The Go Box

Anticipating a return to Why Knot next week sometime, we are starting what we call the “go box”. For folks with senior moments, it is a way to take things aboard that have rambled across our thinking at some point before we actually climb aboard. If you ever jumped in the car, drove to the grocery store and forgot why you went, you know what I mean. There is nothing quite like ordering a doodad which was deemed to be an absolute necessity then upon arrival at the boat, you remembered it was on the floor in the kitchen at home 500 miles away. It was on the floor so as not to forget it. So, our way of dealing with such is to take a go box. In this case, said box was started last week. It includes electrical, mechanical and soft stuff. As we remember stuff, we swing by the box and deposit same. So far, it is only about the size of a small suitcase but we still have a week to go. Who knows what will wind up in that box? There are some frequent travelers in the go box. For instance, that very nautical canvas bucket has been on and off Why Knot at least 4 times and has made its way back and forth via the go box.


In anticipation of more time underway, we are searching for directions to marlinspike fancywork called St. Mary’s coxcomb or Spanish coxcomb. It is a method of using line to completely wrap a handrail or in our case the handle of our dock pole. If you have ever been aboard a war ship or a proper sailing vessel from the 19th century or older, you might recall seeing how the crew covered much of the handrails and vertical grab bars with really fancy line weaving. I am thinking it was not so much to present fancy marlinspike but to cover up that which needed regular polishing. In the absence of a grip on our dock pole, that might make a very reliable way to keep from committing the pole to the deep as we did in Houma. We tolerate no fancy floating aluminum store bought dock pole aboard Why Knot (except for the secret standby one hidden in the port locker).

By the way, I am published, well sort of. My essay on The Call of the Sea appears in the current issue of Seafaring Magazine, aka, Latitudes and Attitudes. It might help explain a few things.

Still chewing on the leash but we are getting closer to freedom. More later.