Commodore's View
Take notes, folks, there’ll be a test later. I went aboard LAUREL ANN one clear night last week, just to sit in the cockpit. I didn’t have any real reason to be there, other than be there. I sat there for a couple of hours, leaning back against the aft end of the cabin and watched the stars. Even in the ambient light around the marina, there was a good number of stars visible. Feeling a light breeze on my face, I got to wondering if some friends were looking at those same stars.
Dan and Chris Aiton are somewhere south, hopefully in the islands by now. Ray Walsh is cruising the Abacos. Roger and Alicia Page are down in the Caribbean. Several others of our club are sailing in the Chesapeake. There are others that are counting down their calendars and making preparations for the great escape. As members of a cruising club, these folks are the epitome of the dream we all share. At least that’s what I would hope.
In pursuit of my own share of the dream, LAUREL ANN’s perpetual list has ceased it’s exponential growth and begun to become much more manageable. That is due, in part, to my actually accomplishing tasks, and in part to my increasing skill in prioritizing what those things that need to be done. Sometimes, other influences have control over one’s priorities (okay, okay, I missed the MAX, but look at the fun I had learning about servers, file transfers, and mainframe scheduling....). Personally, one of the things at the top of my to-do list is, strangely enough, something that won’t happen until December. Rumors of a single-handed race continue to circulate, and one will PROBABLY happen, but being that it’s not a sanctioned event, that’s not at the top of my list. There is another reason to take heed.
Mark your calendars for the Change of Command Cruise. December 5th is the magic date, it’s a Friday night. The place will be the Florida Yacht Club. Times and details will be forthcoming on the entire evening. In fact, negotiations are underway for live entertainment (an EXCELLENT band I heard not too long ago, more on that later).
But like Arlo used to say, that’s not what I came to sing about. I was sitting there, thinking about all the things that need to be done, and the time of our own departure approaching more rapidly every day. With the pressure and stress of dealing with large software applications running 24 hours a day, I can deal with deadlines, but I’m curious about what the transition will be like. I’ve heard that folks that charter in the islands for two weeks spend the first week acclimating to a cruising attitude and by the end of the second week the charter company has to work REAL hard at getting the clients back on the plane home. I’ve spent over twenty years getting to this point. Wonder if I’ll be able to acclimate in the first week aboard....
Okay, those of you that made it this far, congratulations. You’ve probably marked your calendar for the Change of Command (Dec. 5, FYC, details to follow....). Therefore, the test is canceled for you faithful. As for the rest of you, in the words of Bruce Brown (movies: ENDLESS SUMMER, ON ANY SUNDAY), you’re REALLY gonna miss it.