By The Copenhagen Post

from http://jp.dk/uknews/article1282696.ece

"Offshore yacht racing is still an aristocratic sport, but I think a low-budget attempt on a homemade boat is possible. . . .

. . . I'm building this time in my carport and backyard in Tallahassee,
Florida. I began in mid-August. I bought some steel tubing, which I
welded into a platform fifty feet long and five feet wide. I cut all
the aluminum plates with a forty-dollar circular saw from Home Depot,
using a four-dollar wood blade with carbide tips. I bought a welder and
spool gun for $2,000, a chop saw for $90, a grinder for $70, and a
backup grinder for $30. A few clamps, pliers, measuring tapes, and
pens, and that was it."

". . . The first few hours were uneventful; I can’t say that I remember much after leaving the channel, except that it was terribly cold, the sailing was good, I was happy to be on my way, and I put miles in my wake.  Late in the afternoon I started feeling queasy, which isn’t unusual if I haven’t been out steadily…which I hadn’t.  But by early that evening I was violently ill, which was an entirely new experience.   I get a bit green around the gills sometimes, but never sick to the point of vomiting.  But vomit, I did, for two and a half days.

"The wind and waves kicked up suddenly a little before dusk and I had waited about 15 minutes too long before I took a reef in the main.  I struggled to hold on, my feet slipping out from under me on the wet cabin top, as I put in the reef.  I should have put in two.  “Reef early,” Dad always says.  I would have, but I was busy hurling over the side at the time.  (Not an excuse in his book, by the way.)

"The seas grew as the sun set and I became sicker than I have ever been in my life.  I threw up over the side, in the sink, in a sack (kinda sounds like a twisted Dr. Seuss rhyme!).  Not wanting to foul the boat, I crawled into the cockpit to lean over the edge and heaved into the rising seas.  I watched as my warm hat, raked off by the lifeline, floated away.  I had no idea until that moment that you could wretch so hard it would burst blood vessels in your nasal passages or that you could throw up through your nose.  Not my best look...no photographs, please.

"Funny thing, I can remember how beautiful the sunset was.

"I turned to clamber back into the cabin and found to my great shock I was locked out!  Inside the cabin there’s a common, sliding barrel lock, such as is on public restroom doors everywhere, with which you can lock yourself inside at night; the pitching and rolling of the sea had somehow locked it while I was outside.  By now, the waves were some 8-10 feet, and the winds strong enough to make it difficult to stand upright.

"I wish I could tell you I was calm about the whole thing; that I handled it bravely and rationally.  But I’d be full of it if I did.  I have to confess, at that moment, as the realization hit that I was deathly ill, incapable of physically tending to my own needs, let alone the needs of the boat, with no phone, no radio, and no way to get in to safety, the seas steadily growing worse, I was scared.  Part of my mind was rational: the boat was hove-to, I was attached to the jackline with my safety harness, I had on my foul weather gear…I could hunker down in the cockpit until it was over and then sail to safety.  I told myself this was nothing…10’ waves and 25-30 knot winds.  Quit being a sissy!

"The other part of me was scared stupid and HAD to get into the cabin!

"The only tool in the cockpit was the knife Dad had given me, which I keep with me, and I began trying to force back the lock without success.  Finally, with much prying and jimmying, I was able to break in, but only by greatly damaging the fiberglass, and breaking off a chunk.

"Once inside, I didn’t go out again.  Twice more in the night, with the tossing of the seas, the hatch again locked itself.  (Note to self: do something about that lock!)  For two days the waves got bigger and the wind got higher and I got sicker and weaker.  I couldn’t make it into the cockpit anymore; my once pristine stainless steel sink is now stained with stomach acid.  I didn’t know that could happen.  It took everything I had to make it from the bunk to the sink, where I would glance at the GPS to make sure I wasn’t being driven to land, and afraid there wouldn’t be anything I could do about it if I were.  Later I learned a nearby buoy reported Force 7 winds (51-62 km/h, 15' seas).

His Heart Was So Full Of
Mischief

The moon made its slow poke circle
From
the Highland Mall to the Capitol Dome
May scientists forgive me my
reference points
But I spent the evening home
Whilst the
powdery Saturday caravan
Showered and wound up downtown
Yet
the moon took a dim view of romance
Because of all the clouds

"He was the "Clown Prince of Luckenbach," and entertainer of star quality who
refused for years to make money from his comic gifts. He [was a] rancher. A philosopher. A
poet. A music man and inspiration for the hit song "Let's go to Luckenbach,
Texas." Hondo Crouch was a Texas folk hero.

"Before he died in 1976, Hondo helped stage at Luckenbach a series of zany happenings --
from all-female chili cook-offs to Great World's Fairs -- that became so popular the tiny
town almost got trampled out of existence. But there was more Hondo than spectacular
spoofs.

"He had a gift for seeing past facades and into the true nature of the human comedy --
and tragedy -- that we all live inside our hearts. His style ranged from lighthearted
teasing to barbed satire, from pratfalls and pranks to rueful reflection."

Excerpt from http://www.lone-star.net/mall/literature/hondo.htm

Redfish Island, TX


Map of Redfish Island

Once a popular boater anchorage, Galveston Bay's Redfish
Island has been submerged in recent years due to erosion and subsidence.

The Port of Houston Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers have restored part of the island. Using suggestions of the BUG, and
after consultation with boating groups, oystermen and the Texas Department of Health,
the restoration employed limestone to form a rock and breakwater in the shape
of a hook to shelter boats. The island, featuring an oyster reef, functions as
a bird and oyster habitat while maintaining calm water for a safe boater
anchorage.

Construction began in June of 2002 and was completed in
October 2002.

Redfish Island once again provides boaters an anchorage safe
from ship wakes and prevailing winds and away from much of the commercial boat
activity in the bay. Also, recreational boaters on the east side of the
channel, who are not comfortable with converging into commercial traffic in
Galveston Bay, are able to anchor at Redfish Island, avoid crossing the ship
channel, and enjoy the bay more than they have for the past decade.

Restoring Redfish Island October 2002

Redfish Island Raftup 2005

April 20, 2007 - I'm in the air over I-have-no-clue-where, en route to Newport Beach, California to fetch Flight of Years.  My "casting off of land lines" has had more than its requisite number of snafus; details and aggravations too minute to mention but which are intrinsic to everyday life -- let alone the considerable undertaking of concluding one life for the commencement of another.

On the way to the airport this morning I was listening to an old Jimmy Buffett album (use of the word "album" dates me, doesn't it?).  Ballads of sailors and pirates, heroes and children, love and loss, the sea, the passing of years and making sense of it all.  And I was contemplating the question everyone keeps asking: "Why?"  "Give me something that will make sense," someone said.  "Something I can understand."

I'm not sure someone who has to ask that question will fully comprehend the answer.  Particularly since I can scarce put to words what can only be truly understood with the heart. Why?  Because for years I have dreamed of what life could be, rather than what it was, and wondered what else might be out there.  Because selling trailers to illegal immigrants and cranky New Yorkers doesn't fulfill me. . . .

Flight of Years Ship's Log continues at http://www.solo-sailor.com/ShipLog.htm.

Toys
Small cars/dolls/stuffed animals
Small balls/yo-yos
Jump ropes/jacks
Kazoos/harmonicas
Small Etch-a-Sketch/slinky, etc.
Toys that light up with extra batteries

Other
Hard candy/lollipops/mints/gum
T-shirts/socks/ball caps
Winter caps/gloves
Sunglasses/hair clips
Watches/toy jewelry
Flashlights with extra batteries

If it weren't for that pesky regulator, you could do your descent with
one of these blades clenched in your teeth, scaring everything in your
path. Ok. This is the blade that you want for undersea game as it has a
pointed tip. The straight edge becomes a curve which actually lengthens
the knife's cutting surface. The longer cutting edge is made for
cutting chum, bait, and general sport fishing applications. Again, this
blade has the serrated safety edge on the back side. Look for a metal
that holds a keen edge over prolonged use.

A blunt tip blade is ideal for the diver who is more interested in
using the knife as a tool. The abbreviated tip reduces the likelihood
of break-offs during prying situations. Note that no matter how strong
your knife is, it really shouldn't be used as a full-fledged pry bar.
(That's what full-fledged pry bars are for). There are two types of
cutting surfaces on this type of blade: one edge is serrated for
cutting your way out of entanglements and the other is straight for
general cutting. When considering a blunt tip, look for the strongest
metal as the foremost characteristic.

No matter what type of diver you are, this type of blade should be
carried if not as your only knife, but as the name implies, an
emergency knife. The emergency blade has only once cutting surface and
it is serrated. Serrated edges are proven to be the quickest and
easiest way to free yourself from unforeseen entanglements such as
netting, rope, monofilament, and kelp. They are also the shortest of
the dive knifes in order to remain unobtrusive and out of the way until
they are needed. The rounded back and tip of the blade greatly reduces
the potential of puncturing your BC upon returning the knife back to
its sheath after use. Since this blade is not frequently used and may
get overlooked during your post-dive clean up, we recommend a metal
that is geared toward corrosion resistance.