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The Smell of Boat Racing
Last night I my wife and I were having dinner with friends. At one point we men folk excused ourselves from the general conversation to talk about drill bits and a particular problem I was having drilling a large hole though hardened steel.
My friend, who is an elevator mechanic, went out to his car and brought back two drill bits. I studied the first, explained why it wouldn’t work, then set it aside. I concentrated on the second drill bit, which was a type I had never seen before, and it had possibilities.
But something drew me back to the first drill bit. I took off the box top and smelled the contents in two long draws. At this point I realized that my friend was looking at me in a way that suggested he thought I was being extremely weird.
“It smells like…boat racing”, I said.
“It’s machine oil”, he replied without emotion.
I went on to describe that if I took him out to my enclosed boat racing trailer and if he stuck his head in that what he would smell would be a combination of the drill bit smell and okume plywood. And that those two smells combined produced an exotic aroma unlike anything else in the world. I tried to explain why that oil+wood smell has the effect on me that it does but I couldn’t find the words.
I decided not to tell him what I’m about to tell you because I figured he wouldn’t understand. When I raced stock outboards as a teenager decades ago I would stop by my hydro from time to time when it was in storage for the winter. I would stick my head directly into the cockpit and draw in long breaths. I wanted to smell the wood, the wood finish, the remnants of spilled gasoline and oil, and the scent of dried saltwater from the last boat race. And I would wish for spring.
The smell of boat racing. Can you describe it?
Last night I my wife and I were having dinner with friends. At one point we men folk excused ourselves from the general conversation to talk about drill bits and a particular problem I was having drilling a large hole though hardened steel.
My friend, who is an elevator mechanic, went out to his car and brought back two drill bits. I studied the first, explained why it wouldn’t work, then set it aside. I concentrated on the second drill bit, which was a type I had never seen before, and it had possibilities.
But something drew me back to the first drill bit. I took off the box top and smelled the contents in two long draws. At this point I realized that my friend was looking at me in a way that suggested he thought I was being extremely weird.
“It smells like…boat racing”, I said.
“It’s machine oil”, he replied without emotion.
I went on to describe that if I took him out to my enclosed boat racing trailer and if he stuck his head in that what he would smell would be a combination of the drill bit smell and okume plywood. And that those two smells combined produced an exotic aroma unlike anything else in the world. I tried to explain why that oil+wood smell has the effect on me that it does but I couldn’t find the words.
I decided not to tell him what I’m about to tell you because I figured he wouldn’t understand. When I raced stock outboards as a teenager decades ago I would stop by my hydro from time to time when it was in storage for the winter. I would stick my head directly into the cockpit and draw in long breaths. I wanted to smell the wood, the wood finish, the remnants of spilled gasoline and oil, and the scent of dried saltwater from the last boat race. And I would wish for spring.
The smell of boat racing. Can you describe it?
A couple of warm days and watching Daytona gets my mind really thinking about racng again.
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