This is the 4th winter that we've had our Lund Rebel Sport. And this coming spring will be our 5th boating season. It's shocking to me how the previous 4 seasons have flown, no boated, by so quickly. So being that it was 50 degrees on this fine early spring, January day ...
and with our most recent 6" snowfall quickly melting away, turning our spring staging area for the Rebel Sport, into a slippery layer of muck, "The Thoughts" started to creep into my consciousness.
With the perfect combination of events: the bright warm sun and temperature, no snow in my immediate view, the sweet smell of vernal decay (well maybe not quite vernal yet) and of course the prime indicator of spring, a layer of mud, my mind wandered off to.... Groundhog Day?
Not hardly! It was of course, boating (which really meant fishing). Those were the thoughts that had started to rapidly infect the old neurons with the dreaded , Boatusonthebrainus Syndrome !
And now that I was totally possessed with "those " thoughts , I had no choice but to be close to my
l'objet de desir, my paramour.
As I said this winter is the 4th that The Rebel Sport has had to endure. In the previous three, when the time came to winterize, my wife and I would spend the better part of a day enclosing her, the boat not my wife, into a blue cocoon , complete with a wooden skeleton, stretching rope and bungi cord to their breaking limit. Of course all this time and effort would never keep all the water out and we were reminded daily of our failure of showing her our proper respect and the loving care that she deserved.
Just our everyday driveway inny's and outey's would deepen my profound sense of guilt of being such a poor caregiver to that which , next to my wife and dog, held such an exalted position in my heart.
Something had to be done.
I couldn't bear the thought of exposing her to another "unprotected" seasonal experience, so my solution was of course our "two car" garage. Two car in name only as the second bay was filled with a hand mower, a riding tractor, a wheelbarrow, a wood chipper, assorted lawn furniture, multiple lengths of garden hoses and more leftovers from summer. But..no second car.. there never was and there never would be.
So after many careful measurements and the removal of two layers of trim boards from the door opening, the Rebel Sport had found a new winter home. And with the trailer tongue folded neatly back , there was at least two inches of clearance with the garage door shut. Plus all the stuff that had to come out , went back in. Nicely fitting around and on top of the RS like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
However I still get a slightly uneasy feeling each and every time that I open Door #1 to back out the car and consequently viewing all our adornments to the Rebel Sport. But it does make a wicked good catch all and hopefully soon she will be back out on Penobscot Bay or Lake St. George or West Grand in her rightful element, carrying Pat and I and the pups to the next deep hole where those wily landlocked salmon are lurking.
With the perfect combination of events: the bright warm sun and temperature, no snow in my immediate view, the sweet smell of vernal decay (well maybe not quite vernal yet) and of course the prime indicator of spring, a layer of mud, my mind wandered off to.... Groundhog Day?
Not hardly! It was of course, boating (which really meant fishing). Those were the thoughts that had started to rapidly infect the old neurons with the dreaded , Boatusonthebrainus Syndrome !
And now that I was totally possessed with "those " thoughts , I had no choice but to be close to my
l'objet de desir, my paramour.
As I said this winter is the 4th that The Rebel Sport has had to endure. In the previous three, when the time came to winterize, my wife and I would spend the better part of a day enclosing her, the boat not my wife, into a blue cocoon , complete with a wooden skeleton, stretching rope and bungi cord to their breaking limit. Of course all this time and effort would never keep all the water out and we were reminded daily of our failure of showing her our proper respect and the loving care that she deserved.
Something had to be done.
I couldn't bear the thought of exposing her to another "unprotected" seasonal experience, so my solution was of course our "two car" garage. Two car in name only as the second bay was filled with a hand mower, a riding tractor, a wheelbarrow, a wood chipper, assorted lawn furniture, multiple lengths of garden hoses and more leftovers from summer. But..no second car.. there never was and there never would be.
So after many careful measurements and the removal of two layers of trim boards from the door opening, the Rebel Sport had found a new winter home. And with the trailer tongue folded neatly back , there was at least two inches of clearance with the garage door shut. Plus all the stuff that had to come out , went back in. Nicely fitting around and on top of the RS like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
An incredible winter so far.Love the groundhog.
ReplyDeleteYour boat looks like a fine craft to do some streamer trolling with on say Sebago.
It's been known to do that Brk Trt..and Sebago, just after ice out, is on the top of the list..
ReplyDelete