A glorious day in the swamp. 75ºF at 5:30 PM. Sunny. A moderate breeze.
I am sitting on the screened porch, sipping a small amount of Plymouth gin and listening to Bach.
I am filled with virtue. Of course, as I just wrote to a friend, I am always filled with virtue, but even more this evening. Today I painted the non non-skid parts of GANNET’s deck. This was a project that I began in early January. I have—or so I convince myself—some legitimate excuses. A virus. Weather. Not being here for almost six weeks. But still!
I used KiwiGrip which I have not before. It is not exactly a paint, but a deck covering intended to be stippled into a non-skid surface itself. I am not interested in that. This is only going in the small spaces between the Raptor non-skid pads. I hoped it would cover better and last longer than the Interdeck paint I have been using. Cover it did. Last longer we will see.
A small delay while I refilled my truly small glass. I provide the above photo as proof that it is small.
I have to save room for a glass or two of Chianti which I will soon have after stretching my culinary skills to their limit by turning on the oven to bake a frozen pizza.
The other final is much more serious. Perhaps tragic. But I do not believe that dying during an endeavor you willingly undertake knowing it might be fatal is tragic.
I made my first five circumnavigations without any way to call for help. On my sixth I could through the Yellowbrick send out a distress signal. I wish I could not have. I know that hardly anyone will understand that. The purpose of the Yellowbrick was to let Carol know where I was. Others were welcome to look in too.
Working without a net. Accepting total responsibility for your actions. Is extreme. And it is what I have done since age thirteen.
I can set the age clearly because my mother for some reason demanded that I become an Eagle scout in the Boy Scouts. I did at about the youngest age possible and never attended another meeting after I did.
She took credit for that award and I realized at that moment that if I blamed my parents for what is wrong with me, I would have to give them credit for what is right. I did not want to share what is right with me, whatever that may be, so have never claimed others are responsible for my defects. I accepted full responsibility for Webb Chiles in 1954 and I have never given it up.
This is from THE ASSASSIN’S CLOAK dated March 29, 1912, and is signed, Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
As regular readers know I don’t read much about sailing any more and I hardly ever watch sailing videos, but a comment from ZMK about the last journal post turned my attention to ePropulsion electric outboards. I knew of them, but have in the past couple of days done more research during which I came across a video about the outboards by a young French sailor who sails exceptionally well a contemporary version of GANNET. I enjoyed it. Perhaps you will too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8FRndSyLw
In a book by Rebecca West, THE TRAIN OF POWER, in which she reported on four trials, including the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, I came across this:
L’Chaim.
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