Posted: Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
2 comments |
Suddenly I feel like a deckhand rather than a farm hand again, the smell of lamb poo and milk is replaced with diesel and that strange smell you get when an angle grinder gets really rather warm.
After a lot of deliberating we have decided to modify the galley of the boat and extend it out right to the sides and stern making it a much larger space. The galley i have is great, much bigger than many. However, sometimes i feel as if i am chained to the sink and the walls are closing in around me. There are probably pills you can take for that......or maybe alcohol. Anyhow, the process has begun to take the insides to bits and gradually move the steel walls outward several feet.
We have also decided to get something made to allow the anchor to be deployed easily. Before this modification it would have been a two person job and a pain in the bum to recover. Now it has its own little chute to plop it into the water. Now obviously this wouldnt be good in a big blow, but to be honest i dont care about the state of the whaleback if i am having to drop the hook in a big blow!





Someone much wiser than me once showed me the meaning of Tao. Before this i had looked at the sheer beauty and simplicity of the Zen. This passage, a Koan, is really rather apt at the moment.
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. 鈥淪uch bad luck,鈥 they said sympathetically.
鈥淢aybe,鈥 the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. 鈥淗ow wonderful,鈥 the neighbors exclaimed.
鈥淢aybe,鈥 replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
鈥淢aybe,鈥 answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son鈥檚 leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
鈥淢aybe,鈥 said the farmer.