Life on the dock

By Mike Jastrzebski

To be honest I would rather be swinging at anchor than living at a dock, but sometimes it’s just not practical. If you’re still working, having running water, shore power, and a place to keep a car make life easier.

Same thing goes for working on a boat and getting it ready for the next cruise. I can’t even count how many trips I’ve made in the past month to Home Depot and West Marine while I was installing our new water maker. And it’s nice to have neighbors if you need an extra hand or just want to sit on a dock box and shoot the shit.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have some anti-social tendencies. I’m not big on parties or groups of strangers, but an occasional pot luck is all right. Still, I prefer to get together with a few friends, maybe knock back a beer, and chat.

Sometimes we’ll chat about boats or solar panels or water makers, and sometimes it’s about so and so down at the end of the dock who keeps talking about heading over to the Bahamas but can’t quite seem to shake the boat loose from the dock lines.

And sometimes we talk about having the boat hauled, which is really what this whole diatribe is about. You see, as much as I love living on the hook, I hate living on the hard, and that’s just what we’re planning to do at the end of the month.

I’m not 100 percent sure but I’m afraid we’re going to have to have the bottom peeled. Two years ago I had some blistering and there were a couple of good size blisters I put off repairing. Now I fear it’s time to pay the piper, especially since I’m going to put CopperCoat on the bottom. CopperCoat is a 10-15 year bottom coat and I want to prepare the bottom properly before putting it on.

I spoke to a local expert who has peeled several friends’ boats and he will be coming out to look at the boat before I make a final decision. But I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach and my head keeps telling me to pay the money and do the bottom right, after all, this is our home.

Actually it’s not the cost that’s upsetting my stomach as much as the thought of spending 2-3 months on the hard waiting for the peeled bottom to completely dry. Did I mention that in my mind the absolute least favorite thing about living on a boat is living on the hard. But then again, how can a person really appreciate the feel of the wind in the sails, or the contentment of being anchored behind a small island, or the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that are accentuated by the surrounding ocean if he isn’t willing to endure a little hardship?

Did I mention I hate living on the hard? (Oh! So does Mary!!!)

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