Good Morning Friends,

Just wanted to touch base with all of you and let you know my status.

I’ve got a busy day today to getting ready to step the mast and launch. The boat will be launched on the high tide around 3:30.

I’m doing pretty well. Dirty and tired but alright. The marina I’m at is not really set up for me and there are no real showers or anything so that is a mission for later today. I feel a large contrast between myself and all the pretty people in Coconut Grove.

I’m at burger king right now bumming a hotel internet connection, so my communication may be sporadic. I’ll just be working on the boat for most of the day.

I’m trying not to use too much data on my phone in the US because it is very expensive. I am reading incoming mail but am trying to keep my usage down. Watching the weather.

THanks again for all of your help and enthusiasm. I wouldn’t be here without you.

Warm regards,

n

From MST 680

” alt=”Nathan’s proposed course around the Bahamas” />

Nathan and the his boat, Boys and Girls Club of Canada complete the first of 2 ‘road’ legs of his Bahamas qualifying trip. Now Nathan will prepare his boat, watch the weather and determine the most favourable window for setting off. Of primary concern is getting across the Gulf stream to Bimini. Although a relatively short passage, if the wind is uncooperative, i.e. blowing with any strength from 340 to 90 degrees true, the passage can turn treacherous as the wind whips up a steep, boat-breaking, bone-jarring chop against the strong Gulf stream current. Keep your eye on the weather. Nathan is! More soon…

Nope. Apparently they loaded the powerboat with a forklift.
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” alt=”This is for real. On the way to Miami.” />

Nathan save $$$$… sleeps in boat in parking lot
Nathan is finally on his way to Miami - well sort of. He is sleeping in his boat for a second night in the parking lot of a Wal Mart in Scranton Pennsylvania.

There were some last minute hick-ups in the travel plans and suddenly Nathan had no vehicle and no driver. Ever resourceful, Nathan shared his problem with his team and our community in the hopes that someone would have some ideas. Not long after he put out the calls, several options emerged. This is a critical skill for anyone who takes on a big project with more enthusiasm than money. Well done Nathan!

Ultimately, David Wilby of Pride Marine came to the rescue and was able to drive Nathan and his boat to Pennsylvania last night where Nathan meets his next ride all the way to Miami with his friend Caj (still researching a last name).

The story doe not end here. Unfortunately Caj was held up and Nathan is now spending another night on the boat. In good spirits, Nathan’s explained over the phone to his wife Alison that “it will be better tonight. It should stay above zero degrees inside the cabin tonight”. Apparently, last night was a full-on “mini” winter camping experience. Thank goodness the Starbuck’s across the street opened at 7:30 am! Who knew winter camping and an early morning Starbuck’s run would ever be part of the same story.

The thing I like best about this little story is how this project has inspired our community to help in whatever ways they can - some with money, some with time, some with ocean sailing experience, some with powerful tow vehicles, etc. The best part is that none of these specific forms of community support could ever have been predicted in advance when Nathan first shared his dream with us, but somehow it all works out and we are making it happen. Marvelous!

The next leg of the Journey should be straight forward - drive to Miami and set up the boat.

We will let you know when he arrives and can share stories of warm breezes and palm trees.

This year the holidays seem to be a little more vivid for me than usual. It might be the amazingly white Christmas we are going to have. It could be the smell of baking at home or the gifts under the tree. It could be that Alison and I are planning to have all of our family over to our house for Christmas day for the first time ever. Whatever it is, there is something different this year.

If there is one thing that single handed sailing teaches you, it is the value of human contact. Whether departing or arriving, people are what you think about even more than good food and a stable bed. I’m headed off to sea again soon, and I am already thinking about solitude and loneliness, a stark contrast with the holidays here on the hard. So I have resolved myself to enjoy people this season. To enjoy cheerful conversation with friends. To appreciate the bustle of people in the streets, rushing to find last minute things for the big day. And to make sure that my co-workers, friends and team mates know just how special they are.

The generosity of the season always pulls on my heartstrings as well. Last week my team mates sent out an email to friends of the sailing team to request help for this qualification trip. It’s no secret that I have been barely holding it together financially, and the donations that came in following this email were enough to make sure that I am going to be able to leave. I want to thank the team for making that appeal, and all of you that were able to donate toward the campaign at this critical time. We have enough money to leave now, and that is a big deal in the grand scheme of things. (Now all we have to do is figure out how to get home…)

As we get older it is easy to become jaded about big crowds and the commercialism that comes with this season. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Once the gifts are bought and the turkey is in the oven, take a moment to just sit and look at the lights, your family and appreciate the laughter and good will of the season. It is a special time no matter how old you are. Whether you are the giver or the receiver. There is so much joy to be found in the people around us and I am so happy to have you all in my life.

So I just wanted to tell you, all of you, that I am so touched by your generosity and help over the past two years. I get all chocked up thinking of the little and big things that folks have done to help make all of these dreams come true.

So to all of you, I wish you a very happy holiday. Enjoy your families and make sure to drink a toast and send warm thoughts to those that are alone over the holiday. They are certainly thinking of you.

Warm Regards and best wishes,

n

On Friday the Classe Mini released the first version of the Transat 6.50 entry list, and I was releived to see my name under the DCQ entrants.

There are seven foreigners competing for DCQ spots and two compeitors have already qualified. So now it’s a race for the remaining compeitors to get all of their qualificaitons out of the way. (For foreigners, the first to fufil all of the qualification obligations, goes to the top of the list.)

We have a lot of work to do, but we are trucking along, right on schedule.

Next up: 1000nm Qualification sail. More on that in a bit.

This Saturday we entered the boat in the Santa Claus Parade, which was totally a blast. Once again the Leaders in Training from the Boy’s and Girl’s Club stepped up to help organize things for the parade.

The kids were troopers as it was a really cold night, but it was even worse for us as we were way up on the deck of the boat as we made our way down Princess Street. Nothing a few blankets and hot chocolate couldn’t fix, but it was pretty darn cold out there.

I’m not much of a Christmas person, but I have to say that it was a fantastic way to get into the spirit of the season.

Once again, a big thanks to the LIT group, John for driving, George and th Girls for helping to decorate the boat, Alison for helping with all of the logistics, Pride Marine for loaning us their truck, and the the Downtown Kingston Business Association for putting on a great event.

Last week was crazy busy with activities at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club. The Leaders in Training group have been taking on more and more responsibility over the past few weeks and I am really proud of them as budding leaders in their community.

On Wednesday last week we ran a “Sailor Boot Camp” for the kids at the club. In the gym at the club we set up three stations: a spinaker hoist, a stacking race and an emergency preparedness drill where they had to pretend they were sleeping below and get dressed and on deck to deal with a problem, fastest time wins. The LIT group helped to get everything set up and then helped run the stations.

I want to send out a big thanks to George Jackson, John Curtis and James Brown for their help running the stations and encopuraging the kids to get through all of the activities in record time.

A few weeks ago I got a call from Jim Brown at work. He was calling to give me the good news that Empire life were coming on board as sponsor, contributing $2500 toward the campaign. Super good news! This past Friday I had a chance to meet with a few of the Empire Life executives and have a chance to chat with them about the project.

Empire Life is no stranger to corporate giving and supporting the Kingston community. They are just wrapping up a United Way fund raising campaign and separately support the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston among many other things. Empire is unique in Kingston, in that they are a national company with a big local headquarters here, not Toronto or Montreal. I really like that they are out in community and trying to help out. Kingston is definitely better for it.

Over the past month, I’ve been working with Kingston sail loft on making a new main and jib for the boat. These are super important sails that will be putting on some significant miles in the coming months. We want them to be fast, reliable, and easy to use.

Adjusting the sail plan on the mini is key and you must have the boat set up in such a way that you can adjust sail even when you are tired, it’s blowing 40 and the boat is bucking up and down below you. Making the sails easy to use saves energy and encourages me to make the sail charge early enough that it’s not too late. Andy and John put up with me constantly stopping in at the loft to see how things were progressing or to discuss whatever was coming next.

The Kingston Sail Loft have been so supportive of the campaign from the very beginning and I am very grateful of their donation of time and experience in working on the sails.