A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous -- yes.

The professor then produced a bottle of red wine from under the table and proceeded to pour the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things -- your family, your partner, your health, your children -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the rocks first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a good bottle of wine.

Sailing Apodella
By Dale Mack

I first met Leo Sudnik and Leonila ("Lennie") Bonifacio in May 2001 about nine months after they had purchased their 1979 Catalina 22.  Despite neither having any previous sailing experience, they were both looking forward to learning to sail on their new acquisition.  The following month, I took Leo and Lennie out for an evening sail onboard Harmony, to familiarize them with the various parts of a Catalina 22, and to answer their questions ranging from anchors and sails, to cruising and trailers.  After a beautiful sail, we ended the evening with me offering to go out with them once they got their boat into water if they'd like.

Fast Forward to September 2003

Leo and Lennie's busy lives combined with the theft of two outboard motors, and various boating projects necessary to get a twenty-four year old boat back into water had delayed our repeat sail together.  Leo had last given me a status update on their progress in late June, so it was great to hear in September that the boat was in the water, and the Leo and Lennie were ready for that next sail.

On a Friday afternoon, we all met at Columbia Ridge Marina which is near the upstream end of Government Island on the Oregon side of the river (close to Blue Lake Park near Gresham).  From the stem to the stern, we discussed and made minor tweaks to the rigging, and Leo described the recent help they'd received from an ex-Navy man and their initial experiences with taking the boat out.  Leo's email invitation to me had explained that his objective for the day was "... to go over the sails and such and learn how to use them, and put them up and take them down and do the rigging, etc." so that's exactly what we did.

Satisfied everything was ready to go, we got underway and headed east up the channel separating the Oregon shore from McGuire Island.  We didn't have much wind to start our sail as we entered the main channel of the Columbia River, but there was just enough to move the boat, and the wind was building.  This stretch of the river is about a two hour upriver motor for my boat, so I was looking forward to sailing in new surroundings.

We did most of our sailing just south of Lady Island near Camas.   We practiced tacking, reaching, and running.  Along the way Leo and Lennie shared stories of their recent adventures aboard the boat with family and their fondness for the many sandy beaches just a short distance from their marina.

I had a wonderful day out with Leo and Lennie, and I want to thank them for their hospitality, and I hope I was able to pass along some useful information.

Trailer Light Wiring
By Dale Mack

Part of the preparation for pulling Crocus has been making a couple of repairs to the trailer's wiring.  The magnetic light set that had been standing in for the trailer's nonfunctional lights had been stolen, so it was time to tackle the wiring harness.  On a Saturday morning, Mike Hibbs and I met at Don Bateson's home and set about restoring the trailer's electrical system.

Fortunately for us the wiring harness, running down both sides of the trailer and clipped to the frame, was found to be sound.  We tested this by connecting a battery charger to the ends of the harness at the hitch and them measured the voltage at each of the light locations.

A quick survey of the system showed that the right tail light was missing, the amber side lights appeared to be burned out, the 3 rear marker lights had been disconnected, and the 4-way plug at the hitch was missing.  After a parts run, we were back in the garage stripping wire, and cleaning contacts.  We verified our successful repair by hooking up my Explorer to the trailer and running through all the lights.

Since boat trailer lights are notorious for failing, here's a simple wiring diagram you can use to diagnosis problems.

Before I end, let me add a word about fuses.  I highly recommend carrying spare fuses for your vehicle.  I've had water get into the plug a couple of times causing a short which blew the fuse.  Having backups on hand was comforting.