This is probably the longest lapse in my blogging since I started this in 2009. I kept postponing for a major piece of news to report on the progress of the “Fleetwood” repair. I had expected to be back in the water by the end of April. It came and went. The engine installation took much more time than I had anticipated. Now I have another excuse: The access to the boat by the travel-lift is blocked by another boat with a transmission breakdown. There is little left to do than the anti-fouling, but in order to not lose its toxicity it needs to be done within 48 hours before the launching. Once in the water it will be much easier to redo the interior. It gets very hot inside on land. And the handicap of constantly climbing the ladder. In the meantime I shall start work on the mast, rewiring and maintenance and step it again on land rather than after the launch. I figure that the interior will take all of July and possibly August, repainting, varnish, rewiring, new formica, upholstery, etc. The engine is down but it is slightly longer than I had counted on and I need to modify the companion way steps.
So, my summer plans have been scaled back from the plan to make the loop up to St. Lawrence and back down the Mississippi. I will probably be a short cruise to Nantucket and back to Cape Charles by the end of the hurricane season in October November, then south to the Caribbean and South America. I am contemplating flying to the Northwest for Sid Nesbit’s 80th birthday on July 27th. I have hardly missed Sid’s birthdays since we met in 1972, except for the circumnavigation.
Part of the slow progress on the boat is due to hours of back and forth e-mails and phone calls on my telephone service transfer. I initiated the transfer a month ago and I am still waiting for Tracfone to release my number to the new provider. In January I transferred four of my five web sites to Go Daddy. In the process most of the external links point back to the home page of www.ComeToSea.us It is taking me many hours to reconnect all of them and hundreds of phone calls to Go Daddy. I’m not done yet. I reported earlier that my e-book version of SoloMan was not published correctly. I still do not have answers from Amazon to my complaints of their lack of service. Today I finally received an answer to a problem on the pricing and royalties on the print version of SoloMan that I reported six weeks ago. The process starts with their call center in Asia, answered with long winded text messages, slowly working their way up through the experience level. Frustrating.
The consolation to the disappointment of my shortened summer season is the pleasure of being here in Cape Charles. The location and the population have put a spell on me. Seldom have I made so many wonderful friendships in such a short period in one location, ever. Many of them through the parish of St. Charles of Borromeo, which has a unique mix of members from locals to transplants from everywhere with many artistic and professional talents. Plus a significant contribution from the Latin American members. This morning a mature dough was grazing near the boat. A North Carolina Wren whistles its distinctive call on top of the solar panel. An oasis in a troubled world.
I had a sold out house on April 28th for my presentation and book signing of my sailing adventure. Last month I did another presentation at the parish hall. And I expect to do one more at the Lemon Tree Gallery, in a regular program they put on for Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. I should have more details shortly. “SoloMan” and “The Mastmakers’ Daughters” are well received here.