Another Nor'easter Be Coming ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Every time I think that I've got the sailing season put away for the winter, more stuff happens to reawaken it. This time it was an email from the Mark Geer who runs a dive service that sets and maintains the moorings at the club. Nothing major mind you, just a note that my mooring has been check, the mooring ball and pennants removed and set on the beach by the club, and a winter marker set on the chain - meaning that he will be able to find it again come spring.Now I am going to have to go and pick up the mooring ball and hall it to storage.After a season in the water, the lower half will be covered with slim and growth and, since it has been out of the water, it will all have died and will smell "simply wonderful." It will have to haul it in my car which will leave the car smelling equally fragrant.

There is a Nor'easter coming in this weekend. I just about washed away the barrier islands in North Carolina and has put a lot of coastal New Jersey under water,, and I expect it will do equally fine work here in southern New England. When I go down to get the mooring ball and pennants, I will skip over to Mystic and make sure ABISHAG is all safe and secure. The yard people have some responsibility for her care, but the major part of it is still mine, and since I DON'T HAVE ANY INSURANCE, I'll have to check her today and probably again tomorrow.

She is not yet up for sale on the website and if she isn't by this Monday I will call and "gently inquire" why. I need her to be up for sale so whoever it is that is out there that is going to buy her can find her. Secretly, I am sort of glad that she is still safely mine.

I moved and bagged all the exterior cushions for the winter. I had to move the survival life raft off the stern as well. That sucker is over a hundred pounds. I had to use a come-a-long to move it from the stern to the cockpit. i hope I never sink because I am not sure how the hell I would move it and deploy it from a rolling/sinking/heeling deck in any type of weather. Moving it with the boat tied to the dock was a chore. It's another argument not to sink the boat!!!!!!!!!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I am heading back into my winter mode - seasonal depression. It is not made any better by the fact that I have to sell, or at least try to sell, ABISHAG. Astronomical winter is still a month away but it has already hit in me. The financial situation hasn't improved and personally, I don't see much in the way of improvement anytime soon. I have to sell the boat and/or the condo but there isn't anymore that I can do to achieve that. It is a nasty, uncomfortable feeling when you lack control of things ( or at least the illusion of control).

I got a response from CRUISING WORLD:

Thanks so much for alerting us to a sad trend that we’ve pondered.
It’s no salve to you, I guess, that what one sailor gives up may ultimately supply another with an opportunity.
AT any rate, we don’t have room for this in 2010 but feel free to join our on line community and share your message with other mariners at www.cruisingworld.com
Best to you and hang in there,
ElaineElaine LemboDeputy
EditorCruising World magazine
55 Hammarlund WayMiddletown, Rhode Island 02842401-845-5109401-845-5180 fax

So much for my literary career.