CELEBRATING THE SAVE
The most impactful words I heard two years ago came from a total stranger. I'm still so glad he said them.
Our celebration July 11th really was a thank-you to a community that warmly took me in and a reunion of people the Sailor has known for decades. Regardless of unusual circumstance, these wonderful people have become my backbone, my sounding board and the nurturers of my spirit. James Jacobs, the protagonist in my latest book release made the long drive, as an added bonus to the people who bring me joy.
In the fall of 2024 the stranger in the subtitle became a regular visitor, a sounding board, a storyteller, a friend who has bestowed us with unusual gifts and priceless encouragement. When he went longer than a week or two between visits we missed him and wondered about his welfare. He became a regular character as the scenes unfolded on our two-year rebuild. We finished the majority of our work, are back in the water and promptly planned our long-promised Launch Party. Unfortunately, he was not in attendance to celebrate with us.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: August 11, 2024
I heard the distinctive crunch of car on gravel, glanced up and estimated that the once-flashy-red now dull-rust-colored Mercedes parking on the lawn was only slightly younger than I am. The be-whiskered gentleman that climbed out of that vehicle was estimated to be a few decades years older; he always leaves the driver’s side door open. Always. I’ve wanted to ask, but decided against it.
The stranger walked over purposefully and simply stood, stock still, gazing up at STEADFAST for long, long minutes. In my mind she isn’t all that pretty at this particular juncture, hauled out of her natural element for repairs, holes for projects begun here and there, original materials showing some age. She does make an impression regardless, I have to say that much. Our scaffold isn’t tall enough to reach the top rail or long enough to encompass her 56 feet. When he glanced at me I raised my eyebrows in a silent ‘Can I help you?’ but received no response. We are on the fringes of the Richardson Maritime Museum here in Cambridge, Maryland, but we aren’t part of it. We’re not ready for that, yet.
Arms folded, he stepped closer and without preamble or introduction asked where STEADFAST was built. Wheeler Shipyard in Brooklyn, we told him as we worked, and he raised his eyebrows in turn. For the first time, someone we met had local knowledge of the place, which he spewed with no further encouragement, slowly edging his way into our space, inspecting as he went, murmuring unasked and unanswered questions.
“Crazy old coot, that’s the fourth one this week,” my Sailor said to me. We smiled at each other. It is rewarding, and heartening, to have people understand instead of just thinking we were crazy. (Which we are, make no mistake.) I tried to properly convey that phenomenon here:
The gentleman meandered along on his own tour, stepping and then backing up, taking in the topside teak and rig. Unable to resist, I toddled after him, volunteering random answers to common questions. Each time, he put his hand up to his ear and indicated that he hadn’t heard, so each time I repeated myself, a little louder, not sure if he was interested in the facts that I was spewing, un-encouraged. It reminded me of Waterman Johnny Kinnamon, in fact, his story is here. He told me once that if he always wanted to hear what folks were saying, he’d put his hearing aids in. But he doesn’t. He sits in church beside me and appears to listen attentively. At first I commented occasionally (to no avail) and he finally said to me, “I can’t hear any of this.” Now I sit quietly, too, appreciating the simplicity of not trying to make conversation. Johnny is 87 and chooses carefully who he spends his time and energy on.
“Who are you?” I inquired. “Who am I?” he repeated, laughing. “Who am I. Well, I’ve been around these places my whole life. I’ve seen people working on boats and fixing them and most of them weren’t worth fixing.” He shook his head at the world. “But this girl, she’s worth saving.” My appreciation of his words was so vast that I said nothing at all.
Unfortunately, we had somewhere to be when that stranger showed up; we were already hot and tired of trying to put the puzzle pieces of our quickly changed life together while making sure we had all the ones we needed. We definitely don’t. There was no plan to be where we are.
Our appointment was ticking closer. The stranger and I made it to the bow, where we had discovered Mother Nature had endowed STEADFAST’s stem with an insidious rot not detectable from the outside or the inside. We are still assessing, peeling back the layers. She’ll need rare, expensive materials and even rarer expertise. These are some of the puzzle pieces I refer to, the elements to bring our home back to where she needs to be. We are in a new town, a new boatyard, living on land. It’s an uncomfortable place, depending on others when we are used to being both independent and fully mobile.
I apologized and invited him to come back anytime. I had to repeat myself, and it was priceless. “She’s worth it,” he called after me. “This is a special boat.”
I stopped in my tracks, because that’s what we say, too, when we are trying to explain THE WOODEN BOAT PHENOMENON. “I hope I won’t be a pest. I’ll be back.” I smiled at him then, this stranger who had encouraged me more than he would ever know.
“Crazy old coot,” the sailor commented redundantly. “Crazy old coot knows his boats.” I said as we got into the seen-better-days boatyard loaner car, and I smiled again. SOME THINGS AREN’T WORTH SAVING. And some things are.
The choices are rarely easy. Until next week, may your choices be simpler (mine, too!). ~J
Are you skeptical? Hope not. My sixth (or is it seventh?) sense this waiting to see how it all transpires.
SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE has become my favorite routine! Over the course of the week I consider what happened that can offer some commentary on life and the NATURE of it. This story just jumped out at me. If you are enjoying these, consider upgrading to a paid subscription just as you would a magazine that you have forever been skimming in the grocery story line and then you finally buy one! Or not. Either way is perfectly fine with me, honestly! I enjoy and read and respond to all comments so spew those thoughts!
My weekly Sunrise shot! The Osprey on the Chesapeake Bay are in a wonderful cycle of recovery. I share sunrise daily on our Facebook Page YACHTING STEADFAST, please join us!
My boatyard neighbor had a freshly built little wooden sloop and oh how I lusted after that beauty. There’s something inherently more beautiful about boats that originate in a forest rather than an oil well.
As you say, some things are not worth saving, like a big wooden trawler that sank one weekend on the Eastern Shore in the slip next to us. It was memorably sad. They used an excavator to remove her from the water and load her into dumpsters.
Have you ever caught a glimpse from Key Bridge (RIP) of the Baltimore Clipper hulls that were burned to the water line, sank, and are visible during low tides? Or the wooden merchant marine hulls in that big marsh at the southern tip of MD? During WWII, someone decided that it was a good idea to build a bunch of cargo ships from wood, but the war ended so they towed the unfinished ships to the marsh to rot away.
Until next time, it’s stormy and oppressive here, with low leaden skies but nothing quelled our launch party. IT WAS WONDERFUL to have so many folks from so many walks of life join us in our joy. I’m grateful for that, and also the adrenaline that has flowed since I sat down to write this, just after the witching hour, to make sure it gets to you and we have our weekly hoo-doo. ~J
RESTACK please. Thanks.
What a lovely story! True knowledgable wooden boat sailors are getting rare these days. I suppose with your experience and expertise of the past 2 years, you are qualified to join those ranks of 'quiet knowledge'. I hope you have a great Summer of cruising on 'Steadfast'!
Congratulations, again, Janice. We were THRILLED to be part of your celebration, to meet and mingle with those who've supported you along the way, and to take another tour of your lovingly restored Steadfast. She is absolutely worth saving. Not that you needed a crazy old coot to tell you that, but I'm glad he was there to lift up what you already understood. That kind of validation fills a soul. He's clearly one of the good guys. :)