Stretched Out

Rattlesnake Creek N30 34.47 W81 28.33

Today is 5/29. I’m feeling dumb because I broke my promise to write a blog every day. It’s been three days since the last blog. My only excuse is that I’ve done very little to write about.

The only thing even close to exciting happened this afternoon. I came up on deck and **lo and behold** there was a naked lady climbing onto a boat 100 yards away. When boating in Sweden, we used to see that sight frequently but the protocol there was to stay cool and nonchalant. Not so in Florida. Quickly I dove for binoculars. Darn, it was only a woman with a flesh-colored bikini. There ought to be a law.

I’ve been at anchor at this same spot since last Tuesday. I cleaned and painted. I explored all the nooks and crannies on the boat. I rigged the second anchor so that I don’t need to use the one with the damaged roller. I wish I had a Florida fishing license. But mostly I read my book. I have a copy of the new Neal Stephanson novel Cryptomnomicon. It’s a thousand pages long. Good choice.

Yesterday a crab swam past the boat doing sort of a breaststroke on the surface. I peered closely because I didn’t think that crabs could come to the surface much less do the breaststroke. Yes it was a crab, and no I’m not eating mushrooms. Somewhere out there must be a marine biologist who can tell you (and me) that I’m not crazy.

I did some research and learned how to get Coast Guard offshore weather reports on the SSB radio. That will be important if we’re too far offshore for VHF radio. Hurricane season starts in two days. I practiced copying the weather info with pen and paper. It takes some practice to do reliably. If you miss part, it can be hours before the information is repeated.

I also wrote two articles in the past three days. I’ll see about getting co-authors when I get net connected again.

On the home front the news is mixed. The masonry work on the house is done. The well work should be done Monday. Libby went up to Vermont and spent a very pleasant day with our daughter Jennifer.

On the other hand, John called. Our old boat, the Tanzer was delivered to Sylvan Beach, but the outboard motor is gone. The transport man said that there was no motor on the boat when he picked it up. Apparently it was stolen. I feel bad for John and family because they were all psyched up to sail tomorrow. It must be a great disappointment for them. I’ll have to put in an insurance claim for the theft (ugh: yet another stuff-related chore). I doubt however that the insurance company will allow enough to buy a replacement.

Libby tried to call me but the masons seemed to have broken the phone wiring in the house. I arranged for the phone company to come Tuesday (another stuff related chore).

I arranged to sail to Fernandina Beach tomorrow and spend the night at the marina. Tuesday, the painting job starts. I also hope to get that anchor roller repaired this week, and to do an oil/filter change on the motor.

I forgot to mention that I brought a Globalstar satellite phone with me on this trip to test it for use as a modem to dial the Internet from the boat. The test failed. It won’t work for me in an affordable fashion. I’m going to mail it back to the vendor Tuesday.

I totally surprised myself when I realized that it took me 3 days to drink 8 cups of coffee. Those who know me best know me to be one of the biggest coffee drinkers in the world. My steel thermos is like an appendage to my body; never far away. When I used to go to business meetings in Helsinki, my Finnish friends would order one batch of coffee for me and another batch for everyone else.

I feared the headaches from caffeine withdrawal. I also was fond of one of my two remaining vices (I gave up smoking and drinking long ago.) It caught me completely flat-footed to realize that I substantially broke my coffee habit without even noticing it. That leaves only one vice left. Fortunately, that one is secure. No I’m not telling what it is.