Craig is a madman. Over the last fourteen years I have only scratched the surface of the nuances of his special version of crazy. Before we made the Big Left Turn, I started to realize that I married someone who, left to his own devices, might become a hermit. Honestly, I had no idea. Suddenly Craig was hardly talking directly to me, just roaming about the boat, various power tools in hand, and mumbling under his breath.

These days, he still does that, but I’ve stopped fighting it so much. I’m convinced that something is wrong with his brain chemistry and he enjoys boat work. Just the other day, when our refrigeration project was delayed for several days, he excitedly said, “Oh! Now I have time to build that bookshelf!” He was excited that a delay in one project allowed him to start another project. When he finished the bookcase, he started on several more side projects. That’s not normal, folks. The rest of us would take more breaks to hang out at the pool and sip margaritas, amirite? But not, Craig!

So, when I let him do most of the work, it’s really my gift to him. You’re welcome, Craig!

Honestly, I appreciate all the hard work that Craig puts in to keeping Small World in ship shape. Even though I get frustrated when I would rather be socializing instead of trying to be an assistant, the boat and I are lucky that he finds joy and satisfaction by completing projects and continually making improvements – especially the smaller, less obvious tasks. Big upgrades and repairs are often obviously needed. A leak, or an alarm, or something that makes an auto-entry on the To-Do List. What Craig is exceptional at is continually working between the big projects on smaller, more routine tasks. Perhaps his history as a nurse has carried over to this arena. Routine maintenance helps prevent emergencies and increases the lifespan of various systems.

I’m going to start to document some of the smaller tasks that occupy Craig’s time that would otherwise be dedicated to relaxation. He’s always futzing with something and maybe it’s time the world knew about it.

Some of the recent items Craig has worked on, other than large projects:

• Adding ventilation holes to all the plastic bins in the fridge. Since then, with the improved circulation, the produce lasts MUCH longer.
• Removed old wire from a previous owner that were not attached to anything anymore.
• Refinished shelving and bulk heads to fill and paint old holes
• Installed additional battery-operated lights in several lockers.
• Made a wall mount for our box wine bladder holder.
• Added a pennant to the tack of the jib.
• Learned how to make soft shackles with Dynema (thanks, Jon!)
• Built a bookcase on top of my closet since I refuse to stop collecting books and can’t read them as fast as I collect them
• Swapped a cumbersome and problematic shunt from the alternator for a bus bar
• Figured out how to set our new-to-us drifter sail

That’s just some of the small stuff, and only from the last several weeks. I’m exhausted from typing up this list.