Old souls

Old boats have souls. 

Spend any amount of time on an old cherished boat and you will feel it too. It's a combination of a lifetime of memories, of hard work, of love and devotion from all owners previous and current that settles over an old boat, working its way into the pores of the teak, the sailcloth, the upholstery of a snug bunk. 

The feeling is palpable. It's a feeling of security in a raging storm, knowing the boat will do her best to keep you safe. It's insomnia at night and curling up in the corner of a settee and feeling nothing but peace. It's being overwhelmed by the world and stepping aboard and finally being able to breathe. It's seeing the boat after a significant time away and knowing you are finally home. It's the smells of the boat; teak oil and mustiness and a whiff of diesel, a smell that will permeate your clothes and hair and constantly remind you of the only place worth being. It's walking down the dock and checking over your shoulder as you leave because you can't get enough of her. It's a swell of pride, a lightheaded swoon, a brainwashing. 

It's being on the water with the sails up, the waves on the hull, the halyards clanking, the bow bobbing up and down, the boat heeling. It's her song and dance and she shares it with you because you are the lucky one. 

It's not all take. It's a constant devotion, a complete giving of yourself. It's spending a decade rebuilding an old sailboat's cabin to exact specifications. It's hanging out of a dinghy at 4 o'clock every morning for a couple of months to make her beautiful on the outside too. It's working overtime to pay for everything she requires, it's spending every spare cent to keep her afloat. It's a constant dreaming of the places you might someday go, an evolving itinerary that changes on a whim.

It's why shipwrecks are especially heartbreaking; why we stop on the docks in front of a derelict boat and can't help but feel sad. It's the reason some people take these derelict boats and spend a lifetime bringing them back. 

They aren't just boats. They are us, our hearts and our souls made corporeal.