Ninety percent of something is everything

Lately it seems that this has been a blog less about cruising than about all the reasons we’re not cruising. But then I’m told that ninety percent of cruising is spent at anchor or tied up, so maybe we’re right on the mark.

I just helped our neighbors shove off for points north for the long holiday weekend. Reversing out of our southward facing slips into a brisk southerly can be a drag; prop walk tends to push your stern in exactly the wrong direction, so you are facing shore instead of sea, but you have little choice but to apply more power and suffer more yaw just to clear the slip. Then once you’re out in the narrow space between the docks, you have to come to a halt to power the bow around, but while you’re sitting there the wind is trying to shove you down on all the other boats in south-facing slips. Add a dinghy on a towline into the mix and it’s an invigorating start to any sailing adventure.

So while I keenly felt the anxiety and tension they were going through getting clear of the slip this morning, I also could imagine the relief and sense of accomplishment they probably felt once they escaped the breakwater and could raise sail for a nice downhill ride all the way to Port Townsend. Why weren’t we out doing the same?

Since we’ve been back on the boat full time it’s pretty much been full-time work. It’s amazing how much more you can get done when you are in one place all the time, and with strong Internet and a city full of enabling mechanisms, we’ve become gluttons for getting stuff done. Even the boat itself has benefited; new vents installed, a good scrubbing of the foredeck and anchor locker, inspection and cleaning of the steering gear, and a lot of shopping to prepare for our imminent haul-out.

Originally scheduled for last December, then hoped for in March, then delayed again, and again, and again, we finally have a date set next week to get Insegrevious up on the hard and get her fixed up, painted up, and shined up. At least we hope. Ninety percent of the work is making sure she’s safe to go back in the water. Re-packing the rudder shaft seal and fixing any damage to the keel from a close encounter with a rock earlier this year, both things we’ve never done before, will be the make or break moments of the event.

My tentative plans for the year had been to get everything fixed up and to get out of town early, taking a couple of months and going north up as far as Desolation and poking around there until it got too crowded. Between work and delays with getting the boat out, those all fell by the wayside, and I have been slow to adjust. Ninety percent of cruising is adjusting to changing circumstances. So, we may be around town during the spring and early summer, and hopefully get our two or so months of escape in during the late summer and fall. Subject to changing circumstances, of course.

That doesn’t mean we won’t be out sailing, though; assuming the boat lives through the haul-out, we’ll be moseying up and down the Sound for June and some part of July, staying close to Seattle so Mandy can meet her various work obligations. We’ll have to lug a portable generator along to keep all our various computers going so I can work too, even if we’re not on shorepower. It wasn’t the early summer I had originally conceived, so I’m still not sure whether to be excited or bummed about it. But ninety percent of cruising is adjusting expectations and enjoying what you find, not what you were looking for.

More time out on the water should mean more, and more meaningful, blog entries, at least. That should start next week, when we make our trek up to Port Townsend for our long overdue haul-out.