Peaceful Memories

[Ann and Neville Clement]

I have been remembering the years we lived in Peace - Peace IV, our Tiki 46.  She is for sale and we no longer live in Peace because Neville's balance is poor these days.  But we remember her many charms and often talk about favorite moments.  I think it might help some of you who are still measuring twice and cutting once, pumping glue and mixing it just right, and building your dreams day by day.  We did that for a long time and read the Wharram magazines from cover to cover when they arrived. It helped to read of people who were sailing and livig that same dream we had - it helped us find the energy and courage to complete the building process.  So now I will write to you all about the times we lived in Peace.  From time to time, I will write more.

My favorite memory is always about waking in the middle of the night.  My sleepy head would start to wonder what was going on out there on deck, so I would ease open the hatch and poke my head out to see.  I always wonder if that is the closest thing I will ever feel to what forest creatures feel like when they similarly poke out their heads from their burrows to see what is going on and study the situation before venturing out.  It is a quiet feeling of watching silently and listening carefully, and taking in to every sense what is happening out on deck.

First the wind shifts or tide changes.  Did we swing on to the other anchor yet?  We never (almost never) tied to any docks, so we were always aware of these position changes.  How is the sky?  Will it be more north wind for us come morning?  Heading south he is the best friend a boat can have.  He is kind of cold, but he takes a chilly boat to where it is going to be warm and friendly, where there will be evenings on deck watching the last of the sunset.  Ahhh.

But the ultra best is when there is a little moonlight.  Our deck is painted a light, light blue and this reflects the moonlight so beautifully!  It seems the light comes up out of the hulls almost like some magic movie with fantasy scenes.  I loved that look.  And we painted the hatch covers white so they could be seen easily in the dark, the slats were bright with Cetol so you knew where your feet would feel those different sensations and notice the different deck levels when walking around in the "dark".  Somehow we never felt Peace to be totally dark.  She almost manufactured her own light.

There were evenings when I could not bring myself to get back in bed and sleep again.  I just had to stay awake in the moon light or even the star light.  It was just too amazing just looking over the side to the dark water glistening and undulating, making tiny whispering and adoring sounds with the hulls.  In the Bahamas I could see the bottom and check the anchor even by moonlight through the crystal water or count the star fish even.  Too often I did not get back to bed at all and stayed up to see the sun rise bringing warmth to dry the night damp decks and cause my misty damp hair to curl in the morning breezes so soft and gentle.

I will remember more and share it from time to time to help the builders.  It is a lot of work, my friends, but it is worth doing.  There are a thousand things to marvel at about your new boats which are just being prepared for the launch... sometime.  Work harder and work faster and get the job done because it is a shame to miss out on such beauty that the finished boat can bring to your life.  She will thank you thousands of times by bringing you all the beauty she knows of in the ocean.  She lives in the palm of the ocean and you will live within her embrace.  It is to be a love story for you and for your family.  

Ann