The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”

The Walrus and The Carpenter by Lewis Carroll is one of my favorite poems. I thought you might enjoy this excerpt.  The time has come for us to start talking seriously about this grand adventure we’ve been dreaming of.  Erik has put in his notice at work, and his last day will be September 15, 2015!  That’s in about two months.  He is so excited!  But then what?  I’m not quite sure, but we’ve got some plans running around in our heads.  Plans to finalize and finish up some projects on our to-do list.  Now don’t get me wrong- one day I want our boat to be fully seaworthy and be able to tackle any arduous passage, but the reality is that we just need to make it down the Tombigbee Waterway.  If we outfitted here to put her in perfect condition we would never leave.  And I’ll tell you why. Wabi Sabi.  I just found this word the other day, and when I found out the definition i literally let out a sigh of relief.  Wabi Sabi is the art of imperfection- Nothing lasts, Nothing is finished, Nothing is perfect.  The boat will never be finished, it will never be perfect.  We can’t wait around for the completely perfect time because we would be waiting indefinitely.  We can start this adventure.  So that’s what we are going to do!  We will head down the waterway and make to Mobile Bay, then reassess what we need to make it to our next destination.  At our last stop in the US we will again reassess and make necessary additions, changes, and repairs.  It will be sort of like climbing a ladder.  Take it one step at a time, and before you know it we will have reached the top.  (But I am scared of heights so I need to remember not to look down!).

So we’ve got a running list of projects we need to complete before we head out, and Erik is eager to be able to work full time on the boat.  It should hopefully take us 2-3 months working full time to tackle the projects needed to make it to the coast.  In the meantime we are hesitant to really start any major project because if we just wait a few months it will be much more easily completed.  A couple weeks ago we went swimming at the boat with some rags and wiped off the algae that has started growing.  It wasn’t bad, and a good workout, but I can’t wait to do it with some scuba gear! It’ll be way easier.  We’ve got three Renogy 100W solar panels rigged to the charge controller and new batteries, but haven’t made them permanently temporary (they will be mounted to our soft top bimini so we are thinking velcro so we can take them down when needed).  It’s pretty awesome!

project zone in the boat. Erik is prepping wires for the solar panels. i think he works best amongst chaos?

While Erik was putting in the new batteries, he cleared out a locker to think about putting batteries there (we ended up keeping them in the original formation) but he pulled out this huge metal rod.  It had to be like 3-4 feet.  When I saw it I was very confused and inquired where it went?  His best guess was that it was part of the lifesling set up.  The lifesling came with the boat and is an emergency raft kind of deal, so in my head I’m thinking uh wouldn’t this huge metal bar just sink a raft? I don’t comprehend.  But I live my life in a fog of confusion so just brushed it off.  Then Erik started thinking about back up steering (because 1 we need it an emergency  and 2 the steering quadrant may still be a little funky after our bottom job rudder rig disassembly).  There is a handy cut out above the rudder so he was brainstorming a system that would work.  As he thought aloud, “we will need a sturdy pole…” I was sitting inside staring right at that sturdy “lifesling” pole.  I brought it out and Voila! Perfect fit! I love finding things like that, but even better than finding them is finding their intended purpose! Such relief that he doesn’t need to build a back-up steering now. Thanks Ragnarok!

Yay for back up steering rig!

Anyways we’ve just been piddle paddling around with small things until further notice.  We fix one thing at a time, but even still when we fix one thing it seems like two more break, but Wabi Sabi. We would also potentially like to take a road trip so we can see some parts of America before we leave.  Only time will tell!

“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none–
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.”

Benton Falls. One thing I’ll miss dearly about East TN are waterfalls. I found this gem the other day.