Underway once again..............from P

It has been such a long long time……. But here we are again, finally aboard Senara for two and a half weeks - and here I am again, finally able to reconnect with myself. I really should use my time on the water to reflect on everything that has happened over the past year. The problem is, I find it takes effort (and some pain) to reflect on the past year. It is much easier, and more fun, to again live in the raw moment. It is why I am so drawn to this life. I simultaneously fear and love the things that demand immediate attention when living on a sailboat – shoal waters, thunderstorms, a free flying lazy-jack line, biting flies, getting lost, and why a very specific looking machine screw is rolling around on the deck. It is good to be back!

After our year-long sailing journey and summertime racing jaunts, Senara needed a lot of attention. Beginning in February I consistently worked on a two-page list categorized into things that had to be done, and things I wanted to do. The new lifelines did not happen, but the new three-bladed folding prop did. The automatic stove lighter still doesn’t correctly click on, but the new packing around the rudder stock has stopped the little irritating trickle leak coming from the stern. All of the interior lights have not yet been converted to L.E.D., but the anchor light has been, and it is now the brightest anchor light in the anchorage. The newly machined prop shaft and coupling has eliminated the engine vibration, removal and re-seating of the traveler track has eliminated a cabin-top leak, and my refinished teak trim looks like new! All in all, Senara is in the best mechanical condition ever. But a relationship with a boat is like any other committed relationship, it requires constant attention. The best you can hope for is that it is the kind of relationship where you enjoy giving the attention.

So here we are again, all fixed up, out here where visits from pelicans and dolphins make us smile, the appearance of deteriorating industrial buildings along the shoreline feels like an insult, and the sight of those huge fishing trawlers with outriggers and bottom-dragging nets leave us with the same feeling as though an identified rapist just walked by. Everything seems clear. More things make sense. Finally, underway once again.