Originally Posted by
sleddog
We dream of Tree of Hanalei, some days around the clock,
But haven't set a sail yet, as we work here at the dock.
And with every dream that stalks our minds, we swear we'll soon let go,
And watch the Farallones sink astern from the warmth of down below.
All Spring, we’ve slaved aboard our sloops, doubted by knowing smiles,
The autopilot still won't work, and now its got frequent flyer miles.
We’ve patched our rents, and plugged the vents, dogged hatch and thruhulls down.
Put rigging up and down the mast, and inspected her around.
Our wives have long since wrote us off, not a nickel more to spend.
They gave us twenty years of patience, Boys, and now they're at their end.
But dreams are hard to sink, just ask Dwight and Beetle and Lou.
Then our loves laughed with us and said we'd just have to go.
Alone aboard our little ships in a gale off the Coast.
We work like hell to reef the main before it goes to toast.
And the groan we give as it comes down, it caused us to proclaim.
Halleluja! We'll get to Hanalei and that Tree that caused this pain.
We surf down Pacific rollers, a squall hot on our tail.
Have to get the spinny down, before it blows the sail.
But Roll Call's on the SSB, better check in pretty soon.
SPARKY's talkin' to Robbie, Boys, and singing a woeful tune.
The mast is down, Ruben says, but the jig is not yet done.
He'll jury up that sucker soon and continue on his run.
And you, to whom adversity has dealt a heavy blow,
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go.
Though your rig may be be broken and your race about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a boat, a love, a friend
Turn to like Ruben and rally strength of arm and heart and brain.
And like the Singlehanded Sailors, Rise Again!
In Memory of Jim Tallet, Vagabond Sailor