"Let there be (LED) light"

I mean no disrespect to the man (or woman) upstairs; I am just dang proud of a recently completed boat project.  My proudness stems from the fact that I have absolutely no DIY skills.  Here, I replaced all of the old interior incandescent lights and fixtures with new LEDs from Seasense*.  On a 1 to 10 complexity scale, this probably was a 2 or 3, but I was still intimidated.  Also, in addition to a screwdriver, I had to use a drill which really raised the stakes …

The plan was to replace five of these guys:

With five of these guys:

Before:

After:

Needless to say, I am very happy with the result.  The difference in light is HUGE and the clarity of the light just makes the boat feel “cleaner.”  Three of the five lights are white/red combination (two of which are in the v-birth) to help with night vision.  The success of this project has also given me a bit of confidence, so I am already planning the next one.  Stay tuned... 

*Purchased from iboats.com.

What is a Tontine?

A tontine is an investment scheme for raising capital, devised in the 17th century and relatively widespread in the 18th and 19th.  It combines features of a group annuity and a lottery.  Each subscriber pays an agreed sum into the fund, and thereafter receives an annuity.  As members die, their shares devolve to the other participants, and so the value of each annuity increases.  On the death of the last member, the scheme is wound up.  In a variant, which has provided the plot device for most fictional versions, on the death of the penultimate member the capital passes to the last survivor.  See Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontine.

That, my friends, is the name of our - new to us – sailboat, a 1980 Catalina 30.  Actually, I really like this name and think it rather clever for the right owner (or, more appropriately, joint owners); however, Suzi and I found it a bit depressing and in no way the right name for our boat.  It also makes "early" retirement less appealing.  Ha!  And, from everything that I have read about sailboats, I expect it to be the opposite of an investment strategy ... I think a disinvestment strategy is more likely.  So, we set about coming up with a new name.  After some fun banter, we quite agreeably settled on MoQuila, the name of a restaurant we found and grew fond of while traveling in Boca Raton, FL (fairly easy to surmise what the main ingredient is in the restaurant's drink specialties).  So I designed and then ordered custom vinyl boat lettering from BoatU.S. 

It took Suzi and me the better part of a Saturday to install the lettering (including lots of cussing and a few cocktails), but I am extremely happy with the final outcome.  The following morning we had our renaming ceremony.  It was private affair shared by just the two of us (the kids were not all that excited about waking up early on a Sunday morning).  Without further adieu, I am proud to introduce MoQuila...

A Little "Tickle"

I recently returned from a fishing trip in NW Montana just outside Glacier National Park.  It was a “guys” trip and seven of us stayed in a remote fishing lodge high up in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area.  No cell phone coverage; no cable TV; no internet.  The trip was amazing.  For six days we fished some of the most beautiful and less traveled rivers in the entire state, perhaps in the entire country.  While hiking early one morning, I came to within twenty feet of a large black bear eating huckleberries from a bush just off the trail.  I witnessed a bald eagle soar high overhead before descending for its morning breakfast plucked out of the river.  We caught record setting bull trout and beautiful native west slope cutthroat trout.  However, what I didn't realize, because I never gave it much thought, is that the excitement of catching a fish is universal.  This is true whether you are fishing Montana's pristine rivers, or a muddy farm pond in Oklahoma.  It is true whether you are passionately obsessed with fishing and make a point to do it every day, or you only fish occasionally.  It is true whether you love to fish, like to fish, or could care less whether you ever fish again ... In all cases there is - what I like to call - a little “tickle” deep down in your stomach that you feel at the exact moment a fish strikes.  A vibration starts below the water’s surface, travels up the fishing line, through the tip of your rod and down every “eye” to the reel and finally your hands.  This happens in the blink of an eye, and at that very moment the hair on the back of your neck stands on end and adrenaline is released into your blood as your senses become highly attuned as you engage in battle. 

On this trip I saw this first hand watching my father-in-law, who has been fishing in Montana for over 50 years.  His love for the state and its beauty is infectious and he desperately wants to share this love with others.  I also experienced this "tickle" many times myself as I fished the crystal blue glacier runoff of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.  But, still, I don't think I appreciated the moment of this experience.

This past weekend my family had an open date with no commitments (a rarity in a household with two active kids).  So we packed up and headed to Grand Lake.  The forecast called for no wind, so on Saturday I planned a working day on our sailboat - installation of new interior LED lights (blog post about that later).  Gray had a different plan, he wanted to go fishing.  Frankly, I wasn't too excited about it.  But, his big blue eyes are hard (very hard) to say “no” to, so I worked until early Saturday afternoon and then we headed to the Blue Moon bait shop.  Minnows were the bait of choice for an afternoon of fishing off the dock.  The heat was oppressive and the fish had retreated to deeper and cooler water.  With no bites in over three hours, we reeled in and went swimming.  As we floated and splashed about in the late afternoon sun, it was clear that Gray had not given up.  He decided that our luck might change if we rigged up lines and left them out after the sun went down.  That was the plan and we executed. 

After dinner, Gray went down to the dock to check the lines.  Through binoculars, I watched from the lake house’s back deck.  I was hoping to see if either of the fishing rods was "twitching."  Gray checked the first and he yelled up to me "Dad, the bait is gone."  He then walked over to the next pole and picked it up and the rod tip immediately bent and almost pulled out of his hands.  Now focused on his face, I saw his mouth fully open and big blue eyes bugging out with an astonished look.  As he regained control of the rod, he looked up at me and began to yell, "Dad, I got one ... and it's big."  A smile spread across his face as he began to reel in line.  In that instance, I realized that he was experiencing the "tickle."  And, as I began to appreciate the moment of his “tickle” I noticed that I had a little one too.

I Bought A Boat

Recall I was lamenting the fact I could not find an opportunity to sail other than in/ during my ASA sailing classes?  Well, little did I know that our lake neighbor, Mike, had been bitten by the sailing bug too.  At the same time I was taking sailing classes through ASA, he was taking parallel courses through International Yachtmaster Training.  Mike’s wife, Lee, is from Thailand and they usually visited annually in late fall and early winter.  When they went Mike would carve out a week or two for his sailing classes.  Also, Mike had friends with sailboats on Grand Lake.  Hmmm … Further, one friend, in particular, had a boat for sale!  Hmmm … She (s/v Tontine) is a 1980 Catalina 30.  She has been very well taken care of and loved dearly over the years by her previous owners – Pat being the most current owner.    

Whether it was a finely planned and orchestrated move by Mike and Pat (knowing I was severely bitten by the sailing bug) or coincidence, I was invited out one afternoon for a sail.  Mike and I brought provisions (i.e., beer, summer sausage, cheese and crackers) and we met Pat at Tontine on a pleasant Wednesday afternoon.  It was late May, 2009, and the wind was light and the air warm.  When I boarded Tontine I was surprised at the massive room below.  I soon learned that Catalina 30s had a reputation for being a “big” small cruiser.  In fact, she seemed as big as or bigger than Sea Bella – the 34 foot O’Day that I sailed on in my most recent sailing class.  Before we even left the dock, I was in love and my mind was spinning with rhetorical questions: How much is he asking?  How much is the slip fee?  How much is the insurance?  And, so on. 

The sail was nice as we ghosted about the lake, tacking, gybing and simply enjoying a beautiful day.  As the sun was setting, and after securing Tontine back at her slip, Pat invited me aboard his new boat, a 40 foot Catalina – Tontine II.  She was immaculate and I was intoxicated with the romance of sailing and owning my first sailboat.  On the hour long trip back to Tulsa, I was giddy and could not wait to tell Suzi about Tontine and what a great deal it was, notwithstanding the fact that I didn’t even know the asking price yet.  As you can see, it was a perfect set up as I had a serious case of the “I have to have it” disease.

Well, a short couple of weeks later, after brief negotiations (Pat was in no hurry to sell and knew, by my state of mind, that I was disadvantaged) and a marine survey, I was the proud owner of Tontine.  I decided to keep her right where she was ... same marina ... same slip.  She was comfortable and we were both happy. 

Time Marches On

Summer is over. Gray and Kiki return to school tomorrow to start their 4th and 9th grade years, respectively. I am sad as I know that with the end of each summer both come ever closer to the responsibilities of adulthood. I desperately want them to experience - to the fullest extent possible - the privileges of youth AND appreciate it. That may be an oxymoron ... Perhaps the power, privileges and beauty of youth may only be appreciated after it (youth) has faded. Among my many "jobs" as a parent, I must help my children understand this reality. Is that even possible? On the one hand, I want their noses in their school books absorbed in study ... not only succeeding in school, but excelling. On the other hand, I want them to travel, experience life, the world and not be confined or limited in any way by societal (or my own) expectations. Are MY desires oxymoronic? How do I know the right answer? Or, is it better to have questions than answers?