Katrina

Sloop Cove, Valcour Island, NY, N44 37 W73 24
(09/02/05) I've been a naughty boy. Haven't written a blog in a few days.

We stayed at Jennifer's house on-shore four days. One of those days I drove to Albany and back. The day after we were supposed to
leave but the weather forecast said that the remnants of hurricane Katrina would pass through Wednesday night with gusts to 45
knots. 45 knots is no problem when sailing Tarwathie but at anchor it makes for a sleepless night. I chickened out and elected to
spend one more night ashore.

Thursday we headed north for Burton Island to meet with my son John and his family on Burton Island. Burton Island is a Vermont
state park with campgrounds. We have vacationed many times on Burton Island before. Sometimes with the kids and grandkids and one
time with John and Mary Ann Undrill. I had allowed 36 hours to get to Burton Island from Burlington but the winds were very
favorable and we made it in only 6 hours. It was a lovely sail.

When we got to Burton Island we heard some bad news by phone. John in the national guard and some of the men in his unit are going
to New Orleans for Katrina relief and John has to work to cover their absence. Our Labor day weekend plans are cancelled. Oh
well.

On the other hand, the cancellation allowed us to make a date with other dear old friends Gerry and Phyllis Allen. Gerry and I were
roommates in college. Gerry and Phyllis have sailed with us many times before, but not yet on Tarwathie. We'll sail with them
Saturday.

Thursday night we met a couple who worked on Burton Island, Steve and Sue. It just so happens that they also bought a sailboat this
year in Florida and sailed it north about the same time we did. The difference between them and us was that they had no prior
sailing experience at all. The four of us had a grand time swapping sailing stories around a campfire last night.

Today we sailed back south again to Valcour Island in order to be near where we'll meet Gerry and Phyllis. The winds were very much
against us in the morning making it slow going. The wind kept decreasing, tempting me and other skippers to put up more sail.
Then the wind would increase suddenly to a fierce 30 knots, making me glad I didn't put up the more sail.

The news coming in from New Orleans and Mississippi is horrific. The big difference between disasters and suffering in the USA
compared to suffering in other countries is the news stories. Hearing so many stories and so many details about what it happening
there makes it seem much more real. Libby suggested that maybe we should spend this winter volunteering for disaster relief rather
than playing in the Caribbean. Perhaps so.