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Becoming a block head...

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Greetings everyone. Sorry we missed a day. Life sometimes spins faster than we can uphold. As you all know the crew are here sanding and painting, sanding and painting, and sanding and painting again. Fit out…a wonderous time of the year. The list of items is literally hundreds long all needing someone’s attention in one way or another. So it’s week two and the 70+ blocks will be finished today of being disassembled, , sanded, primed, sanded and painted then rebuilt & greased. During coffee break the other day, the “red fit out book” was being checked over and the question that every new crew member asks at some point during the fit out season, “so tell me why are we doing this?” was finally aired.
It’s more than a labor of love I tried to explain. Because we love to sail these old vessels and share the beautiful Maine coast with folks from away who may have never have ~ seen a seal upclose, heard an eagle cry, feel the foggy dew on their skin, seen a shooting star, or a full moon rising over the water, or a colorful sunset at the end of a beautiful day, walked thru a fern field, felt a starfish wiggle in their hands, or pet a lobster as well as eat one. It’s the evening of a long row while seals are barking in the distance, the morning of a quiet sunrise with a hot cup of coffee while watching the wildlife all scurry about, the afternoons of the winds caressing the sails as the water splashes against the hull, hearing the bell ring for meals, ahh, Mary’s homemade cooking, breads from scratch everyday, hot soups, salads, and wonderful pies, cakes… It’s the people….sharing stories, laughter and working together to sail a beautiful ship experiencing this all together to carry us thru to another year….that’s was my answer. Heads shook quietly, and with a shrug of agreement, we all went back to the brushes, anxiously waiting for those dock lines to be cast off…..

Have a good day! Be well, Do good and don’t forget to check for drips & holidays!
Sunset photo by Steven Latici
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Maine Photography said…
Amen, sister!

It really is a HUGE amount of work and it's impossible to understand the value of it until you've been out there on the water.

But you said it pretty well: the sailing, the food, the people, the wildlife, the sunsets, the sunrises.
March 23, 2007 at 8:31 AM
Anonymous said…
A profound meaning for painting, greasing, and caring for a vital piece of equipment aboard a wooden sailing ship - the blocks - should be followed by something really Down East: "Needs doing, may save your life (or mine), and it's feeding you, ain't it?" Smile.
- Six P's of Sailing, Mate.
March 23, 2007 at 10:07 AM
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