The day after the big purchase I took a moment to pause and take stock of what I’d just done. I called Nicole, my girlfriend of ten years, and said: “Hi. Ummm. I bought a boat.” She gave a noticeably nervous laugh and said: "Well, okay then. I guess that happened.” In Bayfield, WI, news travels fast. It’s small town. My nervousness and anxiety was diminished every time some old salt told me what a good deal I got. And how they were thinking of buying it too, but just didn’t have the time to put into it. I was getting a lot of affirmation. It helped. But then the questions started. “So, are you going to splash this season?”, “Did you find the rudder?”, “Does she start?” “Have you tested the batteries?” “How do the sails look?".
I began compiling a list of things that needed to be done. Looking at the list now (almost two years later) it seems laughably short and childishly optimistic:
1. Mount and test rudder
2. Re-align steering quadrant and rudder post. No keyhole?
3. Attach manual bilge pump hose and run to bilge
4. Replace batteries
5. Inspect sails, test seams
6. Clean / de-rust engine
7. Trace all thru-hulls
8. Trace all electrical
9. Schedule engine mechanic for maintenance
10. Licensing and Coast Guard registration
11. Buy insurance
12. Remove all unnecessary stuff (old cleaning supplies, etc.)
13, Inventory all gear and parts
14. Clean boat inside and out.
15. Secure a slip and find out how much it costs.
Well that sounds simple enough. I’ll just drive up from the Twin Cities every weekend (4 hours each way) and tick those off the list one by one. I had no intention of splashing the boat for the remainder of this short season. I’ll just get everything ready for an early launch next year. I knew it was a lot of work. I was prepared for a lot of work. Lesser men than I have accomplished twice as much in half the time. This was going to be a piece of cake.
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