Fish fly... but why?

We cruising folk have many times gazed in amazement as these little critters break from their watery bonds and fly gracefully through the air; sometimes for hundreds of feet. Most times when making a long run in open ocean, they are about all you see, aside from the occasional sea turtle.

Like this one our buddy Will found on the bow after an all night run up the east coast. This little guy had to have flown at least 8 feet in altitude or he could not have landed on our bow. Usually they cruise at 2 feet max.
But surfing around this morning I came across an interesting video by Discovery Channel. Included inside.

Remembering—

To the words

When it happens you are not there
oh you beyond numbers
beyond recollection
passed on from breath to breath
given again
from day to day from age
to age
charged with knowledge
knowing nothing
indifferent elders
indispensable and sleepless
keepers of our names
before ever we came
to be called by them
you that were
formed to begin with
you that were cried out
you that were spoken
to begin with
to say what could not be said
ancient precious
and helpless ones
say it

W.S. Merwin

October 2001

Castro sounding more like an American politician everyday...

"I actually meant the opposite of what I said"  Fidel Castro

"Shoot that new publicist, here." 

Article here

Friends remember fishing captain, who died after being thrown from boat in Jupiter Inlet

This is interesting...

 Seems Fidel Castro is a Nethead... An article in the LA Times goes on to say the old revolutionary even writes his own blog. Now he is dissing Iran and declaring Cuba's economic model 'Doesn't Work'. He must have a new publicist.
More inside...

Hurricane Earl in the Virgin Islands

They weren't so lucky.

OKay... another update.

It's midnight and all I hear are warnings, doom and gloom, but where I sit it's calm as it can be. I look at all Istaboa's instruments and they show problems ahead, but still nothing has changed.
A good stiff drink would be nice, but if all hell breaks loose, I guess I need to be circumspect... or sober anyway.
Coast Guard is busy as a bee... folks are walking the docks, but, I don't see it. YET!
Two more hours until the eye is in our neighborhood...
We shall see...

Update on Hurricane Earl

Yep, I hopped on a plane yesterday and now I sit on Istaboa. Doubled all the lines and secured the Kayaks—and, everything else that wasn't tied down. So, we're ready to go.
Thankfully, Earl appears to have taken a northerly turn which will take it away from Gloucester Point and Istaboa. Now we have three more storm systems out there lurking. I think we're as ready as we can be.
Still a good thing coming up here to check on things. Seems the freezer in the lazarette died on us while we were gone. Lots of chicken, beef, lamb, and shrimp has been unrefrigerated for more than a month in 95+º weather. Nice smell and a fun job.
Had a great dinner last night with Peter, our dock neighbor. Local steamed clams in a sherry creme sauce. Ummmmmm.....   love the food up here almost as much as the Northern Gulf Coast.

I miss the crew a lot. It doesn't feel right being aboard without them.

On the lighter side...

This dog is amazing...

Life is short —

— then you die... We've all heard that many times and sadly, as we get older, we realize it's true.

The statement in the above pic doesn't exactly apply to us, but the lines in the bottom left hand corner certainly strike a nerve. Mel and I, both, sit at the helm of responsibility for mothers who are on the cusp of their great rewards and we're constantly slapped in the face with the reality that... the last days of one's life can be an enormous profit center for others.

As crew Istaboa sits landlocked, our thoughts often turn to the siege of obligations, responsibilities, sorrow, and wishes for freedom from the aforementioned, but we refuse to, "die as if we never lived". We strongly promote the idea that—