S-25 and Counting

Porthole shot of sunset on Lydia Ann Channel of the lighthouse at Port Aransas

Things are going slowly but improving in the crew healing process.  It appears that the six months inactive has cost Bear a great deal in stamina and range of motion but we are happy that she improves daily and is ready to get underway again.  As the season changes and the concerns over hurricane season abate somewhat (Hurricane Tomas is still stinging the islands) we are looking forward to Thanksgiving with family here in the Hill Country.  Tomas is as of this writing targeting Haiti, a country that has yet to even start to recover from the earthquakes.  I heard today that over a million persons are still living in tents and under tarps and that hurricane will not be welcome.  Our thoughts are always for those in the "kill zone" of storms but especially for those with no place to go. 

The season has gone from balmy and almost boringly predictable to the pattern of weekly frontal passages. This is the time of the year when sailors start to monitor the weather for that perfect time to cross the Gulf or some other body of water on the heels of a frontal passage.  That is so for our friend on Breezin' who hopes to cross the Gulf in a few days.  He plans to do it alone and with limited early warning devices aboard except his own observations.  A fast crossing is a relative thing and can be as short as five days on a fast boat.  Breezin is not among the fastest thus it will take a few days longer.  The way it works for "single handers" is simple but unbelievably strenuous.  He will remain at the helm most of the time and grab a few winks whenever the horizon is clear.  Usually, single handers rely on a clock to awake them every 20 minutes during sleep periods.  Thus, the entire passage will be marked by 20 minute time blocks.  The longer it goes, the more it becomes the norm but the first few days cannot be fun.  One must rely on the bounty of the experience to stay focused and safe.  The captain of Breezin is a strong fellow with quite a few sea miles and he should do quite well.  We know of others who have crossed the Atlantic and even the Pacific alone.  What manner of men are these?  Slocum did it alone around the world in the late 1800's.  Certainly we wish Breezin fair winds and following seas.  Keep the SPAM in dry bilges. 

We look at Why Knot every day at the dock on the dock camera.  She sits patiently at Charleston waiting for us to return.  I think about the crud which must be now growing on the water line and the fact that we will get someone to dive the boat before we depart that place.   I would do it but old bones in cold water don't make for a meticulously cleaning.  Shivering often gives way to spotty results and perhaps to way too much rotten grapes thereafter.  We have the charts and the gear to open many alternatives not the least of which is to spend some time in the Keys.  Gee, what a decision that would be.  I cannot wait to show Bear some of the great places we passed when finally stopped to get some repair work on spines.  For the next three weeks we keep looking at the pictures we took along the way.  To our friends back home and those in our old port, we very much got recharged by seeing you again and hope to do so at least a few more times before we get back to the liquid world.  We have the great expectation of seeing some who have indicated that soon they may be joining us underway.  To the crew of CJ now aboard their new boat, the Sand Piper, we hope we run across you and your ice maker "out there".  To Breezin, we hope you will join us.  And to the Huey driver, we can only say: get thee east.  See if you can keep that beautiful brightwork underway. 

If you read this today- we hope you voted.  If not, shame on yer junky butt.