A letter to our trawler, Living Light

This week, Thursday actually, will be our 12 month anniversary from when we purchased our Monk 36. I have learned a lot, she has taught us a lot, and she has made me a profoundly better boater. On top of that, she has been a true blessing to our family in more ways than I could count. She has taught me more about piloting a boat than any other boat before (even though she is smaller than our most recent previous boat), taught me more about boat systems, and has proven to be an instrument of change for the good in our lives on multiple levels.

So...I decided to write her a letter. I thought

you all might appreciate it and perhaps identify with some of it. I will probably edit it some more this week as I refine my thoughts, etc. but here is the first draft:

Dear Living Light,

We "knew" you for several years before you really came into our lives. We admired you from afar but never got to really spend time with you except that one chance afternoon with your previous owner where he gave me the tour of your cabin and staterooms well before we were ever looking to bring you to our family. I thought you were pretty back then but as you know, you were in a bit of disarray.

And so it came to be that a year ago you officially came into our lives. I know the few weeks prior to your previous keeper signing you over to us I poked and prodded you all over and crawled all around on you but I think you know it was only to see where you might be sick and need

ing attention and help. It was all with the best intent though. Over the past year you have grown into a proud, happy, and wonderful trawler...the trawler you were meant to be. You are a strong and kind vessel and have brought us much joy. It has been an honor to work on you and help reveal your inner self that lay hidden for quite some time. I fear had we not met that you would have suffered more years in a state of confusion, incompleteness, and general neglect. Instead, you are now much loved, much appreciated, and a focal point in our family. I know our children tend to bounce around on you here and there but you take it without complaining and keep them safe and sound in their newly configured stateroom with bunk beds all their own and you help weave dreams of far away places, of hope, adventure, of time together and connection to the natural world as they lay peacefully in their berth after a long and active day with you on the water in the hot summer sun, safe in your protective arms and mom and dad near. As well, yo

u provide my wife and I with a gentle place to sit around our little kerosene lamp at the teak table on the aft flybridge deck...a place we can sit, regroup, connect, laugh, share our lives, and grow close together under the stars on a quiet night. You do this for us every weekend it seems and more.

We hope to have many trips with you ahead and have several planned in the coming weeks and months already but I will never forget the first trip we took with you down the river with just dad and my son....3 generations of men together on your longest trip in probably 15 years as we went to get you looking pretty and to have the new topside paint applied to your exterior. It was a magical time for us all. My slight apprehension as to how you would perform quickly faded as I saw you run solid and true the entire 250 mile round trip

journey. I know that my son, my dad, and myself will always cherish that first trip together...running through our first locks with you, cruising new waters, talking, keeping watch as we slowly and efficiently cruised the river...you gave to us a priceless and irreplaceable memory. I know that you will do this and more for us in the future.

It has been an honor to be the steward of your care these last 12 months. Overseeing your new fiberglass decks, your painting, testing all your mechanicals, working on your electrical and plumbing systems and making improvements where needed to assure your long term health and functionality...doing all of this was an honor. I have appreciated your patience as I learned what was needed for each step along the way and to make sure each part of you was of the highest quality and best workmanship. One of the unforeseen gifts of you coming into our lives as well was the time my son and I spent together over the winter working on your refit and make over. Such glorious times we had together, he at 8 years old, the perfect age to help dad with big important tasks, learning how to use tools, and able to fit into spac

es that I literally cannot. As you know, he, like all of us in our family, are very close, yet you drew us all closer together and for that I am so very grateful. Had you been a brand new boat we would have missed out on those opportunities.

We truly appreciate and love you like no other boat before you. When we were looking the other way you came to us and beckoned to our heart and we are so very glad. You are not the fastest boat, nor are you the youngest, yet you receive more compliments and praises than just about any other vessel in the entire marina and I hope you know that. Even the boaters that do not know what or who you are, tell us you are their favorite boat to see on the water. You, my lovely trawler, in my book, are a class act, a wonderful friend, a trusted part of our family, and if nothing else, you have honestly taught me what it truly means to love a boat, to have the lines of a vessel call to you, to pull at your heart, capture your imagina

tion, cause you to dream big dreams, and to feel a resonance within your spirit. May every boater learn what it is like to feel such connection with their home on the water.

With much thanks,

The Eyl's