The Ulleann Pipes are real and the music that comes from these simple reeds and covered or uncovered finger-holes is haunting. Some of the pieces still claw at my soul. Here are YouTube titles, for those that want to hear such music for yourselves:
Davy Spillane - Caoineadh Cu Chulainn Uilleann Pipes.flv
I am asleep (Air) & The Clumsy Lover (Reel) Uilleann pipes Chris McMullan"The Gael" Uilleann Pipes Caleb Cox
Uilleann pipes - Chris McMullan - Sliabh Na Mban & The Bunch of Keys
Braveheart Theme by Eric Rigler
Uilleann Bagpipers (Gay McKeon, Emmett Gill, Amy Campbell) | LIVE at The Kennedy Center
Must see!! Best Off Uilleann-Pipes - Celtic Duelling
Titanic - Hymn to the sea Uilleann Pipes remember [Andzull]
"Pipes Solo - Lark in the Morning", Cillian Vallely & Alan Murray
Davy Spillane - Boolavogue (Buaile Mhaodhog)
Port na bPúcaà - Slow air on Fiddle and Uilleann Pipes
A Gift of a Thistle (Braveheart)
Outlawed Pipes
Uilleann piping
Uilleann Pipes and Bodhrán
Uilleann Pipes (Jigs) When sick is it tea you want & Paidin O'Raifeartaigh chris mcmullan
The boat referred to is a 39 foot outboard powered Sharpie houseboat - see Mark V Designs.
This is a sex story. There's a lot of it here. For those who still want wall-to-wall ultra-graphic sex on every page, I ask that you get a life. For those who are easily offended because I didn't write exactly what you wanted to read, I'll say the same thing.
Plus, for those of you who will say this work is just a 'stroke' story (yes I know who you are, Anonymous and others), about all I can reply is that you have never had a long-term, married relationship with a 'darksome wench'. What I have written here is mild compared to the reality.
ANGIE 3
By TheKeith
Angie had only one soft-side case for clothes and stuff. She collected her last check from the family member of her late charge and left the elderly woman's apartment forever. In the late afternoon, it took me about an hour to get down to the marina area of Philadelphia, where I parked mom's car. So, we walked down the dock, where I carded her past the electronic gate, then over to my home ... which floated.
Angie's eyes went wide, as I pointed out my watercraft-home to her.
Now, for the 'nitpickers' who read this tale, let me make something clear. Yeah, there is a exact, large vocabulary for boating-specific terms associated with watercraft. The pointed end is the 'bow' and the other end is the 'stern'. Yeah, I know that, after about '5 bells of the 3rd dogwatch', you should 'splice the mainbrace, when the sun is over the yardarm' (i.e., have an evening drink). Ya wanna read nautical terms and then pick them apart and argue definitions, go read someone else's book. I speak and write American English.
Thus, my floating home was 38' 9" long and the boat sat on it's flat bottom, only 12" deep in the water. She was long and narrow (all watercraft are 'she'). There was a cockpit in the rear (aft), which had seats to either side, long enough to let a 6' 6' person sleep comfortably.
Why that particular length? Because it's the longest and widest that can be trailered down the Interstate without a wide-load permit, as well as being loaded on a standard railroad flatcar, for overland transportation between oceans, rivers or big lakes.
Inside, on the left, while facing to the front, there was another couch, which easily made into a double bed. Just to the front of that (forward) there was an area for a composting toilet (the 'head'). In front of the head area was a small dinette area, which could be made into another bunk-bed.
On the right side, there was storage, a small desk area, a pantry and a cooking area (the 'galley'). In the marina, water came from pipes with a faucet. When cruising, water was in bottles and jugs. The boat's driver (the 'helmsman') sat just ahead of the galley. A step up and a door-window ('a port-companionway') gave out onto a flat surface, which housed anchors, storage and other stuff.
As described, this didn't sound like there was much area for standing around. Well, no, there wasn't. Like a well-designed efficiency apartment, everything essential had been built in and there was storage everywhere. Just no shelves, furniture, or walls on which to hang pictures.
In the back (stern) of the boat was the motor, which was a diesel outboard in a wall and two tanks for fuel. I could cruise at 8 knots (just under 9 mph) with a 25 hp engine and keep running under power for several 24-hour days, at need. On top, I had a small rowing/sailing boat, about 12' long, to service my floating home and for fun. My floating home had standing room inside for a person 6' 8" tall, with plenty of window space, which could be closed off with blinds and curtains.
Because it was so shallow, when out on the water, I could go places other boat could not and anchor in secluded spots, even those that 'dried out' at low tide. There were no 'holes' in the boat that could loosen or let water inside, so I was pretty safe afloat.
Therefore, right now, I was tied up at the Philadelphia marina, while I attended to Mom's needs, when she was alive and now, after her death. I'd been there for months (and was 'itching' to get away). So I had electricity, water and electrical heat/AC as needed, with showers available at the marina office. Afloat, I basin-bathed and I used electricity sparingly and kerosene or candles, except for reading or computer usage. I had satellite internet connection as needed, plus radio communications. There was radar, for traveling at night. I had a depth sounder and GPS for telling me where I was on the water. Plus my own good sense.
A large solar-cell array provided about 100 watts of electrical power, which was captured by a small bank of lithium-cell batteries, through a controller.
I explained all this to Angie, as she prowled around the boat, opening things and generally making herself at home. I showed her how to use the 'head' (sit, shit & do 6 turns of the crank ... lean forward to piss ... empty the compost 3x a month). I noted that all the 'windows' were double-pane and that the boat was pretty-well soundproofed. There were two main doors, front and back, mostly for ventilation: once closed up, we were a tightly-corked bottle.
I also showed her where the boat's safe was, in a locked box near the engine, marked 'old batteries'.
I also emphasized to her what I did NOT have: A mortgage. Furniture. A lawn or a mower. Shrubbery. A flowerbed. A demanding, white wife or in-laws. Snarky, greedy kids. A bar or wine storage. Yard furniture. A job. A commute. Country Club membership. Or any expectations of a social life.