The other day, Marilyn was sharing a post with me. The author was describing the four quarters of life. Being in the 4th quarter gives life a new perspective. There is a need to slow down when it comes to work but a desire to speed up with regards to enjoying what time is left.

Even with a positive outlook reality tells me we are definitely in that last quarter. I’m going to call it the pontoon years. I remember my first boat. It was a blue over white 14 ft run about with big tail fins. I had that boat in high school and spent many hours trying to make it look newer than it was. It had an old 50 HP Scott outboard motor. I use that term “motor”, lightly because anything described as a motor implies that it should be functional. This one did work occasionally. Keeping it running was a continuous project. Those years were the sporting years where water skiing and tubing were the primary motivation.

Next, I had a 17 ft. wooden canoe. That was a fun boat also. I didn’t have to depend on an outboard motor because I was it. We took it all the way out to the Tetons and Yellowstone. I remember carrying it on top of our pick-up camper. At one of the mountain lakes, I got it off the camper and carried it down to the beach across a wide boulder field. Then I went back and got the little 3HP outboard to take us out across the lake. Due to the high altitude, the motor would not start. I carried the motor back to the camper and then took the canoe out the old fashioned way. We paddled out to the middle of the crystal clear lake at which point Pat looked down at the deep water and became very uncomfortable because she did not swim. Just then the beautiful sunny weather was interrupted by heavy storm clouds bounding over the surrounding mountain peaks. It was a race to the shore to beat the rain. Those were the carefree years.

The next boat was a fiberglass tri-hull open bass boat. I didn’t have to modify it any, and we enjoyed fishing in it those early mornings. It only had a small Mercury outboard but due to its light construction, it would zip around. Unfortunately, I had to sell it because we needed the money. I guess those were the responsible years. After selling the good boat, I revisited the old runabout. I decided it would make a good bass boat. The price was right! Yes, folks, I cut out the front deck and built a flat deck for fishing. It didn’t look too bad, but the extra weight did not help the motor work any better. Even with a new 20HP Yamaha motor it just didn’t want to go very fast.  It was finally chopped up and dumped. As I was cutting it up to dump, I found it was infested with carpenter ants. They were living in the wet wood deck that obviously leaked. No wonder the boat was so slow. It was a soggy wet sponge that could barely float.  Those were not the best years. They were the years where responsibility met the school of hard knocks.

The next boat came after the kids were mostly grown. We were free to do more of what we wanted. Money was still an issue so a new boat was never in our future, but when the deceased neighbor’s  became available, I bought it. The old Yamaha engine was still in storage and I mounted it on the back of this nice tri-hull bass and ski boat and off I went. It ran well, but Pat was never comfortable in it. It sat too low to the water and her fear of water just took all the fun out. I used it a few times the first year, but an inspection of the transom showed some give when I pushed down on the raised motor. A few probes proved to be one more nail in my boat owner’s coffin. It was rotten. Not being the type to give up, I took this on as a challenge.

Rotted transom
Transom removed
Transom replacement one layer at a time.

Who says I can’t fix a rotted transom! After two summers of fiberglass and wood repair, the old boat was back out on the water and it rode fine. With the wind in my face, I skimmed the water enjoying every splash as the bow tapped the water and spit in my face. At last, I was back on the water. . . . . . . ALONE!  Somehow the joy of conquering this seemingly unsurmountable DIY task, was empty with nobody to share the joy. I pulled the boat back into the dock and onto the trailer. THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I RODE IN THAT BOAT!  By this time, Pat’s cancer was taking its toll. She didn’t like the water and I knew I could not enjoy it alone.  These were some hard years.

That brings us to the present. Pat was able to free herself from the pains and fears of this Earthly life and I was forced to go on alone. But life sometimes throws us an easy pitch to get us out of our slump. I found Marilyn. To put it more honestly, Spirit joined us together to live out what time we have left TOGETHER. And guess what? Marilyn loves the water as much as I do!  With the sale of the Roadtrek, we found a new freedom and a void parking spot. Just the place for a new boat, a new pontoon boat to be exact.  Follow along  as we hit the water in these new pontoon years. We are not looking for the speed and excitement of those early years. We are looking for those easy sailing times just slowly drifting along with the manatees and dolphins while we sit back in comfortable seating.  We will be fast enough to get back to shore in a hurry if necessary but mostly we just want to relax and soak in what Nature has to give us. I’m sure I will find a small project or two with this new boat, but basically those “constantly fixin’” years are hopefully behind us. This is our final quarter and I am looking forward to a happy ending. Love and Light, my friends. Keep on plugging along. There is Light at the end of the tunnel. Life is good. Blessings to you all.

I wrote this the night before we were to pick up the new boat. On the way to Peoria Bass Pro Shop for making the actual purchase, we got a call. The boat we bought over the phone was just recalled by the manufacturer. We did the paper-work and got the boat “tour” but came home empty handed. I talked to the dealer the next day about the expected time line and the manufacturer a couple days after that. There was an issue with some of the steering cables. The manufacturer was to have recall procedures to the dealers by the end of this week. If our boat is one of the affected boats, they will have to order and replace the cable before releasing the boat. I would hope to have our boat by the first part of September. Considering the fact that I was able to find the boat we wanted within an easy drive, I should not be too upset. If I had ordered a boat, delivery would have been around December. I believe things happen for a reason and we just need to be patient until the time is right . “Salt Life!” here we come.