In preparation for our next voyage I've made some updates and improvements to the blog to hopefully make it easier for people to use. We put it up during the drive down for the last voyage, so there were many things that were not quite put together. Hopefully it will be smoother sailing this time for both us and you guys. More information below the fold...

So, I have been granted a short reprieve from my final watery destination by a faulty stern bearing. All in all this has been a grand project and inhuman effort to get this boat out on the water. In the end we were successful, the one thing we could not really test in port with the boat in the water turned out to be the thing that finally prevented our successful departure. As Captain Russ, a local marina character here, said when we reappeared on the dock and explained what happened: 'Well, thats boating for ya!'.

I havent blogged for a while, and for that my faithful readers, I apologize. Over the past week I have had some good time to reflect on my life, take a shower, and eat oatmeal. I have sat in a dripping cabin in my raingear, stood bleary eyed in the brass bushing section of numerous hardware stores, and replaced a light fixture at the top of a 60' mast in 20 knot winds. Over the past weekend I have known such great joy I thought my heart would burst, and I have also known the crushing dissapointment of things left unfinished and yet to come. And also, I have listened to the same 30 mp3s over and over and over and over...

So today was the day when my first mate duties included a full rudder and prop inspection. Ordinarily this would be done by the dock hands after pulling the boat out of the water. However, due to 'cash flow issues' it was decided that I should just go ahead and hop in the water, dive under the boat and inspect it myself. Sounds like fun yes? You have no idea.

I asked about the greenish, murky water swirling around the boat, and mentioned how I am prone to swimmer's ear, but JD was unconcerned. 'Its brackish', he said. 'Whats brackish?' I asked, suspicions growing. 'Its not even saltwater, its mixed salt and fresh water. The best of both! Now get in and see if you can wiggle the prop.', he replied.

The sea is our cooler, because this boat has no refrigerator. The sea is also our bathroom it turns out. I imagine that once we set sail, it will also be our main water supply and bed.

We arrived yesterday morning at around 6am, after driving all night. I guess the first mate's job is to drive while the captain sleeps and demands rest stops for smoke breaks. Awesome.

Luckily, JDs love for cigarettes is only slightly outweighed by his love of booze. While running errands all day buying supplies and parts for the boat (with my own credit card, JD 'forgot' to give me his before I left), I picked up a case of budweiser at his request.

We are driving on 295 south in New Jersey, having left a few hours later than we had originally planned. We had to make a few stops, get some gas, some food, seek absolution and go to Harry's Army Navy Store for some rain gear and hand warmers.

Harry's is not so much an Army Navy Surplus store as a regular sporting goods store with the words 'Army' and 'Navy' on the front. Lots of paintballers and fathers with children roamed the aisles giving us funny looks as we discussed the merits of waterproof bags and the hurricane warnings we were soon to become intimately more knowledgeable of.

So here is me. Or my boot rather. On the train, heading down to New Jersey, to my doom. Tonight in Jersey at JDs house, and tomorrow the drive to South Carolina. JD works graveyard, so I'll get some rest while he works and then do the majority of the driving tomorrow.

As I watch the people get on and off the train I think of all the people I love. My family, my friends, my cat. They have always been so supportive of me over the years and it makes my heart heavy to think of thier long faces when they hear the news of my inevitable demise.