SP Kennel Racing Season Update

Although I'm still in PA -- enjoying some time in one place and pursuing "personal" projects -- I've kept in close contact with my good friends at SP Kennel throughout the sled dog racing season.

What a season it's been! Following early season victories in short- and mid-distance races -- including a first and second place finish for two SPK teams in the Don Bowers 200-mile race! -- the long distance racing season has been fantastically successful.

Last month, Allen Moore mushed the SPK "Black Team" to a second place finish in the grueling Yukon Quest 1,000 mile sled dog race. Finishing only 23 seconds behind the winner, the team completed a masterful race in excellent shape, spirit and style!

Over the past 10 days, Aliy Zirkle mushed the SPK "Red Team" to a spectacular second place finish in the 1,000 mile Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome. In the process, she achieved the fastest time a woman has ever run the race. It was a nail-biter the entire way, with Aliy in the lead for much of the race and finishing second by less than an hour.

This picture of Aliy and the dogs crossing the frozen Norton Sound pretty much tells the tale of focus, energy, enthusiasm and drive:

I've always been very proud of all my human and canine friends at SP Kennel, but I'm even more proud now than ever. Two second place finishes in the two longest races of the season speak volumes about the quality and consistency of the team. I continue to be in awe of the powerful, legendary alliance between humans and dogs. Hugs and howls all around!

At present, I plan to remain here in PA for another couple of months, probably until the summer. I've got a few ideas kicking around in my head for some high-quality Macgellan exploration after that, but nothing clear enough -- yet! -- to announce… Stay tuned!

Year-End Wrap-Up

The past month has just flown by, and with the end of the year only a few days away I figure it's time for a quick update!

I had a really nice couple of weeks in Atlanta at the end of last month, hanging out and catching up with all my good friends there. A special highlight was a two-day trip I made up to the North Georgia mountains to visit with a good friend and long-time former client. After selling his business last year, he was finally able to execute his retirement plans to move south, "back home" to near where he grew up. He's built a beautiful mountain home overlooking Lake Rabun, and the view is spectacular!

At the beginning of this month, I spent a few days driving a rental car north to Pennsylvania, the only salient point of which was how much I missed driving Darth! As soon as I arrived here, I reclaimed my beloved truck from the custody of my good friend Marty who took excellent care of him while I was away. I spent a few days with my folks while I pondered "what's next" for me, then formulated the basic outline of a plan and have started putting it into place.

It's not really much of a "plan" per se, more like just a decision to stay in one place for a little while. I've been on the move for so long that I'm just feeling like it would be fun to be stationary for a change. Accordingly, I've decided to "settle" here in south central PA for a few reasons: First, I've got a few projects that I've been dabbling with for quite a while, and this is as good a place as any to do some more serious work on them. Second, I've got family and friends in the area with whom I'd like to spend some time and who may be able to help me with my projects. Third, it's a good place geographically in that it's close to a number of metropolitan areas without being in a city. Finally, the winter here will likely be "crisp" but not "punishing" -- just the way I like it!

So, I retrieved my camper sled from the lot where I stored it back in October and have repositioned it to a nice little "neighborhood" in the area. My neighbors are mostly manufactured homes and mobile homes, with a few RVs and campers like mine as well. It's a really nice, rural setting with pretty views of farms, woodlands and mountains.

I'm pretty well settled in now, back to enjoying the tidy, quiet lifestyle that I enjoy. I'm not expecting this to be a permanent location, of course, but it's feeling really good as a location for "world headquarters of me right now."

2011 has been another chockablock year for me, beginning with a 7-month international expedition around the North Atlantic, continuing with a thorough cross-country drive and ending with a world-class open-ocean yacht delivery. Sometimes when I think about everything I've done in the past five years, my head kind of explodes! I expect 2012 will start out a little less high-energy, but who knows where it will go from there?… Stay tuned!

Busted!

Long story short: On our second day of sailing out of Stamford -- at the height of our most turbulent seas -- I jumped from the boat's deck into the cockpit and badly rolled my left foot. It immediately bruised and swelled pretty badly, but I could walk on it so I just kept working. Frankly, I didn't really have much choice out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. By the time we reached Tortola, the bruising was all gone and most of the swelling had gone down, so I figured that was pretty much it.

Here in Atlanta, my friend Ken noticed that I was walking a bit gimpy and inquired as to what the problem might be. I told him the story and -- despite my resistance -- he made me see his favorite orthopedist. As Ken put it, "Dude, you're 53 years old. You can't ignore this kind of stuff like we did when we were kids!"

The doctor felt and probed my foot, declared that it was probably just a bad sprain but decided to take some x-rays anyway. After just a glance at the film, the doctor pointed to the shadowy arc inside the red circle and said, "Oh, it's busted!" The prognosis: It'll be sore for a couple more months and complete healing will probably take most of a year.

So, there you have it… I'm busted! I've had a really nice, quiet week here in Atlanta and have enjoyed hanging out and catching up with good friends. At the moment, I have absolutely no plan going forward except to take some time to ponder possible plans going forward. Stay tuned!

Mission Accomplished

After taking a couple of days on Tortola to catch up with myself and consider all the factors going forward, I decided to declare "Mission Accomplished" on this yacht delivery and fly away. Pete had also decided to take off, so I met him at the ferry dock on Sunday morning and we made the hour long trip to St. Thomas together.

I'd made arrangements to spend a day at Bluebeard's Castle, so Pete and I had lunch together there, then he caught a taxi to the airport. I spend the rest of Sunday and all day Monday alternately napping and hanging around at the pool bar. My lack of interest in doing anything else confirmed that I'd made the right decision to get out of the tropics.

On Tuesday, I caught a non-stop flight to Atlanta where my good friend Ken met me at the airport and we went out for a nice sit-down dinner together. I've decided to spend a couple of weeks here in Atlanta to visit with friends in the area and to generally catch up with myself before deciding what's next... Stay tuned!

Taking A Break

At lunch on Thursday, Roy surprised me by saying he was eager to get going again and to start sailing around the islands. David Jones said he was game to sail for a few days before his flight home. Pete seemed a little less eager, but in the end decided to also go along for a few days before his schedule departure.

I took an entirely different tack and declared that I was ready for a break. There's only so much relentless movement I can do before I need a few days to sit still and catch up with myself. My crew mates all said they completely understood and supported me in getting off the boat for a while.

So, after finishing our clean up of the boat, they went to the store for provisions while I went across the road to a modest accommodation and booked myself in. My room has air conditioning, wi-fi, a bed that doesn't pitch or roll, and even a decent view.

I slept poorly Thursday night, mostly waking up every hour or so, convinced it must be time to go on watch. The air conditioning and lack of motion helped, though, and I was able to string together enough hours to make a decent rest period.

Yesterday was a slow motion day during which I updated this website, called some folks, did a few chores and generally took it easy. The heat really wears me out, and makes me seriously question my ability to stay in the region. I've been pounding down bottles of water and other hydrating fluids, but it hasn't really helped so far. I had a bit better sleep last night and will continue my rehab today.

I honestly don't know what the "plan" is, or whether or not there even is a plan. I'm supposed to hear from Roy about their next destination port and I may meet up with them somewhere in a couple of days. I may also declare "mission accomplished" on this yacht delivery and get myself on a flight out of here... Stay tuned!

Tortola

The last two days are pretty much a blur for me. I know we've made it to Tortola, because I can see Tropical Storm tied up at a dock in Road Town Harbor.

As for what's happened in between, here's what I remember:

We started Tuesday -- our seventh day at sea -- with a nice, favorable wind and were making pretty good progress toward our destination. We were all feeling pretty well worn out and beat up, but making the most of our circumstances. Just about the time I thought to get my camera and grab a few shots, the wind really started picking up and we had to work the boat pretty hard. The next thing I remember, we were in powerful storms, high winds, driving rain and rapidly descending darkness.

As we approached the islands, coral reefs, rocks, etc., Roy used every piece of GPS and computer mapping software we had to plot our course. David Jones drove the boat while Pete and I kept very diligent lookouts to port and starboard for lights, markers, etc. The rain was coming down in sheets, the lightning was exploding all around us and the winds were running 25-30 knots. We were constantly and completely drenched by a combination of rain and seas crashing over the bow.

By midnight we'd navigated between two out-islands and were approaching Tortola. The weather let up a bit, and by about two-thirty we were motoring into Road Town Harbor. We found an open patch of water, set our anchor, flew our quarantine flag and sat in silence for a while before finally getting a little sleep.

Yesterday morning we pulled up to the customs dock, endured a seemingly endless paperwork process then motored around to a nearby marina. We took showers, ate some food at the pub next door and gave ourselves the rest of the day to recover. I already don't remember any of it.

This morning we're continuing the recovery process, cleaning the boat, sorting our gear and starting to revive a bit. I'll try to post something more coherent soon!

Bottom line: We've made it to Tortola!

Tortola Transit - Day 6

Overnight and most of today, the sailing has been pretty frustrating. With only light wind coming from directly ahead on our desired course, we've had to tack very broadly to make any progress. Because the wind was so light, we weren't able to generate enough apparent wind over the sails to utilize the boat's usually good ability to point up.

That's sailing tech-talk for saying that we had to sail 5 miles off course for every mile we gained in our desired direction. At a speed of only about 5 mph, that means our net gain was 1 mph. Sail all day and gain only 20 miles… You could walk to Tortola faster... Ugh!

A highlight of the day, though, was when Pete caught a beautiful Wahoo on his trolling line!

As soon as the fish was on the boat, Pete artfully filleted it and we enjoyed a very tasty -- and much welcomed -- sequence of Wahoo sushi, ceviche, fish tacos and fried with rice and beans!

Late in the afternoon, the wind picked up and we were able to make some better progress despite the continued need to tack broadly. Toward sunset we were in strong winds again and had to put a reef back in the main sail. This turned out to be a lucky break for us.

As we passed through an early evening squall, we received a thorough drenching and were able to put it to good use. We all stood on deck, alternately soaping ourselves then using the runoff from the reefed main to rinse off. It wasn't much of a shower, but having spent six days constantly wet -- or at least perpetually damp -- from salty sea spray, the fresh water rain shower was a delight!

So far tonight, we've had a bit of a hassle with an electrical problem that's blacked out the boat and forced us -- among other complications -- to sail for a few hours with nothing but a compass. Once again, I have immense respect for sailors of old who didn't have any of our modern electronics. Roy and Pete have fixed the problem -- we think -- and we're hoping to make up some time overnight.

Tortola Transit - Day 5

We spent the night alternately flying every piece of cloth we have in order to keep moving through dead air, then reefing everything back in and hanging on tight through rain storms. The reason was obvious this morning as we saw the long front of storms along which we had sailed.

Last night was also very strange due to a bird that landed on the boat during one of the lulls. He's been riding along with us all day -- through continuing cycles of calm weather and storms -- occasionally flying off for a few minutes then coming back to land and stand on the canopy.

We have no idea exactly what species of bird it is, but we've made up the story that it's a shore bird who was blown out to sea. If present trends continue, it may well end up relocated to the tropics!