What's wrong with me?

[crazycarl]

well, the nice weather is finally here in northern illinois and i have no ambition to pull the boat home and work on her.
i went to my friends house today and took a peek under the tarp.  everything looked good.  i was planning on bringing her home and cleaning her up this week, but i remembered several other projects that needed attention around the house.

you must understand that for me to put off working on a boat or to go sailing in order to work on home repairs is unheard of.  in fact, i've been known to put off errands, chores, work, and even eating, to go sailing.  so why, now that the weather has turned favorably, am i reluctant to work on our boat, or sail our 15'r away from a ramp that is only 2 miles from our driveway?

has anyone else ever experienced this phenomenon?

                                                                         carl

[Tim Gardner]

Carl,

Just look at your user name -  Nuff said

TG

[Bob23]

Carl:
  Yes, I've had the same problem. The good news is there is help available and you've come to the right place. Presently, I'm a bit overwhelmed with boat stuff, house stuff, business stuff and just general stuff to do and it results in brain overload so very little gets done. But make no mistake: this is a very serious illness and should not be taken lightly.
  Put 2 pictures in your head: The first, you're sailing along on a warm, sunny day. The boat is as near perfect as she can be, the wind is blowing 15 to 20 and everythings fine. The teak is shining, the sails are perfect and you can comb your hair in the gelcoat reflection. At the end of the day as you approach the ramp, a group of attactive young women are watching and remark at the impeccable condition of the ship and ask if you can take them out for a sail sometime.
   Picture #2: You trailer the boat to the ramp and after a dealy to fix the flat you have because you neglected to service your trailer, you arrive and are lauching the boat. As she floats off her trailer, the dirt that has accumulated from the years on neglect causes a thick film on the water around the boat. You get out, raise the moldy, rust stained sails and are finally sailing. Grabbing the handrail, you get the mother of all splinters from the uncared for teak. Pausing to remove the splinter, you accidentally gybe which results in a broken mainsheet- the same one you noted 2 years ago to replace. As you curse, your beer spills over and you notice the black cloulds forming behind you. As you wisely return early, you notice a  mother walking her 2 young children near the dock and can't help overhearing the year old girl: "Mommy, why is that such an ugly boat? Is he a homeless man?  Daddy's boat is so much nicer."
   You'll get the bill for this professional advice!
bob23

[crazycarl]

TG,  your response made me laugh so hard, I startled the dog!

Bob,
I most definitely liked the the first scenario best.  However, being the knucklehead that I am, the sail would end more like this...  Two young lasses ask for a sail in which I instantly oblige.  After several hours, we return to the dock where I had dropped off my wife to use the facilities.   She walks over with a cold hard look in her blue eyes and very calmly inquistists as to where i have been.  After a few tense seconds, a giggly voice calls out..."Found 'em" One of the lasses appears from the cabin with a fresh beer in her hand and with a bounce in her voice asks, is that your wife?  A cold stare is answer enough.  The girl jumps off the boat and walks away.  I try to explain that due to restrictions, I could not remain at the dock, but just then the second girl appears from below.  "Where's Jenni"?  Her sweet young voice cutting thru the tension.  Umm, she went ashore.  Hey, this is my lovely wife, Joan! Oh! Hi Joan! Your husband has a lovely boat.  He's offered to teach me and Jenni how to sail.  He's sooo sweet, your a lucky woman.  See you next weekend then Carl?  Bye bye! 

The silence is deafening.  The wind gone. The guy who was waiting for my spot, now patiently observes as I fumble around the boat trying to remember how to maneuver away from a dock.  I'm sunk.  Again.

[Bob23]

Maybe play it safe and get to work on that boat...whether you feel like it or not!
bob23

[capt_nemo]

Carl,

Move on down here to Southwest Florida and you'll have plenty of nice weather to do all the things on your "To Do" List, AND still go out sailing as often as you'd like!

Seriously, the funky mood you describe will indeed pass, and you'll be back in the groove once again.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

capt_nemo

[skip1930]

Speaking of getting rid of stuff in the way of sailing...

Laugh out loud! I can't fathom I had all this useless stuff on board.
It's good to pull ever thing out of the boat once in a while.

As dad said, "One needs to throw-a-way something everyday. If you miss it a year from now, well maybe you should not have thrown it a way. If you don't miss it then you should have tossed it two years ago."  From a man who lived out of a sea bag for 33 years.

skip.

[Jackie McGuire]

Carl,

The problem is that you need to sell your boat and buy a bigger one! Then you get enthused all over again and can't wait to go sailing and start new projects.  At least that is how it works at our house....

[Salty19]

Carl,  I feel your pain, brother.  Not exactly for the same reasons though.  Motivated to get on the boat, but very little time and energy right now to make that happen!   Too many other projects at home (we are selling the house so lots of fixes and 'staging'). 

However the slip rentals open up on May 1.  The last week of April will be BUSY getting it ready but goal is to have in on the water May 1.

[crazycarl]

Well, I like the idea of the brain overload. 
Yea...I'm going with that.

I've taken on extra duties at work.  I'm finishing up the redecorating of the master bedroom and bath. Then it's on to finishing off the basement.  I'm cleaning up the yard, attempting to keep the woodshop clean and organized (never going to happen),   meanwhile, the list of items for the house keeps growing.
I'm starting to miss those early years when we lived in the condo!

I need to organize all the gear and electronics removed from our previous boat before installing them in the Compac.

We also have an '82 Starwind 22 in the drive that needs work before we can sell her. (big project there)

And then in order to afford all this, I need to work at least 2 days of O.T. a week.

I'm starting with a small project first.  The replacement of bulkheads in our 15' sailboat long summer daze . 

Then, when that project is complete, I'll bring home our Compac 19, Miss Adventures.

With her parked in the drive, I'll guilt myself into cleaning her up!

If that doesn't work, the only reasonable thing to do is quit my job, sell everything, and go sailing off into the sunset!

Yea! This was easy!  Thanks!

[Bob23]

Well, Carl:
   The solution to your problem is simple: Being a self employed building contractor with not enough work, you need to hire me to do your house projects. Then, you'll have time for all your boat projects, you won't need to work OT, and I'll have some money so I can go sailing this summer. See how easy this all is?
bob23

[brackish]

...attempting to keep the woodshop clean and organized (never going to happen)

Glad you realize this.  Once I came to that conclusion frustration was minimized.

[kickingbug1]

    i will admit that today i thought about playing hooky from all the spring stuff i have to do arround the house. but i fought back my instinct to hitch up the boat and head for the lake. as i worked at cutting down a 15 foot spruce tree that had died this winter, i felt the wind on my face, looked up at the cloudless sky and yelled at her---"be a good sailing day". she looked up from planting flowers and said, "werent you going to paint the dining room today?" well since i promised to have the dining room painted before easter---i said "yep". well the tree is down, the paint and brushes are ready, and the sailboat is sitting in the garage-----waiting. i bet im sailing next week----i better be

[brackish]

Went up to the boat this past Thursday.  Tasks scheduled, flush the water tank and plumbing system and refill, charge the porta potty holding tank and fill the supply tank with water, install some set screws in the lifeline collars. scrub down the decks, scrub and dry the cockpit cushions, measure the lifelines for cushions, measure the forward hatch for a windscoop, measure the tiller for a new cover, measure and make sketches for sternrail and bow pulpit crutches for the mast, lightly sand the teak in preparation for the maintenance coat of Bristol.

Tasks accomplished: zero.  It was too nice, I went sailing instead.

[brackish]

You made the right choice. Always go sailing instead of doing boat projects. (Save those for the crappy weather days). My father in law used to say: You gotta make hay while the sun is shining.

Back to the boat today with the Admiral.  Same list; same zero accomplishment.  It was just too nice, we sailed.

at least I ordered my bottom paint today.