Merry Grace, our 18-foot catboat, has been resting comfortably in our driveway since her arrival there last November. In November, it seemed like there was an infinite amount of time to complete a long list of her maintenance projects before she would be launched again in May.
Oops. Her launch date is two weeks away, and she will be leaving our driveway a few days ahead of that. Where did winter go again? We were actually here quite a bit, but taking the dogs for walks to see the changes at Wasque in any given week always trumped an afternoon sanding a boat. It still would, if the deadline weren’t fast approaching.
Atoning for a lazy winter, the past few weekends have seen a cloud of dust rising from the boat in the driveway. Who knew a small fiberglass boat could have so much wood on her? The wood had gone to grey many years ago, so bringing it back to “Bristol” turns out to be a lot of work (or so I’m told, I must confess that I am just an observer in this process). I must also confess to more than reasonable doubt about how much wood can possibly be left after all this sanding!!
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A walk through Edgartown reveals that Sanding Season is well underway there, too. Help Wanted signs are in many of the shop windows, and lots of scraping and painting is happening there as well, with buckets of white paint ready to put yet another coat of white paint on fences and buildings. I can’t help wondering how thick the paint is on those fences!
We’re all getting ready, summer is on its way. Another three weeks and it will be Memorial Day weekend – the first full taste of the summer rush. Then quiet again for a few weeks, and then there it is – summer. Like the Merry Grace, I’m not ready for it. I like this in between season. I dread the crowds.
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But I do like the other things summer brings – blueberries in the yard, an end of day swim in the ocean (avoiding burns to keep my dermatologist happy), seeing family and friends, and when I’m feeling very brave, going for a sail on our little boat.
In three weeks, the harbor will be full of boats again, including the Merry Grace, and I will need to crank up my courage, don my life vest, and sail off into summer.