David's Thoughts on Boats & Marriage

Suzi and I spent the better part of five years getting Sidewinder ready for this trip, and I really thought she was "shipshape," but how wrong I was! So far everything we had repaired, replaced or created has functioned trouble free, but some of the older systems and parts, the ones we took for granted, have reared their ugly heads and shown their age. This has made us become jacks of all trades, and believe me when I say the learning curve has been a long one. However, even though this learning process has been hard, with bleeding knuckles and oil stained clothes, it has also been rewarding. We have become mechanics!

Don't get me wrong: we sure wouldn't make much money at it, but we have been able to blunder through a few challenges lately that have ended well and kept us heading down this adventurous road. We have learned how to remove and replace flywheels, bell housings and power plates. We have removed starters and solenoids and learned how to test them for their proper functions. We have removed and replaced fuel lift pumps and bled the multiple parts of the fuel system, ridding them of air locks. We have become a team, chief mechanic and assistant, with the assistant in this case being more vocal and opinionated than is normally the case.

This relationship has been rocky at times: male egos are hard to overcome in the world of wrenches, and mine is probably larger than most. But after seeing women's logic pay off a few times, even I have opened my ears to suggestions, and damn if they didn't turn out to be good ones. So along with increasing our knowledge of Sidewinder's working parts and feeling better about being able to keep her systems working, we have added another aspect to our relationship and the respect for each other that comes with it. I know there will be additional dilemmas to tackle down the road, but I sure feel better about our chances of dealing with them.

Recently Kris suggested I practice more love during these crises, and she was right. As an old jock I get pissed off at adversity; if things get shitty, I get shittier. (You know the saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going.") That philosophy may work if you are breaking up a concrete wall, but if you are trying to re-install a raw water filter with your wife as your helper, it doesn't work all that well. So just as Suzi's mechanical knowledge has grown, so has my knowledge of how to work harmoniously with my soul mate. And that's the whole key: keeping it all in perspective. Smiles should be the order of the day even if it's hot down in that engine compartment and your leg is cramping up from being forced to bend ways it wasn't designed to, smiles and anything else that can lessen the intensity of the moment, because after all, this is supposed to be fun. Now if only I can remember all this .......