I'd like to say that I am very excited and have no reservations at this point, but now that the day is so close, the butterflies won't settle. My experience is limited when it comes to sailing, though the hunger is insatiable, and wooden boats are even more a mystery to me. Why I can't be satisfied with the fiberglass beasts I see everywhere puzzles me to no end. There is something just so magical about wood, sailing, and the idea of learning the subtle whispered secrets that each ship has imparted to her crew over the millennia. My experience with wooden boats is limited to walking the piers in Seattle earlier this year, but I was so drawn to them, I just couldn't get the idea of owning one out of my head. As I'm sure it's obvious to see, my experience is endless where dreaming's concerned. "Walking the Piers," yes, sanity may not be my strongest suit. Call me crazy again in five years and we'll see upon which side of the balance the evidence leans. That will give me time to learn, to grow, to swab the decks a half-million times. Let us do just that, revisit this question in half a decade and we'll see if I'm guilty then.
Not only am I mystified by the sailing crafts of days long since forgotten, but also of the arts of sailors that are being lost to the modern electronics, convenience, and ignorance. I have been told the boat has GPS, a chart plotter, VHF, and the other basics, and I would not be inclined to remove these devices. But I do not intend to upgrade them, add to them, or improve the electrical system beyond putting in some power generation onto the boat. The first technique I hope to conquer is celestial navigation. I've acquired a sextant (though technically not until my birthday/Christmas) and how-to books, so we'll see where that leads. Other arts, such as food preservation, are also high on my list of how-to. The boat won't have any refrigeration, so preservation techniques will be important for storing fresh food for long voyages; salting, pickling, drying, canning, fermenting... we currently practice some of these techniques, but there is still so much to learn. Another skill that should obviously not be overlooked is woodworking. I've played with wood, made toys as a boy, but never finish-work quality workmanship, and never for any project of significant size. And let me say that a 37ft sail boat seems pretty darn significant right now. My sewing skills have come a long way since I first began making cushions for my MacGregor, but my sail repair skills are minimal, though I'll have tons of practice with the MacGregor's mainsail. So much to learn, but right now these do not seem daunting in the wake of the initial commitment to Drumbeat.
Ten days to wait, ten days to reconsider, ten days to find out. I have so many questions about the boat that can not be answered until I'm there. What is the real condition of the hull and deck work? How is the engine? What is the extent of the interior woodwork that needs to be done? Will I be able to stand up in her? Will she have the storage capacity to live aboard and cruise (How much space do we really need?)? Is this the right boat? I've scoured the photos I have, analyzed all the videos a dozen times, delved through the diagrams in Garden's design book, but the answers still allude me. Ten days to find out, ten days to reconsider, ten days to wait.
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