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Last weekend I was down in St. Michaels Md for the Mid-Atlantic Small Boats Festival. In going through the grounds of the Maritime Museum, I came across the Owens 22 Cruiser they have in permanent display in the one building. Stepping aboard I was instantly transferred back to my childhood.

When I was pre-highschool, my best friend in the summer lived aboard an Owens 33 "Margarita" in the Marina down the road from us. In thinking about it, I always assumed her "smell" was that of an older wooden boat in bad condition (she was in a constant state of sinking to go by how often the bilgepump was running) with maybe a bit of old cushions, fabric, and mold thrown in for good measure. The 22 I stepped aboard smelled just like her.

I had forgotten that smell until it hit me. I think now it is a combination of old mahogany, varnish, and the oils the Owens company used to seal the wood and teak. It was very odd to be aboard this smaller sister to the 33 I knew so well. The Controls, the knobs on the cabinets, the polished wood in the cabin, and even the windows and head all hit me as being just like that ancient Margarita from so long ago.

I had no idea Nostalgia could be so powerful, especially since I have not been aboard the "Gypsy Queen" in 30 years.

Indeed Art!,
Strong resonance here with me on that one..
My best friend's dad had a 30-something foot Owens he kept in a covered berth up at Antioch, in the Sacramento-San Jauquin delta.
Summers were plenty hot and dry there but it was cool and shady, and the air was still, under those corrugated roofs. We were in middle school.. Early 60's must have been..
I can almost, but not quite, remember the smell that hit you..
That's a primitive but powerful part of the old reptile brain we are talking about : nonverbal "Limbic" system, I think it's called..
I see it all the time with my soap customers as they react to the essential oil aromatherapy of our bars: " This takes me back!" or, " I am reminded of something!"
Could it have been Rudyard Kipling.?:
"Scent, more than sight or sound, stir the heartstrings memory.."

Our "Admirals" make good use of perfume just for that reason!...

I got out of the Navy in 1968. A few years ago I had an opportunity to visit a ship tied up in Mayport Florida. The first thing that hit me was the smell of the paint used on the ship. It made me want to hide in the bilges until the Bosun caught another seaman to swab the after deck!!!!!!

They say that the sense of smell is one of the strongest emotional senses we have and can trigger long lost memories.