VIC
192 posts
Lovely post, Gary. Thanks for restoring a bit more faith in humanity.
K.
VIC
192 posts
I have 2 boys, now aged 25 and 23. The eldest is living with his partner away from home and the youngest is in BC, Canada working for a heliskiing company. I turn the outside lights on every night in case they come home ...
We started out with a Mirror on Lysterfield Lake and then got time shares in a Rob Legg 34 at Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. It was hard at times, they both enjoyed it but sometimes I had to push them to clean the boat up after a weekend sailing. And sometimes it got a bit windy and I learnt to take it slower ("Dad, REEF NOW!"). But they gradually learnt to work together, learnt the satisfaction of doing something difficult that not many other people were doing, learnt that sometimes their old man knew more than them or was less scared than them and learnt that the world is a beautiful and amazing place. Then we got a couple of Paper Tigers because they liked to go FAST. And then I bought Kinora, sailed her from Pittwater to Paynesville with my youngest son (eldest had university exams) and at night we watched dolphins leaving a trail of green phosphorescent bubbles somewhere between Gabo Island and Lakes Entrance.
This is only my opinion, and your situation will be different, but the best time to do it is now. Maybe start with a time share or charter first before buying your own boat (an older boat will cost you way more than you expect). Be prepared for it to not work, it just might not be their thing and that's OK, you just have to find something else that is their thing. They don't have to share your dreams but your job is to help them start dreaming and then give them the tools to follow those dreams. Don't give up the first time it goes wrong. They'll absorb resilience by osmosis while watching you be resilient. You'll make mistakes, own them, apologise and move on. They'll absorb that too.
We started this about 15 years ago so technology wasn't as pervasive or as addictive as it is now. I don't know how to work with that except to say do any weaning off slowly. We had limited power on the Rob Legg so phones couldn't always be charged and cell service was patchy. No laptops or tablets (paper charts). No streaming stuff at night but board games. A canoe on the foredeck so they could get away when they needed to. We were lucky to be able to do this before social media really took over.
Good luck! After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Cheers,
Kinora
VIC
192 posts
Changing the bilge pump today and noticed the cast iron casing at the front of the DV20 (behind the water pump housing) has a lot of rust. More than just surface. Looks like the flywheel has to come off to get access to the bolts holding the casing on. Access to the front of the flywheel is OK but the 6 big Allen key head bolts suggest this is a serious operation and needs a big puller.
Has anyone done this job in place?
Cheers,
Kinora
