The photo is my favorite so far of Dave Skafie’s 14’ Paradox. I thank him for permission to use it. The light is just right. Dave and Paradox have made the turn and are heading down Florida’s west coast.
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The pod arrived Friday. Beautifully finished. I thank Gilles and his workers.
Three weeks tomorrow it and I will be on our way to GANNET.
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In response to a question I asked, Gilles brought the Harken DuoCam swivel base to my attention. Some of you will know of this. I didn’t. The main sheet runs to the upper cam; the backstay control comes up through the base and runs to the lower cam. Excellent. GANNET’s backstay control line is going to remain below deck after all.
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Other than a minute of nonsense with a would-be shaman—you will not be surprised to learn that I don’t make daily sacrifices to the water—here is a good half hour video about the recent race to Alaska.
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From Peter comes a quote from Richard Wagner, for which I thank him.
“Whatever I thought right, to others seemed wrong; what I held to be bad, others approved of.”
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Little kids like my eye patch.
I’m not a good judge of age, but I’d guess those about five years old. My life’s symmetry: I’ve found my level again.
As we walked through a park one evening, Carol heard a boy shout with glee, “That man has an eye patch!”
In a supermarket one little girl whispered in the ear of another and both turned and stared goggle-eyed.
And a boy, holding onto his mother’s hand, said to me, “I’ve got one of those.”
I replied, “You do?”
“I do.”
“Then that makes up pirates together.”
He seemed pleased to have found a shipmate and grinned.
