Life is full of little anchors that tie us down and hold us in one place.

Some anchors are good -- friends, family, church, school, work. These are part of our social context. They give us a foundation for who we are and the things we do.

Some anchors are not so good.

A house full of stuff -- for example -- has a bunch of little anchors tucked away inside. The family heirlooms. The remembrance of things past. The things we feel must go to the "right" home. The things we feel are precious.

Here's one to think about: The family silver. Check eBay for the price of a big, old set of silverware. It's precious because of the memories. It's not actually all that valuable.

Here's another one: Hand-me-down jewelry. Yes, it was Grandma's. But check on eBay, and visit some jewelers. you'll find that old jewelry may have important memories, but it may not have all that much dollar value.

Are your anchors keeping you safe or holding you back?

Jobs

Today's job list:

• Cleaned the top of the center fuel tank, which had some mystery residue. Don't know what it was, but it's mostly gone now.

• Took apart the two port-side forward seacocks so they could be lubricated.

• The two midships port-side seacocks work nicely. They just need to be lubricated. I think the little side nuts are an avenue for putting in heavy-duty water-proof grease. The Mercury 2-4-C is often recommended for lubricating bronze seacocks. Zerk fittings and a grease gun may be better idea than a little toothpaste tube of grease.

• The two aft port-side are immovable (for now). Penetrating oil and more quality time with the rubber hammer may free them up.

There are still 2 more port-side seacocks to track down. They might be hidden behind cabinets in the galley. Or, they're accessed via the port lazarette.

There are only 4 starboard-side seacocks. Those are for another weekend.

The Practical Sailor article Keep Seacocks Working Smoothly.