Beyond the Captain's Locker

When I first started thinking about siding for Beyond the Dream, I kept asking myself the obvious question: what material should I use?

I kicked ideas around for a few days before the answer finally hit me.

It's a shanty boat. Use whatever I can find.

Then I remembered the old backyard fence.

We had replaced the fence some time before, and instead of throwing everything away, I had saved the old boards and studs. Yes, I'm a pack rat. I looked at that pile of weathered lumber and thought, “Ah-ha. I'll just use this stuff right here.” And just like that, Beyond the Dream had her siding.

I went through the old fence boards one by one, picked out the best ones I could find, measured everything, and started cutting the pieces that would go on the boat.

Once everything was ready, my five-year-old son Zack and I went to work. I had the ladder set up beside the boat and my nail gun ready. Zack would help place the boards, and I would fasten them to the framing.

That arrangement worked pretty well—right up until Zack decided the nail gun was entirely too loud and abandoned his post. 😂

So the Captain finished the siding project on his own.

When I finally stood back and looked at it, I loved it. The old weathered fence boards gave Beyond the Dream exactly the shanty-boat character I had imagined. In fact, I remember thinking that someday people standing along the riverbank might look out at us and wonder whether that crazy-looking boat was about to sink.

I knew better.

Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I sat down to take a break.

And that's when I saw it.

CAPTAIN OOPS

You know those little metal stud plates you're supposed to put over a stud wherever electrical wiring passes through it? The ones designed specifically to keep a nail or screw from being driven into the wires hidden behind the wall?

Yeah.

Those little pains in the ass.

I, in my infinite wisdom had forgotten them.

I started looking more closely at the siding I had just so proudly nailed into place—and discovered that the nails had gone straight into two of my major power cables.

I couldn't begin to describe how stupid I felt.

Mad. Frustrated. Hungry.

There was only one reasonable response.

I was going to Jack in the Box for lunch, and to hell with the wires. 😂

Lunch eventually ended. So did the pity party. I went back to Beyond the Dream, pulled out the damaged wiring, and by the end of the day both power cables had been replaced.

The siding still looked great. The boat was fine. The electrical system survived.

The Captain's pride?

Slightly damaged.

Strike One for the Captain.

😂❤️⚓