Behind building the boat

A symbol of the life I chose to live

Yes, we did it!

Well, Bernardo did it. He deserves all the credit!

For months, he and Robert worked persistently on the 70-year-old boat to bring it back to life. Sanding, sanding, and even more sanding. Until it was finally time for paint, only to discover that the mixing ratios were wrong, so everything had to be sanded down again.

“This is my first and last boat,” I heard Bernardo say more than once. He was done with it, but pushed through. And now he gets to enjoy the beautiful result of all those months of hard work.

What we just didn’t expect was how much space this project would take up in our lives. We had initially planned to focus on the house. There were windows to replace, walls to insulate, asbestos to remove; and that was only the tip of the iceberg. We were excited about those projects. Slowly seeing the house transform would have given us the feeling that we were moving forward.

But suddenly, we were offered an engine, and the boat naturally became the priority. For many weeks, Bernardo and Robert dedicated themselves to the restoration while I was at work. Apart from helping with a few small paint jobs, I couldn’t really contribute much. And this quieter role I had in the project gave me space to realise something.

My days started to look very similar: working during the day, coming home, making dinner, going to bed, and doing it all over again. I think many people know this feeling: when life becomes a sequence of workdays, meals, and evenings that all blend together. You’re busy all the time, but when you look back, it’s difficult to point to anything that made those days feel memorable. Days just pass until suddenly it’s Friday again, and you find yourself wondering: where did the week go?

That was exactly the kind of life I had tried to escape when I stopped studying in 2022. And looking back, I think I succeeded. I stepped off the path that had been laid out for me and started choosing my own. And in doing so, time no longer felt like something that just happened to me, but like something I was consciously making the most of.

So in a way, this boat has become a symbol of that life, and a reminder of why I chose it in the first place.

I’m so proud of Bernardo for bringing this boat back to life.

And of course, a big thanks to Captain Robert for guiding us through this!

Thank you for coming along :)

Jule Noah