When Thijs sent us this photo yesterday recording the moment that our “Joyeux” was reunited with water it triggered a series of irrational emotions.
The first was a distinct sense of urgency for us to get aboard, something we’d either not felt or was deeply repressed for the past several years. The other was as it turned out, a false hope that after three years idly resting in a shed, she would be in as tidy condition as the day we left her.
What a grubby little thing she was too, despite first appearances, but she seemed happy to see us. When Davy, (the technician who’d been charged with making sure everything that was supposed to move did, and everything that was supposed to be bolted in place was), fired her up for the first time in three years, one could almost swear she was trying to wag her stern.
There’s nothing particularly exciting about cleaning a boat that has been stored for several years, nor anything glamorous about moving aboard that same boat without access to potable water while undertaking those tasks, yet I may have written about it endlessly had Dave and Ria not turned up, to distract us for the rest of the evening and to save you, dear reader, from that particular pain!
5 comments
Best wishes for your aquatic venture, looking forward to your posts !
Look on the bright side, Peter. It would have been much worse if she’d been left in the water for those three years. Given the storms, both wet and dry, we’ve had in the last six months alone, she would have been in a dreadful state.
Oh yes Val - I am not sure we would have had the courage to face the sort of clean we'd need if she'd been outside! It's really been a very gentle process - so grateful that we were inside!
I know it seems crazy but seeing Joyeux happily in the water and hearing that after three years you are happily on board her makes me happy!! I can shut my eyes and visualise the three of you, that is, Jo, Peter and Joyeux preparing themselves for another summer of bliss. xx
Thanks Pen, it's really taking some adjusting after all this time away! Tomorrow we are driving to Douai to visit some friends on their boat - will think of you two all the way there and all the way back!
Post a Comment