going, going, gone

It seems, from from reading emails and the internet, everybody is going somewhere.

Barry, the builder of two beautiful Melonseeds, above, has talked about sailing Aeon and Caesura on nearby Back Bay or farther south along the Pamlico Sound shores of Ocracoke Island.

My friend Mike, normally a Melonseed sailor, tells me he is leaving his Melonseed behind and joining a friend with a Marsh Cat for a sail from Key West to the Dry Tortugas.

Dawn and her son Alan, above, are gearing up for the 1200 mile Watertribe Ultimate Florida Challenge.  They are training for the race while at the same time designing and building their trimaran.

Kiwibird, I suspect, will be padding the Everglades Challenge, along with her occasional weekend outings such as a solo paddle around Shackleford Banks, above.  Kristen never talks about training and yet she is the record holder for single female paddlers, completing the 300 miles of expedition racing in 5 days, 10 hours and 15 minutes.

Friends Mary Lou and Fred are talking about sailing their boat from Norfolk to their home in Rock Hall.  Maybe I can be there on the water with Spartina to see them off on the journey.

Webb Chiles will soon be heading to New Zealand to sail his boat The Hawke of Tuonela.  While out sailing the 37' boat I'm sure he'll be working on plans to sail his new, smaller boat Gannet, above.  Where he will go on that boat I do not know.  But he has said he wants to have the Moore 24 on or within sight of the ocean by the end of the year.

As for me, I'm going fishing.  Above you will see some of our supplies.  We'll pick up some oysters on the way to the oceanfront hotel.  Knob Creek, oysters and crackers, then dinner - we need to get our game face on for a good day of fishing.

I said a day or two ago that the bluefin tuna, which had been caught mixed in with the stripers, had disappeared from our coastal waters.  They have returned.  Today a 79 inch long bluefin tuna, weighing in at 250 pounds, was brought to the docks.  It was caught within a mile or two of the beach - right where we'll be fishing on Sunday.  I'll settle for a couple of nice stripers, but the thought of bluefins swimming in the same water, chasing the same bait, does sound interesting.  As for the one below, I hear that it is now on a jet bound for Japan.

Everybody is going somewhere.

steve