Living Contentedly

It was nice to see several pods of dolphins welcoming Clancy to Port Stephens. good omen start line. It got canned  afternoon colours  never gets old

After sanding the plug or the old compass hole in the main bulkhead, I anticipated the next step; adding a skim of bog. Just then the opposite side of the bulkhead caught my eye. I'd removed the VHD radio from the main bulkhead to port, its finish was a little underdone do I hit it with the orbital sander.  Just then it occurred to me, this boat was literally built to be a lake boat. Thats why the radio was made accessible to the cockpit. No sailor with offshore experience would seriously consider putting a radio there; if the salt spray or regular dowsings  with water didn't flood or corrode the set, a green wave would knock its teeth out.  Putting the compass on the opposite side was a little off. Yes it could be seen by the helmsman, but it stopped the locker lid from fully opening. I wanted to use that locker for my sea anchor stowage as well as grab bag  & safety gear. Full access is needed. 

I just wanted to get out to watch the sunrise. Mix it up. Burn & stretch a little.  cow! horse cows

Oh what a relief it is to see all the little jobs & hull painting jobs come to a close.  I'm happy because aheos looking super good, better than when I bought her. It makes me proud & happy to realise that my ( if I'm honest) tainted attitude to sailing was due to really poor eyesight. I had clear thoughts, before eye surgery, that sailing on low light conditions in skinny water could easily get me into trouble. But i think also, my inability to carry out fine detailed work, was limiting what I could do on the boat. I was literally a passenger on my own boat.  The other reason im happy with the results of my hard work, is that she can go into the marketplace with her bow held high. Oughtred, & her builder, would be proud.  

On a dawn stroll listening to The Adventure Diaries podcast, I found out about Peter Casey of "Ascent of the Amazon".  Apart from his website, the guy is not at all known. Yes, he has presented at The Explorers Club in New York & London, but his present lifestyle is living on a flat, in debt, his brother's carer. Yet several years ago he sold his house to fund an adventure to ascend the Amazon for a few months. Fast forward 6.5 years & he has 4competed an unsupported transit of South America via the Amazon Basin. I suppose being a youngish, white, straight male without an extraordinary history or social contacts, takes him out of the loop of popular personalities & causes.  

 It is well known among those who study solo Transatlantic small boat sailors, that publicity means death to the mission. In the 1990s Hugo Vihlen, who had made a record crossing about 30 years previously, was making a publicised reattempt. But this drew the attention of the US Coastguard and a dance ensued, authorities trying to thwart the voyage,the boat and Vihlen, and Vihlen himself who fled to the boarder to escape their clutches. In Canadian waters, the wearther was too light.  "Father's Day was originally built at 5 feet 6 inches long. On Vihlen's first attempt out of St. John's, Newfoundland , he met his rival and newfound friend Tom McNally who was also pursuing the record of crossing the North Atlantic from West to East. Tom's boat the, Big C , was 1½ inches smaller than the Father's Day . The first attempt out of Cape Cod was thwarted by the U.S. Coast Guard . Vihlen decided to leave from Canada where the distance was shorter, the currents were c...