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November 10, 1997
Monterey CA, Hawaii pre-departure. Update #4
Monday, November 10th, 8:30 PM
Monterey, California
As this is written, Casey and I can hardly keep our eyes open, the combination of fresh air and salt water brings on a deep sense of weariness. Salt water! The focus has shifted from the static to the mobile, as Moksha felt water under her keel today for the first time in months. Neatened up and moving to the rhythm of the sea rather than that of people clambering aboard while she languished on her trailer, it was similar to a creature shaking off the long days of hibernation, shrugging off the accumulated dust and cobwebs and returning to a living, vital existence on the element where she belongs. Our muscles worked, her propeller turned, and she made her way through the water - a simple concept to grasp technically yet still a heady reality for us both, and for those who have all worked so long and hard to make this happen again. Today we tested her ability to right herself should she be put on her beam, and with several of us paddling anxiously in the water and more watching ashore a crane mimicked the action of an angry ocean. But true to form Moksha shrugged it off, rising upright with hardly a pause. It proved impossible to resist taking her out into Monterey harbor after sunset, standing smoking at the hatch and feeling her move with a gentle swell, looking at the lights of the city with such a different perspective. Getting lost amongst the yacht berths on the way back to our slip took nothing at all away from the experience.
-John
Posted on November 10, 1997 4:00 PM