66 years ago

This is the day that sixty six years ago a few folks took a little swim on behalf of freedom. The beach was just fifty miles long so it was crowded on the water side and on the beach side. There were no beach chairs or floaties as such but there were lots of boats; over 5,000 of them. The skies above the beach was filled with over 13,000 aircraft. Give or take, there were about 160,000 fellows in funny clothes caught in one hell of a rip current simply trying to get to those beaches. Some made it and some did not. A few folks stepped out of aircraft and had an incredible view of the actions. They all landed for sure, but many never moved from the spot of their impact. D-Day, Normandy, June 6, 1944 cost America and our allies 9,000 souls so that we could have today. Ask me us if we are planning to make the most of what they gave us?

Think we will put the dink in the water today. It has not been wet since Ft.Myers. Since we have no pets aboard, a daily dink ride is not required. We will not tow it offshore due to the possibility of swamping and it slows the boat by about a knot. However; in the ditch we can tow it fairly safely, except for those knuckleheads that must make the biggest possible wakes who might flip it.

I spent much of yesterday working on a pesky water leak. After replacing the accumulator tank, the new connection would not stop dripping. I tried combinations of teflon tape and yucky puck to no success. Finally, I launched the bicycle and found a hardware store where I got the fix. Bottom line: the drip cost me a 3 mile bicycle ride in the heat and boy was it hot yesterday.

I met a fellow yesterday on the dock that just got back from the Abacos. He loved it. That is our destination when it gets cold up north. The mobs head south when there is a chill in the air on the Cheaspeake. The guides say that if you open the hatch one morning and there is a chill in the air, you waited too long to start south. I think the crew of Rima discovered that a few years ago. Anyway, the fellow keeps a boat in Delray but lives in Connecticut. He mentioned many places that are "must see" places. Some like Mystic and Newport we have seen by land. Some like Cuttyhunk and Martha's Vinyard are accessible only by boat. That will be some time away. First we have to see several places along the way like St. Augustine and Savanah.

Enjoy every minute of today because a lot of fine folks paid dearly for us to have it.