Hilton Head Island: unstitched

I biked the five miles to the clinic this morning and was unstitched.  I was told I am healing well for an old man.  The nurse didn’t actually say ‘for an old man’, but I sensed it.  The incision is now covered with butterfly bandaids both horizontally and vertically.  I am to leave them in place until they naturally fall off in a week or two.  I did not offer the information that that might be several hundred miles at sea, after being gently reprimanded for biking to the appointment.  No problem.  I have no more biking to do.

If the forecasts are correct the weekend is going to be rainy and I expect to depart on Monday, probably from the dock rather than at anchor.  In passage mode, I would have to crawl over several bags to get and then re-stow the anchor and rode which is not a good idea with my leg.  Easier to re-stow the Torqeedo underway.

For several months I have been studying the winds between Hilton Head and Bermuda.  Every seven day GRIB has shown variable wind from every direction, usually with two or three 180º shifts.  So if you observe on the Yellowbrick tracking page that GANNET has stopped or is moving very slowly, don’t be alarmed.  I am not going to beat up the little boat or myself.  If we encounter strong headwinds, I will slow down or heave to and wait for the certain change.

The tracking page is:

https://my.yb.tl/gannet

A line from a poem by Yuan Chen (779-831):

I’ve seen the sea; how could I settle for a river?