Read a beautiful quote from Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast by David Stick, found on page 173:
"A steamship is an impersonal thing, heavy and sluggish and unfriendly in appearance. For, in the final analysis, a steamship is only a machine, and like any other machine is completely useless without fuel to run it and men to guide it.
But a sailing craft is something else again. A sailing craft is is a living thing; a lovely woman, lithe and feminine and temperamental, possessing a heart and soul and will of her own; a sweetheart, to be loved and coddled and referred to always in endearing terms. You question that? Then try calling a sailing craft a 'he' sometime and watch the reaction of seafaring men."
This passage opens the section the Hettie J. Dorman, wrecked on the outer fringe of Diamond Shoals in 1900. Abandoned by her master and crew, bilged from running aground and with sails still up, she proceeded to "follow" her master ashore. Sailing along, with bilge stove-in and taking tons of water, the full length of Diamond Shoals, she finally beached on the shore of Hatteras Island.
I feel sorry for those that choose to motor out of convenience, for then this inner life is suppressed. I long to complete my projects and awaken my own boat again.
very nice quote. I did some tinkering on the boat Sunday. I can't wait for her awakening. However, she's probably going to have to wait until next Summer. I'm running a deficit already in both Manhours and Money. ::)
[grog]
Todd