the eggnog I had over the holidays. 
• 900+ - The number of calories in a 3-piece chicken strip meal at Dairy Queen. Between that and the eggnog, I'm sure you can see why I've started walking.
• $5 - The cost of a 3-piece chicken strip meal at Dairy Queen in Okechobee. It comes with fries, drink and a hot fudge sundae. It's such a good deal, how can you say no, despite all the calories? At least, that's how I rationalize it to myself. 
• 18 - The number of hours Auckland, New Zealand is ahead of Florida. It took all of my brain power to try to figure out what time I needed to call from Florida to get a hold of someone in New Zealand to sort out a tax issue. The good news is that I didn't owe any money.
• $10 - How much 1GB of cellular data costs on my AT&T Go Phone Plan. Things have gotten so crowded at Indiantown Marina lately that it is pretty much impossible to get WiFi from the marina. I've started to get more active on Instagram lately and all of those pretty pictures uses a ton of data. So, I've ended up having to buy extra data to feed my internet addiction.
• 37 - The number of mosquito bites I got on Christmas Eve. The marina hosted a turkey lunch with all the trimmings and we were all having so much fun that we hung around well past sunset when the mosquitoes come out to play. Usually, when the sun sets, everyone hurries back to their boats or RVs and hides inside until morning. But on Christmas Eve, everyone ate well. The humans feasted on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and the mosquitoes feasted on the humans' blood. 
• 24 - The number of miles from Indiantown to Hobe Sound beach. I went there with some friends on Christmas Day for a picnic lunch. After all the "fun" we had on Christmas Eve (and "fun" is a code word for overindulged), it was nice to laze about on the beach and people watch. Scott and I used to go for Christmas Day picnics on the beach in New Zealand, so it was a bit sad to think of him stuck in cold, dark Scotland while we were in hot and sunny Florida.
• 1 - The number of Dunkin' Donuts snickerdoodle lattes I had. Doug Treff - thanks for suggesting I get one. It was utterly scrumptious!

We hope you had a wonderful end to the year during December and wish you health, happiness and joy during the New Year.

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from December:

Boat Tipping | Okeechobee Waterway
The Stench of Failure | NaNoWriMo Update
Nancy Drew is a Total Slacker & Other Random Nonsense

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Happy New Year!

Image Source - The Graphics Fairy

For many of us, the New Year is a time to make resolutions - things you're going to stop, start or continue doing. Like losing weight, exercising more and eating your five a day. Ugh. Not only are New Year's resolutions boring, I never really stick to them.

This year, I'd much rather think about the things I'm looking forward to in 2016. Things like getting Tickety Boo off the dock and taking her out cruising. Traveling and exploring new places. Having Ethiopian food. Spending time with friends and family. Enjoying the surprises that the Universe has in store for us. Things like that.

What are you looking forward to in 2016?

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The Year In Review (Pt 3) | The Water Is Wide

It's that time of year again. A time to reflect on the year past and a time to look forward to what surprises the Universe has in store for us in the coming year. (If you haven't already, you might want to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the Year in Review before reading this final installment.)

After buying our new-to-us sailboat, Tickety Boo, and taking her for a shakedown cruise in the Bahamas, we got the boat ready to lay up in a slip during hurricane season at Indiantown Marina in southern Florida. It was a requirement of our insurance to keep Tickety Boo in a hurricane hole until the end of November and Indiantown Marina ticked that box. We took down the sails and stored them, stowed the anchors and tidied up other things that wouldn't be needed while Tickety Boo was tied to the dock.

And then things got sad.

Scott headed off across the water for work.

At the beginning of July, Scott boarded a plane to Scotland for a few months to finish up a contract. Just in case you were thinking the life of an archaeologist is glamorous, it often isn't. In Scott's case, he's been busy day in and day out doing rather dull stuff like working on spreadsheets and archival records, drawing maps and writing reports - basically dealing with paperwork and bureaucracy. Add to that a computer that likes to act up from time to time and you can imagine how much fun he's been having.

We're used to being apart for work for months at a time - it's been a way of life for us since we've been married. Scott's been off doing archaeology stuff, I've been traveling for my job around the States and overseas and we've lived in different countries with me working in New Zealand and Scott working in Scotland. To be honest, we don't really know anything different. In some ways, it's kind of like being in a military family. You are often apart, but that makes the times you're together even sweeter.

Unfortunately, it looks like this stint Scott has in Scotland is going to take longer than either of us thought and his contract might get extended. But, that's okay, I've got Tickety Boo to keep me busy.

My very long list of Very Important But Very Uninteresting Boat Projects kept me out of trouble.

Not that I ticked many items off my very long to do list, but I did tackle some projects. Mostly indoor projects, because southern Florida during the summer is freakishly hot and humid. So hot and humid that one of the first things we bought when we got back from the Bahamas was an air conditioner from Walmart. It made all the difference in being able to cope with Indiantown during the summer. And it is still making a huge difference during this very unseasonably warm winter down here.

I worked on inventorying everything on our boat (which was no small feat considering I didn't know what half the things were), putting together a ditch bag of emergency stuff if we ever have to abandon ship, deep cleaning the boat (using my favorite super hero - Captain Vinegar and his sidekick the Bleachinator), replaced a broken vent, researched and purchased various equipment, whipped up some sewing projects on our Sailrite sewing machine (slipcovers, throw pillows and other bits and bobs), took my Ham Radio test, as well as tackled a host of other tasks too dull to mention.

And then things got exciting - stuff started breaking!

Indiantown during the summer has some great attributes - it's quiet and peaceful. Hardly anyone was here so the free WiFi was plentiful, no one hogged the grill or the TV remote and I never had to wait around to use the shower. With the exception of a few guys who have been liveaboards here for years, it was pretty much just me and Matt and Jessica from MJ Sailing here during the summer. Of course, not that I would have noticed if anyone else showed up because it was too hot and humid to ever leave the air conditioned confines of Tickety Boo.

In general, I'm quite content and happy on my own, but things were getting even a little dull for me at the marina. So, I was almost excited when the wall in our head/bathroom started developing a crack in it. A mystery to solve! Something to ask people on Facebook about! Fun pulling everything out of the lazarette to check what was happening on the other side of the wall! Wait, that last part wasn't fun. That's a pain in the you know what, especially dragging our 40 lb Rocna anchor in and out of the lazarette.

I never did figure out what caused the crack, and it has now stopped growing. But, I did figure out where I'm going to hide the dead bodies on our boat. See, even when bad stuff happens, like mysterious cracks in your boat, something good comes out of it. Of course, I had to fix our toilet too and it smelled pretty bad. I'm still trying to figure out the good part of that particular little project. I'm sure it's there. I just haven't looked hard enough.

I headed off to Portland to visit family during the height of hurricane season.

I remember when I was getting ready to leave, one of the long term liveaboards looked at me in surprise and said, "But, you know this is the time of year when the hurricanes are likely to strike, right?"

Yep, those are the kind of reassuring words you want to hear when you know you're leaving your boat all alone. Not just your boat, but your floating home. Despite the fact that Indiantown is a hurricane hole, hurricanes have struck here before and there had been a hurricane scare earlier in the summer with Erika's cone of destruction threatening to hit southern Florida. But, I shrugged my shoulders, left a key with Matt and Jessica and headed off to the Pacific Northwest for a couple of weeks.

Good call - no hurricane and lots of fun with family.

Turns out Nancy Drew has a vacation home in Indiantown.

Which is a good thing, because when Tickety Boo developed a mysterious leak and the bilge pump went off for hours one day, I was able to enlist her help in solving the Case of the Slowly Sinking Ship. Or, at least I thought so. Unfortunately, it turns out Nancy is a bit of a slacker and has never really gotten to the bottom of the mysterious leak or been able to recreate that particular situation.

While the Case of the Mysterious Crack kept me occupied during the summer, I really didn't need the drama of the mysterious leak in November. By this time, people had returned to Indiantown! New friends and old friends, with plenty of socializing to distract me from my list of Very Important But Very Boring Boat Projects! Leaks, no thank you - you're not invited to the party. They showed up anyways, very rude of them I think, and took up way too much of my time for a few weeks.

The year draws to a close and the water is wide.

Wow, soon it will be 2016. Amazing to think that another twelve months has gone by and that so much has happened in our lives. One of my favorite sayings is, "Take the good with the bad." When I think back on 2015, sure some bad has happened, but there has been so much good that it makes you forget about the bad. Except, maybe for that mysterious leak.

The water continues to be wide with Scott on one side of the Atlantic and me on the other. But, you take the good with the bad. He's doing what he needs to there, I'm doing what I need to here and before you know it, he'll be back and we'll get this boat off the dock again.

Are you familiar with the song The Water is Wide? It's a Scottish or Irish folk song, depending upon who you ask, and it's one of my favorites. I particularly like this version by the French Canadian folk singer, Lucie Blue Tremblay. It seems like an appropriate song to wind the year down for us. Who knows, maybe you'll like it too.

The water is wide
I can't cross over
And neither do I have wings to fly
Build me a boat
That can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I. 

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