The Best Day of Your Life!

They say that the two best days of your life are when you buy your new boat, and the day that you sell it. This may be true for some people, but we have owned several boats, and never felt this to be true. We have always felt a little sad when we sold a boat, as if all the good times and fun we had on it, were going with it. Not really true of course, but we were moving on to something else, and knew that the experiences we had on that boat were now in the past. We never sold a boat to get away from it, maybe that is why we always felt that twang of sentimental remorse. Our boats were always in better shape when we sold them, than when we bought them! I mean, why have a boat and not give it what it needs, take care of it and fix it up the best that you can, so that you will enjoy using it? Well, that is why we just sold our other boat, we know we are now too busy to use it and keep it up. The absolute worse thing for a boat, is to sit unused. It will literally freeze in place, and slowly become a boat statue, as if it took a gander at old Medusa herself. Unless you are in Ireland, cause there are no snakes there, so I guess you are safe from roving Medusa's.

As it turns out, our friend Mike and his wife Sherri wanted to buy the boat, and that's good, but then again, what happens if something goes wrong with the boat? This might lead to some weirdness down the road if that should happen. But, in the end, we made a deal that we both were happy with, and now she belongs to our friends. Congratulations! We love this boat a lot, and if the sailing thing ever ends, we will buy another one just like her in a second. The boat is a World Cat catamaran with two outboards and is a great fishing platform. The boat is safe and heavy, and made it possible for us to go where we wanted and fish when we wanted in safety. She will be missed a lot. Take good care of her, Mike.

Oh, and Mike, try to resist filling the boat completely full of ice like we did on a trip to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. We had so much gear, enough for three people to eat and camp for three days, including bait and fishing gear, water, and 1200 pounds of ice on that boat, that it was just almost up to the scuppers on the sides! Try half that much ice and some dry ice on top, should work better. Anyway, we are busy overloading the shit out of the sailboat right now, you would think we would have learned. What to bring, What to leave behind? Like the pioneers did, we face the same dilemma.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day; I Am More Than A Little Off

We wish you all a happy Saint Patrick's Day as we are in final prep mode for our departure from Miami. Maybe we could get some help from St. Patty, as he is best known for driving the snakes out of Ireland, perhaps he can help drive the boat out of Miami! Except he's been dead for like 1700 years or so. And he really didn't drive any snakes out of Ireland, because there aren't any there to start with. It seems that Ireland was in a super deep freeze from the last ice-age, and was still really too cold even after it thawed for the slithery bastards. Oh well, I guess it made a good story. As it turns out, St Patrick was actually a Brit, and was the son of a well off family.

One day, a band of Irish houligans nabbed him and brought him to Ireland, where he was put to work in the countryside. He slaved away for six years, and then one night was visited in his sleep by the Lord Almighty. He told St. Patrick to get out of Ireland and head home. So off he went, and got a ride on a Roman ship back to England. He was so moved by the whole experience, that he devoted his life to Catholicism, and studied the faith for 15 years. Then one night, he again was visited by God in his dreams, and was asked to return to Ireland, and spread the faith. He did as asked, and is credited with introducing Christianity to Ireland during his 40 year time there. He died on March 17, 461 A.D., and that is why we celebrate St Patrick's day on that day. Strangely enough, in Ireland, the celebration of St. Patrick's day was a religious holiday, and the bars were, by law, closed on that day. I guess they finally got tired of watching all the parades and festivities in the US and around the world, and finally relented in 1995 and started celebrating with shamrocks and Guiness beer like the rest of us. Nowadays, St Patricks day is a three day long party in Dublin Ireland, with an estimated 500,000 at this years parade. That's better, took you long enough.

To look like you know what you are doing, let's review two common Irish sayings for use on St Patrick's day. The first one is the Slainte, which is pronounced Slon-chuh. This is translated literally as Good Health, and is analagous to our Cheers when toasting a cold one. So lift your glass (go ahead, lift it now) and say Slainte, and clank it on your mate's glass, where they should return the toast, saying Slainte in return!

The other Irish saying that you will probably hear on St Patrick's day, is Erin Go Bragh. This is pronounced Erin-Go-Bra, and it sounds like a line of womens sports clothing to me, but it's not. This means Ireland Forever and seems to be more of a fancy saying, like God save the Queen, or America the Beautiful, than a toast, but you see it around St Patty's day as we celebrate all things Irish, as well as the day a Saint died.

We called it a day early from boat projects and headed back to Flanigans pub. The manager was very nice, and promised me- NO Katy Perry! We had some Guiness and a green beer too. It was very busy, and we had a great time!

Oh, why am I a little off? Well, that is a topic of discussion, for sure. Maybe I hit my head or something years ago, who knows. What I meant was that I finished my temp job here in Miami, and we are free to fly as soon as we wrap up a few last details. So in that way, I am more than just a little off, I am a lot off!