01 Wednesday Feb 2012
In my constant battle to simplify my life I have grown weary of technology. How wonderful it must feel to have no computer, cell phone or any other gadgetry to have to charge, maintain, or upgrade.
This blog very well may be coming to an end. In the ultimate search for simplicity I have started joint writing a”paper” journal/log that I hope someday will become a book on setting off into a simple sailing journey.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
29 Sunday Jan 2012
Posted in Sailing
Tags
In navigation, a rhumb line (or loxodrome) is a line crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, i.e. a path derived from a defined initial bearing. That is, upon taking an initial bearing, one proceeds along the same bearing, without changing the direction as measured relative to true north.
In preparing for my upcoming voyage I seem to deviate from my rhumb line more often than not. I only have one mandatory project before setting out. I ran short of time in the boat yard and want to do an epoxy job on The` before heading out to warmer waters. She still has no built in water tank or stove. I would like an ice box but its not mandatory. More sails would be a dream. Lifelines are pretty important but haven’t kept me from sailing. Some form of auxiliary propulsion seems pretty necessary. Safety equipment, at least the basic coast guard required equipment sounds like a good idea. It would be nice if all of my lights worked and maybe a small solar panel to keep them burning. So many little things that add up.
The boat is coming along at a good pace despite so many setbacks. I have $1.68 in my checking account, 1 penny on the boat and $8.75 cents in quarters in my shower bag. I work on 100% commission and don’t have any pending deals. I should be worried that I haven’t paid my slip rent in two months but I don’t.
For everything I don’t have I work hard and never give up on finishing. What do I have? A dream, a boat that is paid for and ready enough to cruise locally. I have a warm dry bunk and a few weeks of food. More importantly I have my health, my youth, a strong determination and rock solid little boat. How many years have I dreamed about this reality that I now live. The voyage of The` started almost one year ago. On February 10th 2011 I received this letter. “Greetings, I have a FC for sale. She is on the hard in Long Beach, California. Easily movable as she rests on a newer triple-axel trailer. If you are interested please call or email for her story and details.”
I was wrapping up a heart breaking divorce an in the process of loosing everything that was dear to me. I never gave up, I put my nose to the grindstone and made my dreams my reality. I’m free, happy and every day the hard work and sacrifice is paying off.
I don’t sweat the small stuff. Every day the sun stays out just a little bit longer. Summer is coming.
A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.
~Wilhelm Steintz
29 Sunday Jan 2012
I love Saturday nights mostly because I am off on Sunday so I can stay up late and do anything I choose. Tonight I am doing the bachelor thing and have no complaints about it.
Tonight I have a date with my short wave radio ” Thanks Ken” a Flask of stellar whiskey and my boat projects list. Solitude can be a beautiful thing when you are in the right frame of mind and tonight I am. I can’t believe I actually solved my Rubiks cube, I don’t quite know how it happened but I feel enlightened.
A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
24 Tuesday Jan 2012
Posted in Photography
Tags
alaska, epic, film, nikon d 7000 documentary, nikon d800, sitka
I can see across Boundary Bay from my office window. Its blowing thirty and almost warm and balmy. My thoughts drift off to Alaska, Sitka to be exact. several months ago I made this little teaser slide show, now I stare blankly at a contract to film a documentary in Alaska starting March 15th.
Thirty days in Alaska would be a dream and who doesn’t want to spend St Patrick’s Day in Sitka. I haven’t signed the contract yet but I sit here pen in hand and my finders are getting itchy. Whenever I start a new film project I start with the sound track, it can make or break the film. Its the difference between a mediocre film and an epic. It says, THIS IS GOING TO BE HUGE!
To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.
~John Muir
21 Saturday Jan 2012
Posted in Sailing
20 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in Sailing
Tags
Up until now I had pretty much resolved myself to voyaging alone and having friends fly in here and there for longer passages. This has all changed, as my work progresses I find that more and more I am open to having a full time partner.
I had decided to sell my windless and downsize my chain from 5/16 to 1/4 to save weight in the bow. I have now decided to keep it make life easier for a small person to handle. The windless is over twenty years old and completely ceased. I have been slowly dismantling it and its amazingly perfect. I love old stuff, I’m still amazed at the quality of products I find that were made in America back before we all entered the disposable revolution.
“When you look at an apple, some people would say the non-organic apple is cheaper than the organic apple. But when you factor in what you’re receiving in terms of vitamins, minerals, etc., the organic apple—on that basis—is cheaper than the non-organic apple.”
~Jerry Kay“
I have always beleaved that I get Karma points for making my own or adding second hand gear to The`when possible. When I purchased chain for the boat I was told I could save money by buying chain made in China. Sure I could have saved a few bucks on the purchase but in the long run It would cost me more due to the inferior quality. It would also cost my community by sending my money to China rather than keeping in here in Bellingham where I live and work. With the exception of rigging and ground tackle I try first to buy it used, then local.
The ever-mounting glut of waste materials is characteristic by-product of modern “consumer society.” It might even be argued that capitalism’s continual need to find of generate markets means that disposibility and waste have become the spine of the system. To consume means, literally, “to destroy or expend,” and in the garbage crisis we confront the underlying truth of a society in which enormous productive capacities and market forces have harnessed human needs and desires, without regard to the long or even short-term future of life on the planet.
~Stuart Ewen
19 Thursday Jan 2012
Posted in life, Sailing, Uncategorized
The best lessons I have learned in life are from my dog. I found her in a rescue almost ten years ago but I didn’t save her, she saved me. Dogs don’t walk anywhere they run. They don’t say hi, they kiss and wag their butt so hard it almost shakes their tail off. Every time I walk back into the office she cries and nussels me as if I had been gone a week.
Unlike the postman Chloe never has an excuse, Through rain, nor snow, nor sleet she is always there and ready to go which is good cause and ice storm is brewing. The docks are already a solid sheet of ice. Of all the things I have to contend with living aboard through the winter Ice is the worst, One slip and your done.
There is no animal in the world that feels sorry for itself. They all live in the moment and make the best of the situation.
ADD hijack… I totally just found this and think its so funny “LAME”, Its an old head shot from my acting days HA 
have a great day I’m going out to ice skate on the docks.
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”
~ Milan Kundera
18 Wednesday Jan 2012
I wrote this song for my imaginary girlfriend.
“Step into my cockpit and I’ll lock you in my boat.
We can sail around the world in my little boat.
Why dont you step into my cocpit and I’ll Lock you in my boat.
We can sail around the world in my little boat.”
You might think you want to leave.
But I will never let you go.
You will learn to love the sea.
In our little sailboat.
“CHORUS”
Someday waves will get so high.
You might think your gonna die.
Giant seas we may surf.
You just may loose your nerve.
Please god listen to me.
Please get me off the sea.
“CHORUS”
Land ho we made it there.
I really wasnt scared.
Sun is setting wind is high.
Flash of lightning in the sky.
Dragging anchor in the surf.
I really think I’m gonna barf.
“CHORUS”
Anchor held through the night.
We didn’t go aground.
Dead calm in the morning paradise is found.
Didn’t die surf or broach.
Well never forget our first approach.
Step into my cocpit and Ill lock you in our boat.
We can sail the seven seas in our little boat.
I know it needs work but its a start
“Ukuleles will get you through times with no money better than money will get you through time with no ukulele.”
18 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in Sailing
What a joke, The local media has been running storm warning stories nonstop. Winter storm 2012 Dun Dun Dunnnnn. This is nothing, Yes its cold enough to freeze my tears and somehow I lost one of my gloves oops, nippy fingers. I remember one year in Tahoe we got 18 feet of snow in three days.
The street is in front of the car, somwhere.
Gotta love my 1 meg camera.
This little boat has kept me warm and snug all winter.
Anyone who has spent a few nights in a boat during a storm can tell you: The world doesn’t care all that much if you live or die.
17 Tuesday Jan 2012
Posted in Sailing, Uncategorized
Tags
carnal, dancing, gale warning, minimalism, nor easter, storm, wild child
There is a storm a brewing. I woke up snug in my bunk as my mind wandered off to a happy place. I love the smell of rain, the sun on my shoulders, that feeling right before I wake up or fall asleep. Diving naked into an ice cold stream or lake. walking barefoot, getting lost, being found. Storms, the sounds of night, sharing and exploring. The natural world provides for all of my senses.
I left the boat at 5:30 AM I had planned to take Chloe on a play date but she wouldn’t budge from underneath the warm cocoon of my down sleeping bag, so I set off to she shower alone. I feel sorry for people who live in houses and wonder if they have any Idea how much life passes while locked inside the firm foundation of their safe little jail cells. When you don’t have a hot shower it becomes one of the biggest luxuries of life. By the time I got to the marina shower I was a Popsicle but it didn’t matter. I stripped down and slipped into the piping hot steamy shower and wondered how I am such a lucky person to have such an impossibly perfect life.
They are forecasting the biggest blizzard to hit the Area in thirty years, with more snow in two days than we get in a typical year. I have The` all snugged up and ready. They are calling for 20 degrees and 50mph winds, that puts the windchill well below 0. I’m ready and waiting, when it hits I wont hide, I will be running through the tempest playing chase with my dog and screaming into the Nor Easter at the top of my lungs. This is life right now. Get out and stay out!
A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.
~John Muir
