I wrote to Craig, the developer of LuckGrib and an American sailor I met several years ago in New Zealand, asking about the discrepancy between the wind I was seeing in the GRIBs and what was being reported by the National Hurricane Center. Here is the relevant part of his prompt response:
Craig also advised checking the resolution of the GRIBs. This is usually set to 0.5 of a degree of latitude, which is 30 nautical miles. I did check and mine were set to 0.5. I changed that to 0.25, which is 15 nautical miles, and subsequent GRIBs, while still showing less wind than reported by the National Hurricane Center, were much closer.
Bill in the UK suggested that the woman I mentioned who described ocean passages as sensory deprivation might have done so because she was more or less a passenger on boats, rather than responsible for sailing them herself, and upon reflection I agree that this may well be true.
After being told by the surgeon that I could resume normal activity, including going swimming, I did. A few days later Carol and I swam in the condo pool, which is not huge. I swam eight laps without any pain or problems, until the next day when I started having intermittent irregular sharp pains on random movement. After five days they ended and I now again believe I am good.
To test that I walked down to GANNET this morning and stowed various items and brought the outboard battery from the area aft of the port pipe berth forward into The Great Cabin to charge it. As you know GANNET imposes contorted positions and awkward lifting. All went without pain or difficulty. Maybe a sail and a night at anchor on Port Royal Sound is in my future.
Li Bai, 701-762, is considered one of China’s greatest poets. I have mentioned him here before, but happen to be rereading some of his poems now in the CLASSICAL CHINESE POETRY ANTHOLOGY. I like the legend of his death.
Here is one of my favorite of his poems, which I have posted here before, but is worth reading again. This is the enhanced translation by Ezra Pound.
I am also now reading a collection of poems by Thomas Hardy and read this one this morning.
3 comments:
Hi Webb, Thanks again for consistently sharing poetry. When you mentioned the translation by Ezra Pound, I wonder if your writing has been translated into other languages and if so, are you satisfied with the translation?
Thanks,
Rich
Some of my articles have been translated into other languages. I have said that I have been published on every continent except South America and Antarctica and I don’t have much hope for Antarctica.
Of my saying that almost dying is a hard way to make a living, I learned that when what I wrote about survival situations sold best. Before the days of the Internet it was quite legal to sell the same article to non competing markets. Thus an article that appeared in the US could also be sold in England or other countries So I often sold the same article many times. Some were translated into French, German, one of the Scandinavian countries—I don’t remember which—and Japanese. They also appeared in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Of those that were not English, I could only judge the French which I once could read well. They did well and particularly liked the open boat voyage, and the French magazine, VOILES AND VOILIERS commissioned a drawing of me from a photograph I sent them that is one of the few things I have kept from my past and hangs on our bedroom wall. Webb Chiles as he was forty years ago and likes still to think of himself, though of course he is not. But maybe he is still himself. Almost sunset here and too many reflections for me to take a photo. I will post one in the journal soon.
Of books, a Norwegian publisher contacted me for the rights to translate STORM PASSAGE. I signed a contract. There was some noise for a while, but ultimately nothing happened.
As I have mentioned in the journal, that has happened a lot.
I would like my words to be remembered, but I have no control over the tribal consciousness beyond what I will or will not do to attract it. Today that means social media and that I will not do.
So I live and love and sail as I believe I should. I write about it. If the tribe forgets, the tribe’s loss.
Hi Webb, Thanks for the detailed and interesting response! I can tell you that this tribe member will remember! And your words have enhanced many lives so they live on in the collective consciousness!
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