Once more unto the mast dear friends once more… yes, another mast day, much like many of the ones that have gone before (and, the way things are going, many yet to come.) The most frustrating thing is that Dave is such a poor organiser of labour. For much of the day, I and sometimes Val as well, follow him around like a lap-dog, merely watching like medical students while the top surgeon performs the operation. Which is stupid, since there are many things we could do, if only we were told. It’s true that for very short periods – often in the late afternoon – Val + I are used effectively, but that is such a small part of what is possible. And yet nearly always at the end of the day, when we sit down to our meal, Dave is very congratulatory about the progress we’ve made. If we ever really put in a proper day of hard work, I don’t know what he’d say. I messed around for most of the day, only working in one concentrated burst at about 4, putting up a couple of spreaders, and a few stays, right from the top of the mast – it was fun up there. V + M were sensible enough to go and get some shopping done in the afternoon – they sure had nothing better to do.
Today, Wed the 21st, was even less productive. For an hour or 2 after breakfast, I watched Dave drill a piece of metal to fit on the boom, then we fitted it, + then D + M took the 2 big cats to have some shots ( I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that Fluffy had kittens a few weeks ago – they’re ready to head off into the big world now.) Val + I went in to get some shopping, and got on each other’s nerves, + then did nothing for the rest of the day – Dave had disappeared to fetch an engine, + returned very pissed off when he couldn’t find part of it, so no more work. Val + I did take out the canoe for a paddle, at Dave’s suggestion. It was fun. A beer or 2 with Ed Lesesne, + then, for once, a different restaurant to eat in, making a pleasant change.
More of the usual frustration, which does reflect pretty accurately the feeling we had of being a bit stuck, but with the prospect of an ocean trip to come, something we felt we had to put up with. Don’t think I have mentioned the cats before (though there was a picture, I think) because they played so little part in our lives. Useful food, I suppose, should we be shipwrecked.
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