Dear Friend of CHARIAD:

She Will Swim Again

The mighty CHARIAD is now on her way to being healed and repaired – and swimming again this summer.

The upper three quarters of the mast is now at Hall Spars in RI. They will fabricate a new lower section and weld it to the upper sections. I am meeting with Hall on Thursday to go over their plans.

A marine surveyor went over the boat on Saturday morning inspecting the hull, engine, gear, etc. He is preparing a condition and valuation survey for getting insurance coverage after the repair work is done. Rob Scanlan, the surveyor, liked what he saw of the boat’s condition – neglecting the “black eye” from the tussle with the hurricane.

I am meeting with Dion’s Yard in Salem this week to go over their work repairing the dings in the paint and cockpit from when the mast fell onto the stern of the boat and into the water. My understanding is that they will move the boat into their paint shed this week to get started on the repairs.

I will have a better guestimate for when the repairs will be completed after this week. I will let you know.

Spring Boat Work – A Parable

In New England, sailors spend April and early May at the boat yard getting their boats ready to go back in the water. As part of this tradition, I circulate a Spring Parable written some years ago. I hope you will enjoy reading the Parable again this spring.

After we have finished our taxes, the CHARIAD crew gathers at the boat yard Saturday morning to polish, paint, grease, sand, laugh, drink beer, etc. We will be gathering in Salem rather than Winthrop this year. We are usually at the yard between 10 – 2 on Saturday. If you want to come and help, I know you will actually have a lot of fun.

The “Racing Crew” will be getting updates about the boat yard schedule. If you might be able to join us for part of the spring activities, let me know and I will add you to the email notifications.

For the next two weekends, we will not be at the yard because Dion’s will be doing their work and I will be out of town.

Racing Crew Recommendations

We usually have a little turnover among the racing crew. Spring is the time when we can bring on a few new crew members. If you know of a friend or colleague who might be interested in joining the CHARIAD crew, suggest they look at the web site to get a feel for the boat, crew and our schedule. Have them contact me if they are interested.

We are really only looking for folks who can participate in a significant number of races and who can participate as a real team player.

Social Gatherings

I know of two fantastic CHARIAD gatherings being planned. Lyman Opie will be hosting a gathering at his home in Cambridge which will have a significant musical dimension. He is waiting for a little warmer weather to fully use his back yard.

Dan Sterling will be hosting another gathering at his Beverly home overlooking the harbor. Again, we want to have a little warmer weather to fully enjoy the decks and lawn facing the harbor.

A Final Thought

Writing this so soon after the tragic bombings at the Marathon yesterday makes me think about how precious this time is and how fragile our lives are. Each of us has important work we are doing and important roles in the lives of our families, friends and community. But we also must savor and enjoy our life experiences have each day. The deaths and injuries are terrible for those directly impacted. But having them happen so close to us, enables us to more clearly understand how blessed we are.

Enough for now.

My best,

Rick