I think I am going to stop calling this site a boat refit site and start calling it a home renovation site. The farther we go down this road, the more it seems fitting. I mean hey, I’ve watched a few home renovation shows over the years and what is the overall plot. Search for the right project. Do a bit of planning, gut the thing, move a few walls, insulate, re-wire, re-plumb, finish, paint and voila, admire the end product. Maybe we should have Akupara TV! It is the exact same thing, just in a different shape, however we have the added excitement of once we are all done, we have to see if the damn thing floats or not. That’s more drama than the average house reno, they don’t have to pass the float test at the end of the day.
So I was talking to a gentleman at the boat yard, both of us are in the midst of a complete gut and rebuild. He is re-doing an old powerboat, but essentially the same deal. We see each other quite regularly and at the same time we see a lot of abandoned dreams in and around our 2 projects. The conversation turned to how long the Admiral and I have been at this and I told him a little shy of 2 years now and we still have 8 months left at least. He has been at it for about 6 months now. Why are we still plugging away at it? What makes us keep at it? Why haven’t we walked away and let the dream die like so many others have done. It would be more than easy! As the lyrics in the song Southern Cross attest to, “And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do.” Why do I waste my Saturday’s and Sunday’s going to a dirty, smelly, boat yard filled with undesirables. Always being dirty and choking on dust of some sort whether it be wood or fiberglass. Spending ludicrous amounts of money to maintain and attempt to improve this old boat. Hell, for the amount of money we have spent so far we could have bought a very nice, ready to go, 30-35 foot sailboat. And we still have a lot of money to spend. (speaking of which, I need to update the cost page)
I don’t really have the answer to any of these questions. Perhaps I am too stubborn, perhaps I simply don’t want to be called a failure. Perhaps I have nothing better to do with my time and money. Perhaps I am a wee bit off my rocker and actually enjoy all of this rebuild stuff. Or perhaps I have had this dream for so long, that it is so deeply engrained in me, that if it took 20 years to finish the project, I would keep going. I really don’t know. Of course the insanity part is a given, you would have to be insane to start anything like this, let alone continue it.
Well, in any case, I am not abandoning the project any time soon so I guess I had better finish my morning coffee, put on my old work clothes and head down to the boatyard. Maybe one day we will actually be finished.