Plures Naves Quam Mentes

Some time back, my wife bought me a T-shirt in Maine with that phrase on the back. if I correctly recall my Latin from 48 years ago, it means somehing like: "More boats than sense." (If I don't then, obviously, it means something else!) Anyway, the phrase came to mind a couple of days ago when I agreed to sell my 15' fiberglass canoe to a seasonal visitor who wants to get on the water to take some photos.

The canoe has been in my back yard for quite some time, neatly stacked on my 10' Whitehall sailing dinghy.

"How long have you owned the canoe?" the buyer asked me. After thinking for a minute I said, "I think about eight years."

"When did you use it last?" he then asked and after a bit of thought I said, "I guess about eight years ago."

We were at a potluck dinner and my wife chimed in, "That's when we bought the Honda Odyssey with the roof rack so you could carry the canoe down to Florida and back every year. After the first year we left the canoe at home and rented whenever we wanted to go canoeing. I always hated that car."

I am making headway, though. Last year, after replacing my 57' schooner Windfall with the 40' schooner Windfall II, I managed to sell the 8' Trinka that used to hang from the stern in davits.

And, although I don't feel quite ready to part with the 10' inflatable I bought the last year we were in Florida, the 18' Herreschoff America catboat on a trailer in my driveway is seriously for sale.

I need that space for the 24' Rainbow sloop I'm in the process of buying to teach sailing lessons.