"Wednesday's Child Is Full Of Woe"

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, actually, it is not THAT bad! I finally got the call I have been waiting two(2) months for now . . . . ABISHAG is ready! Everything checks out and it is a "GO!"

The call came, however, this morning (Wednesday the 26th) and really too late for me to act upon it. If it had come yesterday, at the end of the yard work day, that would have been one thing. I could have made it to the yard by this morning's sunrise and have been off. I might have even made the anchorage at Little Bay by the Throggs Neck Bridge by tonight and been off through Hell's Gate and New York City on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe I "coulda" been in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Santa and me! We both have beards after all. But getting the call this morning, about 9AM really put the kibosh on departing today. I have to arrange transport to the Yard, after dropping off my car, after having packed what stuff I have . . . suffice it to say it would have been early this afternoon, at best, for me to get underway from the dock in Branford. With then perhaps 2 - 3 hours of sailing time, it would have been a rather short day. And rushing to get away is not a good tactic anyhow and so, having waited all this time, I'll wait another 48 hours.

48 hours? Yep! This way I'll get to spend Thanksgiving Day with the family and indulge in one more well-prepared, home cooked meal before I have to depend solely my own culinary devices. (I am not looking forward to scurvy, you know.) And everything will be packed, and all arrangements will be made and in place, and really everything will be ready for "DEPARTURE DAY #2 - THE SEQUEL - CAN HE GET BY NEW HAVEN?" True, I will be sailing in the face of Maritime Tradition which says it is "bad luck" to begin a voyage on a Friday, but then the ABISHAG has been blessed, there is a silver coin under the mast, and a host of other Maritime Traditions that have been followed, so if things don't go quite right, it is really just a matter of my not doing the right thing. While I do not anticipate any trouble, I think that it is fair to say that I am ready for it should any arise. As the helmsman says at the start of the voyage in MOBY DICK, "Up helm and off around the world!" Then again, considering how that particular voyage turned out, that might not be the best quote to go with, as it is something akin to Custer's "Don't worry, I have a plan!"

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Well, the countdown has begun . . . again. At least I will be getting away before the snow falls . . . around here anyway. The first few days will be the toughest but once in the Chesapeake, it should become more of a regular daily voyage. I am very much looking forward to getting into the routine of voyaging. I am also looking forward to getting into shorts and tee-shirts again. It will be awhile for that, probably not before Florida, central Florida. After all, it was 33 in Orlando one day last week. But just the idea of going, of finally getting the "sailing part" of the journey underway, hopefully for more than a day, is what is so exciting. The experiences of the past year, and especially the past couple of months, have been wonderful. It has changed me a lot and what is going to happen on the sail, what has the potential to happen on the sail, is something I don't know, but look forward to with great anticipation. Whatever happens, it will be a great adventure.