Canadian Yachting May 2020 - 62

CROSSING THE LINE

Story | John Morris

Kjallarinn (The Basement)
SEASON 6, EPISODE 1
The scene is a fashion forward kitchen
somewhere in Scandinavia. Marte is putting herring on a Rörstrand breakfast plate.
(Voice from downstairs) "Min deilige
kjæreste, do you know where the sacrificial anodes are?"
(Marte) "Erling, I think they're in the
bin with the deck cleaner behind the vee
berth cushions...
(From downstairs) Crashing sounds.
Loud scream.
(Erling, shrieking and sobbing)
"There's...there's ...omigawd.... O mi
gawd!!!!!!!!
Cue dramatic music; roll titles. CY Films and Netflix present
The Basement. Your basement. It's spring and time to dig out
the boat parts and supplies. What's down there? What will
happen? The tension is palpable; the mood is dark and frightening despite the sunny weather and chirping robins on the lawn.
Each year the spring ritual includes a descent into the basement. Sure, every box and Rubbermaid storage container is carefully labeled but somehow - possibly in the rush of holiday
decorating last December - all the labeling has been turned
around, the cushions have been un-stacked and the gas canister
is piled underneath the turkey roaster. That's the scene in my
basement, anyhow.
There's a lot of upside to living in Canada but for most of the
country, boating begins about now and continues happily until
late autumn, when we will once again strip all the gear off the
boat and store it in the basement. In carefully marked storage
containers from Canadian Tire.
Each spring the system seems to break down as we search for
the fenders, the boat hook and the picnic dishes in a chaotic
underground mini-warehouse.Why is that? There are at least a
couple of good reasons:
Boats are complex. There are a lot of moving and non-moving

Can adian Ya cht i ng

parts ranging from specialized tools to beverage coolers.
Boaters like being aboard boats and operating boats in a
fastidious, meticulous way. Once they get off the boat, they
become confused and disorganized.
Junk expands to fill the available space - Murphy's Law. Murphy's Second Law says that even if you allocate more space you
will find even more junk.
The boat shares this view and creates equipment, motor parts,
chemicals (some deadly), lubricants, and odd caulking tubes etc.
That unique Allen key to remove that obscure cartridge from that
obscure drain hose must be somewhere, but where?
"I'm sure I put it down here last November."
Having gone through this season after season of basement
ransacking, you might think that we might become more careful
putting stuff away in the fall so we can find it again in April.
You might think that, but you would be wrong as history has
proved every year since Henry the Navigator tried to find the
wrench that came packed in the box with his astrolabe. Those
who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That's
me, apparently.
Good luck with your spring launch (whenever that happens).
I am heading downstairs to find a replacement fuel filter. *

MAY 2020

Canadian Yachting May 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting May 2020