Busted Plans

Marathon, FL
No LL

We had planned on departing today. Yesterday morning I listen to Chris Parker's weather report at 0630. The weather window is collapsing, with the beginning time getting later and the ending time getting earlier. I decided to change plans. This morning's report was worse. The weather window now is only 12 hours long. That's not enough. We have to travel 200 natutical miles, so we need more than 48 hours.

My friend Richard on Viking Rose called last night. They too decided that the window was not long enough. Richard said something that rang a bell. He said, "This boat is our home." Libby and I feel exactly the same way. It is not merely death or injuries or abandoning ship that we fear; we must not risk damage that might make the boat unlivible or unusable for an extended period. That makes for an extra degree of caution. When your boat is your home, your only home, you become unwilling to take unnecesary chances with it.

Since we are no longer in a hurry to leave, I bought a copy of the New York Times as a special treat. With newspapers in the USA dying like flies, it becomes apparent that The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times may be the only two non-tabloid non-free papers that will survive. They are both sold nationally. They both offer an order of magnitude more original content and feature articles than do local newspapers. They are also smart enough to raise their prices as competing papers fail. Here in Marathon, the WSJ costs $2 and the NYT costs $1.50.

Thursdays are the best value days to buy the NYT. For some reason, their best feature arcticles appear on that day. Yesterday we read an article that blew our minds. I recommend you read it fast before it disappears from the online pages. It is My Monkey, My Self, and it is about people who keep monkeys as pets. Libby and I both found the stories amazing. It illustrates to us how powerful our genetically programmed behaviors can be.