.
We all want our personal water craft to create a hole in the water for us when we are at sea, in a pond or on flowing water in a tidal estuary or another waterway. However, when we are done and it's time to drag our floatation device on shore and leave it until later, we don't want it to hold water. So, we tip it over, turning it bottom up to the elements and the sky above. I am sure these vessels are not happy, not only out of their element, H20, but now not putting their prettiest side forward for passer-bys to see.
.
Many have their bows and sterns unceremoniously stuck in the sand. Some have homes on custom racks. My canoe sits on two pallets I got from a "Free" pile on the side of Great Western Road at the end of the season last year. With great difficulty, I had wrapped it in one of those ubiquitous blue tarps. I didn't do a very good job as the tarp gushed water this spring when I freed the bungee cords holding in in place. The good news is that I didn't find that any critters, such as raccoons, had taken up residence in there, away from the elements.
.
Little bigger boats are trailered to driveways or backyards and protected from the elements as best their owners can. Usually turning them upside down is not an option. Commercial boat yards offer the option of sealing even relatively large boats in white plastic. How do they breathe in there?
.
Very few boats spend the winter in the water. Some commercial fisherpeople must work the off-season, no? And the ferries run all year except when the weather or mechanical glitches shut them down.
.
I met a couple on one of our islands a few years ago who live on their boat. It wasn't very big but neither were they. They told me they spend the fall motoring down the East Coast in search of warmer waters for the winter. In the spring these boat people reverse course, arriving back in the islands just as the high season starts. Now, there's a boat that has to be happy year around, don't you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment