Brielle is helping me apartment hunt, only she's also Danielle from Williamsburg. There's a place at Taxi that feels kind of like an office, but with a big, full shower and lots of granite and open space.

I call Brielle and ask if she can withdraw my deposit on the other place (my actual apartment in waking life) to which she seems reluctant. I remind her I haven't signed a contract and she agrees.

Working with someone at a home that belongs to my grandma. A cousin or something, whose work ethic is appalling. We are painting concrete bricks yellow as a sort of parking space destination. The paint is difficult to use; it comes out of the aerosol can like water. Also the color is not correct. More white than yellow.

Then we are inside, laying down linoleum. It's old linoleum that has been torn up once already. I explain we shouldn't use it, because it will take up so much glue. The cousin is indifferent.

I've been living in the boatyard for nearly two weeks. It's loud, commercial, full of marine poison finishes, spray paints, epoxies, glass fibers and other toxic substances. I've been up to my elbows in paint for days. I've ruined most of my clothes. It feels like living in a sort of post apocalyptic junkyard, complete with dead birds, mangy dogs and rowdy tenants. Between materials, haul out, launching and blocking (putting the boat on stilts), it's cost me an arm and a leg.

I tried sailing to Stock Island a second time on Wednesday. The small craft advisory that went into effect Monday was still in place. The wind was blowing around twenty and the seas were very rough. I'd never been out sailing in this area under conditions like that. The water didn't look like waves at all, but more like the deep, angry claw marks of some giant beast. Each wave was some six feet tall and they were positioned one right after the other so that the boat pitched up then down continuously at what seemed like thirty to forty degrees.

Key West, FL. Change of plans. I've opted to forgo the trip to Central America. Gil will be sailing with a friend (a celestial navigation enthusiast) to Key West once his boat is complete. From there he will be looking to pick up a crew for the trip beyond. I arrived here in Key West two nights ago by bus. I went out with friends Friday night to meander around downtown and dance to some funk music, then caught a ride back to Jordan's Ghost late yesterday.

Got a job at a church like organization. It is LDS and my first assignment is to build some sort of globe for a cuckoo clock. I was never told this was my job, but when the job was offered someone said the things that need to be done include this.

When I arrive I find the clock in a box and begin working to attach a globe (earth) to it. I smile at other people in the office as I see them. A big girl comes by and mentions that another girl saw me and wanted to give me this: It's a note.

Mobile, Alabama. I'm working with Gil Carner, a retired art professor I met through Mark and Anna of the vessel Arianna, to restore a West Sail 32 in preparation for a cruise through the winter and spring. I'm living with Gil while we work on the boat. We're planning on completing the work and setting sail by sometime in early December. Until then, everyday is a full day's work.

At work in an instance of Justin's office. Practicing breath holding and doing poorly. Jason is talking about his blog, irl.com or something, a blog about life. Something deep red and syrupy comes out of my mouth, slides down my front. When it does it again I touch it and see it is a flimsy membrane. I inhale with fear and it sucks back into my throat.

It was a lung, inside out.

Uh-oh, is all I think to say.