Ah, yes… this is the life. Nothing beats a day at the tip, looking for boat parts with my cousin Gavin. I’m not even being facetious here. Gavin has a way of somehow making even the most dreary and inane activity seem like fun. I honestly don’t know how he does it, especially with regard to this boat building malarkey, given the low success rate we’ve had in finding usable parts. You really have to hand it to the guy.
Anyway, the object of today’s search is bow rails. I don’t know why Gavin can’t just buy new bow rails, seeing as he’s hardly strapped for cash, but won’t back down on his thrifty scheme. I think he gets just as much enjoyment out of our DIY adventures as he expects to get from the actual boat – if it ever gets completed, that is. I can’t help but wonder if the boat isn’t really the point.
The one smidgen of success we’ve managed to clock up was when we found an as-new set of stainless steel snapper racks on the nature strip a couple of weeks back. Gavin claims he manifested them through his dedication to the hunt, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my uncle put them out there for us to find, just to give us a win. If so, it certainly worked for keeping me on the mission when I was nearing the point of chucking it in.
I wouldn’t have suspected anything if I hadn’t found an invoice from a boat accessories fabricator in uncle Bill’s waste paper basket. Did I think about telling Gavin? Yes, of course. But in the end, I didn’t really see the point. It’s all a bit of a game, and nobody’s hurting anyone. Truth be told, Gavin might have known full well that his dad bought the snapper racks, and has just been having fun going along with it.
At the end of the day, I guess that’s what life’s all about.