Big Boat Man has been recovering slowly from man flu over the past four weeks.  As his support crew, I felt it prudent to investigate how best to help him overcome the incessant coughing.  I emailed a sister who makes home remedies from essential oils, and she pointed me to a website.  One of the ingredients was beeswax.  I mulled over where I could get medicinal grade beeswax, and finally mentioned out loud where my guesses were leading me.  BBM casually stated that he might have some beeswax in the boat shed.  Medicinal grade?  Yes, he thought it would do the trick.  That evening he brought two big blocks of medicinal grade beeswax home.  Sheepishly, he admitted that he had thought he would require more than he actually needed, and that the two blocks had cost him $150.  I was as generous as possible when I added the beeswax to the rub.  And, we must admit that every time the rub is used, the coughing disappears. So, BBM has smelled like peppermint and eucalyptus at bed time, to say nothing of the soft feel of beeswax, olive oil, and coconut oil.  I think it is worth it in the name of getting a good night’s sleep.

As you can see in the picture above, the ‘wings’ are placed on the sides and the mast is in place even though the boat is still in the boat shed (still negotiating the trailer aspects….).  I like to think that I am not the least knowledgeable person around….. BBM said he was considering how best to fix the lea-boards since they will need to be raised and lowered when needed.  I suggested rope, since hardware like screws would wear through the wood over time?  It appears that was close, since in the picture BBM has positioned rubber tubing as a temporary way of judging how things could work.

BBM has also had another helper in the boat shed over the last month.  Chicken ‘Five’ has not been particularly happy to have a kitten impacting on her time with BBM.  Of course, the kitten would be happy to share, but ‘Five’ has had bad experiences with similarly smelling beasts in the past.  She clucks disapproval and won’t let the kitten get close.

The kitten is a climber and enjoys riding on shoulders so that he can see everything that is happening. He also has a fascination with ears and the hair around ears. He nuzzles his face into BBM’s hair and purrs into his ear.  Work is done at a slower pace.  As I type this, I receive a text from BBM….. “Ok. Bad idea. Babysitting cat. Getting NOTHING done. (smiley face)”.

As he has been recovering from the flu, BBM has taken turns babysitting the kitten while Brynn works.  He was taking an afternoon nap after lunch one day and started snoring.  I watched as the kitten took note of where the noise was coming from, then carefully worked his way over to the reclining chair and tip-toed onto BBM’s lap so as not to disturb him.  The kitten curled up and immediately went to sleep.

There is no urgency to launching the boat before August since Brynn will be overseas in July.  That suits us,  since we have other business to take care of in the meantime.  And, August seems to be a month which attracts a lot of memories for us….. Portugal, Vietnam, wedding anniversary, and birthdays.

So, the wings are placed.  The rudder and mast are placed. The boat is going to be launched soon.  BBM has started going through withdrawal from the technical thinking the boat has required.

So, he is starting the initial thinking around the next boat.  He will need to draw up proper plans to specifications since it will be a house boat, and he has lined up a builder to project manage the process instead of doing it alone.  He has a professional drawing board set up with appropriate lighting and mechanical pencils and rulers.

I, sadly, will not be close enough to the action to take morning teas and run errands.  But, then I suspect a lot of that kind of thing was really just busy work so that I could feel a part of something which has been entirely of BBM’s doing.

He is truly the Big Boat Man.