A boat dry docked on stilts.

Christmas in Key West

Posted in travel on Dec 25th, 2011

Christmas Eve I meet up with Charles and his pretty girlfriend Cassy. We eat bread, hummus and salad at their new home, drink wine and talk. Charles leaps in the pool. Their roommates' little girl is crazy excited about her presents. She's being cleverly distracted as her brightly wrapped gifts are shuttled from their various hiding spots to their rightful home beneath the evergreen.

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Relaxing in Jordan's Ghost

A change of plans

Posted in travel on Dec 4th, 2011

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.

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Westsail 32 restoration

Westsail 32 Restoration

Posted in travel on Nov 22nd, 2011

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.

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Portrait in a greyhound toilet.

Greyhound to Mobile

Posted in travel on Nov 15th, 2011

Miami, Florida. I'm in route to Mobile, Alabama. Once there, I'll be spending some time helping Gil, a friend of mine, to put the finishing touches on his boat before cruising to Key West and eventually further south.

The bus ride to Mobile is some twenty-nine hours, six of which will be spent here in the Miami Greyhound station on layover. I'm beginning to get very familiar with this station. I believe I've been here at least four times.

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Surfers waiting for waves in Santa Ana, California

The long way home

Posted in travel on Nov 3rd, 2011

Hablan Espanol en El Salvador?

Si. Claro. Y Usted? Habla usted Espanol?

Si, un poco, pero yo tengo que aprender mas.

La mayoria de gente en Florida hablan Espanol, no?

Talvez no la mayoria, pero es verdad que mucha gente lo hablan. Porque hay mucha gente de Cuba alli.

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Backpacking in the foothills of Colorado

A Mountain Hiatus

Posted in travel on Jun 25th, 2011

"It sure is beautiful for the first day of you-know-what," hollered Chuck.

He was standing lanky in the rough, boisterous breeze, squinting in the new, white sunlight of morning. His long, wiry gray hair fluttered in the wind and his rickety, lean frame crooked forward in a sort of happy, nervous readiness.

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I do not know who this woman is.

Waiting out weather in Tarpon Springs

Posted in travel on Apr 5th, 2011

Tarpon Springs, FL. Arianna is backed into a slip at the Anclote Harbors Marina where she's been tied up for about a week now. Arianna's owners and I have been idling away our days waiting for conditions in the Gulf of Mexico to shift in our favor. A medium-sized storm system is blowing through the area this morning, driving winds and mild rain at some thirty to thirty-five knots. This is the one that we've been waiting for - once it passes we should be able to head back out to sea. That will probably be tomorrow morning.

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Onshore: Strip malls, long walks and goofy parking lot signs.

Onshore: Work, Laundry & Supplies

Posted in travel on Dec 31st, 2010

It's hard to believe that I've been here four days already. That's almost a week. I've met some fifteen people casually including Fat Freddy (who is), and Barnacle Bill (who is not). I hope to leave tomorrow but may not get out of the area until January 2nd depending on a few factors. I'm anxious to leave.

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San Juan del Sur: first day of rain. A view from on high.

San Juan del Sur

Posted in travel on Apr 26th, 2010

San Juan del Sur is a brightly colored, unpretentious little beach town. Its lazy, humid warmth permeates the streets depositing plenty of sedate young men and women along its friendly, shop filled roads. Buses, uniformed school children, bicycles, and a wide variety of man-powered, wheeled vehicles hacked together from various bike parts criss-cross the streets that radiate away from the Catholic Church in the town center. The occasional old-timer snoozes the day away happily on the cement and wooden benches adorning the edges of the crowded streets.

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Uncommonly contented

Posted in travel on Apr 24th, 2010

There's something tangibly reassuring about these plastic chairs, this purple tablecloth, this bright green cement floor, and this dimly lit room with its open side facing the quiet street behind me. The girl that's minding the grill squats comfortably against the wall, joining the matron of the little eatery in staring idly at the television where busty Latin women in red dresses compete at dance. The TV flickers multicolored light harmlessly across the floor from its perch on a wooden crate in the corner.

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