Unfortunately, Donny, most of my friends that were somewhat active are now imfirmed or dead, therefore, most of my sailing excursions are single handed. I have the boat set up for safety with a lifeline trailing behind in case I happen to fall overboard, a swim ladder that I can deploy from the water to climb back aboard, and a jackline that runs from the cockpit to the bow to which I attach my safety harness to prevent me from falling overboard. A heart attack would probably do me in, though it beats the hell out of the way I am slowly dying at this stage of the game - slow suffocation is a bitch!

While I'm gone, I will do my best to keep in touch via the smart phone and post some photos and vids of the voyage.

Thanks for caring,

Gary

A quick story about that song.

When I was busking in the streets of London, I was playing opposite a guitar player. I was playing accordion and we did an hour apiece.

One day I took the time to listen to him and noticed he only played two songs. I asked him didn't he know anything else. Answer: These are the two songs that make money for me (the people passing by would shower him with money). The two songs were Blowin' in the Wind, and.....The Streets of London.

After that I came up with my own two money-maker songs: Che Sera - Whatever will be and the Blue Danube Waltz. In fact, I worked the line of people waiting to get into the Tower of London (with a tin cup) just playing those two songs for two hours going up and down the line. Made a small fortune that Sunday.

The psychology of entertaining!

Well put, Col. I've been caught in some nasty storms, up to Force 8, which scared the living Hell out of me. The boat came through those storms just fine, but the old fart behind the helm was sweating bullets.

One of the most disconcerting things is when there is sheets of lightning associated with the storms I get caught in, and I have an aluminum mast sticking 46 feet in the air that seems to be saying "OK, go ahead and hit me - is that all you've got?" And, of course, when you are sailing on the open waters of Chesapeake Bay, which in places is 23 miles wide, or just a dozen or two miles offshore, the sound of the thunder rolling across the water is frightening to say the very least.

Hopefully, the weather prognosticators are correct in the upcoming, long range forecast and I'll have a fun week to 10 days or more sailing around the Delmarva Peninsula. My daughter is going to visit my home every two days to assist my wife in doing some of the things that require constant attention from me. I told my wife that it would have been my fondest wish to have her along with me, but in her present physical condition, it is just too dangerous. Probably too dangerous for me, but I'm a bit crazy, so it really doesn't make any difference.

Here's a map of the area I will be sailing. I keep the boat at the very top of Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.

Thanks again, everyone, for your concerns,

Gary