⛵ VOYAGE #11 — Penny returns & Euphoria
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⛵ VOYAGE #11 — by Nick Jaffe — Mar, 25, 2021
V O Y A G E
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Penny returns & Euphoria #11
Welcome to edition #11 of VOYAGE: My system for writing these newsletters (or lack thereof) in the past, has been to write when inspiration hits, simply ensuring it was within the fortnightly publishing goal I had set myself. However, my life has changed dramatically in the last month - perhaps the most it has changed on a day-to-day basis in the last twenty years. It has been a great change, one I will perhaps write about sometime. However, what this change has meant, is that my days of working when I've felt inspired are over!
Catch up on previous editions here.
In the book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, (thanks again Daryl), Pressfield talks about the idea of going pro when it comes to your art. The premise is simple: A professional does not do their work when they're in the mood. They do it everyday, whether they're inspired or not.
When I was finishing my book, I went pro to finish it. Every day for 30 days I wrote 1000 words, taking a screenshot of my progress and posting it on Instagram for social proof. On more than one occassion I received messages from others who were inspired by my motivation, tagging along with me on their own projects.
The book got done.
So anyway, in a nutshell what I'm trying to express is that I have a new and wonderful life, and I am trying to work out how to prioritise what is important to me and how to say no to things... I turned 40 the other day, which is also compounding my desire for highly effective time management and razor sharp prioritisation. It's really good.
My Land Rover named Penny arrived on her final vessel from Cape Town last week. Rather than being shoved inside a shipping container for the final leg, she sat free on the decks of the Sea Tamar, a Ro-Ro vessel which endlessly steams its way between Devonport and Melbourne, keeping our Apple Isle well supplied with goods, and Land Rovers.
In what can only be described as a miracle, Penny made it through the notoriously difficult customs & quarantine processes at the docks in Melbourne without too much trouble - I was quietly bracing for a large cleaning bill on top of an already costly international freight exercise. Amongst the dozens of WhatsApp conversations, emails and phone calls, I only had to write one pleading letter to Australian Border Force, because my Carnet de Passage had expired 23 days prior. My vocal attempts over the phone were shutdown by personnel have zero interest in doing anything other than following the exact letter of the rule without thought - the pinnacle of bureaucracy. In the end I short-circuited the whole call by writing a lengthy, calm and descriptive letter of my plight. My shipping agent was both amused and surprised it worked: Penny would not be required to undergo a complete re-import, zipping in on her Carnet as designed.
Penny was rolled out of her bonded container and into a warehouse in the western suburbs of Melbourne, where my brother picked her up with a spare car battery in tow. Unfortunately, he would later find a new gearbox/clutch problem had developed during her year-long siesta in South Africa. As he nursed her across the West Gate Bridge to board her final ship to Tasmania, the clutch pedal would fall to the floor, a terrible grinding of gears would sound from deep inside the transmission tunnel and panic would ensue. Rapid pumps of the clutch would bring her back temporarily, before the problem would wind itself up and happen again down the road. In yet another miracle, she made it, the ferry staff also managing to limp her onto the decks.
Anticipating all this, I found a man named Jason on Gumtree with a trailer rated to three tons. It turns out finding a properly rated car trailer to rent these days isn't an easy task. I navigated into the hills of remote Tasmania in search of Jason and his trailer cache, exiting his drive with the four trailer wheels smoking through my poor tuning of the electric brake system. After a rough start and some Googling, I worked it all out and drove north for the pickup.
There she was: After nearly exactly a year, Penny sat lonely in a freight and logistics carpark with a little bit less paint and little bit more character. I hopped inside, immediately swamped with memories by her smell: Canvas, diesel, sweat, vinyl and dust. If Calvin Klein ever made an aftershave named Alby Mangels, this is exactly what it would smell like. She started right up and I balanced her onto the trailer with trepidation, strapping her down as best I could.
We set off and Penny swayed from one lane to the next if taken above 75kmh. It was going to be a really long drive home. Twelve hours after my departure from home, I pulled into my house and promptly got stuck halfway up the drive. My driveway is more like the Matterhorn than a place to take a vehicle. When it rains, I can find more of my driveway washed up at the bottom of the road than I can at the top. I gave up and parked the whole setup next door and went to sleep.
So Penny is back and it's really hit home that this project is over. I cannot express how much energy, money and emotion went into it all... Not to mention support and encouragement from many, many people locally and internationally. But it's nice she's back. I walk past her everyday as she sits under a car cover in a non-drivable state, wondering where we might have gone. What African vistas we might have witnessed. The feeling of driving across span bridges connecting fjords in Norway...
I have some future ideas for Penny, but for the moment I'm working on getting my house back up on Airbnb with some new additions: If you're after a Tasmanian break and enjoy surfing, the wilderness, fire saunas, skateboarding and epic views, do visit!
While Penny rests and I scheme her next project, the machinations of adventure continue, with the purchase of our 45ft steel cutter named Euphoria. More on her and where we are going, next time!
Recent outputs
- No recent outputs. Just regular work on The Tin Lantern
Recent inputs
- No recent inputs... All I've been reading about is maximising the total amount of titanium in my white wall paint in order to reduce the required number of coats!
Elsewhere
Buy me a coffee / My primary Instagram / Website & work / YouTube Channel / Workshop Instagram / Airbnb / Twitter
Reach out
If there is something you'd like me to riff on in the next edition or delve into further personally — simply reply to this email.
Colophon: written in Markdown with a dash of CSS in iA Writer, captured via Squarespace + Zapier & shipped to you via Buttondown + various tubes.