It’s been a while since I last wrote. If that doesn”t sound like a journal entry… either way, it’s been a while. It’s easy to write when I have a new boat, sitting on the old owners ball, and can’t find a place to put the new boat. But that’s all over now. Selene has a home and is in the slow process of being made over. I could try to write about the work I’m doing on the boat, but some of it I’d rather not re-live. The work that goes good, I’d rather not write about that either. I’m to afraid of writing myself into a confident stupor before tackling the next project. I will say the boat has a lot of needs, also leaks. Thankfully the leaks are all above the water line.
So yeah, when life is status quo, and I’m chugging along on boat projects, I can’t find the nerve to write blog entries. Now that I’ve got you real curious about what happened to make me want to write one, I’ll tell yeah. I just bought another boat. One of the inflatable varitey. A classic old bright red inflatable zodiac. It’s about 10 feet long, wood slots for a floor, and rated up to 10hp. Even has an inflatable keel. I figured I needed a way to keep my little 4hp outboard in shape, so why not get a zodiac. After purchasing the soon to be named(?) tender I went and purchased a Carne Asada Burrito, Wet. It was my first since getting back into California, it was authentic, and ohh how I’ve missed them.
So no, I didn’t really come online to write about a personal christmas gift to self, not that self indulgent. I came on to write about my Zodiac purchase experience. Kind of like a review for West Marine. Except I didn’t buy the thing at West Marine, I bought it off craigslist from a Raiders Fan in Oakland. He opened the door looking fit to fill the bill for the pirate logo on his sweatshirt. A geniune Oakland resident, and genuine human being. As he steps out his front door… “oh, your in a wheelchair” few minutes later “what happened?”. Before I got hurt I don’t know if I would of ever have had the guts to be as up front with my thoughts as he was. Often times I run into people and can see it in there eyes. The questions are burning inside, but their mothers told them don’t be rude. Forget it, as far as I’m concerned ASK THE QUESTIONS! If it’s already on your mind, spit it out. I’m not out trying to change the world for people in wheelchairs. But when I roll up to your door in a wheelchair, in Oakland, in the middle of a rain storm, at night, hoping to buy a tender for my sailboat, it’s OK to be curious.
The greatest thing about a person speaking what’s on their mind, we can get down to solid human interaction faster, share a real laugh, tell a good story, or even pick up on some advice. See, I’m already getting all inspiratinal, not my intention. I simply wanted to share with you how cool it is when people are up front from the get go. Now I get to drive home, or back to my van, with a big smile on my face and a good old deflated tender behind me. I probably should be spending the money on more fiberglass epoxy for Selene’s decks, but that stuff stresses me out. This zodiac is just what I need for the next time a boat job goes south, something to take out for a little spin.
As I sat and waited for my burrito from the Mexican joint, I dreamt about pulling my tender up to a beach on the Sea of Cortez and gorging myself on all the wonderful foods of Mexico. My latest thought on cruising destinations, as you can tell, are Baja bound.