>Several months later I got a call at the office from the young couple who >were in RI. After the normal. "Hi, how are you", came, "Pat, why didn't you >tell us the boat was haunted?" Turned out they had acquired considerable >affection for "the old man" who had helped them in sticky situations many >times. They said they would never sell him, the sailboat that is. Sigh. Boats are alive. They are living things. All of them. This I believe. . . . . One day I was working on my old Bristol 32 sailboat. It was in a shed at a boatyard. I was sanding the topsides. This is a five year (yeah, right) project. A total redesign/ rebuild/ restoration. With the consultation of the NA who designed the boat. It was about three years ago. I have owned lots of sailboats and had them in lots of ... situations. I had never really thought much about it, except that I have always regarded boats as, well, special. . . but without much thought about it. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with a sense of communication from the boat. It was incredible. I can't describe it. You all will no doubt think I am crazy. I don't care. That boat communicated with me. It communicated a great sense of appreciation at its restoration. I understood a great patience, a great understanding, a great love. I am not insane. I am telling you. . . all boats are alive. They are living things. They are to be loved. Yours, Mark *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jul 31 2000 - 19:10:10 PDT
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