Shiriri Saga #7 Pitter Patter.

I woke in a pitchy dark night to hear a few large raindrops falling on the cabin top close over my head. Heather rolled over beside me and I said " I `m just going to check on deck." thus beginning a regular night time habit at anchor for the sailing years ahead of us.

We were anchored in a narrow cove not so very far from Salt spring Island. At last we were living on board and cruising at first among the islands that were closest to home. We still thought of our home as being behind us on land and not there, moving gently beneath us. It had been a less seamless transition than we could have wished. For Heather there was a feeling that we were isolated from our family and I was having difficulty making the mental transition from boat builder to boat sailor. Of course it did n`t help that so many final building details had still to be brought to completion.

Once I`d climbed up into the cockpit, I looked out over the dark bay from under the hard dodger and was awed by what I saw. Each large raindrop created a quivering moon of phosphorescence as it struck the dark water and there were hundreds of them constantly fading and being renewed.
I could not have experienced this from my bedroom window at home!

The next morning I began another regular habit: I took out a sketchbook and drew that amazing midnight scene from memory and added a little notation. My little sketchbook grew over the years to be the journals that are such a treasure trove now. Today I open the first page to that dark night at anchor and the whole moment of life come alive to me again.