There’s not much knitting to show you today. I’m working on that little sweater and It is some seriously slow going. A friend asked yesterday what I was working on, and when I said it was Minni, there was this terrible pause, and then she said “Still?” I sit down with it for an hour or two and when I get up there’s no visible progress. If the balls of yarn weren’t getting smaller I’d swear nothing was happening, but there’s less yarn, so no matter what it looks like, I guess I’m knitting.
Can I distract you from my appalling lack of knitted things by telling you more about the boat? Great. Back to the boat story. We got the boat earlier this year, and it was in dry dock. This is an elegant way of expressing that it was up on blocks in the back of the marina, and that it was unsailable.
Not only was it unsailable, it was pretty ugly, full of water, and most parts of it were broken.
At this point, we were all pretty sure that it might not even fit the definition of a boat, since there was no guarantee that it would float. Carlos took to calling it our boat shaped jacuzzi – that’s now much water was in it.
Now, let me be clear. This is neither a big boat (it’s a Sonic 23, which means it’s 23 feet long, pretty tiny for a sailboat – barely ranking above a dingy) nor was it a boat that seemed to have much potential. Let’s start with the name. When we got it, the boat was named “Clima”. Carlos didn’t mind this too much, since he’s Spanish, and that’s just Spanish for “Climate” but to the rest of us it seemed like a pretty dumb name. (Katie and I in particular though that all it needed was an “X” to make it worse.) Joe, Carlos and Old Joe started fixing the boat. Katie and I started trying to figure out what to do about the name. It’s bad luck to change a boat’s name, apparently – although Katie and I did point out that it looked to us like it was bad luck to get in that boat in the first place, so why not?
Now this was in April, and after a meeting or two, we all though we could get the boat in the water for the end of May. May 24th, we thought, would be just about perfect, and it would have been, if that hadn’t turned out to be absolutely made of crazy. The boat’s problems were addressed one by one. First, it leaked. The fiberglass was shot up around the top edge, and you’d think that would have been the end of it, with our know-how and our budget, but nope. Joe and Carlos learned how to do fiberglass and epoxy.
The inside was pretty bad, so that was scrubbed out, by hand, for hours and hours. The whole thing was complicated by this crazy midge outbreak in Toronto. There were billions of these little bugs, and for some reason, they loved our boat. Down at the dry dock, there was about 60 boats, and they would all have midges on them, but our boat would be covered. Cloaked in them. Joe and Carlos would have them in their hair, their mouths, up their noses, and the midges got in the way of the work – it was impossible to clear them all away, more would just fly in, and they’d get stuck in the fiberglass, in the epoxy… Joe came home one day and said that he was pretty sure that the boat was now about 80% midge – that’s how many had become permanently embedded in the thing.
They sanded the boat, painted the boat, re-did some of the rigging on the boat – took apart the motor, put the motor back together, took off the rub rail – that was a big deal. It’s this rubber bumper that encircles the boat, and when they took it off, it snapped down tiny, like an elastic band, and they couldn’t get it back on for love or money. They tried heat guns, soaking sections of it in a big bin full of hot water – finally Joe MacGyvered something with a crane he found nearby and some cement blocks. It was all he could talk about for days. The boat was seeming less free all the time, and it still had a bad name. Katie and I joked that we should put three XXXs after the Clima – or maybe add the word “Change”.
Months after we planned, the boat finally went into the water. We weren’t ready, but it went anyway. This crazy truck with a sling comes and gets it, and then trucks it down the road, and lowers it into the lake. We all held our breath as it went in.
Would it float?
It would.
The rudder went on – it like all the other wood on the boat had been taken off, sanded and refinished to gleaming – the motor went on,
and Joe and I somehow piloted the thing over to our slip. It wasn’t ready to sail, but it was ready to bob around a bit, and that we did – slinging Lou onto the boat and heading out to float for a little. It was a boat. It wasn’t a sailboat yet, but it was a boat.
Another month passed, while more happened to the boat. The rigging went on – that’s all the ropes and winches and cleats and pulleys – and Joe poured over books at night, trying to figure out the electrical system. (It didn’t have one.) Carlos and I studied hard – you need to pass a boater test and get your “proof of competency” to run a boat in Canada – and we had to learn all about buoys, and horns, and right-of-way, and distress calls. (Hey, did you know that you only radio “mayday mayday mayday” if it’s a real emergency? If you need help, but not urgently, it’s “pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan.” There you go. That will probably come in handy on a crossword some day. You’re welcome.) We learned our knots. (I am particularly good at the knots.)
The boat was finally rigged, and Carlos and I had been shoved down into the hull to help finish – we were thrilled about that part, let me tell you, and we were ready to sail, finally ready to sail, with our lifejackets on and everything, except for one thing.
This halyard (that’s a rope – everything on the boat has a name you’ve never heard before- even though it had a perfectly good name before, like “rope”) had to be replaced. It ran from the boat up the mast, through a block at the top (a block is a pulley. See what I mean?) and back down again. Joe carefully attached the new one to the end of the old one, and carefully, strategically started pulling. Down the rope halyard came on one side, and up the new one went on the other. Up, up, up it went – the mast is about 8 metres tall (about 25 feet) and the join went all the way up, and there it got stuck. Joe wiggled it, he jiggled it, he ran it down a little and back up again, and then… he pulled. He pulled and the join came apart, and the old halyard fell down one side of the mast, and the new halyard fell down the other. After a brief conversation about how someone small (that’s me) could climb the mast (there is zero chance I am ever, ever climbing a freakin’ mast) we were screwed again. No halyard, no way to pull up a sail. We were back out of business.
The “free boat” then had to be de-masted. A big crane takes off the mast so that you can put your rope halyard back through, and then the big crane puts it back on again. This took about a week. Still, we were pretty sure that we could sail then.
Sure enough, the boat was ready to sail. We piled on, me and Joe and Carlos, and motored out to where the wind was, and only then did we realize that we still had one big barrier to sailing. We don’t know how.
Joe knows how, but to say that his crew is inexperienced would be an understatement of the grossest nature. That first day, Joe yelled things like “Hoist the Jib” and “trim your sheet” and “JIBE HO” and Carlos looked at Joe and said “Que?” I cried. Twice. (It was actually three times, but I don’t think anyone heard the third one.) We’re learning though, and now when Joe says “prepare to jibe” or “Hard alee!” we mostly do the right things.
I know now when we’re “in irons” and I can tell the difference between a starboard or a port tack, and while you wouldn’t know it to look at me, I can flake a sail faster than a grown man. I can’t tell you yet if I like sailing yet, except for this part.
Joe, however, loves it. He adores it, and he’s already talking about how when we retire, we’ll sail all around the world. There will be room, he assures me, for enough yarn. I’m not so sure – about the sailing, or the room for the yarn.
One last thing – we did rename the boat, and nothing bad has happened.
We called her MIdge.
Boats!
Hahaha! I was going to guess Midge! What is that anyway? I’ve never heard of one….google here I come. (After I change my undies…kind of peed myself from laughing today…)
Sorry about the weird first comment…I saw there weren’t any comments, didn’t read the post, more like scrolled in a hurried manor, then just typed the first thing that came to my head! I just wanted to be first dangit!
Ahh Google. A midge is a freaky bug. I’ve seen them in the South. I should have quit there.
A Midge is also a red-headed pregnant Barbie…. o.O The boat’s original name wasn’t that far off now. HA!
Love the new name!
Aww- what a great tale of courage and fortitude! I am happy the boat is safe to sail and the new name is perfection.
Stephanie.. this is a GREAT story and makes me so happy. My DH loves sailing and we bought a boat this summer.. it didn’t need much work but we now get entire periodicals about working with epoxy… my best story was when I jumped into lake Michigan on a hot day and then we realized there was NO WAY I could hoist myself up the ladder. our boat is 28 feet and the bottom rung of the ladder is at head height.. Just no way.. So I cried after a while and Joe called the coast guard to help “man in water” but before they could come and embarrass me these two gorgeous guys on jet skis came and I climbed aboard and they took me for a great ride and left me at our dock… I asked Tim, the handsome African American guy around whose waist I was tightly wrapped. when is the last time you had an overweight 63 yo white lady who can’t climb on the back of your jet ski. My Joe is all set to join your Joe in sailing around when we retire too. I might join him since I can knit and such a lot…
So funny! I love being rescued by hot guys on jet ski’s!
great story!
Okay, in the case of wrapping oneself around beautiful men on jet-skis, maybe water IS for recreation. 🙂
A couple who sailed with us many years ago met when she was sailing with another guy, she fell in and he was in the rescue boat…..
I would recommend sticking to the Great Lakes for now! Visit me in WI!!! 🙂
We have a boat. Your boat is a typical boat. So sorry! The good times make up for it! Always.
Great story! Joe looks incredibly happy. And the name of the boat–fantastic. (Now I know where all the midges were this year. There were noticeably minimal here in Cleveland this summer. Guess they all heard about your party boat!)
Joe looks like he’s in heaven. Great story.
I’m SO freaking jealous! Damn, I love boats. I really, really, really, really, REALLY want to learn to sail and go in a boat and fill it with yarn and lie in my boat and knit and spin and sail everywhere except for the going places on land part– that sounds boring. But boat? On the water part? I want that.
But I hear you about the “not free” part. I sort of DON’T have money and DO have a baby and a husband (who nods very politely when I express the wish to go in a boat– he’s the you and I’m the Joe in this equation) and so no boat.
Hey, when I’m next in Toronto can I go in your boat? Joe can teach me to sail.
I am knitting happily on our boat.. but don’t think I will take any of my spinning wheels anywhere near it.. water might not mix with spinning and the up and down doesn’t seem like a good fit.. But if we sail port to port (on Great Lakes) when I retire, it will be there….
The Hanson mini-spinner was created by a sailor for his wife. Just sayin’
Well, it appears from those last two pictures that sailing does suit you both and that the boat has plenty of good luck. You both look gorgeous, happy, and relaxed in those pics!
Looks like the hard work was worth it! She is seaworthy and that is quite an accomplishment. Isn’t knitting a cure for seasickness? 🙂
Grr. I keep failing the human verification test! Guess I should read the directions! Thank you for your blog and knitting wisdom.
p.s. Just to be snarky there is no music note as a choice for verification. There is however a treble clef which I will click.
Ha! That note/clef confusion annoys me, too.
I love that picture of Joe! Also, didn’t one of the girls go away and sail a boat for a while? Like, a big sailboat? Was it Sam?
Yup! Here’s the post: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/2010/08/mayhem_monday/
Always always always life jackets-everyone all of the time-it doesn’t matter how old or experienced you are-a properly fitting life jacket is essential for everyone – I can’t stress this enough.
Have a blast!
Hey! Check the photos. We’re wearing them. Everytime, all the time. Promise.
Those inflatable West Marine ones are like we have– the best although they don’t cushion your back while you lean and knit as well as the old fashioned bulky kind….
Those look like they come in a variety of colors, and also like they pretty much stay out of your way until you (hopefully never) have to use them. Stylin’!!!
I love the new name, I love the story.
And of course there will be enough room for yarn – you will knit sweaters and socks and ship them off to where they need to go, and when you dock various places, you will acquire yarn to replace that which has been used (either because you find a shop and buy it, or you spin it, or someone meets you at a dock and provides you with yarn). It’s possible.
Well, if Joe is like my husband he will start reading about living aboard and sailing the world. Some of those books will scare the pants off of the sane. Don’t read them, regardless of how “interesting” he says they are. I would actually recommend a bigger, more stable boat before starting your world tour.
PS You were quite correct with your “no free boat” theory.
I am thinking that you need a copy of The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchett. She had a boat too and went around in it all summer with her 5 kids in the 1930s. She was on the left coast though, north of Vancouver BC. It’s a great book.
LOVE that book.
Roughly how much is “enough” yarn?
All of it.
The damn sheep keep growing more, though. You can never keep up.
Here in the south, midges are called noseeums or unaffectionately known as teeth with wings. Hate the little bastards.
Wonderful pictures of your family and great story.
I particularly like the picture of Joe with his hand resting on the boat while it was up on horses in the marina. Was that a man falling in love at first sight? It seemed so to me.
All Newfoundlanders living away should have a boat – makes missing home not so bad – Joe looks very content and there’s scads of room there for yarn. What a wonderful transformation you all did – sure the arse was right out of ‘er before you got going. Enjoy, I’m a tad jealous.
Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I haven’t been checking in often, but it sure was nice to catch up.
One of your best posts!
I enjoying reading your posts too. I am making time to read them. They are a huge stress reducer making me laugh all day.
Reading about your delays reminded me of a local restaurant that was telling us it would open in April, then May, then August, and now December. We’ll see.
In my younger days, I crewed on J-boats: 24s, 30s & 35s. Loved to race! I can come teach you how to run your foredeck and properly pack a spinnaker. You can become Queen of the pointy end. It’s often best to be at the farthest point from the skipper, especially if things are going wrong. 😉
I’ve been sent up the mast many times to fix halyards and wind indicators. So long as you have a bosun’s chair, it’s really not hard, or that scary. Everyone else does the grunt work hauling you up – you just go for the ride.
Wishing you fair winds and following seas.
PS: my car is called Midge
Hard to use a Bosun’s chair without the halyard!
That is the happiest I have ever seen Joe pictured; you are a good wife. Remember, the fantastic HansenCrafts miniSpinner was born on a sailboat; magic can happen at sea! This did make me laugh out loud, though. I learned to sail a WEE little bit in college, so when we were first married and lived near a big lake and I saw a steal of a deal on a little catamaran, I convinced my husband (easily) that we should buy it. Problem is, he did not know how to sail at all, and being my husband, did not follow my directions at all. We capsized that cat so hard that a pontoon burst and she couldn’t be righted, and we were alone (with our dachshund, who was trying to climb on my head while pooping prolifically from stress) on a big, wind-whipped lake with no help in sight and no way to contact someone. Oh, it was an adventure, alright; we have never sailed again! But at least our marriage survived; we celebrated 30 years this summer.
What an awesome post! My husband and I hope to become boaters one day…maybe I should start learning the lingo now!
Oh Gordon! I’m still laughing and giggling and guffawing. You made my whole day. Thanks for sharing!!!!
A Bit of Trivia for Harlotites: Did they tell you, “May Day-May Day-May Day” comes from the french, “M’Aidez” (help me!) and “Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan” from “En Panne” (broken down). Hence, a mayday only is ever used for danger to *life* and pan-pan only used for if you’re broken down, but essentially the souls on board are safe.
Also ditto the commenter who emphasized life jackets, but I see you’ve got this one covered. Smart boaters! Especially for the kids. I’ve gone overboard in the English Channel and would have gone straight to the bottom with all my foulies and sea boots and crap-you-need-to-wear-on-the-ocean. Life jackets everybody!
Glad you’re learning to love sailing, Steph. It’s WONDERFUL.
Warmly, Maura (Beaches, TO)
Great story! My great uncle built a sailboat (Lightning class) when I was very small. I learned to sail from him, and recall one time when, somewhere off Chief’s Point or Oliphant in Lake Huron, I was “the smallest one”. The halyard for the spinnakker was caught near the top of the mast, so I got hoisted on my uncle’s shoulders (or possibly my cousin’s, it was all the same from way up there), being told NOT to hold onto the mast when we rocked in the waves (as if there were anything else to hold onto!), and reached as high as I could to untangle and release the halyard so we could take down the spinnakker. Obviously I lived. Your story brought that back as a fond memory, for which I thank you. I hope you make many fond memories with Midge, yarn, and your obviously very happy Newfoundlander.
That right there is the best picture of anybody’s husband ever. EVER! Whatever you endured to make him that happy? Worth.It.
Oh. Oh. I love the last line so much I nearly can’t breathe.
Amazing! And now there’s next season to look forward to! We bought a motor boat a few summers ago and we all look forward to the (too short Canadian) summer when we can have adventures on it together. But alas, it has also been full of surprises for us and a learning curve, but also a way to hold the family in one place for an entire day.
And we say it’s our floating cottage since we don’t have a land-based one.
Enjoy every last minute of it!
Congratulations on getting your sailboat in its environment. I hope you have many happy days aboard her.
We have had BOATS. In our house, it is an acronym for “Break Out Another ThouSand”…ours were power boats…up to a 23 footer.
We now have kayaks. Same concept…a lot less money and if the engine doesn’t work, you have only yourself to blame!!! ;-D
Look at that face on that man. How can you say no to a glow like that?
Wonderful story!! I would love more updates on your boat adventures. What a testament to everyone’s fortitude (of course we know you have it in spades). Joe looks so happy! 🙂
Midge. That’s perfect. Joe looks so happy. I’m thrilled for all of you.
I learned how to knit because my husband wanted to sail and I knew I couldn’t make quilts (by machine) on a sailboat. So, I learned to knit and to sail. The husband is gone, the boat is gone, but I still knit (and spin and weave). I’d sail, too, if there were a sailboat hereabouts.
Definition of boat – “a hole in the water that you throw money into”.
But at least you started off free and now have several people to contribute. And Joe looks like a man who has found his home.
Ahhhhhhhh, there is something about photos of people who are getting to realize a dream. Joe looks so happy. These gems of happiness don’t come along too often….enjoy!
My former car mechanic told me a joke about the definition of a boat: it’s a hole in the water you pour money into. Soon after I realized the reason for his high prices and looked around for a mechanic without a boat.
Congratulations on your boat and sailing success. May Midge take you everywhere you want to go.
Lurve!
“We don’t know how.”
You absolutely kill me.
Who needs exciting knitting when you have a “free boat”???
Love the story and the boat. My first husband wanted a boat. Looked at boats for two years, with me in the car knitting. I got over this one day, went in the boat store asked which ones we could afford, and I bought a boat.
We put it in the lake, which almost causes a divorce. I was driving he was cussing…till I put the car in park, told him to drive and I would cuss. Got the boat in the lake, rented a slip and stayed together for a number of years, until he went trophy wife shopping. I got the boat in the divorce.
Both boat and man are many years gone, but I loved being on the water. I could knit for hours!
Talk about an epic project!!! Three cheers and I hope the weather lets you enjoy your new boat a while longer 🙂
Oh my, you always make me laugh. Don’t be mad at me that I laughed out loud when you said you cried twice. Lovely story and Joe looks radiant.
Great post. I would never want a boat — I’m too afraid of deep water and I can’t swim.
But … that Lou … is there a cuter child anywhere?
Sail around the world, stopping everywhere to find ( and report back of course) the most beautiful yarns and yarnsshops! Sounds like a plan!
I spent a year or so sailing around the West Indies and the simile most people seemed to favour was that sailing was like standing under a cold shower tearing up £50 notes. But I loved it. I still eye those “You too can crew in the Clipper Race” posters with a more than idle eye. Have a wonderful time in your floating house. xx
Ha! This is all so familiar! My hubby (former Coastguardsman) bought the family a boat almost three years ago… a Catalina 22. We have slowly learned a bit about sailing, and the girls and I cry less and enjoy sailing more. I am not sure I’ll ever really enjoy it like my husband does, but it makes him happy and is good couple/family time. Enjoy!
Dear Stephanie,
Mine claims there will be room for yarn, my spinning wheel, loom and whatever else I want, as we sail around the world when we retire. I look at him sometimes and tell him that’s fine, I will wave goodbye to you from the dock :)) If you ever want to live of the west coast, Toronto is to cold for me, I have no problem you moving in, our two husbands can sail the world together. Mine will so get a kick out of this when I tell him.
Jacquie
What a great story!! That made my day. Thank you
A friend of ours gave us an expensive thing, for free. FREE, I tell you….. With all the expensive repairs we had to do, we started calling it The Gift That Keeps On Taking. 🙂
Just don’t lose a needle overboard – for sure it will be gone for good. Unless —does bamboo float?
lol – love this tale. You will quickly learn to sail, and you will have confirmed what you already suspect – boats cost even more than yarn. 🙂 As for sailing around the world – I guess I would get a slightly larger boat for that venture. 🙂
Lovely!
OMG! That is almost word for word the story of my husband and our sailboat – except for a few small details…our boat was a 28′ Lancer, my husband rushed a lot of the necessary fixes and put her in the water before she was ready…He (we) sailed her once for about 1/2 an hour…she spent two summers bobbing in her very expensive slip on Lake Erie and now she is in dry dock and we are divorced. So all in all Steph – I think you did great! Have fun and be safe sailing. I really enjoyed it the 5 minutes I was able to relax out on the water in her.
Just to clarify, did you have to de-mast the boat before or after you renamed it? Maybe you’re already past the bad luck part?
That last photo with that happy expression on Joe’s face says it all. May you all enjoy sailing on the Midge for many seasons to come.
Most perfect name ever!!!
You’re such a good storyteller. This post was a balm after a hard day. Thank you.
We’ve just finished our basic keelboat class and your Sonic looks very much like the J/24 we were using. Five in the cockpit (including the instructor) make for interesting gymnastics when gybing! Congrats to all of you and the next time you’re in San Francisco, give a shout and we’ll take you out on the bay for sailing, knitting and beer.
“Nice? It’s the only thing,” said the Water Rat Solemnly, as he leaned forward for his stroke. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
One of my favourite quotes – from one knitting sailor to another. BTW – I have a yarn locker on mine. 🙂
Lordy, but you do get yourself into some interesting – er – stuff.
I do love to sail. And I love all the lingo. Like “Hard a-lee” (push the tiller hard to the leeward side of the boat, so you come around). BUT, I especially love a ship’s bell clock. It confounds all the landlubbers with it’s crazy cycle of 8 bells. You must get one for Midge!
What a great story (and a great storyteller). Joe looks blissed out (and what a reward for all that hard work), and you look great knitting on the boat. Cheers!
Flake a sail? Don’t know that one.
LOVE the name of your boat.
And if you sail around the world, you could buy yarn on location… Iceland, the Shetlands, etc.
Scrolling up at the word midge for a look again–yup, okay, maybe it’s the lighting, but that interior picture–then laughing hard as I read on, then oh wow does Joe look happy! Good for all of you after all that hard work!
And back to the midge. So let me tell you our experience. We moved to California just before the huge whitefly invasion happened, tiny white gnats that would destroy our ash trees. We happened to put in a new front door when the lock broke and was so old and so odd that to replace it the whole door had to go. So. We painted the new one (do NOT ask me why) a pale yellow.
Bad move.
That door was a white mass, nonstop, all summer. You couldn’t open the door without welcoming the little buggies inside, you couldn’t walk outside without getting them all over you, it was like how you describe. Horrendous.
Turns out that yellow and especially that shade of yellow screams FLOWER! to the bug world and the millions all wanted a piece of it.
We finally repainted the much-hated-by-now door and the whiteflies vanished from it.
God love ya! Always an adventure brewing, eh? 😉
I laughed out loud at “Good at knots”. Some people would say that knitting is just a bunch of knots…..
Good job and all that! Impressive! That picture of Joe is a keeper!
Pored over books.
That man looks like he should be wearing that gansey made by his talented wife!
I think the smiles on the faces of Lou and Joe almost — almost — make up for the work that went into making Midge seaworthy again.
However, Midge is not large enough to hold enough yarn for The Yarn Harlot, not even if you use Space Bags to try to reduce the volume. Also, I see there might not be enough space for blocking larger items.
Finally, a bit of trivia: The Midge doll (Barbie’s original best friend) had a boyfriend, later husband, named Alan. How Alan got Midge preggers is unknown because neither had the appropriate external body parts.
Here in Boston, we boat owners have a saying: BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. We have a 30′ O’Day that has proved that theory time and time again. Really cuts into my yarn budget! Love the name!
Oh, Stephanie, that was so funny! I could not stop chuckling at the line about not knowing how to sail. It looks like that is not stopping you and I am so glad. I learned early from my dad, just puttering around in a sabot. I don’t sail now (no boat) but wouldn’t it be fun to add sailing to a Port Ludlow retreat? Knit – Play – Sail? I’m in!
How lovely to be given a boat!. We had a 21 ft wooden Arrow class boat. She had been out of the water for years. The weekend we put her in the water, they had to put two heavy duty pumps in to pump 48 hours straight so she wouldn’t sink. We had to pump the bilge several times a day until the wood swelled and she was seaworthy. We sailed from the base of the Detroit River through Georgian Bay, Lake Ontario, through part of the St. Lawrence Seaway almost to Quebec, then down to the Erie Canal, back through Lake Erie to our point of origin. Close to 2,000 miles, it took us all summer. I had never sailed before. It was a spectacular trip, full of good stories. I hope you love it.
Go and read the ‘Swallows and Amazons” books by Arthur Ransome. Easy easy way to learn about sailing.
Plus they’re just great reading!
I LOVED Swallows and Amazons as a kid, and even as a re-read as a grown up!
That’s one of the best photos of you I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad you’re all getting to sail, especially Joe!
Great story, love the boat, love the boat’s new name, ABSOLUTELY love the last picture of Joe!
I am a believer in the bad luck of renaming boats. I got the creeps when you started talking about it. My dad was a fishing boat captain and he owned a boat named the Almyrla befored I was born. He sold it and the guy who bought it renamed it to the Katherine Lea. My dad bought the boat back and when I was five, the boat went down. My dad never renamed a boat.
Thank you so much for sharing such a great story. It brought back so many sailing memories. I love that moment when you turn off the engine and the sails take over. I crewed for friends nearly every weekend from spring through fall, for years – on a Tartan 10, a Pearson 32, and sometimes on a J-40 (a fancy-pants boat). I always found the humidity and sea air made my knitting sticky. Looks like you are not having that problem. Enjoy!
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Oh I so enjoyed your post. My hubby is restoring my fathers old boat…..hmmm its a big job for sure…
But I just wanted tos hare with you a classic discription.. BOAT…Bring Out Another Thousand$$$
….lol hope your family has many happy hours on the water….hugs
You can go on holiday to warm places where they have sun in the summer (so unlike the UK) and have a sailing holiday with tuition. We did that twice but that was after we’d done the week’s sailing course here at home. Somewhere in the house there is a set of RYA certificates with my name on and my very useful dingy boots are still in the porch.
Does Joe walk around with a big smile on his face? Job done then. (cough – gansey- cough)
Oh! That’s such a sweet post. It brought tears to my eyes. If you ever sail around the world don’t forget to visit the island of Crete. I’ll be waiting for you with wine and grapes and cheese. 🙂
I love the name! It seems to me that the whole not-renaming a boat thing is because boats have tended to have lives that last beyond just one person. Good boats, anyway. I think that, with all the work you lot put in, you have the right to rename, and Midge is just such a perfect encapsulation of that! 🙂
Fabulous story. I have memories of most of what you speak. You will, I see, enjoy Midge.
I think your humor will pull you through this one (as always!). I was married to a boat for ten years (a wooden one, no less). The relationship didn’t last (with the human or the boat). Cost per use, when adding up the eleventy billion hours of time to repair and restore, could not be justified, in my book. But ah, on a nice day, sailing on a broad reach in about 6 knots of wind, that’s heavenly for sure.
Wow, I love this! Really happy for Joe. Love the new name! There is something special about being out on the water in a boat that you built/restored. I made little boats for my boys, they are made from one sheet of plywood, and now I have dreams of building a “shanty boat” which has a cabin.
Don’t be too sure that a 26-footer won’t take you far… the first round-the-world single-handed yacht race was won in a yacht only 10′ longer than that (Lively Lady). Midge looks lovely! I can definitely recommend going away for a few days’ course to get your Competent Crew (or even Day Skipper) ticket – it’s huge fun and makes a big difference to how happy you are on a boat. Have a fabulous time!
The boat looks lovely and Joe looks incredibly proud and relaxed. You have a fabulous family and having a goal in common is a great way to bring everyone together. Good going! That cutiepie Lou is a lucky dude!
The photos of you and Joe at the end say it all! And thank you for making me laugh so hard, at your boat story, and the memories of my own family’s sailing days-we have a halyard horror story too…
wonderful tale, well told, and the new name is apt! May the wind be always at your back!
My family used to be Lake Ontario sailors out of Whitby Yacht Club (my parents were charter members!) and to my mind a 23 foot hull is the perfect size for two to three crew. I would love to come and man a sheet sometime!
Hi Judith! Another Whitby gal here! I spent a lot of time on the beach by the yacht club, wishing I could sail!
Welcome, Matey! Really, the lines are really just fat yarn!
Oh, and my Dad would indulge in an occasional “on the boat” cocktail. He would dip a glass over the side, add a finger of Gilbey’s and enjoy his “gin and fish piss”.
As I was reading your post I thought “I’d call it Midge” and then, lo and behold, YOU DID!!!!! Yay!!! Great minds think alike …. fools never differ. Enjoy the waves! x
Thank you for this wonderfully hysterical story. I was laughing out loud while my 4th grade students were taking their reading placement tests. Thank you for brightening my days with your stories.
Tell Joe & Carlos that a boat is: “a hole in the water into which you throw money” ! That being said it is wonderful to sail in and with the wind. Just think how lucky you are that the season in Toronto is a short one … gives them a lot more time to work on the boat !
You guys would now appreciate “the boat who wouldn’t float” written by Canadian Farley Mowat and set in Newfoundland. Very funny and touching, and something you can now really, really relate too.
Your boat reminds me of one we had on the Great Salt Lake, a 22′ Catalina. As it happens, we visited the marina last night to view the sunset and we reminisced about years of fun we had on the lake. You will create many cherished memories, both good and bad, but something amazing happens when you’re sailing. Enjoy the beauty, enjoy the process, and enjoy the calm. Happy Sailing!
Love your sail boat story, ours is much the same but since I seem to have found my comfort zone at the helm…I haven’t been able to knit! We’ll have to do something about that 🙂
Your last photo of Joe is fantastic. Your photography is indeed improving–I’m not a good photographer myself, but I love good use of light in other people’s photos. And he looks so happy!
I spent many happy days knitting on a 25 foot sloop, mostly on Chesapeake Bay but we ventured forth as far as Mystic Connecticut.
There are, byw, no ropes on a sailboat. There are sheets and lines.
Loved this post. Felt like I was there, so funny. Joe looks so happy and relaxed. Happy sailing!
funniest post ever! and that photo of Joe at the end is worth every bit of work you guys did.
Ah, great story and fine photographs – especially the last one of the proud sailor. Love the name. Thanks for the post.
Congratulations! This could be the lead submission for your next book proposal – think of the untapped market potential. Joe’s photo (great shot, BTW) could serve as the cover art, with perhaps him posing in the gansey on the back jacket? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Fair winds and calm seas to the Midge and her crew always. Namaste,
I couldn’t figure out why Joe has a giant, hot-pink curler in his hair in that first picture of him. NOW I know what it is! Great story and Joe looks happy and relaxed in the last photo.
Your boat rescue is even more impressive to me than your shawl knitting. I LIKE lace knitting. Husband #1 liked sailing, especially giving orders. I didn’t understand them, perform them adequate or like his “tone.” Under different circumstances (hunky captain, no on-board toddlers, less than 100 degree temperatures with 0 wind, more beer), I might have liked it. We had a Soling. I’ve managed to forget its name. I just thought it was a hole in a lake you poured money into. Oh… and I HATE those crane/winch things and the noises they make. I’m still surprised I’m not splayed out under a boat like the wicked witch under Dorothy’s house.
i won’t put up with the tone, either. if i wouldn’t put up with it from teenagers, who at least had immaturity to blame, i am certainly not going to put up with it from adults.
I’m glad to see that you have (so far) beaten the sailor’s curse – that the happiest days in a sailor’s life are when he buys a boat and when he sells it. Perhaps you did because Midge was “sort of” free (think about how much yarn and fiber you could have bought with what materials you’ve had to buy to make your boat water-worthy…) (well, don’t think about that – your DH is happy).
When I hear “Midge” I think about all of the no-see-ums that fly and bite whenever the weather around here is less hot and less humid and worth being outside. Oh well. Enjoy!
I loved the picture of Joe at the end, pure happiness. HOWEVER, I don’t think that boat can hold enough yarn for a sail around the world. I believe if you think about it, you will agree with me. You WILL have to stop in every port and visit the LYS to purchase yarn!! That is the ONLY way you will survive such a trip. Of course, you will have to pull a barge along to put for all your finished creations. Just sayin’. :D:D
I recently read two great non-fiction accounts of sailing life. One was called Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche and one was called An Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof. I strongly recommend both of them as they are utterly delightful reads! Cheers!
Now that Joe has a boat, doesn’t he need a gansy?
What a great post! Enjoyed reading it very much!
I’m very glad Joe seems happy, I’m very glad you seem okay with all this, and I’m very glad that I’m not on that thing. In the neck of the woods defined as the interior of my skull, water is for drinking and cleaning oneself, not recreation.
Then again in a six-foot pool, I will “swim” — meaning sink — six feet straight down. I swim like a rock.
What a great post. And that is a lovely picture of Joe. Have fun on your boat – the adventure continues!
I was told once that “a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.”
Happy for Joe the boat is now sail worthy. Hope all works out on the retirement front, i.e. enough yarn space.
Ship ahoy – ya’all
I’m amazed Joe let you get away with calling the new halyard a rope, instead of a line.
My FILs boat is 28 feet. Is hold one was 19. 23 with an actual “below” with a couple of berths, crowded though it is, is NOT even close to a dinghy.
This is a dinghy.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/9562035@N02/4727736264/ (a tech dinghy, and yes, that is a jaw and teeth, and yellow 3-d eyes on bow of the boat. Named Baskalisk, because my son, a great Harry Potter fan, couldn’t say basilisk correctly)
I’m pretty sure that’s an Egyptian mitten in the picture with your daughter. Why are there no other pictures??
So thrilled you have a boat. I have been a knitting sailor for many years and highly recommend it. As for the re-naming the boat – you can do it but you must do it properly to appease Neptune and avoid the bad luck. Check out the following link for instructions http://boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm
Sailing is awesome! And there is an actual ceremony to change the name of a boat and avoid bad luck……you could probably find the script online……and I believe champagne is involved. At least it was during my Dad’s renaming of his boat!
Quality articles is the secret to attract the users to visit the web page, that’s what this web page is providing.
Oh, fuck off.
Well Steph!
Something else new to learn! Now you have yarn and your husband has a boat. I have to learn a new job and my husband has a garden! We are never too old to learn…sailing terms or how to use a tiller or..anything else we really want to do.
Congrats old dog. Keep learning all those new tricks and I will keep learning too.
Barb R.
Shelton CT, USA
That is a nice boat! You are a braver woman than I, though. I have only done a little sailing (took a course in college and went a few times with friends in their boats), but all done on lakes or rivers here in Texas. Nothing like that huge, choppy expanse of Cold water. That said though, sailing is great! I loved the wind and zipping quietly through the water. All the radiant smiles in those pictures make me happy, too. Congrats! Also, I love the colors in the little sweater, so any progress you want to show is fine with me!
I love that I will now get the pleasure of reading you on sailing, my other favorite pastime besides knitting! I know you’ll make it funny and wise in ways I never imagined.
Such lovely photos! My grandparents taught me to sing “let go your jib halyard, let go your jib halyard, my fingers are caught in the block, LET GO!” And for some bizarre reason it has always stuck with me. May you never need that jingle! Many happy sailing returns.
What a fabulous picture of you!!!! Congrats on Midge! Bring on the fisherman knit sweaters!
Have you ever watched the movie “Captain Ron” – your story is eerily similar. You should check it out – it too has a happy ending!
My, she looks yar! Many smooth sailing days to you!
How did you ever find the time to be a part of the boat renovate crew? As I recall, you did a book tour, other traveling engagements, trained for the rally, fell off your bike for the rally, did the rally, visited a lovely island, and knit several wondrous knits including your sister’s wedding shawl. Oh, and posted to the blog. All since you acquired your fourth daughter, Midge. Wow.
Remember “The Wind in the Willows”? Best line ever: Ratty and Mole had a simply wonderful day “… messing about with boats … ” Midge looks like a lot of fun!
Clima with an ‘x’, lol. 😀
Great story. The last picture of Joe is so wonderful you can see how happy he is. Which makes all the hard work worth it.
This post brought so many memories back. My Dad loved sailing. He grew up on the east coast, but moved around a lot due to his civil engineering father. He even got to sail on the Bluenose!
On his 65th birthday, my step-mum and I presented him with a boat. A friend had helped us find one in decent condition, at a very reasonable price. The boat is very much like yours. It was made to be the largest sailboat that one person could effectively man on their own. This kind of boat has been sailed around the world solo on a number of occasions. (The most famous may be the young man who appeared in a series of National Geographic articles, and movie, in the late 1960’s. He was only 16 I think).
In any case, my Dad’s birthday was the 23rd of Dec. and we were driving from southern Ontario to Saint Joe’s Island on the 20th of Dec., with a white truck, a white boat and a blizzard. My Dad named it the WOW because it was the first thing he said when we told him it was his.
Boats are money pits like houses but they seem less useful than the house money pits so I think they get complained about more. The electrical in Dad’s boat was also a dog’s breakfast and I don’t know that he ever really completely fixed it before he died. I know he enjoyed puttering with it and sailing it and I was privileged to enjoy some of that time with him.
If your Joe is interested in sailing around the world, I would heartily recommend Joshua Slocum’s “Sailing Around the World Alone” which is considered a bible amongst those who do that, as well as possibly a really interesting Ideas program (CBC) on sailing and Joshua Slocum.
Good luck with it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as my Dad enjoyed his.
This last picture is wonderful. Your husband looks so content and happy !
I have always wanted to sail. My dad (and mom) did a bit of sailboat racing in the mid-60s with my grandfather’s boat. He moved to Frenchman’s Bay in the early 70s, and docked his boat right at the end of his yard. And his plane. I never got to sail it. As a family, we also did a lot of canoeing. A lot. I’d watch the little sailboats at the Whitby Yacht Club and wish I could join. I read the book “Dove” by the young man mentioned above, who sailed solo at 16 round the world. I read a book about a woman who did it. Then I met my husband, and his friends had grown up with cottages and fast boats. A little scary, but I just loved being out there. I watched “The Tall Ship Chronicles” about the Picton Castle while nursing a newborn and wishing I could sail away with Andrew Younghusband LOL. I’ve tried to get my kids to take sailing camp. Whenever we go on a cruise I try to do a sailing excursion.
Well, this summer, we went to family camp, and sailing instruction was offered, two mornings. The most un-windy two days of the week 🙁 The second morning we did get away from the dock, but not by much. Someday, I will get my chance, and reading your posts has me believing it can still happen!
BTW, did you put a coin under the mast?
That was funny to read because on day 1, we were told to never let go of the main sail halyard when connecting the sail, or it would shoot up and be stuck. Well, that happened to our instructor on day 2! With the help of my tall husband, and the “boat hook”, they got it down (it hadn’t gone all the way up). I will never, ever let go!! 🙂
I love the tale of the boat. I hope you did the whole ritual that is required when renaming your boat.
I too have a boat in TO and I can tell you that I have lost the halyard more than once. At least I have now learned to demast at the dock without a crane. It’s not hard with a few hands, and is certainly cheaper than the crane.
If you are looking for an inexpensive place to moor your boat, I highly recommend the Aquatic Park Sailing Club. It is where I keep my boat, on the Leslie Spit. The club operates like a co-op and is the most reasonable no frills club in the GTA. I suspect you and your gang would fit right in.
I love this story, and I love your boat’s new name. My husband and I are full-time liveaboard sailors. We changed our boat’s name about six months after we purchased her. That was a year and a half ago, and she is still treating us well – reliable, forgiving, comfortable, hard-working. I bet Midge was so agreeable to having her name changed after all the love and attention you gave her It’s good for neglected boats to have a completely fresh start with owners who will care for and enjoy them. 🙂
That last picture of Joe is the picture of a happy man. Awesome. = )
I’m apparently not firing on all cylinders because when I saw the profile picture of Joe in his painting gear with the hood up, it looked like he had a big curler in his hair!
Then my brain read the boat size as meters (knowing you’re Canadian), so I was tempted to write that a 23 meter boat is quite a nice one! HA! Then I re-read the sentence and your dinghy comment made more sense. 🙂
Enjoy your boat!
This is where all the “Material” for your new book will come from… 😉
Great story!
I think I have all those same boatyard photos from the summer I spent in the yard at Key West fixing all the blisters in the bottom of my boyfriend’s 36′ sailboat (more square inches to cover, unfortunately), then painting and tipping and sanding and varnishing.
I also got sent up the mast of my aunt and uncle’s boat in the harbor south of Houston trying to fish the halyard back out of the mast. You were wise to turn down the opportunity.
The rule of thumb I was taught (probably already mentioned upthread) is: Keep the boat in the water and the water out of the boat. Best wishes for a happy boating experience!
I learned how to sail in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor back in the early 2000’s, and still get out on the water on occasion, though not very often (have been out just a few times this season). And took my knitting with me on the most recent outing!
Something else that you’ll learn about sailing/boating, if you haven’t already, is that there are no ropes on a boat (yes, hard to believe!) – they’re all lines, and of course, you have learned that all the lines have different names (like the halyard you’ve become so familiar with!).
Looks like Joe is in his element, and you look pretty relaxed on the boat too – seems to suit you very much! Best of luck, and many years of happy sailing to you all on the waters of Canada (and beyond!)…..
OMG, I love Midge!!! Yay, congratulations! My husband and I have been sailing for 7+ years. We learned by joining a sailing club and taking lessons. When we rented a club boat for the day, we loved it so much we decided to get our own. My favorite thing is to knit on the boat – it’s the best of both worlds, knitting while being on the water! For my DH, he loves to constant fiddling with stuff on the boat (doing boat stuff to him is what knitting is to me).
The next time you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, please PM me on Ravelry (jennai1). My DH and I would love to take you on a sail around San Francisco Bay! (Our boat is 42’/12.8 m, so you will feel nice and safe!)
I didn’t read all the posts, but after seeing the Clima name painted on the back of your boat, all I could keep thinking about was that the previous owners ran out of paint for the second part of the name: Board… as in “Climb Aboard!” However, after all the nightmare times with the tiny, yet disgusting midges, that name totally suits the boat! Enjoy having the breeze in your face. 🙂
I love the name Midge, though I haven’t met Canadian midges yet. I knew someone whose nickname was Midge and she was a lot of fun. I hope your Midge continues to be fun for you and the family.
Joe looks so happy. The name cracked me up but is absolutely perfect.
hmm, just noticed that you and Joe – both have extraordinary and curly – go everywhere hair. I’m jealous. And, the boat is beautiful with a perfect name. Great project – lots of learning for everyone…and then you get to go out on the water!! Guess you could knit a sail (kidding) or something…
As an avid sailor, I enjoy seeing comments from other knitters about where and what they sail. In case anyone else is skimming the comments for that kind of info, I am between boats right now, but enjoy (and highly recommend) the NC coast.
Smooth sailing everyone!
Is that geese in one of the photos? Arrgh, summer is def over.
I sailed a little in my teens – mostly very small 2 man boats with sea cadets. As part of our training we’d have to deliberately capsize in order to prove that we were capable of righting it. For some reason, at the time, was enjoyable. Not enough sense to be afraid.
I’d love an opportunity to do what your family has done with Midge. Congrats and enjoy.
Bwahahaha, her name!
“In irons” is a great time to knit, though generally being in irons is looked down upon. For knitters, though? Not so bad! Also while running before the wind, as long as you’re not the skipper. But yarn containment is essential, because it is very very problematic to lose your yarn ball overboard while running before the wind. You thought it was bad in the plane, or an auditorium….
I am far from an experienced sailor, but did do a little sailing as a kid, and up at the family camp we’ve gone to in the past. Enough to know the lingo and to know that it’s fun but that I do not have the knowledge to do it well. Still, enjoy! I’m so glad for Joe’s sake, and it will be a lovely thing to do together, especially next year now that you have worked out all the kinks in the halyard, so to speak.
Boats are a great way of unifying and/or dividing people, I hate it when my husband shouts out orders and expects me to know what he means. Another great thing about boats is that no matter how big or small, they are a money pit and always need something updated or fixed. But they are so much fun when sailing out on the smooth water, holding the needles and enjoying the sun.
Stephanie,
Congrats on a great project! Y’all did a wonderful job turning a sad sad boat into a beaut! I sold my loom and took up knitting when we started spending 6 months a year on our boat. There’s a great group on Ravelry for sailors – you are one now. I especially appreciate your sharing your honesty- I’ve cried while under sail too. What an adventure you’re embracing – thanks for sharing your story of Midge!
Terrific description of being a boat owner!!! My sister-in-law once owned a tiny sailboat – a Sunfish, I think. I remember hearing her go on about the sailing terms. Although in our family, “Hard alee!” is merely shorthand for “You are falling in the water now!”
Those midges in the epoxy are called “microballoons!” Some pople pay $40 per kilo to mix them into the epoxy, to add volume with less weight and less resin 🙂 .
Love the boat! I have a ComPac-16 that has been in my backyard for almost two years, but it’s getting closer to water all the time. Maybe next spring, which will give me plenty of time to figure out the yarn stowage. Hah, another special word for boats–same thing as storage, but sounds more salty-sailory if you say “stowage”. 🙂
Great story, beautiful sailboat. Well worth the efforts!!
One tiny piece of advice: Always bring your passports when you sail Lake Ontario. I grew up on the southern shore and some friends of mine were once stopped by the US Coastguard after they had unknowingly crossed the US-Canada border out on the water. The Coastguard demanded that everyone on board present their US passports before they would let the boat be docked back in New York state. It’s great to have excellent Coastguard watching out for homeland security, but we all learned a lesson that day — carry your passport (in a keep-dry, zip-lock type plastic bag) when sailing Lake Ontario!!
I loved this story!! You write so well. I so wanted Joe to have the boat when you began writing about it in your last post. I thought sailing would be for him what your knitting is for you. So, yay! While reading this second post, however, I was floored by all you have had going on in your life these past few months. I don’t remember you mentioning any of the sailboat stuff while posting about training for the charity bike ride and all of the other stuff you were doing. You are one amazing woman! I hope you and your family have many many happy sailing days in the future.
Sorry if this is a repeat of previous comments, but: “sailing around the world” and “enough yarn” can TOTALLY go together even in a vessel of limited space as long as the rest of the crew is totally clear on the fact that part of “around the world” equals time investigating yarn in its home countries: alpaca in Peru, wool in Iceland and Wales, Polwarth in Australia…mmmmm, see, lots of possibilities!! =) Not all supply needs to come with your from Toronto–in fact, it totally shouldn’t!
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