I don’t know about you, but I find mid-winter a pretty tough time to stay motivated. This is especially true for the outside projects that responsibilities, weather and lack of light have stretched out into a seemingly never-ending drudgery. I have one of those going right now: a leak at the base of the salon door track that was showing up on top of the water tank in the lazarette. As most projects go on old boats, I was soon removing teak decking, sub-decking, the salon door and track. Then the hinderances and obstacles crept in. Here in the PNW we have about 8 hours of light during the darkest part of the year and even some of those days are pretty dark with low cloud cover and rain. So, if you need daylight, it is very limiting. Then there are the freezing temperatures and yes, this year, even a week of snow. Well, none of your adhesives are going to do much under those conditions. “The Holidays”!? Who invented the holidays? That is just a reason for family to fly in and visit. How then are you supposed to get anything done? What about work? Well, you need some money to pay for this floating beast that is just staring at you waiting for you to fix the gaping hole in the back deck. How about those home projects you promised you would get to this winter? At least most of those are inside and can be done during the darker hours so you make progress and pretend that you care. Then that niggling, creeping sense of dread starts-what if you are not done in time for the cruising season? That would be an epic fail! That is motivation for sure, so I think I will load up my tools and head down to the boat. One way or another, “the end is nigh” or the end is near.
Todd Powell Boats 