Author Archives: AdaptiveCurmudgeon

[Today we come to the end of my little story about campsites and sailboats. The trip was peaceful but dragging the storyline over the threshold to live posts was chaos. What you’re reading was (mostly) typed last year, temporarily abandoned, … Continue reading →

I’m almost done! The plumber is coming and I’ve got all the fittings. All I need to do is pull back this rug and… Bleeeaaauuughhhggg. Sigh, I had to buy an old farmhouse didn’t I? Think. Think. Think. Fuck it! … Continue reading →

The next day the sun rose too early for my tastes. On the other hand, I’d be controlling wildlife within the hour. Hunched over the fire, I felt surly. During the day’s unavoidable period of pre-coffee crabbiness, a yuppie shithead … Continue reading →

As I sailed back to camp I had a discovery of the “Captain Obvious” sort. What had seemed, in the twilight of the day previous, to be a series of shoreline trails and fishing docks, was actually for boats. Duh! … Continue reading →

[Where was I before events in the winter of 2022 poleaxed the story arc of memories from the spring of 2021? Oh yeah, I was in heaven; snoozing in the sun on a distant shore to which I’d sailed in … Continue reading →

At this point in the story I’m sound asleep on a picnic table; miles and hours from the dock where I’d started. I remember nothing of that necessary and appreciated break aside from a feeling of peace and joy. But, … Continue reading →

Deeply nestled in the inlet, all was calm. Too calm in fact. My map told the story of two lakes joined by a narrows. A long sinuous shallow affair connecting two mostly independent bodies of water; easily traversed by a … Continue reading →

As soon as I got out in the breeze, the reduced sail inflated and it didn’t look so bad. It pulled me forward but much more gently. Also I began to plow sideways through the water! After a second’s head … Continue reading →

The first thing about sailboats is that sails are not motors. Mine has tremendous (for the size of the boat) square footage. When the wind is strong, all that area is pulling too hard. I believe the word is “overpowered”. … Continue reading →

Did I mention I don’t know much about sailing? I’m living proof one can build things which they cannot operate. (Though I’m improving.) This wasn’t obvious at first but now I understand it deeply. Building a boat (even a small … Continue reading →