There has been a sailboat sitting on a rusting trailer in the garage for many years now. It is an 1973 O’Day 22 sailboat. A relic from a previous life of mine – one of the unfinished projects that I kept through the divorce.
I’ve had the sailboat for nearly 10 years. Or maybe 10 years, I don’t remember exactly when I bought it. I think it was the year before Will was born. But maybe it was the year after that. I have never put it in the water.
So it sat in the garage. The tongue of the trailer protruding into the driveway, an eyesore that went with the house. The kids played in it. It collected leaves and dirt. Before sitting in this garage, it sat next to the garage at the previous house I lived in.
It was easy to make excuses on why it was never finished. Having kids took up too much time. Then the new house. Then the divorce. And so here it sits. But in reality – it never got finished because it is easier for me to start projects than finish them.
It is a perfect sized boat. It fits on a trailer. It isn’t too large. But it is big enough to have a cabin that fits 4 people.
It is also going into the water this year.
I am pretty sure of that. Not because all of a sudden I’m good at finishing projects. But it has now become a family project. Susanna decided she was tired of it sitting in the garage, and she wanted to go sailing this summer. So with a little encouragement from her, the boat is making progress.
The boys and I have lifted the boat off the trailer. We have started progressing on the inside of the boat, and I have started working on the trailer. The goal isn’t to make the boat perfect, but to get it in the water. This weekend we will dig out the sails and see what kind of shape they are in.
It helps having someone around to keep things on track – and encourage me to finish things. It is much more fun to work on projects as a team.
