Diversions

Well as most of you know by now I have returned to Central Missouri and have been home for about two weeks.

Why, why, why? That's what a lot of you are asking and one would surmise that this deserves an answer.

I had sat on the "Looking for Answers", that is the name of the sailboat for those of you who haven't kept up on the blog, for 3 and 1/2 weeks. There had not been any legitimate job offers, and by that time I had sorted out most of my personal questions that needed to be addressed, and was giving my credit card a workout.

Since I have been home I have had the opportunity to visit with most of the friends I missed while in Florida. I found that I am a pretty social animal, one not fit for a life of solitude. Yes, living on a sailboat in warm sunny Florida is fun, but not if you don't have anyone to share it with. I came home and am attempting to live a slightly different life than the one I was living before I went south. It is not that I was unhappy or anything, it is just that I don't think that I really had a clue as to where I was really at. One of the essentials of navigation is that before you start any voyage you had better know where you are starting from, this goes for life also. Prior to my departure I had talked to many of you about a multitude of topics which got me on the right chart, but I still lacked an exact location. This can only be found by oneself. I'm not sure if I found it or not, but I know I am much closer than I was when I journeyed to the warm weather.

My self-analysis provided me with some significant observations. I found that, as earlier stated I am a very social animal and need to be around people; most of us are like that. I think most of this comes from being BLESSED with friends. Friends are not just casual acquaintances but people who genuinely care about you and your physical, emotional, and even financial well-being. This is an area where I have truly been fortunate due to the number of people who have contributed in creating the person I am today. My personal belief is that we are a combination of all of the relationships we have with everyone we interact with. It is in my life anyway, every interaction directs our life in one direction or the other, and I have had a huge number of people who have directed my hike down life's pathway in one direction or the other. Those of you who have had a positive influence know who you are, and those who had a negative influence probably are reading this anyway; so screw them.

Like it or not the most influential group of people in MY situation is my family and friends. I would never do anything to hurt any of them. I could never make a decision that would be harmful to any of them. This is kind of like the boundaries of my life, I might shoot the puck in the wrong direction but this boundary kicks it back into the field of play. I really hate sports analogies but that one was pretty good. Keeping this in mind allows one to make decisions that makes life better for all of them, and in turn might make them feel better about themselves; which can't help from being a good thing.

An observation about Life and Marriage: They are very similar in that when properly approached are not 50-yard dashes, 440-yard dashes, but a 26.2 mile marathon on an uncharted course where you don't know where the finish line is until you finish the race. Once we reach the finish line we will realize that it was not about finishing anyway but enjoying the experiences along the route we carved for ourselves. I've been reading a book titled, The Power of Focus, it's written by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen who wrote all of the Chicken Soup for the---- books. It's premise is the importance of focusing on what we want to be happy. I agree with most of it, but feel that there is a real value to some of the diversions we take in life. Many of mine have been most enjoyble and redirected my journey. Eventually you will see that you have to get back on track and your Inner Compass will let you know this; but the diversions can make you stronger for the rest of the journey. Many people say that we learn more from bad experiences than we do from good experiences, I will say that about diversions from the normal path. We all remember "The Road Less Traveled", I subscribe to that theory and conclude that the diversions make for a more interesting journey. My life has been filled with diversions, some great and some not so great, but they have allowed me to hopefully get closer to that notion of being COMPLETE. Continuing through this marathon called life I realize there might be another diversion around the next corner. I don't fear them nor do I look forward to them, but odds are that I will probably evaluate them more carefully before choosing them!

In conclusion, the trip to Florida was a major diversion but I learned a lot from it and hope that perhaps you may have learned a little something also.

The blog will continue but will probably only be updated every couple of weeks. Must FOCUS on the task at hand. Hope you've enjoyed this half as much as I have enjoyed cleansing myself with it. Carl

Boat Name!!!

There are many of you out there who have been wondering what I was going to name the boat. I've been giving it a lot of thought, and needless to say have weighed the many suggestions offerred by all of my well intending friends. Most of you know that perhaps my favorite musical artist is Jimmy Buffett, and that one of my goals on this trip is to learn to play "Margaritaville" on a guitar. Well, Jimmy has a song which he cut in 1973 which just happens to be before several of you were born called "He went to Paris"; the opening lines of the song are: "He went to Paris looking for answers to questions that bother him so...." The third week in Florida was coming to an end, I had finished the "Guests of the Ayatollah", a Book on CD given to me by Russ and Johanna at Christmas, I couldn't find a radio station which would give me a steady signal, and was beginning to have serious conversations with "Wilson the volleyball". I popped in the Buffett CD and here was this song. I realized that a big part of the trip was a personal search for some answers to some pretty heavy questions, and here was this song, and the phrase jumped out at me, "Looking for Answers", let's face it that's what a lot of us are doing as we enjoy this journey called life anyway. Yeah, you guessed it her name will be "Looking for Answers". I think that this name will serve her well.

With all of that said, let me bring you up to date on the job search. Sunday's paper had only one new job in it which I hadn't contacted to that point. It was for a doorman at a gentlemen's club which was located just a couple hundred yards from where the boat was docked. I had turned down delivering phone books for a dime a piece, figuring that wouldn't even pay for the diesel fuel. I call the 800 number and talk to a guy who let's me know about the responsibilities of the job, they sounded kind of interesting. I basically would have to just open the door for guest at the club and greet them. This was sounding a lot like a Wal-Mart greeter, a job I've always found interesting, but it certainly would have some benefits which would be attractive to any red-blooded American male, I won't go into the details. He then asked me how big I was, I replied 6'5" and 200lbs., he said that sometimes incidents occurred which might require me to help separate a patron from one of the dancers, etc.,etc. ... I was going to be a bouncer. He then asked how old I was and I replied TOO!!!, yeah too old to be a bouncer at a titty-bar in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Clint Eastwood said in one of those Dirty Harry movies, " Sometimes a man has to know his limitations", this job surpassed my limitations.

It's noon on Sunday morning in Florida, I have no prospects for finding employment, I have to continue to spend money to exist, spending a lot of time on the boat doing nothing because I have been tweaking her for the last three weeks, literally talking to that stupid volleyball and myself about my options, a pretty weird situation. I realize that my business is suffering because I am not in Missouri to guide it, and that there are financial obligations which need to be met, that won't be met unless I do something about the situation. It was at this point that I loaded up my personal belongings, locked up the boat, and started driving back to Missouri. Thirteen hours later I showed up in Troy, IL and got 5 hours sleep at Nick's house, got up we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and a two-hour chat, then headed on to Fulton. What did I learn?

I found out that I am a very social animal and that being by yourself for an exxxxxtennnnnnded period of time can be a very LONELY situation. It allows you the opportunity to "look for answers to all of those questions that bother you so", but it also allows you to take an honest look at yourself and find out where you are at in your life and decide what direction the rest of life will take. I plan on addressing those issues over the coming weeks and months, stay tuned!!!

Thanks to all of you for your continued support, the phone calls while I was down there, the outstanding texts sent by some of you, and most of all your friendship. A special thank you to the person who didn't return my message on Sunday, you were a big part of my inspiration for this trip. I'll be at the Lumber Yard one night next week! Carl

I will be going back to Florida in late March to pickup the boat and bring her home! Now the big decision, Carlyle Lake in Illinois or Stockton Lake in Missouri. Your input as always is appreciated.

Maiden Voyage

Well, she doesn't yet have a NEW name, so the WHOLESOME went out on her maiden voyage on Thursday afternoon. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 60s, and winds from 8 to 12 out of the southwest. Conditions were perfect, not a cloud in the sky and steady wind; what more could any sailor want? I had a great crew consisting of Phil and Antonio, both of whom had worked with me in the bounce house business over the years and were anxious to give it a go. Phil had never sailed before, but Antonio had sailed in Spain where he lives. He played soccer at Wm. Woods which seems to be the connection between myself and most of the international guys that I am privilaged to meet. Tony knew his way around a boat, and Phil was anxious to learn. The boat handled beautifully and all of the work that I had put into her over the past two weeks turned out to be worth it. We averaged well over 5 knots in sailing the 23 miles to Phil's subdivision, where there is a dock for us to moor up to and then return on Friday. One small problem arises. Although their is probably 10' of water at the dock there is only about 3' of water in most of the areas of the Choctawhatchee Bay in the approach to the dock, we draft 4'. We went aground on several occasions attempting to get to the dock, we kept trying but to no avail. We had sailed to the bayou in 3-1/2 hrs but spent 5 hrs. either trying to get to the dock or leaning the boat over to get off the botton. 9:00p.m. arrives and we finally decide to take 3-hour watches to insure that we don't get run over and also to keep an eye out for friendly boaters whom might be able to get us off of the sandbar; Phil gets the 9-midnight, Tony midnight-3, Carl 3-6. It's 9:13pm and Phil yells, there's a boat out there! I get my trusty flashlight (6 bright LEDs and a very powerful light) and put the old Boy Scout training to use. I only hope they can see us! Suspensful shit, Huh! Three longs, three shorts, and then three longs again, then again, and again. Finally, a response from a couple of guys with a big flat bottom fishing boat with a 200 HP Yamaha outboard on her. They were a godsend. They took Phil to shore to get the gas for our vessel because we had exhausted our supply while getting off of sandbars, brought him back and got us off of anothersandbar we had encountered while waiting on them. They ended up towing us to deep water, two great guys and a strong boat. They refused any type of payment just insisting that we help someone else out when we get a chance. Consider that a promise.

We motored around to a marina at the upscale place where Phil and Courtney used to live, tied up the boat, went to their house slept until 8 the next morning, and then Tony and I brought her back to Legendary Marina. It was a beautiful trip back and everything went well. It always does when the sun is up. There's something about darkness that makes it all more difficult on the water, or more challenging whichever your perspective is. Phil didn't make the return trip, he got a dose of the stomach flu Thursday night and was up all night long. He missed a great day.

I have a few job opportunities which I hope to land next week, will have more on that Monday.

That's about it from here for now, but I am entertaining names for the vessel, do any of you have any ideas?

Until next time, Bon Voyage

FINALLY!

Today after two full weeks of tweaking things on the boat while she is in the water I'm finally going for a sail. All I have to do is mount the rudder and tiller and I will be off. I'm hoping for a little help from Phil or his friend Antonio, if it's there fine, if not I'm going anyway. It's been too long.

One possibility on the job front, that would be delivering phone books, you know the annoying people who deliver two phone books for every residence. I'll give it a try and see how it works. Glad I got all of that education while I was younger.

Last night I met an attractive middle-aged Vietnamese woman Huong Loa, she had been in the Central Highlands of Vietnam while I was there. What a wierd coincidence, she was divorced three years ago from her husband who had married her when she was 15 and brought her back to the states with him when his tour was over. She was obviously captivated by my charm and good looks, inviting me over to her house for dinner and other activities. It was a fun time and I'm sure that I will probably see her again. One of the amazing things about her is that there is the distinct possibility that her aunt cleaned by room while I was in 'Nam. Small world. She seems to be quite wealthy and I am sure that she will want to get together again. I enjoyed the evening and look forward to spending time with her again. She owns a company which supplies local Chinese restaurants with animals which have been illegally rescued from local animal shelters. Man, I had you going there for a while.

Tomorrow I will hopefully be reporting on the maiden voyage of the ___________, whatever the name of the boat will be. The first voyage might help in determining her name. Until tomorrow, fair winds and safe travels.

A Cold Evening on the Emerald Coast

It got chilly last night. The coldest it has been since I've been down here. It was so cold that one of the Pelicans which inhabit the dock where I am moored had his bill freeze shut. I of course was able to free the poor bird from his dilemna by giving him a sip of anti-freeze. Later he died but that will be one less airborne invader dropping bombs on my boat Did you really think I could get a pelican to drink anti-freeze? I hope not.

A space between paragraphs for the attorney in Baltimore. I hope this meets with his grammatical critique of the presentation.

Yesterday I continued to look for employment in the fast food or convenience store industry and will wait by the phone for a call. The school districts down here have a glut of substitutes so that avenue is probably closed. Today I'm going to focus on utilizing the truck and trailer for some type of hauling or delivery type of job. You never know where opportunity is going to knock. The pay for that might be better also.

Last night I encountered a den of pirates from the middle east who had kidnapped a beautiful South Pacific Princess. It was with a great deal of cunning and sailing expertise that I was able to come along the lee side of their vessel and quietly rescue the princess. She was so grateful that she insisted on sharing my doublesized sleeping bag. That certainly made for a much warmer evening. Her father is contemplating how to reward me financially for my act of heroism. Wow! I think that was a dream.

Well back to reality! I didn't watch or listen to any of the inaugural crap on TV or Radio. It's time for the Messiah to get his ass to work and come across with all of the promises that he and Oprah have made to us over the last two years. I hope that he can get something done. The cards are stacked in favor: Democrat in the White House, Democratically controlled House and Senate, great? leadership in both the house and senate in Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. How could he fail? Crank up the printing press Treasury Dept. It's going to take a lot time to print all of the currency we'll need to create a trillion dollar a year deficit. Don't be concerned about the value of the dollar internationally. Just print money. Give everyone a new GM, Ford, or Chrysler, it's time to start paying back the unions for all of their support over the last two years. Hell, while we're at it let's just let everyone forget about paying their mortgages. We're just going to wipe the slate clean and start all over again. Capitalism sucks. Let's get a great health care system for everyone; just like the UK or Canada. Damn, we must be living in some type of Utopia! Any bets on how long it will be before our new president shows up on OPRAH? It will probably be a surprise visit around Valentine's Day. Man, it sure feels good to get that off of my chest! GO GET 'EM BARRACK!

More tomorrow, something tells me that I might get a comment or two on this posting.

Long Trying Weekend

The libray has been either closed or I was busy trying to get things in order around the boat so have been unable to get here to post for 3 days.
Since the last post I have been stopped by the Ft. Walton Beach police on two occasions. It seems that the local constabulary do not acknowledge the laws of the state of Missouri. Missouri states that for a vehicle like mine you receive one plate and it is to be displayed on the front of your truck. You are not allowed to even purchase an additional plate for the back as I have done in the past. The local coppers make a habit of hassling tourists for whatever reason. After the second event I moved the plate to the back of the truck. The officer expressed that it was a big inconvenience for him; I think it was keeping him from another Krispy Kreme, this assumption being made from my observation of his ample girth.
The temperature here has been what the locals call unseasonably cold and windy. Yesterday two kids off school for MLK day had taken their dad's $100,000 fishing boat out to do some deep sea fishing, the wind was blowing 20-35mph for most of the day. There is a dangerous pass between the Gulf and Chocthachee Bay at the Destin Bridge and evidently the young men got broad sided by a big wave hit a jetty and then capsized the boat. The Coast Guard is only about a mile away and made a quick rescue. I wonder what it must have been like to tell good ole dad that you sunk the boat.
I watched the NFL Championship games Sunday at a local watering hole called "Helen Back". Would have like to have seen Baltimore win but they were outplayed. Arizona is a long shot but I would have a tough time betting against Kurt Warner.
Due to issues beyond their control, Phil and Courtney had to close two of the Chicken stores when they returned from England. This displaced 24 workers all of whom they are trying to place at some of the other restaurants they own in the area. Given that, I started looking for gainful employment yesterday and will continue on that course today. Schools and public offices were closed yesterday so that limited my search. I will continue to get out there today.
Have been listening to a book on CD which Johanna and Russ got me for Christmas, and that has really improved my sleeping. I don't get distracted by all of the other things going on down here, just listen to the book and find myself waking up the next morning around 6:30 at first light.
Well that is it from here for now, must go find a job. Talk to you tomorrow.

The Mast is Up

After only a week we have got the mast raised on the boat, and will finish a few small tasks today completeing what needs to be done to see if this lovely lady is ready for a sail.
The last couple of days have been kind of slow due to a near case of pneumonia. I loaded myself up with orange juice, chicken noodle soup, Nyquil, and anything else I could think of and feel that the worst of it is over. I'm not a 100% yet but am getting closer.
Plan on placing a small ad in the local paper for the bounce houses today, and going to a few of the local businesses to see if there are any employment opportunities out there. I need to get a job so that I can get into a little more of a routine, this working on the boat all of the time costs a lot of money. Anything that has the name marine associated with it automatically doubles in price.
I have a bit of electrical work to take care of this morning and if it warms up into the mid-50s I will probably take her out for her maiden voyage under new ownership. All of the work that we've done over the last two months has really transformed the way she looks. The sails are in really great condition and the roller furling systems seems to work well. I will pickup a boy scout compass at K-mart for navigation, the one that is on the boat is so cloudy that you can't read it. The scout compass will work just fine. I also have to pickup a VHF radio for communicating with the marina and other vessels on the water.
The weather here was not as cold as it was supposed to be. Predictions for last night said high 20s, but when I got up this morning it was 42. I think that the water doesn't allow it to drop as low as the surrounding land masses in the marina area.
I've been doing a lot of reading, the radio I have is full of static, and I don't have a tv so I read and eat chicken noodle soup. All things considered I'm still enjoying it very much.
Hopefully tomorrow's entry will have some details on the maiden voyage. Bon Voyage.

Here it is Tuesday morning and with any luck I should be stepping the mast this afternoon. All of the electrical is in place, the motor is ready to go, and I think that I am ready to take her out for a sail. The guys at the marina are going to help me with the mast today, they are very helpful.
Yesterday I picked up the motor and tried to go to the VA hospital in Pensacola but to no avail. They told me to call Harry Truman in Columbia and get them to forward a prescription to the marina. No big deal I still have a two week supply of the pills.
I've found it difficult adjusting to sleeping on the water. It has been a while since I've spent this much time on the water and the adjustment has not been as quick as I thought it might be. I have a cold which isn't helping things, but fortunately with the average of the population down here be 70+ there is a drugstore on about every corner. A little generic Nyquil and I'll be fine.
I probably won't be working now until next week at the earliest. Some complications when Phil and Courtney had to close two stores. This sets everything back for at least week. There is work here though so if working for them doesn't pan out, I'll try my hand at whatever is available. I've always wondered what life as a male escort might be like.
I hope to have some pictures to post within the next couple of days of the boat in the water, which might enhance the material I'm able to send.
Talk to you tomorrow after a successful sail.

Rainy Day

Rainy day here in northwest Florida. I have spent most of the day getting the vessel ready for the stepping of the mast, which will occur tomorrow with the assistance of the wonderful staff at the Legendary Marina at Brooks Bay Bridge in beautiful Ft. Walton Beach, FL. I did get a lot of tasks completed inside the boat which will make tomorrow easier.
Tonight I will be meeting with Phil and Courtney Stubley for dinner. I'm really looking forward to that as Courtney is pregnant and I haven't seen them since last May at their wedding. I will hopefully be helping them in some aspect of their business as early as next week. Looking forward to the dinner.
I just realized that I am having to adjust back to the land as I have been on the boat for about 14 hours prior to the visit to the library for the blogposting. It has been a while since I had to be concerned about my sealegs.
I hope all is well in the frigid northland. Yes it is raining here, but it is still 68'. I can handle this easier than snow and ice. I guess that's it from here for today! I don't know if the library is open on Sunday or not. If it is I will probably have a report on the stepping of the mast.

Well, here it is Friday afternoon and it has been a week since I had an entry on this blog. I've been busy. I had to take Russ to St. Louis on Friday afternoon enabling him to spend some time with some of his law school friends, I on the other hand did the responsible thing and went to our old neighbors for a lively card game. I don't know what the women were playing that were in attendance, but it was not a card game I was familiar with. I spent my time playing with the young people in attendance, all of whom were under 5. Russ showed up late that evening and I took him to the airport the following morning to catch his flight back to Baltimore. That evening I spent time with some other friends in the metro area, before going to Mike's house on Sunday afternoon. Mike and Donna's son Cris was home from Iraq and it was great getting to see him. Little did he know that I would be spend the following night at his house on my trek to Florida.
I've just found out that I only have 10 minutes left on this computer before my time runs out, so I'll hurry. Spent Monday night at Cris and Shelly's in Clarksville, TN, spent Tuesday driving in 32' temps with rain, making it to Birmingham, AL. Next day made in to Ft. Walton Beach parked the trailer and got a fleabag hotel for the night.
I've been working on the boat for the last two days. Getting a lot done. The good news is that she floats, no leaks. I'll to spend more of my time on this blog tomorrow. The adventure will be getting more interesting!!!
Good football game last night, at least for all of the Gator fans.

January 2, 2009

Preparing to leave Central Missouri for beautiful sunny Florida, the trip will take at least five days. The mystery and intrigue continue to intensify. I will be blogging from the public library in Destin, FL.

Beginnings

Day one of a new year. Day one of a new adventure. Day one of a whole new chapter in my life. What does the new year hold in store? I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out.