Messing About in Boats

This morning (Wednesday) a couple of things happened that are the new normal for living just about anywhere in the world. First, the U.S. administration decided that the World Health Organization is responsible for the slow rollout of the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic and is ceasing to fund the organization. A few hours later we learned that Block Island, RI, which is a favorite cruising destination in New England, will now require all visitors by boat to self-quarantine aboard for 14 days.
    What is a citizen and a sailor to do?  For me, it makes most sense to go out to the garage and get busy installing new hardware on the 17-foot Thistle we bought a couple of years ago. There’s a burgeoning fleet in Newport, RI, where we are hunkered down, and Thistle sailing and racing is a lot of fun. We rebuilt our boat over the winter and replaced most of the hardware. Getting the blocks, jam cleats and control lines positioned just right has been a challenge, but a good one. It sure beats thinking about the WHO and being basically banned from Block. 
   In last week’s survey, we asked CC readers to tell us about the big boat projects they have on their lists for 2020 since none of us knows how much sailing and cruising we’ll be doing. The results are below in the Survey section. We were genuinely amazed at the scale of the projects. And, I have to wonder if 2020 is the year to find something really large and engaging to do on our boats, something we’ve been planning for a while, something that now that we can’t mix with other people, makes working quietly, alone on our boats all the more appealing.
  As Water Rat said to Mole in Wind in the Willows: “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
    Stay healthy my friends.