Boat Show Hangover

I’ve been nursing a hangover all week. You know, the feeling off, headache, lack of energy kind of thing? Yeah, a hangover.

I overdosed in Annapolis. No, it wasn’t the Painkillers (although yes, I did have a couple of those!) It’s time to pay the fun tax, and I don’t want to at all.

Overdose might not be the right term. I REVELED in Annapolis. Friendships old and new, zeroing in on Good Old Boat advertising ideas, all the boat products. Being around people who understand this lifestyle we’re working toward. I could wake up and go outside to see water and boats. I didn’t go so far as to have coffee in the cockpit, but I got to have coffee and a walk with my friend Wendy Mitman Clarke when I stayed with her on the Eastern Shore.

Cruiser’s University was another revel. 200 people there to learn about cruising, the ins and outs of the life? 200 people and another handful of instructors all there to be together, ask and answer questions, and soak it all up? My classes contained a better mix of men and women (and this was true for all instructors I talked to, regardless of the topic!), showing me the new crop of cruisers will be more conscious of the importance of every aspect of the cruising life.

This week back home was funk-ful, I have to say. On the one hand, I’ve been really jazzed, making decisions left and right. Sleeping in my own bed was luxurious (I think I was in bed at 7:30 that first night, and I slept until 8 the next morning.) Jeremy’s been hard at work making our new AIS unit talk to our VHF; he’s also managing to figure out a way for that AIS to talk to any and all of our devices. This new technology is going to be really interesting to cruise with!

And on the other?

It’s hard coming back to a land-based life, as much as I missed my family and friends while I was away. The alarm going off at 5:30 was a blaring reminder that my time is not my own (not that I didn’t have a schedule of sorts in Annapolis), and I didn’t even bother trying to explain what exactly I’d been doing up there for the past 2 weeks.

The budget took a hit with the additional items we bought. House work is about to commence in earnest, bringing with it even more outlay of cash. It’s benefits season, and trying to sort out how much we might spend next year in medical bills is brain-numbing.

None of this should really make me want to bury my head under the covers and stay there.

But it does.

It’ll be good to go to the boat this weekend, to continue working on projects and make some other decisions there. We’re not quite at the point of being able to plywood the bunk (we have to find time to get to Richmond during the work week to do that) but I’m hoping we’ll continue destruction of the galley, decide on a sink size, and fine-tune the bow area. I don’t think we’re bringing the windlass or the anchor down to try it on for size (but I’ve been wrong before!)

The overdose in Annapolis was an overdose of inspiration and energy, 2 things that are hard to qualify with the term “overdose”.

When can I do it again?