A New Paradigm

Now is not really sailing season. I know, I know, that's a big surprise to me, too. When the weather here in the Hudson Valley was warm and nice, I was in California. Not three hours after I returned the temperature dropped from 52 degrees to 28, with wind and sleet/snow.

It was a perfect ending to the perfect involuntary two day trip back from Santa Monica. Why two? Apparently it was foggy at Stewart Int'l Airport. So the flight was cancelled. Ok, I can live with that - I mean, I'm not interested in a firery death in the fog. But for cripes sakes, if you're the airline - either get a bigger plane for the morning (I'm not talking about the difference between a 43 passenger plane to a 747, but to a 70 passenger one) or add a flight. You already know there's going to be a WHOLE PLANELOAD of people who want to go!

But no. The closest I could get was Westchester Airport. So my friend, Laura, came and shuttled me to Stewart to pick up my car and my bag, which did get where it was going. Kudos to her, of course. A 'What the f---?' to American Airlines.

What about this new paradigm? Well, here's the thing. I can talk and write about sailing 8 hours a day. But I'd like to write - I mean really write. So where to write? Well, here of course! I can write about anything, can't I? So even though there's always going to be a thread of sailing, I will introduce other subjects.

The Sailing Life is more than just sailing - it's music and hiking and cars and what have you. You could say it's sailing through life as well. Actually, that's exactly what I'm saying.

So now you know. I want to write, and since I can't always think of some sailing stuff, it won't always be sailing. There.

Speaking of which, I met a lovely woman in England who lives on a narrowboat. It's a really narrow canal boat. It's about 7 feet wide and 35 feet long. "Why," you might ask, "would someone make one of these, let alone live in one?"

Well, they're the size they are because when the first canals were dug in England, they were hand dug and people being people, they made them as narrow as they thought they could get away with. Hence, you could only use narrow boats in them. I'll ask if she'd provide me with some pictures so you could get an idea.

I must say, it must be fun. And you could actually go anywhere in Europe in it. There are canals everywhere from England, through the Channel, to canals that take you to the Black Sea. How do I know? There's a book about it, although the author did it in a Mirror dinghy. As soon as I find the book again, I'll let you know the real title and author.

Well, this weekend it's supposed to be nice with temperatures near 50. So I'm going sailing.

You'll be hearing much more from me now, and I hope to see you on the water!