I’m in love, not only with my wife and kids but with this 45’ fiberglass shell full of tangled wires, lines, chain and fuel weighing in at 37,000lbs that they call a sailboat. Memories of her curves linger in my mind as I drift to sleep. She exudes a sense of power, quietly but restlessly tied to the dock…I can feel that her soul yearns to be cutting through the vastness of the oceans exploring the world we live in. Almost all of her systems are in need of deferred maintenance. The house batteries were bulging and leaking acid, the head doesn’t seem to be operating properly and I insist everyone poops in a bag, the cable to shift the transmission broke…the list goes on and on. Working on it has been frustrating yet gratifying. My initial plan was to leave the boat in the Delta until the spring of next year, but after taking ASA 104 and sailing to the Golden Gait and along the City front we’ve changed plans and are going to berth the boat in Richmond. It’s 1.5hour drive without traffic to get the boat, and I’ve been unable to get down to her as much as I would like to. With the boat in Richmond I can go there during my break at work and most importantly sail her, something I have not been able to do in the Delta. The move to Richmond is happening next Thursday and it feels like I’m 8 years old and waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.