Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Note to an old friend.
Just finished a good week of teaching ASA curriculum. Today I'm to skipper the Leopard 44 catamaran on a daysail. It's been chartered for a bridal shower. I've been warned that I'll be out there with 12 women. God knows what this day will be like. Weather will be sunny and warm. Light east wind.
Yesterday after saying goodbye to my three students I walked to the condo where I met Cathy. We wanted to see the new hardwood flooring and the new kitchen countertops. It really does look terrific. We're both becoming excited by the thought of moving in our new space and making it our home. The contractor will soon return to put in tile kitchen backsplashes. I'll install new vanity countertops and sinks in both bathrooms. We have a lot of touch up painting to do. I'll change all the wall switches and outlets. There'll be a dozen other details to take care of, but we are getting very near the end.
Leaving the condo we walked a block and a half down to
We finished at Tryst and then walking back along the busy sidewalk I saw familiar faces – Jeff, a former student of mine and his fiancĂ©e Emily. We chatted with them for a few minutes. Emily is a chef. She promised to bring a couple of her dishes to our house warming. Our next stop was at a chocolate shop that opened just last November - Sweet Divas. It's half a block from our condo and already we're on first name basis with the proprietors. They have promised to bring chocolate to our house warming.
Me and my latest graduates of the ASA101 thru 104 program: Greg, Patty and Scott.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Yikes!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Letter to an old friend
This is the first morning in a couple weeks that I haven't felt rushed to get going on a busy day ahead. I don't have to be at the marina until around
Yesterday, like previous days this week, I was occupied with bareboat charter functions and doing diesel repairs and maintenance. The previous week I took several days off to work on the condo. I'm way behind in sea time for the month – just five days so far. This coming week of teaching will help get me catch up. But Capt Patrick, the other main guy on the dock, leaves next Friday on the annual St Petersburg Yacht Club race to Isla Mujeres. He'll be gone for a week, leaving me to keep things running on the dock. When he comes back Capt Dave, the company owner, will fly to Isla Mujeres for a week-long cruise along
Last year after the race to Isla, I was given the job of flying to
A month after that delivery I was given the job of bringing back that same boat from
So far this year there has been no talk of me doing an away trip. And that's okay. The away trip I am most interested in doing next is one to the
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Before the
This is a big weekend for bike racing - World Superbike at Assen, AMA Roadracing at Road Atlanta. Coincidentally it's also the first weekend of motorcycle road racing for my former home track back in
You asked about driving on the left in the
Friday, April 20, 2012
Letter to an old friend
Going back to your questions about Hurricane Marilyn, US Virgin Islands, 1995. The devastation was overwhelming. It was everywhere, changing place to place merely in degree. Some neighborhoods looked as if a bomb had gone off, leveling everything for acres. I remember going around, first on foot and then by car, simply exploring the new world of destruction we lived in. Taking it all in, but in hindsight, emotionally shut down. Quite literally, it was stunning.
How did we start the clean up? How did we do it? Good questions. Thinking about it now I realize there's a novel length story to tell. The physical destruction and the clean up was paralleled by an emotional evolution. But for now, I'll say the physical clean up began slowly. One thing at a time. Pick up a piece of debris and begin a pile.
I remember how for days after the storm, the waters of the Lagoon smelled of diesel from leaking fuel tanks in sunken boats. There was a thick sheen across the Lagoon. The smell made some people sick. You saw in the video how broken up our docks were, with boats from our fleet and boats that had broken away from neighboring docks piled on or sunken next to our docks. Along with that mess there was a mat of floating and half sunken debris of all sorts. I recall being on the dock with Gary, the business owner Tommy, and one or two others, looking at it all and realizing that we had to start somewhere. As always, I had Tevas on my feet. A moment of resolution settled over me. I stepped down into the oily knee-deep water in the front of the shop and started pulling out debris. Branches, parts of boats, bits of lumber, unidentifiable junk. It seemed like my actions startled those around me. They were amazed that I would do what I was doing. But as debris piled up on the dock they jumped in and began carrying it away. No one said anything, but it was as if a tipping point had been reached - the realization that no one was going to come clean this up for us. We simply had to jump in and begin. Anywhere. One thing at a time. Then everywhere.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Letter to an old friend
Thank you for the birthday wish. You're right. The dairy farmer hours I keep prevented me from seeing your message until this morning –
It was my intention to spend this day away from the marina to work on the condo, but a last minute charter on the Hunter 41 came up and I was asked to handle the briefing. I spent some time at the condo yesterday instead. After this morning's briefing I'll spend the rest of the day servicing the Yanmar engine and the Fisher Panda generator on the Hunter 44. That boat will sail to
Lately, when I'm not working at the marina, I'm working on the condo. I expect this will go on until after we move, sometime next month. I can't give myself a weekend at the track, as I'd like. But I have looked ahead on the calendar and identified a weekend when I think I can get away – May 26 & 27.
I feel the need for a weekend at the track. Lately I've found myself thinking, I should sign up for a
Racing is a lot of fun. Much more intense than a track day. You naturally push yourself much harder. Of course the risk of crashing or getting tangled up in someone else's crash is also much greater. But I love the close riding, dog fighting intensity of those first couple of racing laps. I'll do a trackday weekend and hopefully get it out of my system for a while.
Your weekend in
That's weird about the shifter on the Boxter. (I've never driven one. I'll bet it's a hoot.) I wonder, what's unique in the linkage for 5th gear/ 6th gear shifting? I hope your enquiries with mechanics yield help.
I'll come back to your questions about Marilyn's aftermath next time. But I'll say this now – I stayed in the VI for five more years afterwards.
More soon.
RR
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Condo in downtown St Petersburg
March was insanely busy with work at Sailing Florida. April and May appear to be equally demanding, but in different ways. Demand for my time at Sailing Florida may diminish, but that will be more than offset by the demands of finishing the remodel on the condo we bought, then moving in and getting resettled.
We've been at this apartment complex on Eden Isle for just over a year now. It's been a good temporary answer, but we decided it was time to buy real estate here. Plus, we wanted to be back in downtown
We've had a contractor in our unit remodeling the kitchen. This week I'll take time off from Sailing Florida to paint. New bamboo flooring is scheduled to be installed throughout the unit next week. In about a month from now we'll be living in it, surrounded by boxes that need unpacking.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Running
I am running to keep up with demands of business at Sailing FL. The guy who usually is responsible for day to day management on the dock, Capt Patrick, has been off on a charter this week, leaving me wearing even more hats than usual. We have friends from
I've found myself thinking it would be fun to ride my racebike soon. I've toyed with the idea of taking a weekend away at the track as a birthday gift for myself. But with all that's going on, that is entirely unfeasible. Maybe next month, after we've moved into the new place.