Fits Like a Glove – The Resourceful Sailor

Article by Joshua Wheeler

Gloves have a cycle of life with The Resourceful Sailor. Initially purchased for a specific purpose, they wear out and are eventually retired to anchor duty, a chore no self-respecting new pair of gloves would ever be caught doing. These old gloves have a bag where they await their final service. Once they move from there, the end is near. Setting and weighing anchor by hand is a muddy and chafe-laden business.

The Gloves of a Different Drummer – Well-Ventilated Thumbs

Sampaguita, a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 sailboat, rounded Vancouver Island in 2023, visiting 29 anchorages. A particular pair of gloves surfaced from the anchor bag. They were purchased in the early 2000s when I had my first boat, Different Drummer, a 60s-era Grumman aluminum canoe with a homemade, downwind, square sail. Sitting in the middle of the canoe, more like a kayak, and using an also homemade double paddle, the days and miles logged with these gloves wrapped around that wooden stock are many.

Crusty on the outside and well-ventilated at the thumbs, I was taken aback by how amazing these gloves felt when I put them on. A perfect fit, soft lining, and cozy warmth triggered the flooding of unexpected memories. My hands gripping the round dowel of the paddle. The alternating and rhythmic dip-pull-lift motion. The flexing wood as the boat is driven head-on into wind and waves. The euphoria of paddler’s high. The burn of lactic acid. The satisfaction of the expedition and achievement. Of throwing down the gauntlet, figuratively and literally. All these involuntary and instant emotions were evoked by the recent donning of these gloves.

Different Drummer, The Square Sail, And The Double Paddle – At Seattle’s West Point Beach

The canoe and the gloves date back to 2006(ish) for The Resourceful Sailor. By 2013, Sampaguita became the focus, with the occasional visit to Different Drummer. In 2019, the mostly ignored canoe was gifted to a friend, and the gloves shifted to the anchor duty bag, their brand, source, and existence long forgotten. In the quest to use consumables to the bitter end, The Resourceful Sailor earned an unexpected, yet welcome, paddle down memory lane. Remember, keep your solutions safe and prudent, and have a blast.

This installment of The Resourceful Sailor first appeared on Sailing With Josh on Jan. 25, 2024. •SCA•