“He holds him with his skinny hand, ‘There was a ship,’ quoth he.”

My step-dad in-law likes to talk about “finding the rake” when you’ve got a big job ahead of you. The basic notion is to take one small step towards reaching the final objective particularly when you have all sorts of reservations. So if you have a big yard full leaves, first just find the rake and later you can take the next small, bite-sized step.

The equivalent of the rake was actually washing the dirt and grime that had accumulated on her over the past year of sitting in the driveway. Of course I had some expert helpers here, my four and six year-olds. Just sitting in the boat’s cockpit is an adventure for them, and splashy water in buckets with suds, sponges and a hose is all bonus. Of course, their pleasure and amusement is contagious so this chore on my list was actually fun (especially because it was a sunny warm day).

I suppose it’s time to explain exactly what it is that I’m working on. Moonbeam is an 18” wooden sailboat, technically an Alden “O” boat. It was designed as a class of small sailboat for racing (in contrast to Alden’s more famous and larger wooden sailboats). Not much that I’ve been able to dig up about her history except for an anecdote about a race of Alden “O” boats somewhere in New York state where a sudden squall capsized and sunk a good portion of the fleet. Not an auspicious tale to say the least, which only adds to my fears that Moonbeam will wind up on the bottom sooner rather than later.

Moonbeam was built in the 1980s by the Landing School (a traditional wooden boatbuilding institute) with pine or cedar planking and mahogany trim. She’s got a marconi rig with an interesting set up on the jib that uses a traveller and not two sheets for port and starboard. I haven’t quite figured out how it works and already am using words a bit outside my comfort zone.

Moonbeam has also progressed through at least four owners, which again raises flags (too much work, poor sailing, too expensive???) I received/bought her as a 40th birthday present from my wife. Basically, my cousin purchased her a few years back and then was actually paid to do some work on her by one of his clients (he’s a professional carpenter and boat restorer) who wanted to sail her. The work got done, but the sailing never happened so he was happy to sell her to us for his initial acquisition price. It was a price that couldn’t be refused and which I’ve easily spent 3-4 times over on transport, slip fees, registration, paint, extra lines... and she has never even been in the water yet. What’s that oft-quoted expression, “A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into.”