respect............................from P

A movie: The Perfect Storm. My favorite part is the up and down of the crew's morale near the end as the storm appeared to be breaking up just before the worst. They crawled and scrambled across the deck to deal with problem after problem. The sun popped out, everyone cheered, then the sky along with the faces darkened again. Finally, the big sea rose up and finished them.

A book: Fastnet, Force 10. The deadliest ocean race in the history of organized regattas. 306 boats entered this 1979 version of the Fastnet race originating off the south coast of England, and around Fastnet Rock at the southern tip of Ireland. Two low pressure systems came together too fast for accurate forecasting, just like the Perfect Storm. 15 people died, 25 boats were sunk or disabled, scores of hypothermal men were plucked out of the 40 foot seas by British rescue helicopters, boats were rolled all the way over 360 degrees, and the race continued. Again, my favorite part had to be the excellent description of how the crews of the most affected boats dealt with the hell they were living. They never gave up. They reefed, reefed again, changed sails, heaved to, tried running before the sea, cut loose broken masts, bailed water, inflated life rafts, were tossed around like rag dolls teathered to the boat - and most of them survived or thrived.

Just by coincidence (I think), I finished reading Fastnet within 24 hours of flipping channels onto HBO and catching the last half of The Perfect Storm last night. I already had a healthy respect for the sea. Now I am ready to buy life rafts, thermal suits, strobes, extra flairs, radar, and maybe my own helicopter. Well maybe not the helicopter, but over the past two months I actually have been acquiring safety gear including a drogue for slowing the boat when running before the sea in a blow, personal harnesses and teathers, a new small but tough "gale sail" that is to be hoisted in winds over 30 knots in place of the standard jib, inflatable life vests with extra canisters, extra flairs, satellite weather service, radar reflector so we can be easily seen by ships, and a new fishing pole. OK I did not buy a new fishing pole but after spending all this money I might as well. Being safe costs a lot.

If (when) we get into a 30 or 40 knot gale, how will we react? Will we get focused, think through the proper steps, and work task by task as we keep Senara under control and keep her "pointy ends" into the wind? Or will we curl up and wimper? The lessons learned from Fastnet included staying with the boat and keep working. We think a much better strategy is to pay constant attention to the weather and don't sail if there is a good chance of trouble. What's the hurry anyway? We have all year. Yes we will be ready when king neptune shows his bad side. But we have enough respect to show him patience by staying in port when he gets testy. Besides, we don't have a load of fish to deliver or an ocean race to win - just new places to discover in their own time.