the chapters of regret

I could easily finish Bland Simpson's book "The Inner Islands" tonight, but I won't.  The book is too good,  I want to savor and enjoy every word.  I will make it last as long as I can.  For me the sign of a great book is my wish to never reach the last chapter.  That is how I feel about this book.

The chapter I read tonight, starting at page 139, is called "The View from Bird Shoal".  Above you will see a photograph of Bruce standing near Spartina at Bird Shoal on our first cruise together.  We passed through there again a couple of years later with our sailing partners Paul and Dawn.  Reading Simpson's description of the shoals - both historical and personal - makes me want to go back again.  And I will soon.

------------------------------------------------------------

In a few days I will head out to San Diego for a family visit.  While there I will see Bruce and we will sit down with charts and (to steal a phrase from Bland Simpson) "some of the the stuff that made Milwaukee famous" to talk about our Fall trip.  Thinking about that this evening led me to look up the wind compass for Cape May in September.  Here it is below...

A lot of wind out of the NE, with some out of the S.  Typical, I would think, for late summer to early Fall when seasons are shifting.  Wind speed average is about 9 mph.  NE winds at 9 mph for sailing down the Jersey shore of Delaware Bay, I would gladly take that.  What we we get, we'll just have to wait and see.

steve