Well, I am (almost) back...

Not to get into too much now, but I will be returning to Skylark and will be getting back to the way things were right after the summer visit with my son.

I can't wait....so much more to come!

Interesting Exercise

So this morning I was in the Blogger Dashboard and noticed I had 78 Blogs in my reading list. My first post was in November of 2009, so needless to say, I have been doing this for a while and have read a lot of blogs. There have been great friends I made along the way with these silly blogs, I am grateful for the opportunity.

Anyway, out of the 78, five of them are not sailing related, while the other 73 were. It made me think for a minute as there are only a few, maybe 6 or 7 sailing blogs on my list that post regularly...and when I mean regularly, I mean once a monthish. There are some, you know who you are :), that post daily and I usually start my day with a cup of coffee and a peruse of who is doing what and where. Since I am basically land locked for a lot of reasons, I enjoy reading along.

So what about the other 60 or so folks I started following at one time or another? It made me wonder, so I started going down the list one by one and taking a look at when the last post was entered.

I have to admit I was somewhat surprised at what I found. I never realized that so many people hung up their sailboats for good until I found post after post saying goodbye. In most cases, there was a final post that said goodbye, thanked everyone for following and that they were sad to go. Some posts I remember, others I do not. It was a tough thing to see, as it seemed like there were a lot of dreams put on the mantel and unfortunately, in some cases, I don't know why.

Of course they weren't all like that. I am sure some folks just got tired of blogging and just stopped, while others maybe in a place that they can't blog or something else unexpectedly popped up and...you get the idea. Regardless, I deleted about 34 inactive blogs this morning and it was somewhat depressing. It is possible that one day I will post one more time thanking everyone for following and wishing everyone still out there fair winds, but for now, I hope to still get on-board and sail off following the dream. Till then, Skylark will just have to wait patiently for me to be as ready as she is.

December 1, 2013

You might remember this picture from a post quite a few years ago. It was taken of me at the helm of Skylark about 20 miles off the coast of North Carolina. It was one of  the best times of my life, albeit one of the most intense as well. Not too long after this picture was taken, we were hit with an unpredicted storm that threw us around like a cork for about 16 hours before we ran for cover at Cape Lookout Spit. I had never been so exhausted both mentally and physically in my life.

That trip however sparked something in me that changed my life. I will never forget the feeling I had on that midnight to 3:00 am watch when the winds were right and Skylark cut through the water like she was meant to do. Never have I ever felt peace like that, and I will always continue to look for that, whenever I can.

Unfortunately though, life does get in the way and the time needed for a good adventure has been very hard to find. Although Skylark is ready for such a trip, I am not and continue to battle with time, work and everything else that makes up a modern life we lead today.

I will continue to hope for the best and have Skylark and myself ready to go if the stars ever align, but in the meantime, I will think back to that time when I was a very small being on a very small boat in the middle of a very big ocean. Hopefully, it will be enough...

Fair winds.

Not Dead, Just Missing

Quick update for those wondering where I am. I am in Letterkenny, Ireland and have been for the last 4 weeks. And the kicker, I have 3 weeks to go still. That's right, almost 2 months in the Emerald Isle for work. Certainly can think of worse places to work, that's for sure.

Anyway, I am alive and well and fighting my way through Leprechauns, pots of gold and 4 leaf clovers. Not too many pics yet, but I think I might have a few from my walkabout around town.

On the Hard

Skylark safe and sound. Finally getting that well deserved bottom job.

Rare Treat for a Space Fan Such as Myself!

So as I lugged my groceries down to Skylark this evening, I noticed a very large orange object being pushed and pulled by a couple of tremendous tugboats about a mile off the marina headed south down the river. After staring for a couple of minutes, I looked around and noticed quite a few of the local liveaboards standing on their boats for a better look as well. A quick conversation was had, and I found out that it was the large solid fuel tank that the Space Shuttle attaches to during lift-off. It was on a barge headed for Green Cove Springs, just down the river where it will be moved to the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum at the Keystone Heights Airport in Starke, Fla., about an hour southeast of Jacksonville. Here is the story from the paper with some great pictures of the fuel tank as well as my grainy attempt of a picture with the phone. collectspace.com
It was very neat to see in person to say the least. I was finally in the right place at the right time!

A Week so Far in April

Have been down in Jax now for about a week. Have enjoyed the weather, being in the high 70s, although this weekend was a washout. Zachary's baseball game was cancelled, so we headed over to the Barnes and Noble for a bit to check out the new magazines and of course for a coffee.
Nothing too much planned at this point. Work has been outrageously busy, so I am just going day by day.

Have been doing small projects on Skylark while I have been here, but I am happy to say all the major work is done and working great. Would like to get some deck scrubbing in tomorrow afternoon if the weather breaks, but that too will be decided as we go. Think the rest of the day will be spent below doing homework and reading. I could use the break, and will be happy to sit still and relax. Maybe even a nap, can you fathom??!!

Wanted to say congratulations to my friends Doug and Tina on S/V Pieridae. About 2 weeks ago, they sold off the rest of their land based possessions and officially moved aboard Pieridae, their O'day 40. They are currently bobbing happily in Southport, NC and will be there for a bit before setting off into the sunset. I wish them fair winds and look forward to seeing them out there.

Wow, Now This is Impressive

Yacht sets record sailing from New York to San Francisco

A racing yacht named after one of the world's fastest cars has docked in San Francisco after what organizers said was the fastest passage of a single-hulled sailing vessel from New York to San Francisco.

The 70-foot Maserati sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge late Saturday morning and tied up at Pier 39 Marina around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, 47 days after pulling out of New York City, said Judy Laws, a spokeswoman for the event.

The 13,225-mile journey around Cape Horn at the tip of South America is what sailors have said for centuries is one of the most challenging sailing journeys in the world.

The Maserati finished the trip in 47 days, two hours and 33 minutes, easily beating the most recent record of 57 days, three hours and two minutes set in 1998, Laws said.

"They beat it by a little more than 10 days. They smashed it," Laws said.

The eight-member crew of the Maserati — led by its Italian skipper 47-year-old Giovanni Soldini — left New York City on New Year's Eve.

Though calm winds late Friday had pushed back the vessel's expected arrival by a few hours, Laws described a festive atmosphere as dignitaries, including Mauro Battocchi, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, and others greeted the crew when they arrived at the dock.

"It's just been a happy, happy time," Laws said.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2013/02/yacht-sets-record-sailing-new-york-san-francisco#ixzz2LALuYEFD

Amen

Friday, February 1

I will be heading down to Skylark on Friday for about a week. Looking forward to some time on the water, warm weather and spending time with Zachary. It's been so cold up in NC for a few weeks now, have really had enough. Going to try to get out at least overnight, but of course need to be back for the Superbowl. Even though New England is out, you still gotta watch. :)

Lots of People Looking but...

Just looked at the stats for the first time in a while and noticed a lot of folks looking through the posts. Feel free to say hi or ask questions. You would be surprised how much useless information I have to give. :)
Enjoy.