Time Out

It's hard to believe that it hasn't yet been one year since we brought Ge Mara home from Nanaimo.  We've done and learned so much in the last ten months.  But the fiery red maple leaves on my street are a reminder to me that life has seasons and there is a time for everything.  This autumn has been a time to take a break from sailing.  With that said, our lovely boat isn't far from our homes or our thoughts.  Even as we focus our attention on the demands of work and changing personal circumstances the seeds of new adventures are taking root.

First on the list is the care and maintenance of the boat.  We promised ourselves that we would pull her out of the water at the end of the cruising season for a thorough inspection of her bottom and the inevitable maintenance that will result.  The bottom will be scraped, zinks replaced and at long last we will re-paint the transom.  This last item is important as it will facilitate the most important change of all;  Re-naming.

As I've alluded in the introduction to this blog, David and I settled on the name "Never Better" quite a while ago but it's been impossible to change the name until now because it can only be done by first taking the boat out of the water, removing the old decals, and sanding and repainting the transom.  Once that is accomplished we can proudly assign her new name and almost as important, her home port.  Nothing against Nanaimo but our boat lives with us in Vancouver now and her stern will certainly bear witness to that.

There is much lore around the subject of re-naming a boat and I won't go into that at the moment.  Suffice it to say we will have a bit of a party and honour the mixed and accumulated traditions of mariners over the centuries to properly respect the occasion.  I'm not much for superstition but this is an important occasion and we will give it the respect it deserves.

Once she is back in the water and suitably re-named we will set the boat up for winter.  This doesn't mean locking her down.  Rather we will prepare her for the more relaxed cruising schedule that winter affords.  Unnecessary and perishable provisions will be removed.  The electric heater will be turned on and set to keep the cabin from freezing in colder weather.  Cushions will be raised to reduce the tendency for moisture to accumulate in them and special attention will be paid to ventilation.

So for now she sits patiently in her slip like a retriever, bobbing contentedly and perhaps dreaming of new adventures to come.  The warm comfortable days of summer may be gone for now but soon the mountains will be covered in white and will make and even more stunning backdrop to our outings across the winter months.  Can't wait.