June | 2012 | Rain Dog

I miss the ocean

I feel the distance, the earth between
I’m told the mountains will speak to me
Maybe they will
Maybe I will hear that beautiful whisper
That beautiful snap crackle
But I miss the ocean

I can’t get those fish out of my mind
I close my eyes and there they are
The water is a clear green blue
There are three sandbars running parallel out to sea
One just a little deeper then the next

The fish swim between the sandbars like its a highway
They zoom on by
all going the same direction
together

Beautiful green blue water
Sagrasso drifting and dancing about
School and schools of these beautiful fish
Silver with black tips on their tails and fins
And big wide eyes
Looking

As I move closer
they continue gliding between the sandbar
marching together

I know it may sound silly
they are just fish
little silver fish
But I am drawn to them

I stop at the edge of their ocean highway
they slow their busy journey and look at me,
each peer at me
as they slowly swim by
It’s as If they see ME, know ME
Silly

they look right at me
all these silvery fish meandering by
Looking

I say hello
My voice quiet and hushed
I feel silly standing here on this sandbar
talking to fish
the sun shining down on me
the blue green water lapping around my waist

And I should feel silly
saying hello to a school of fish
but it seems rude not to

One fish
way far out in the deep
jumps out of the water
Is he running from something?
always a bigger fish

I look around but see nothing
Just the endless march of silver fish

They keep swimming by
thousands with the same inquisitive eyes
looking
I am drawn to go with them

I step in closer and they surround me,
I feel like I’m being swept out to sea.

It feels so natural to lose myself
to lose the land and gain the sea
so natural

I look back at my husband
He is sitting on the beach watching me
he is further that I expected

My wonderful husband
Dreamy brown eyes
he should be out here with me
to see the wonderful odd behavior
of me or of the fish, I’m not sure which
he should be here too
To be swept out to sea with me

but he has the dog, she cannot swim in this surf
I wave at him
His eyes, even from this distance I can tell they have never left me
I say goodbye to my friends
slowly make my way to shore
to land
to my husband
and our little dog

Since then, I just cannot get the fish out of my mind
I can still see them
they spoke to me
It was a whisper that reached deep into my soul
Silly little fish
Silly little me
They wanted to remind me where I belong

It’s hard to believe it will be months
till I see my salty friends again
till I see the ocean

I don’t belong here
this hard ground,
dusty
no water
no sound
but maybe that is the point
something I must learn..

dagnabbit.

God has always sent little creatures to give me messages.

Dolphins, a dragonfly, and now these silvery fish.

I like his style

And I miss the ocean.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

~~OCEAN GIRL~~ Is Sold

I will miss that boat, I think she went to a good home. If the new owner reads this and has any questions, I would be glad to help in any way. oceangirlcd30@yahoo.com

Some leftover issues that may help:
Holding tank, head, and hoses is new, I got the tank from Ronco it is templated from the original version. I have had an odor problem ever since a little six year old boy came aboard and used the head ( don’t ask me what he did) if you have odor trouble, check the vent and the pick up tube. I keep the thru hull closed b/c I rigged the vented loop to be able to draw sea water ( I don’t trust vented loops!!). On a port tack, if the joker valve dies it may leak into the head. Fair warning 🙂

The autopilot works beautifully but was hard wired really weird so I removed it. Once you remount, it’s best NOT to store it in the locked(on) position or it may freeze the helm( the belt sticks in position) use the normal edson helm brake. When I bought the boat the autohelm had been sitting for a long time in the locked position it took a good yank to get the belt to get unstuck. I actually removed it the unit always after seeing the wiring set up.

I have the original +1 survey( not including the one I already gave you) you are welcome to them. It may take a while to get them to you, I will not be back in Texas till October.

To fill the water tanks on the port side you fill straight onto tanks, the deck fill hose is original and leaked so I capped it. The starboard tank I cleaned but didn’t use or get a chance to work on.

The fill for the fuel tank is seized so I fill straight into tank. I had a friend come over and try to un seize it. As you can see from the crazing he put way to much torque on the fitting, I should of just removed the whole fitting and soaked it in PBblaster or something.

The bowsprit is new. The teak I pick out myself with the help of an expert friend. It came from a 9 foot plank 2 3/4 thick. I replaced all ss with silicon bronze carriage bolts. I kept the extra length on the bowsprit incase you wanted to move the forestay forward to increase J measurement and to relieve some weather helm ( through research you will find some cape dory folks did this and were quite happy with the results). Or you can chop the extra 11 inches off the bowsprit and add a nice anchor roller ( Spartan makes a beautiful one). The plank was already well seasoned and did not need a marine finish, you should only see some minor checking but that us all. A nice washing with murphy’s oil soap and salt water is the best for bare teak. No bristles should be used, it digs out the soft grain which is bad, 3M pad or sponge only ( I was a varnish lady for ten years) This bowsprit is strong, you can pick the whole boat up with it!!

I hope this didn’t come off preachy. This is your boat now. There are projects I’m very proud of and there are some projects aboard that I’m not so proud of, you can probably spot these by the tell tale duct tape 🙂 Sorry!

There is more just write me if you’d like, if not that is OK.

Cheers and Godspeed to many adventures aboard your fine yacht.