Blog Action Day

today has been deemed Blog Action Day. A day when thousands of bloggers around the world will post with an environmental theme.
http://blog.blogactionday.org/
I've had a few blogs here and there that have spoken on the environmental theme.
Today, near and dear to Athena's and my heart is of course, the oceans and seas.
Here are my suggestions for Seven Steps to Stewardship of the Seven Seas.
1. Properly secure, stow, and dispose of trash. Under federal law, it is illegal to toss ANY garbage from a boat while you are anywhere in lakes, rivers, bays, sounds, and from zero to 3 miles offshore. Yes, this means you cannot throw a banana peel or your half-eaten sandwich overboard!!! Plastics should never be thrown overboard in any waters. FYI, cigarette butts are considered plastics because of their filters! If you fish, and your fishing line breaks, do everything in your power to retrieve as much of the line as possible, and then recycle it at a monofilament recycling bin, or properly dispose of it. Monofilament strangles birds and other marine life.
2. Take proper precaution when boating in shallow waters and snorkeling or SCUBA diving around corals. Propeller scars through seagrass beds can take up to 10 years to completely recover. Corals take longer to recover.
3. Respect wildlife. Observe wildlife from a distance. Show compassion for all living beings equally without exception. The dolphin is no more important to this planet than mollusk or catfish.
4. Watersheds drain to waterways that most often drain to the oceans and seas. What we do in our watersheds can affect the water quality of our oceans and seas. Be cognizant of how much fertilizer and chemicals are used on your lawn. Better yet, grow a native yard with native plants that doesn't require fertilizers or chemicals for maintenance.
5. Don't eat marine life. Our commercial fisheries including shrimp, etc, which provide to our beck and call, react to supply and demand. Don't demand. Fishing practices damage the marine environment. Fishing wastes resources and precious life (i.e. not every fish or other catch makes it to the table). Don't fish, not even catch and release. Species continue to decline. There is mortality associated with catch and release that can't be prevented even with the most ethical fishing procedures.
6. Don't promote or support development that destroys marine habitat. No habitat - No fish. No fish...
7. Share what you know. Others may not realize their impacts.

New Patty Spot...

Patty and I temporarily moved off the sailboat for a short bit. Packed her up. Locked her up. Set the neighbors on watch.

Patty has a new spot now :)

Between life in the cave office at work and returning to the cave of the boat in the evening, we just needed a little break. The SWFL summer has been a long one...

Summer Wildlife and the Grain Moon

This evening I saw lots of wildlife, mostly on my run through the mangroves and over the Goodland Bridge. Sightings included my most favorite summer visitors, black skimmers, a bunch of mangrove bats, a black crowned night heron flying over head, the typical osprey, a raccoon, tarpon and jacks in the snooklight aquarium, and of course little green herons all about the finger dock.
After my run I got back to the marina to catch this picture of the moon... of course the picture doesn't do near the justice of the beauty that was seen. Earlier and closer to the horizon, the moon was an incredible sight to see... I ran screaming (in my head) as I was attacked by ferocious mosquitoes while i was attempting to get this picture... ouch.
a night shot... you can only imagine how still i tried to be... such great mosquito bait i was ;)
click on the pic to see in more detail :)

The virtuous life of Buddhism

Visited the World Peace Temple in Glen Spey, NY for a beautiful Buddhist retreat weekend.
The temple was beautiful.
As you are looking at the front of the temple, within the glass wall windows, the Peace Cafe is on the left and the shop is on the right. the windows slide open to let the beautiful winds flow in. based as a square, the temple rises up as on octagon.
Within the copula, the wheel of Dharma...


I wish I'd captured more pictures of the beauty of this place...

It just might be...

I know I probably shouldn't say it on a sailing blog...
but,
It just might be my most favorite place to be...


Hiking in the White Mountains...
Two days and 24ish miles later, three more peaks bagged....
Top left pic is Bondcliff from Bond Mtn. all the rest are general White Mountain views from Bond Mtn. the bottom right includes Mt. Washington.

Hurricane prep...

Working on getting Athena ready for any potential hurricanes... It's much "nicer" to prepare for hurricanes when not under the pressure of an oncoming storm.
Her sails are down, dodger off, more dock/piling lines, and chaffing gear... the chaffing gear isn't quite set just yet, but, where getting there i think... the chaffing gear is reinforced white tubing where the dock lines go through the line leaders. rubbing up against the line leaders can deteriorate the line quickly... also put all the bumpers on the dock side of the boat, and tied the kayak and dinghy to the boat as well.
she looks pretty bare now.

One of my favorite tools...

The heat cutter... When one needs to cut line and keep it from fraying, it's perfect for the job. Must stay away from those non-friendly smoky fumes... probably not the Earth friendliest... Unfortunately, no matter how we try, we will always have some sort of footprint on this Earth. size really is what matters ;p

Wicked High Tide

Wicked high tide at the marina. Some seasons have higher tides than others, then add a nice full moon onto that... wow. usually high tide is about 12 inches below top of dock, but this day, it was maybe 8 inches below top of dock! The dock walk through mangroves are full of water...

New "library"...

New bookcase for the marina "library" where everyone shares books and magazines. I've borrowed a few books from the library :) and donated too ;)

Crock Pot

Cooking on the sailboat in a crock pot... My used crock pot from Goodwill for $7.99 ;)
an effort to keep the footprint small, buy used stuff!
Saves money too...

"The Fluff"

So, I lost Fluff to some other place yesterday, Saturday, July 28th, about 5pm.
I had him 13 years since he was a cute little kitten.
White with peanut butter colored splotches, I named him Fluff-a-Nutter, after my favorite sandwich of marshmallow and peanut butter. His coloring reminded me of that.
He had many nick-names... "Fluff" "The Fluff" "The Fluffster" "McFluff the Shakespearean Cat" and "Fluff the one-nutted cat" (long story having to do with one of Fluff's nuts being up inside him, so he had to have full blown surgery to be fixed)
Besides my family, he has been the one to be with me through the past 13 years. He saw me through marriage, a house in Northfield, MA, divorce, grad school in Amherst, six different apartments in the Boston area, two years in Manchester, NH, a big move to a tiny cottage apartment on Ft. Myers Beach, FL, a rented house on Isles of Capri, two different sailboats, and many days and nights of being alone...
Mostly I remember him always wanting to be right next to me when I was home. He would be next to me if I cried. He would come if I called his name.
He was a stocky cat with scoliosis, so he couldn't jump like a normal cat. I remember the day in Northfield, MA, I had four cats at the time including the Fluff. the neighbor's crazy collie was out again and chasing the cats. the collie chased all four in a row around one of the corners of the house, me following after. I came around the corner to see that all cats, except the Fluff, had made the jump up onto the deck. The Fluff was hanging on for dear life by his front paws' nails. I grabbed him up into my arms, of course. He was my favorite.
Another of my favorite memories of the Fluff is when he and I lived in Watertown, MA, in a really cool apartment that was the downstairs half of a two-story house. Every day I would come home through the front door and Fluff would be waiting for me. I would come in, put down all my stuff, say hi to the Fluff, and we both would run across the whole apartment into my bedroom in the back. I would jump on the bed and Fluff would jump after me. I would roll him onto his back up next to me and rub his belly. he loved it. we did this day after day... it was our routine. a great routine at that. he was to me the best cat ever. i use to think he thought he was a dog, he was so loyal, and just wanted to be with me.
Two years ago I brought Peppermint Patty along to give some company to the Fluff. Not to mention that I wanted the Fluff to teach another cat how to be like him, because I knew, I would loose him some day...
When Patty was a kitten, she would play with the Fluff's tail, chasing it, grabbing it, biting it. All the while the Fluff would just lay there and flip his tail for her.
Last Saturday the two cats and I spent the entire afternoon cat napping. and this past week, I was so happy to be back on the boat with the cats after being gone dog-sitting. It was just the three of us. I was so happy and content with all I had, my cats next to me.
Fluff was the greatest cat I've ever known. I miss him miss him miss him terribly. I wish I could hold him one more time. The sailboat is not the same without him. I don't know what happens to us after we die and I have no idea if it's true that spirits don't like to be "trapped" but I'm going to be selfish and hope to God that Fluff is still with Patty and I because i can't imagine life without him. Last night out of the corner of my eye, I thought i saw him lying on the bed next to my feet. Patty and I were watching Ace Ventura Pet Detective in Fluff's honor. He was more than just a pet though, he was my true companion and best friend, always there for me when I needed him. He hardly ever complained. He was a good cat.
Good night Fluff-a-Nutter.

The sky fell....(by Mom)

The sky fell for the Fluff yesterday early evening. The Fluff, a cat I considered a "gentle giant" because he was so much bigger than most cats I have had, passed away yesterday early evening. He was thirteen years old but still seemed like he would last at least another 10 years when I last saw him, a reminder that we all have a limited time and we don't know when that time will come so we must live each day with that kind of caring. With that in mind I must share some of the wonder of this cat's personality, spirit of adventure and friendliness. Fluff was a friendly cat to other cats and humans as well. When he was visiting one year for three months he tried very hard to make friends with the cats in my abode. However, they would have none of it. Yet he still kept calm and kept trying. He never gave up on that task and did not seem to understand why the much smaller cat Tigger was so afraid of him. So he would try to follow the Tigger around with the Tigger trying to find a place to hide. It was pretty comical at the time watching the "hide and seek" game that they ended up playing and Fluff all the while staying calm and friendly.
Then there was my visit when Patty first arrived. He already was over 10 years old at the time by he acted like an old Great Uncle with her. He finally had a playmate that wasn't afraid of him. In fact, she relished in hiding and then pouncing on him as he went by. He took it all in stride and I am sure that he was finally glad to have the companionship that he so much desired from other cats.
My favorite memory of the Fluff will be the Christmas he stayed with us. One evening as I was enjoying having only the lights on the tree lit and nothing else lit in the house I was sitting and simply enjoying and nearly asleep in my chair near the tree. I suddenly came to attention when I spotted a glowing white spot in the middle of the tree and it was moving upwards. Much to my dismay and surprise it was the Fluff climbing up through the middle of the Christmas tree, heading for the top of our 10 foot tree. The tree was decorated in primarily glass ornaments and I didn't want to have the Fluff hurt or the tree damaged so I had a dilemma. How do I get a cat out of the middle of a fully decorated Christmas tree! I certainly can't shout or yell because that would frighten him and he could have simply jumped out of the tree quickly and destroyed himself and the tree all at the same time. I couldn't just reach into the middle of the tree because that would have had the same effect. Instead I decided to try my stern quiet "teacher voice" and told him to "climb down out of that tree." I had no idea if he would listen or not but he stopped climbing higher, looked at me and realized, I suppose, that part of the fun of this adventure was doing it without getting caught and he had gotten "caught"! So, with the fun and adventure gone out of it he simply stopped climbing higher and backed down out of the tree much to my relief. He got a lot of loving attention right after and from that time on I realized how tuned to my voice he had become. He even seemed to later appreciate hearing my voice over the phone.
So a tribute to a wonderful friendly and adventurous cat. He will remain forever in my mind as a "gentle giant" reminding me that you don't have to react negatively to others who don't always understand your friendly ways. You have a choice on how you react to others. Friendliness and cooperation are worth the effort for the peace it brings you even if others don't "get it". Fluff you were very much loved and you will be missed.
Love,
Mom

The sky is falling...

A summer storm roars in.
1800 the wind whips in and rocks the boat as the storm engulfs, hanging items swing side to side.
Still fearful of the storm from April. Although, this storm only lasted maybe an hour.



The cats didn't like the storm too much either. Patty just sat cuddled/huddled in my lap, and fluff snuggled nearby.

Sailorette is a poet, in case you didn't know it ;)

a poem reprinted from Athena Captain's Log... by the way, you might only get this if you know a little Buddhism ;)

I vs. Me
by Wren Rogers

There once was an I that I thought was me.
I looked for her to tell me who I might be.
She smiled to say, don't look at it that way.
I didn't exist before you thought of me.
Change your mind's eye and I will die.
And a new you steps out of the cue.
Don't embrace a mind fixed in space.
Don't grasp I, not even a trace.
Set me free, the I of yesterday I erase.

A day in Sarasota

Spent part of a day in Sarasota visiting with my friend Cyndy. Hadn't seen her since my last brief visit back home to New England in December.
It was great to catch up and share time with a very good friend I don't get to see that often any more.

As you might imagine, I'm reminded of how much I miss "home."

We visited Mote Aquarium. I miss the New England Aquarium. Giving up my time at the New England Aquarium was one of thE hardest things to give up when I moved to SWFL.

Sarasota is cute and beautiful. The waters so clear and blue-green.
I've often considered Sarasota as a potential place to live, far younger more liberal crowd than SWFL, from what I've heard... Saw lots of sailboats as I was driving over the causeway, even a bunch of small sailboats learning to sail, or learning to race as the case may have been...

It's only a tiny Athenian owl...

on the spreaders of a sailboat ;)

I ventured out into tattoo territory. I've wanted a tattoo for like, over 10 years...

A couple weeks ago, the idea of what I wanted popped into my head and I went for it!!!

I had been feeling kinda weak, emotionally that is, and I wasn't sure how I was going to snap out of it (no, i wasn't quite getting the Buddhist meditation techniques to work for me this time).

But then, standing contemplating one evening, I remembered all the strength it's taken to do all I have done on the sailboat, not without the help of my friends, the wind in my sails, of course.

but still, I venture on alone for the most part, some strength coming from somewhere within.

Along my spine the tattoo represents the strength I have learned from SV Athena, a reminder for when I feel weak. You'll find the tiny Athenian owl and lettering, taken from the Athenian coin, portrayed at the spreaders of the sailboat.

Sorry mom and dad, it's a little bigger than the tiniest owl the tattoo artist has ever tattooed ;)

It didn't really hurt as much as I thought it would... Vicki provided moral support :) My head is only face down in the pic because my neck was starting to hurt from keeping it to the side. It took a little over two hours straight for the tattooing process...

Unfortunately, for those that can't see the tattoo in person, I've been having a tough time getting a good picture that shows the detail. I'll keep trying ;)

Tunes, and they play LOUD too...

After fussing with the speakers and speaker wires, etc. I finally went out and bought new speakers. Wouldn't you know, barely any sound came out of them either...

So, I decided to hook the speaker wires to a different connection on the radio...

And, it worked!!!! loud loud music came out of the speakers :) yae :)

It only took hooking them to particular wires. Apparently the in/out location I was trying to hook them up to before was for use with an amp... who knows, but, i now have tunes, let the motivation begin :) It's been sooooo hard to motivate to work on the boat without tunes!!!

More scraping...

Well, I had the dinghy with motor in the water during Athena's trip out of the water...

And, of course, around here, barnacles grow like mad!

So, spent part of Sunday cleaning the motor and monday evening cleaning the dinghy and getting her back onto Athena's bow.

Tuesday morning I got this pic of her with her newly painted blue striping, dinghy back on board, and check out those thunderheads in the background to the west...

Linoleum on the boat????

Naw, there's no linoleum on the boat ;)

But, there was in my friends' B&B's house...

I helped them remove this crazy invention this past weekend.

I likened removing linoleum and adhesive to hiking a mountain....

Need Tunes!!!!

I connected a few wires and finally got the radio going...
unfortunately, very low sound is coming out of the speakers... I'm wondering if an amplifier is required, or if the speakers, passed to me by none-other than Travis no. 1, actually work... Why is it I wouldn't be surprised. Sorry Travis no. 1 if you happen to read this! I guess it's time for a trip to Radio Shack...
I still need to connect the Sirius receiver...