LIQUIDITY has a new crew member!

As I noted here several weeks ago, we lost Gracie, our almost 12 year old yellow lab, after a short illness. I'm happy to report though that LIQUIDITY has a new crew member, not a replacement for Gracie but because with Gracie gone, we have room on board and in our lives for just one more.  

Say hello to Bear! He's purported to be a flat coated retriever / Newfoundland mix... about a year and a half old, 88 lbs... and as I typo, right here sleeping on my foot.   Roxy our chocolate lab, at age 13, is still sailing.

It's not just about Boston

One more sign of Spring: I'm booking my volunteer week on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. It's not about Boston sailing but it is about sailing and Clearwater's mission is surely not limited to the Hudson River.

A week volunteering on Clearwater teaches about 400 children, 40 at a time, about the river, it's history and the river environment overall. What's learned there applies to most rivers, most harbors, most environments and, generally speaking, about this planet and how we need to take care of it.

Among the other benefits, I get to be a deck hand on a tall ship. It's hard work on the one hand, but easy on the other since much of the heavy lifting is done by the 40 kids. (It's a really good, practical lesson in physics, watching 40 school kids raise a 3,000 lb. main sail.)

There's the teaching part, too, and as I tell the kids as I introduce myself, "I'm not a teacher pretending to be a sailor..." It does seem to work out and I'm looking forward to it.

Anything new to see at the Boat Show?

Not really, but that's not why I go. Here's a sampling of the upside of spending two hours at the boat show:

I did see some good design ideas as I crawled over boats yesterday, though. I particularly liked the wine rack behind the fold up table on the Island Packet and will ponder how I work that idea into a storage plan for LIQUIDITY (even though we don't have a fold up table).

People I don't otherwise see: George and Susan used to be dock mates. Yesterday, they were taking tickets at the boat show. Cap't Steve as I renewed my Sea Tow membership. Brian and Jeff at the Marina Bay booth. Chris, another former dock mate.

It's always good to talk boats!

Sigh...

Grace didn't make it. No need for details here, but she was in distress and it was time to let her go. I'll miss her.

We're talking about one more voyage, maybe to just off Peddocks Island, where I could count on Grace jumping from the dingy at about 10 yards from shore. Let the tides and currents take her where they may.

My reluctant crew

Grace didn't grow up sailing and it wasn't easy for her to accept that the ever heeling, rolling and rocking platform of a 28' sloop could ever be safe. Early on, she'd hunker low in the cockpit and huddle as far aft as she could, wedged beside the tiller. She came around though, and became as good a sailing dog as she could be. She leaped with enthusiasm from dock to deck, from deck to dinghy, from cockpit to cabin and vice versa. But now, Grace is fighting for her life at Angell Memorial.

Hang in there, Grace; good crew is hard to find.

Why the boat show?

It's the same every year, sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger, depending on the economy. Still, for the most part, it's the same boat show as last year and the year before. So ponder once again whether I pay to walk the aisles of same old same old.

I'm not a buyer. See the picture? There's absolutely nothing wrong with the boat I have. Chances of falling in love with a boat show special would be zero. New gizmos? Not so likely there, either. Hey, I've almost talked myself out of going to the boat show. Almost.

For me, it's not about buying. I walk the boat show because it's yet another sign of Spring. It's a chance to talk boats and see people I know from the boating/sailing community. And as for not buying, that's not completely true. I'll renew my SeaTow coverage, which is a boat show tradition for me. Maybe buy a hat.

Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going! See you there!