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The Mast-Head: Not Sailing

Thu, 11/07/2024 - 10:13

A number of people I’ve run into in the past couple of weeks have asked about my sailboat and what the status of its motor retrofit is. Perhaps it was because of the unseasonably mild weather that some minds turned to sailing. A friend hauled his skiff over the weekend, prematurely, I thought, given the forecast. He was charting the prudent course in getting his craft over to the boatyard to be winterized before cold set in. I, on the other hand, still have a sailing dinghy on the beach and another swinging on its mooring in Three Mile Harbor to deal with.

Sad to say, my sailboat has remained where it has been in a Connecticut marina’s back lot since last fall. Hope for a springtime engine swap faded as we waited for it to get trucked from the importer. Spring turned to summer and the engine still had not arrived. Optimistic nonetheless, I took the sails aboard thinking it might only be a few weeks more.

Nothing having to do with owning boats is easy. After the engine finally arrived in August and I had removed the old one, we were additionally delayed waiting for a machine shop to make us a new propeller shaft. And there it sits. The next thing I need to do is retrieve the sails and return them to the Star building’s dry attic. Then I have to cover the hull for another winter parked in the gravel yard.

Time was we sailors would be getting our iceboats ready for racing on Mecox Bay. The years when we had ice enough to sail on seem a long time ago. Even skating these days is a hit-or-miss proposition, with the ponds freezing over for a day or two then opening up again. If we ever get ice again I wonder if we will remember how to put our boats together.

 

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