Now he’s dead. Karl is dead. Why is it that saying it that way sounds so bad? Maybe it’s ’cause when we say “Somebody died”, it’s like saying “Somebody ate beans”, or “Somebody wrote a letter”; it may be past tense, but it feels current, as if the person who has done these things is still around.
When we say, “Somebody is dead”, it’s a more solid statement like, “Somebody is in Greece”, or “Somebody is older than me.”
Is it just semantics? Karl is dead. This morning Scott numbly told me, “Karl passed away last night.”. To my ear it seems open-ended: where did Karl pass away to? What is he gonna do next?
I often wonder about my relationship with death. I hear these things, and in the silent moment afterwards, where people may be assuming I’m taking a moment to reflectively grieve, I’m actually wondering what reaction to show, what emotional demonstration (or appropriate lack thereof) is most called for.
Philosophicaly, I feel that death is part of life; we are each born, we live, and then we die. We all shit, we all die, and nobody much cares to discuss either. I’m fairly certain Karl himself would have had a good chuckle at all this…
Karl had a lousy death, at the end of a lousy loosing battle with cancer. Then again, he also had a rip-roarin’ life. It’s the latter I’ll remember him most for. He was a sailor, a husband, a father, a decent drunk; an all-around swell guy who looked out for his neighbors and more oft than not gave more than he received.
The rest of the crew took the day off to grieve. I said “Fuckit”, and got back to work on my boat. I think Karl would have approved.
September 27, 2006
Karl died last night.
April 29, 2006
two weeks
Dropped the boys off at the airport this morning, after a couple weeks of fun. Mixed in with all the usual debauchery were a couple sailing days with ’em aboard our yard playboat, an Impulse 21, including the obligatory trip to the Willie T.
The boys really tore into the baot too; Chris wanted a project, so i had him fair my bottom repairs… he went on to sand and fair everything below the sheerline. Whoa… looks like i’ll be painting the topsides after all! Cory and i got thje remaining bits of hardware off and sanded the decks. Rebuilt the winches, rebuilt the forepeak doors, filled the old unused deckfills, chipped and Ospho-ed the iron keel, and started in on removing the window frames.
My next step is a healthy coat of primer to cover up everything, and better show what, if any, further fairing needs to be done. i intend to paint with Interlux Perfection, so i’ve picked up a few quarts of Interlux 404/414 epoxy primer.
March 28, 2006
racing in paradise
Too few posts! Trying to stay so busy with work, projects, and sailing that i have no time to write… some excuse that is, eh?
Raced in the annual WEYC Sweethearts of the Caribbean Regatta aboard a friend’s ’72 Hunter 25. We were the smallest (by a fair margin) boat to complete the long course, and as the conditions (20kts moderating, sloppy seas) had forced the retirement of the only other boat in our class, we won. Corrected, we didn’t do so badly against the rest of the fleet either! My friend and boat owner Mike, a novice, had only sailed the boat 3 or 4 times before, and the other crew was my visiting stepfather, who hadn’t sailed at all, except for some youthful dinghy adventures on his hometown lake once upon a time. They both did great, and it was a fine afternoon! Sailing on and off the mooring (at the head of the packed harbour) felt good… as the outboard had stopped running the day before! Incidentally… we wone our class!
i also got out for the WEYC Dark & Stormy Regatta, sailing from Trellis Bay to Anegada, spending the weekend, then sailing back from Anegada to West End. This time ’round, i sailed with clients on their tired (but we’re working on it!) Peterson 44. Again, conditions were the high side of 15-20, and we were one of the few boats to start unreefed. The big boat was doing pretty well, until on our last port tack around the Dogs, the clew blew out on the in-mast furling main. Just about the whole of the fleet behind us got in front of us before we had the spare main up, but we managed to still make that our last port tack before coming about and barreling towards Neptune’s Treasure. Even with the slightly-smaller spare main we managed a healthy clip, 7+ knots all the way there with little fuss.
Overall, some fun days! This weekend sees the annual BVI Spring Regatta; i haven’t gotten a ride yet, but past years have shown that a handyt fellow will get picked up if it’s meant to be. Last year an IC24 lost a crew and i was pressed into emergency duty… we weren’t the most competative duffers out there, but we had a great time! We’ll see what happens this time ’round…
November 16, 2005
boat watch!
After a slow start, the Season is coming on pretty hard and fast. The harbour is filling up with the usual bareboats and charterboats, along with a couple noteworthy individuals.
Last week we had the W-46 “Equus” in the harbour. During an afternoon go-fast ride across to Jost, a few of us saw her out sailing; reaching along at a frighteningly fast clip under reefed main alone. Very pretty.
Our friend Nick is back on Tortola with his natty little Tahiti Ketch. We’ll be embarking on a complete cabinhouse rebuild very soon. A fun little boat, he has rigged her with a squares’l and gaff tops’l in addition to the usual 3 working lowers.
Out in the harbour yesterday afternoon, and now on the dock, is the elegant “Victoria of Strathearn”, a yacht i had missed viewing last year. Soper’s Hole, with protected deep water, sees several of these type of yachts (along with the usual ghastly Perini Navis) each year. i, personally, am much enthused to see the whole “spirit of Tradition” thing really kick off.
