| Oct. 27th, 2006 @ 10:14 pm The Summer Siren... |
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Current Mood:  thirsty
Current Music: A Puzzlement ~ Yul Brenner from 'The King and I'
She is my first honest to goodness boat. Oh, yes I have a freshwater antique that was my father's, but the Siren is my boat. There are much larger boats that prowl the bay. I know there are many smaller boats that have caught more fish. There are older boats, cheaper boats, and new and more expensive boats. But the Summer Siren is mine. When we first purchased her, I was a bit nervous. I had never been on a boat in the Chesapeake Bay, let alone captained one. Yet in early April of 2004, into a 15 to 20 knot west wind, we took her to the Monitor Merrimack Bridge Tunnel for our first bay cruise. Over the past three years I've come to be a pretty good captain. I've made just about every mistake possible, and though I've come close, I've never lost anyone. I've had some great times already on her. The first time Adam and I stayed all night on her is a memory I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Yet over the past two years, we've been on her as family only a couple of times. David gets seasick pretty easy and isn't crazy about fishing. Kristan loves the boat, but doesn't like to get up before 9am on Saturdays. By 7:30am in the summer, the fishing is pretty much over. So it is usually Adam and I. As it gets colder, it will soon be just me. The fall is the absolute best time to catch fish in the Chesapeake. This weekend we are facing another heavy wind with 4 to 5 foot seas predicted in the bay. That makes three weekends out of the past six with 25 knot winds. Two of the other three weekends, we were out of town. Last weekend we tried to go striper fishing after dark. At times, the fish will almost jump right into the boat. Even David would have loved it. Except we get to the boat and find both batteries have gone tits up.
The Summer Siren has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I always wanted a boat. I always complained about dad's skeeter being too tight, and really just a temporary thing until I had a 'real' boat. Now I have the 'real' boat and I have little time to use it, or when I have the time, the weather or family events make sure I can't go out. The boat and storage cost $461 a month. With that kind of money, I could buy perhaps buy a sawmill. I could perhaps buy a tractor for the swamp and build a small cabin for the family. Yet, I'm not sure I'm ready to let the dream die. It is sort of sad, and sort of frustrating. Common sense says let the boat go. The heart says, 'no, we can make it work'. Common sense says, 'no, the timing is never right'. Oh, what to do??? |
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