T'is Brillig

T'is Brillig


Hello all.

I haven't written an email in an awfully long time.  I haven't had much to say of interest for a while, but more recently I have been intentionally mum on a few subjects, as to not jinx myself.  (I don't think of myself as superstitious, but. . . )  Now at least, all is underway.  So much is changing.  This is the brief of what's been going on.

The first thing I wanted to do upon arrival was improve my diet. . . I know, I know: Boring. . . but NOT so.  My skin was really bothering me before I left and nothing was helping.  My doctor had the nerve to say that diet has nothing to do with dry skin.  Yea right…  So shortly after arriving back to Araby I took refined sugar off the menu.  And WHAM!. ..my scalp is clean. . . I don't even use any drugs any more.  It all has faded away.  Not gone.  Nothing is perfect, but 80% plus improvement is nothing to huff at.  Sugar is foul.  I am convinced.  There is plenty of evidence to support my case.  If interested, read "Sugar Blues"—amazingly easy to read.  I read it in one sitting.  A good history of nutrition.

So I've been feeling good.  This is key.  I wasn't feeling so great for a while there.  With health comes productivity.  I've been getting a lot done.  I cleaned Araby from stem to stern.  Threw away amazing amounts of junk.  Put her against the wall and painted her bottom.  Won separate wars, first against ants, later against roaches.  Painting her deck now, which will look really nice; her decks have been bad for a while now.  I disassembled both the windvane and the heater to clean rust and inspect and clean all parts.  Did a partial rebuild of the Honda generator.  Lots of re-organization.

The real news, however is that I have bought a new boat.

The boat, a Pacific Seacraft Mariah, was sitting quietly in the yard when I returned to Araby.  The Mariah has long been one of my two dream boats, but strangely, I didn't actually know that much about her.
As I stared at her one day a Filippino friend told me she was for sale.  Then, at the local cantina I saw a flyer with her specs and contact info.  Zeke told me that she would sell easily, and she was really cheap.  But looked great and stout.
So I contacted the owner and started talking.  His name is Jonathan and we talked everyday and I became more and more sure of what I was so afraid to do.

As the dialogue progressed, I quickly became infatuated, then straight possessed by the prospect of the new boat.  I could imagine it so easily; it was coming together.  And then Jonathan had second thoughts about selling.  He had been planning a cruise with his (Filippina) girlfriend in only two months.  Then I feared I might not get the boat at all.  In the end we worked it all out and I bought the boat.  We shook hands on it on Feb. 23rd.
He lives in Guam and was able to get some time off to come to Cebu and spend time with the boat and help me get acquainted.  (His girlfriend lives here, which is good motivation.)  He is a shipwright in Guam and has done fine work on the boat.

The boat is small.  Overall it is about the same length as Araby.  But her design is in complete opposition.  Where Araby is fine lined, narrow, lots of overhang, light, and fairly quick; the Mariah is round, fat, heavy, and slow.  She is a turtle, but. . . she has a fat shell.  Her fiberglass is about an inch thick. . . which is great if you don't know.  She has a cutter rig, which, if you don't know, means two forestays and three backstays. . . which is great.  She has a try'sle, which I love.  I am bringing my liferaft with me as well as my Dickenson heater and windvane.  She has a single-side band radio (SSB), wind generator, EPIRB, chart plotter. . . She's got a beautiful hard dinghy.  Oh man, am I excited to row a hard dinghy for a change. . . and great mounting blocks on the foredeck to stow her securely.  She has a brand new bowsprit, which everyone will think is pretty.  She has classic, rugged lines.    She's very "shippy": lots of bronze and over-sized gear.  She looks like a Westsail 32 if that means anything, not so beamy.  The Westsail 32 was the sailboat in The Perfect Storm, where the skipper was forced off his boat by his crew setting off his EPIRB.  That vessel weathered the storm alone.  They are stout boats.

AND, get this. . . she has AN ENGINE!!! A 20 hp Yanmar. . . which is great.  It purrs and has been so well cared for.  I figured everyone would be excited about that, so few purists out there these days.  Shame…shame.  My engineless days seem to be over.  I almost miss them.  But not quite.

One other element of my sailing days that is on hold for a period is my soloing.  Believe it or not, I actually have CREW!  Maybe it is more amazing to me than to you, but I have harbored the notion that perhaps I was always destined to sail around alone.  But when I was trying to deliver the yacht from Miami I asked my friend Annabelle if she wanted to come on and crew with me.  She said Thanks.  I can't because I am getting my captain's license.  Maybe in a few months. 
Well, then that boat fell through and I was gearing up to get back to the Philippines and Annabelle and I had stayed in touch.  She finished her course and had nothing planned.    I presented a strong case for the South Pacific and New Zealand (where we met) and the court swung to my favor.

So. . . to the present
.
I have moved onto my new Mariah.  I have re-christened her s/v Brillig.  (I'll talk about the name at some other point.)  Jonathan has come over each morning for coffee and spent a few hours in the lockers familiarizing me with the ship's systems.  He is a harbor pilot as well as a shipwright and I have learned a good deal from him already.
Annabelle arrived a few days ago.  We have been in and out of every compartment moving Araby's gear aboard and finding suitable homes for everything.  We still have loads to do, but we are getting so much done.  Actually it's been such fun that we are half-forcing ourselves to take this half-day off to write and go to town.

We have some serious jobs ahead: mounting the windvane, a chainlocker job, and then most jobs we can take with us and do as we travel.  The real issue is Araby.  I need to find a buyer as soon as possible.  The longer she sits the more care she will need, the more moorage I must pay, the less attractive she will be.  Currently, she looks great.  It is funny having my TWO boats side-tied to each other.

This is where I am.  I'm rowing with the stream and the water is fine at the moment.  The skies are clear and the horizon beckons.

PS.

JABBERWOCKY
By Lewis Carroll

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird,
and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

-------------

My friend Brian and I used to use the term "Brillig" to denote "coffee time" on the VHF. 

There are a few pictures on the blog.
--
Jonah Manning
S/V BRILLIG


Online Journal:  www.jonahmanning.name
Email - bellyofthewhale.gmail.com
Philippine phone # : +63 [0] 9087788183

c/o Charles Manning
751 Mallet Hill Rd
Apt 13105
Columbia, South Carolina, 29223
USA

Emergency contact:  
Dibble Manning
phone:  001 - 803 - 787 - 4352  
email:cmann1960@aol.com>
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