April 24, 2004

• Movin’ On

  The other weekend, I took a trip out to the South Pasture to deliver one old spare tire back to the place where the sailing club keeps its boats. It’s so nice to see all of those boats clustered together. I may not have gotten my graduate degree here, but at least I helped to find two perfectly fine boats, and get them back in working order. The big red one is particularly nice, and came with a spinnaker. The smaller one is the Rhodes Bantam. I will miss it most of all.

  Rhodes Bantams are no longer made. It seems a good design should weather the times well. But most people want small, fast tender boats, if they’re young. And if they’re old, they want one with a cabin.

  I like the Rhodes Bantam. I will miss its roomy cockpit. And the dryness of the bow well. I like the ease of the way the centerboard lines are rigged. It’s just a nicely designed boat.

  AND best of all, tiny little me can even lift it into the water, if need be.

  Matt can say he learned to sail on a Rhodes Bantam!

  Anyway, it’s time to say goodbye to everyone I knew here. Not like I’ll miss most of them.

  Education is a big waste. But I did meet some great people whom I will miss.

  I will especially miss sailing with Dimi.

  
  Dimi in the Rhodes Bantam

  Dimi taught me some Bulgarian, on the long drive to the nuclear power plant reservoir. He taught me quite a lot, but unfortunately, my brain only retained one word — “DOOP-kah.” The Bulgarian word for “pothole.”

  There were quite a lot of potholes on the County Road from the Sailing Club shed to the Newk-yoo-ler Power Plant Reservoir.

  The plural of “DOOP-kah” is “DOOP-ki.” Yes, Illinois has plenty of “DOOP-ki.” It seems they’re always trying to fix them too, but I never seen any improvement.

  I suppose I’ll see plenty of “DOOP-ki” in Texas too.

  • 5:21 pm
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