When I started this travel blog, the thought never once occurred to me: What happens when I'm sitting still? In point of fact the very notion of NOT traveling has always seemed like a distant and remote concept, like being dead only more boring. I mean sure, lots of folks do it, and I probably would too at some point, but not for a long long time. But these are unlikely circumstances I have found myself in, at least by my standards. I have maintained sobriety for nearly 4 months now, I actually OWN stuff, registered and insured in my own name...almost like a real grown up!
What it all comes down to is compromise. If I were to continue with regular updates on this blog while not traveling it would devolve into nothing more than a beach bum making alot of noise that even fewer people would bother to read about. This is not to suggest that life has become uneventful lately, but compared to my life a year ago, this is painfully slow and about as exciting the sandwiches you get in the drunk tank.
While it might seem as though my existence has slipped into something akin to public access television, it turns out to be a critical quiet period in which to finish my book, which is what all this dribble is about to begin with. So when I go 3 months without updating anything here...I promise it's not out of laziness. Though I am quite lazy.
With all that said, I feel a few anecdotes would be appropriate, this is, after all, an "update".
After about a thousand dollars (US) and a truck load of self education/ingenuity I now have a fully functioning solar system on board my sail boat, and produce more power than I can possibly use. Complete with deck lights, cabin lights, coffee, and reliable internet, its become more than an "outside dog" such as myself could hope for. I'm quite pleased with my floating bachelor pad.
A friend offered me a submersible fish light with a 20 foot cord. I had never even considered such a thing, but it seemed like it would be worth a try, if nothing else I would be able to get a gander at the various nocturnal critters around my boat. And boy howdy what a toy it has become. The first night I hung it from my stern I spent an hour or so watching different bait fish come and go, and even a small leopard ray cruise by. Retiring to my cabin to cook some eggs around 2:30 in the morning I was alerted by a large splash behind my boat. I flew out of the hatch to find a pod of 5 bottle nosed dolphins playing in the light. The splash I heard was only one of a series of full body breaches they were making. Jumping in the air and flipping around, wrestling underwater with each other, pushing my zodiac back and forth, toying with the glowing LED stick with their noses...for 40 minutes I watched the spectacle in awe. I half expected Shamoo to join in at any moment. I considered stripping off my shorts and jumping in the water with them, but decided it was enough to watch, they didn't need my help to have a good time. I did wish to hell I had caught some bait fish to throw them. I've seen Flipper, and it never hurts to have dolphins for friends.
Yes, the fish light does a remarkable job of bringing company in up close and personal. I awoke last night to find a school of hundreds of yellow tail snapper swarming me, and tonight I threw a bag of chum (think frozen fish burger) over to see what would happen, and the result? Jaw dropping. Yellow tail, mangrove snapper, blue runners, all in a frenzy, boiling the illuminated water and filling the murky darkness beyond it. When people say "there's plenty of fish in the sea" they aren't talking about relationships, it's a direct reference to my boat. And a damned accurate one at that.
Now I would be lying if I suggested I weren't growing restless. Even in a place as awesome as this, the hunger to go yonder is ever present, and growing. But this book is the measure of my life to this point, and it must be completed before new shenanigans are initiated. Writing is but one of many things I have found to be challenging in sobriety, and I'm having to relearn that which came so easily before. If ever there were a time and place to button it up, this is it, so please bear with me as I toil, and I promise to have my first assault on the english language in print this summer.
Or my name's not AD.
What it all comes down to is compromise. If I were to continue with regular updates on this blog while not traveling it would devolve into nothing more than a beach bum making alot of noise that even fewer people would bother to read about. This is not to suggest that life has become uneventful lately, but compared to my life a year ago, this is painfully slow and about as exciting the sandwiches you get in the drunk tank.
While it might seem as though my existence has slipped into something akin to public access television, it turns out to be a critical quiet period in which to finish my book, which is what all this dribble is about to begin with. So when I go 3 months without updating anything here...I promise it's not out of laziness. Though I am quite lazy.
With all that said, I feel a few anecdotes would be appropriate, this is, after all, an "update".
After about a thousand dollars (US) and a truck load of self education/ingenuity I now have a fully functioning solar system on board my sail boat, and produce more power than I can possibly use. Complete with deck lights, cabin lights, coffee, and reliable internet, its become more than an "outside dog" such as myself could hope for. I'm quite pleased with my floating bachelor pad.
A friend offered me a submersible fish light with a 20 foot cord. I had never even considered such a thing, but it seemed like it would be worth a try, if nothing else I would be able to get a gander at the various nocturnal critters around my boat. And boy howdy what a toy it has become. The first night I hung it from my stern I spent an hour or so watching different bait fish come and go, and even a small leopard ray cruise by. Retiring to my cabin to cook some eggs around 2:30 in the morning I was alerted by a large splash behind my boat. I flew out of the hatch to find a pod of 5 bottle nosed dolphins playing in the light. The splash I heard was only one of a series of full body breaches they were making. Jumping in the air and flipping around, wrestling underwater with each other, pushing my zodiac back and forth, toying with the glowing LED stick with their noses...for 40 minutes I watched the spectacle in awe. I half expected Shamoo to join in at any moment. I considered stripping off my shorts and jumping in the water with them, but decided it was enough to watch, they didn't need my help to have a good time. I did wish to hell I had caught some bait fish to throw them. I've seen Flipper, and it never hurts to have dolphins for friends.
Yes, the fish light does a remarkable job of bringing company in up close and personal. I awoke last night to find a school of hundreds of yellow tail snapper swarming me, and tonight I threw a bag of chum (think frozen fish burger) over to see what would happen, and the result? Jaw dropping. Yellow tail, mangrove snapper, blue runners, all in a frenzy, boiling the illuminated water and filling the murky darkness beyond it. When people say "there's plenty of fish in the sea" they aren't talking about relationships, it's a direct reference to my boat. And a damned accurate one at that.
Now I would be lying if I suggested I weren't growing restless. Even in a place as awesome as this, the hunger to go yonder is ever present, and growing. But this book is the measure of my life to this point, and it must be completed before new shenanigans are initiated. Writing is but one of many things I have found to be challenging in sobriety, and I'm having to relearn that which came so easily before. If ever there were a time and place to button it up, this is it, so please bear with me as I toil, and I promise to have my first assault on the english language in print this summer.
Or my name's not AD.