Marathon Rocks

Boot Key Harbor, Florida

Man oh man, how nice to be reminded of how pleasant Florida can be.  It is not only the wonderful weather, but all the good friends.   Being back in Boot Key Harbor really feels like home.  I know I’ve blogged before about having 15-20 homes he (places we visit), but I guess I’ll throw in the towel and confess that Marathon/Book Key Harbor is our premier among homes.

We were surprised at how easy the driving was.   We started Sunday in Manning, GA, and we could have made it to Marathon in 13 hours.  Instead we took a side trip.   We drove to Labelle and intercepted Jeff & Wendy on their W32 Calypso.   They were cruising up the Caloosahatchee River heading for Lake Okeechobee.   We met them in Labelle and the four of us enjoyed a feast at Honest John’s Log Cabin.  Blog readers might remember our accounts of Honest John’s.  Last year we extended our stay in Labelle just so that we could eat at Honest John’s two days in a row.

On Monday we had a great drive thorough the Everglades.  We saw places we’ve never been before such as around Immokalee, FL.  Then we intercepted Alligator Alley and drove East to Homestead. All the time the weather was getting better and better.

By mid afternoon we were in Marathon and we met with Bob and Sandra.  They are our hosts this week, as we stay on board Carpe Diem.  It was a great reunion.  We missed them all winter.  Tonight we all have dinner with Darrick and Sharon, more best friends.  

All I can say is wow; life in Book Key Harbor continues to be the greatest.

Next, as we head north we’ll have to make some choices.  Kathy&Dick, Pat&Ray, Dave&Jonnnie, Chris&June, and Bo&Joyce all lie north of here and we’d love to visit them all.  Some are on the FL east coast, some on the west coast.  We’ll have to make a choice.

Also on my agenda is to stop at Sun Elec in Miami to buy solar panels.  They  charge a lot for shipping, so we can save by stopping in.  Right now however, we’re just enjoying being where we are.

Enough!

Savannah, Georgia

Enough with projects. Enough with the flu. Enough with winter (even North Carolina winter). We're heading south for a break.

Even better. We're heading for Marathon to visit with Bob and Sandra and the rest of our cruising friends. To tell the truth, we've been feeling a bit lonely and left out during our self imposed northern winter.

In less than 90 minutes, we will cross the border into Florida. We will be traveling for a weekly so. Wish us bon voyage.

The Box Canyon Rule

Zebulon, North Carolina

The most valuable and lasting benefit I got from learning to fly airplanes is what I call "The Box Canyon Rule."

Here's the problem.  Every year several people lose their lives trying to fly airplanes up box canyons in the American West.  It must be very tempting.  The problem is, what do you do when you get  to the dead end? Well, plan A must be to either climb out of the canyon, or to make a U-turn and fly back out again.  In real life, that does not always work; and when it doesn't lives are are snuffed out on the canyon walls.   The significance of the box canyon is that there is no feasible plan B.

The box canyon rule is simply, "Don't fly into a box canyon."

The more general form of the rule is, "Don't follow any plan to which there are no feasible alternative plans."  

The risks I try to avoid while cruising are more abstract than real box canyons.  Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of factors.

• The obvious ones.  Do not sail into uncharted waters (i.e. waters I don't have charts for.)  Do not enter strange harbors at night.  Don't go where currents are too strong to overcome with our vessel.
  
• Weather margins.  I always try to return to a safe port at least 24 hours before an acceptable weather window may close.  If dangerous weather approaches, my margin increases to 36 or 48 hours.
  
• Navigation: If all 4 GPS apparatuses on board suddenly fail, I have ways to do backup navigation.   I also have multiple backups for engine failure, sail failure, and hull integrity failure.  We have ample food and water to keep going for many weeks.  We have multiple methods of backup communication.
  
• Personal limits:  I never allow our reserves of endurance or good judgement get dangerously low.  I'm keenly aware that fatigue robs judgement, and that as we get older fatigue appears quicker and that we fatigue more rapidly in bad weather.
  

Don't assume anything if you can avoid it.  To avoid collisions we keep a safe distance from other boats when possible to avoid the need to assume that the other guy will do the safe thing.  We always talk to a draw bridge tender by radio rather than assume that he sees us.

Here's the method: Think critically about your assumptions.  If an assumption is critical to safety, then you must have a feasible backup plan if that assumption proves false.  If you don't have a feasible alternative, don't go.

I should also define safety in this context.   Of course life safety is foremost, but for me that's not safe enough.  I plan to avoid situations which could be so scary, dangerous, or financially ruinous that it would cause Libby and I to give up on our cruising life.   We have no backup for this life style choice.  We must make it work.

In part, that is the reason for our current stand down.  I sensed that we (the crew) and Tarwathie (the vessel) were becoming accident prone.  Our implied plan A was that no such accident would be really serious.   Once I recognized that we had entered a box canyon, I chose to back out immediately.  I hope to make both the crew and the vessel in better shape to resume cruising next year.

[Note: I first posted this item on 11/8/2010, then I immediately withdrew it for rewriting.  This is the improved version.  Jim M,  read the first version before I withdrew it.  His comment was: 

Dick --
Your Box Canyon post is superb and should be required reading for all boaters. It is the most clear and articulate writing that I have seen on why and how to think about risk in a boating environment but is very broadly applicable no matter the boating style.
BTW, professionally, I am a risk manager as I run the credit function for financing large scale energy projects so I really appreciated the post both personally and professionally. Jim M. in CT 

]

Amazing Genes

Zebulon, NC

Im happy to report that Libby is much better.   I'm also totally surprised.

You see, with her getting this illness one week after me, the experience was very fresh in my mind. I could see her symptoms progress hour-by-hour.   They seemed to mimic mine exactly.  Therefore I extrapolated to the end and assumed that the rest of her episode would match mine.  Not true.  On Monday morning, she seemed be completely free of the virus.   That is 24 hours faster than my experience.  Also, her recovery seems to be more complete than mine.  My head is still stuffed 10 days after my so-called recovery.  Her's is much better than mine.

Should I attribute it to Libby's superior genes?   Why not? I'm particularly fond of Libby's genes after all.  They and I have been getting along for more than 50 years, so far.

Jefferson's Right

Zebulon, NC

I published a new book, Jefferson's Right, on amazon.com 

The book is about the current debate about gun-control.  I maintain that both sides in the debate are disingenuous.   Pro-control advocates deny it, but their real goal is to nearly eliminate all private gun ownership.  Their tactics mirror those of the anti-smoking campaigns.  Pro-rights advocates claim that they need guns for sport and for self-protection.  Baloney, many of them want to protect their right to resist government, by violence if necessary.  They have trouble articulating that right however.  It is not rooted in The Constitution.  The book explains the origins of this right and explores the implications.

The right to resist, to revolt, to secede, to abolish government, all mean the same thing.  The right was best expressed in The US Declaration of Independence, in singularly inspired prose written by Thomas Jefferson.  The US Constitution however, explicitly denies this right.  The book explains and helps to resolve this contradiction, and it sets the 2nd amendment in its proper place.

Finally, the book examines the possibilities of non-violent alternatives to gun ownership.  After all, the high social cost of gun ownership is readily apparent.   If we acknowledge the right to resist, is it necessary for the public to exercise that right?   The book explores threats, both internal and external that having an armed public may protect us from.

Once disarmed, the public can never become re-armed.  Therefore, the realism of threats must be considered in the context of the expected lifetime of American society; two or three centuries at least.  In that time frame, many adverse events might occur, that are hard to imagine today, or in a 10 year planning window.

The book is very brief, almost essay size.  You would only need to read 16 pages.

I'm learning fast, that it is one thing to write a book, and quite another thing to promote it and to entice people to read it and comment on it.   I very much need some public comments and reviews; especially reviews on amazon.com.

You can buy Jefferson's Right for only $0.99 on amazon.com.  You can also read the full content free of charge here.   If you think that it is provocative and deserving of wider discussion, please tell your friends about it.