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| A relic from the collection of an ancient mariner. |
Several years ago in order to add some insulation to the roof of the cabin at the East Pole, I put up some R-max sheets of about R-9 I think. They are 4x8 sheets of 2-inch thick foam covered on one side by reflective foil. Since then I have often stared at that ceiling trying to figure out what I can do to cover that foil. Part of the problem would be nailing anything through those two inches of foam in hopes of hitting a rafter. The best I came up with so far was hanging canvas, stretching it tight and painting it like I did with the deck of my lightening sailboat in the 1960s.
Life continued on under the foil and I grew older to the point when a while back I came across a posting on facebook addressed to the elderly and informing us that all the crap we have accumulated throughout our lives that we feel is so important, well, our kids just don't want it. None of it. A few years ago I offered my library of nautical publications (two whole shelves at the pole) to my son who has since embarked on a career at sea. A yawn, a noncommittal nod and nothing further said. Among the nautical accumulations are probably a thousand dollars worth of NOAA nautical charts, for the entire south coast of Alaska from Dixon Entrance south of Ketchikan all the way out to the western Aleutians, about half of them laminated.
I tried to sell them recently. You see in accepting the fact that my kids aren't going to want anything I have (I already got noncommittal nods from both of them about the fate of the cabin itself), I have started clearing out the collection. I must have burned 20 years worth of financial records already. Got a huge bag of barely used clothing to give to some charity and another bag of throwaways.
Among the things to go are those charts. I put them up for sale on Craigslist and the Alaska List and they've been there for a month and not a single call. I know people use electronics these days, but I thought somebody might want them. I asked a friend who has sailed the big ocean if he knew anybody who might want them. His suggestion was to use them for wallpaper.
Funny, a flip comment, a toss off, until, wait for it … I started thinking about that foil ceiling. Wow, now doesn't that sound cool? A whole ceiling in a cozy bush cabin papered with nautical charts. I have even thought of using colorful push pins to mark the ports I've visited and maybe even stretching yarn among them to mark the passages.
Now, I learned long ago when you have a dream or even an idea for a simple project you can't do right away it's a good idea to do something tangible with it once in a while to keep it alive. So, today I found a chunk of foil-covered foam left over from another project, pulled out a chart that duplicates another and then bought five different kinds of adhesives in small amounts to test what would be the best to hold those charts on the ceiling. I think I will add some thin wood slats to make sure they stay in place.
I won't get to do this until snow flies. For one thing I don't want to take a chance on ruining the charts hauling them over a wet, muddy trail, plus I will have a lot more time when I go out for the winter. My plan is to go as far as I can with the laminated charts and then later on fill in with paper ones if I need to. Looking at the pile of laminates, I might have enough without the paper, so if anybody's in the market I still have quite a few charts for sale. Hit me up. Then again maybe they aren't for sale.
I remember reading an article in Cruising World by a guy who hauled out his charts one day and began erasing all the marks he'd made on them during passages over the years. He didn't get very far before he realized he was erasing the chronicles of his many days under sail and he quit, instead reliving the memories from the notations and courses and positions of one voyage after another. He left the marks on his charts. I have some of those too and I look forward to reliving the adventures. Who knows, a story or two from one of those charts might end up on this very blog one day. Watch this space.
Our kids don't want our stuff
A Guide to Right-sizing and Relocating
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