I have several of her albums. I enjoy them all and have been asked which of her songs are my favorites.
‘Scorpion’ is certainly one of them. I have two different versions and prefer the one on the album, RED HORSE, which she shares with Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka.
Another of my favorite of her songs is also on that album, ‘Blue Chalk.’
‘Ten Year Night’ from the album of that name and ‘The Tide’ from the album of that name round out my top four.
I particularly like the contrast between ‘Scorpion’ in which a woman wants to give everything and ‘The Tide’ where she has nothing to give.
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Last week my removable bow sprit wasn’t. One of the knurled knobs securing the flange that holds it in place was frozen and despite my massive strength could not be budged, so I painted around and beneath it, then sprayed it with Corrosion Block and WD40 and tapped it with a hammer a couple of times. Yesterday I was surprised to find that one or the other of the sprays had worked. The knob moved with fingers. It still does. A sailor’s small pleasure.
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I have had an indolent day. I have done nothing but listen to music and read THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER. I have only left GANNET to put a sack of trash on the dock and move a can of paint into the dock box. I expect to muster sufficient ambition to take the trash up with me when I shower later.
The GANNET to do list is down to:
Stern running light
Wind instruments?
Repair foul weather gear
Upholstery: pipe berths, v-berth
Replace spray hood
Replace standing rigging; furling gear inspection
Leaks bow and forward hatch
I expect that the stern running light is only a loose wire, but before I crawl back there I will buy an LED light. The present one has a bulb.
The question mark after wind instruments is that I will probably buy another unit, but I sailed much of GANNET’s circumnavigation without wind instruments and am tired of them malfunctioning.
The seam in the seat of one set of foul weather gear needs regluing.
The pipe berths need replacing, but it is an ordeal to remove the covers and I may buy a yard or two of vinyl and glue it over the top third of each berth.
The v-berth cushions are all right, but I have always wanted them to be an inch thicker and of firmer foam.
The spray hood made in Durban is showing signs of weakening due to sun exposure.
I see no defects in the standing rigging, but I always replace standing rigging after a circumnavigation.
Depending on what the rigger finds, I may replace the jib furling gear too.
Listing the leaks is a gesture. I have been trying to find and fix them for years. I have rebedded the forward hatch twice. Maybe someday when I am really bored, I will try again, though I expect that I will have to continue to live with them.
