A few Pictures

Before I left NYC I had a professional rigger inspect my standing rigging .  Everything looked safe at least for one more trip.  This was sort of a light inspection not looking under stuff that was taped or under the roller furler.  Well, I'm glad Rolland insisted on doing a more thorough look.  The last picture is what we found.  One more trip with a little wind would have been the end of a sailing Chanty.

After taking these pictures I noticed how low Chanty sits in the back...this is what happens when you remove the mast on some small boats.

The third picture shows a handy little stand I made after Rolland left.  Getting the mast on that stand by myself was the hardest part.  My shoulders hurt for three days after from taking it up and down and up and down after re-cutting and re-screwing the stand until it was just at the right hight for me to stand under.

This tree I found while geocaching.  There are a ton of cashes here in Sarasota.

This car I saw while goecaching as well, the shells were cemented onto the car.

Happy New Year from Sarasota, Florida!

Its been a little while since an update.  Things are going good here in Sarasota.  Work is good, people are friendly, the weather a little cool for this time of year.  I can't complain.  The "season" is here in Sarasota meaning that all the "snowbirds" from up north are down here for the winter until around Easter time.  Then things start to slow down again.  The locals (who, by the way, are never even from Florida) find it annoying when the season is here because it tends to get busy and traffic congested.  

These last few pictures are from the Siesta Key beach.  Every Sunday afternoon/evening a non organized group of 12-15 drummers come and just play.  A large circle forms with belly dancers and kids and other performers in the middle.

I find that i miss New York in certain ways.  This area tend to close down at night.  Everything is Closed down by 9pm.  Not that I spend a lot of time out at night but its nice to know I can go somewhere to eat or grocery shop if I want to.  I miss also the diversity of NY and possibly being the only white person on a particular subway car.  I miss where public transportation is not just for the low income people but all walks of life.  I miss having unlimited places to go for photo opportunities.  I have been forced to use my imagination a little more.

I do like things about Sarasota too.  The warmer weather is great. It has been long pants and long sleeve shirt type weather.  This totally beats snow and trying to find a place to live up north.  I also am having fun exploring the new area and finding new places.  I am very very happy about how close to work I am.  Riding my bike it takes about 20 minutes.  When I come home after work I usually can make it to bed by 8am.  This so beats riding the subway, then waiting for a bus, then the bus ride for a total 1.5hrs most of the time falling asleep during my ride. I feel so much more rested and on my 3 day stretches I  have literally  2 extra hours of time between shifts.  This is sooooooo nice.  The shower are clean here too.  I haven't met too many people here in the marina.  I tend to keep to my self anyway...this is not a bad thing.  I did however met the sister of Reid Stowe.  He is setting a world record for being at sea without provisioning for 1000 days.

I hope to have more pictures for you.  Guess I need to get out and about again.

Happy New Year!!!