On Desire

DISCLAIMER and WARNING – I was arrested in March of 2001 for protesting the impending Iraq war. Subsequently, I found out that I have an FBI record that is “secret”. The reason I know this is a long story, I’m sure I’ve blogged about it somewhere. The point is that I am already a “bad guy” as far as the government is concerned, so downloading “Wikileaks Insurance” and giving instructions on how to do it isn’t going to get me into any more trouble than I already am in. YOU on the other hand, might not want to call attention to yourself.

I’m OSX based or Macintosh. For Windows computers, there area few variations.

The insurance file is large, and is distributed via the BitTorrent protocol. Basically, the protocol describes how to break big files into many smaller chunks, and how to reassemble these chunks. If many computers are sending chunks of a file to your computer at the same time, your computer can reconstruct the original file quickly. Torrents have gotten a bad rap because of the controversy over thePirateBay.com, an archive of torrent files, some of which are for copyrighted material, like blockbuster movies, bestselling books and popular CDs. There is nothing inherently illegal about torrents though, so don’t feel guilty about using this amazing technology. For example, Fxphd.com offers courses on many aspects of motion graphics and special effects for movies, and they distribute their large tutorial files as torrents.

I like the open source torrent program Transmission, (http://www.transmissionbt.com/). Click “Download Now” to start the process, open the .dmg, and move Transmission to your applications folder.

Locate and open the torrent for Insurance. I went to The Pirate Bay. Be sure to click on “Download this torrent” and NOT the green candy-like button that says “Download”

Once the torrent is downloaded, start up Transmission and either drag the torrent file to Transmission or from Transmission “File > Open Torrent” and navigate to the “insurance.aes256″ torrent, probably in your “Downloads” folder A dialog box will open with the Torrent, click “Add”. Sit back and wait for the file to be reconstructed. If there are enough seeders, it should happen pretty fast.

Perform a checksum to verify that you’ve got the right file. I’ve already done this and found it to be correct, but it’s a good idea to verify for yourself. According to Wikipedia (not affiliated with Wikileaks), the SHA1 checksum for the original file is cce54d3a8af370213d23fcbfe8cddc8619a0734c. Here’s how to make your own SHA1 checksum application.

Keep Transmission running and stay connected to the internets to help others get the file.

There’s no telling what’s in the insurance file. It could be unabridged Afghan war documents or something else entirely. I’m down with the Wikileaks premise and if it makes sense to you too, then having this file is a demonstration of solidarity.

I wrote this originally for Gretchen Eichberger’s “Music for Sleepy Beings” CD, but it didn’t make the cut. Even though I’m an old wolf with no kids, I know what it is to be up late and wishing I could sleep. “Go to Sleep Now Baby” is a dual use ditty, appropriate for calming children or (in my case) a manic girlfriend.

I had to strip the Planets off the You Tube version of the Power Down PSA, and tho “Baby” is kind of a weird replacement, it was expeditious.

Go to Sleep Now Baby

Play movie for computer, phone or youtube

An ALM inspired public service message about giving up jet travel, whipped up in response to a regional fund raising effort that seemed inherently contradictory. The more I learned the more I felt compelled to speak out. The catalytic event was the release of a video by musicians May Erlewine and Seth Bernard on their kickstarter site.

Several aspects of their project appear problematic, but I’ve focused on the environmental impact. I’m down with Awakening the Dreamer, a movement to realize a socially just, environmentally sustainable and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the planet. These three outcomes are inherently linked, achieving one at the expense of the other two is no achievement at all.

There are certainly bigger fish to fry, why critique local activists and artists? Who elected Dan Kelly the arbiter of worthiness?

Folks disagree on how dire our environmental situation is, but it’s pretty clear we’ve got to make a change. Transparency and open communication are critical to deciding what that change should be. If we artists and activists can’t figure out how to do transparency and communication within our extended local tribe, how can we expect anyone to figure it out?

I don’t know many of the principle actors personally, but I am aware of their worthy efforts in the past. For my part, I just spent the last couple of years searching for artifacts of future sustainable civilizations. Having sailed a 16 foot catamaran 600 miles Around Lake Michigan, I’ve got some unique information to share especially with regards to travel.

I’ll be posting on youtube after a bit more polish.

I tested my PSA yesterday – me doing a talking head with ALM b-roll. It’s got potential. This morning I simplified the narration.

I am Dan Kelly

In 2008 I was invited to sail around the Hawaiian islands and make a movie about sustainability. Getting to Hawaii usually means flying – and jet flight generates lots of carbon. Documenting low impact lifestyles while having a big impact myself – that didn’t make sense. So I decided to stay home and make the movie right here, in Michigan.

sync sound
opening of ALM

In fact, I haven’t flown on a jet since. This summer I visited my brother for a trip down the San Juan river in Utah, a round trip of over 4000 miles, and it was Amtrak and cars the whole way.

river trip montage, floating

Flying on jets is probably the most environmentally damaging American behavior. If we’re concerned about climate change then jets should be the first thing we give up.

video of “on jets” calculation

I love to travel – adventure is my middle name. There’s so much to learn from other people and cultures. Maybe we can even help the folks we visit.

whoa! shots, that suckers coming right at me
http://ondesire.com/story/09-09-28_ritch_branstrom/01.html, carol

But trying to do good deeds by flying to far away places seems an obvious contradiction. We don’t need jets to have adventures or be of service. Wondrous discoveries await within 200, 20 or even 2 miles of our front door. Plenty of people need love and support in our own home towns.

(montage of more sailing, arriving on beaches, characters, town signs)

We are all responsible for each other, for our common survival. The choices we make now determine what will happen to us and to our extended family on earth. Jet travel is not a responsible choice, it messes up the global life support system we all depend on.

earth animation

let’s live fully, pay attention and power down

black with text, then “resources”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_and_the_environment

http://www.ondesire.com/ search for “jets”

I’ve been away from ondesire.com for a couple of months, reconstructing my land based life and recovering from an NYC exit. Let’s return now to the Around Lake Michigan archives for further extraction and posting. I’m starting with a PSA exploring the ills of jet travel. ALM is a search for what’s useful, the artifacts of future sustainable civilizations. Rather than look at what is wrong and complain, ALM explores what might be right, what seems to work. Explaining why something works may require contrasting it with what doesn’t.

There’s a local effort underway to fund extensive jet travel, ostensibly for good works on the other side of the earth. Certainly the organizers mean well, but on the balance they’ll probably do way more harm than good. Having recently sailed hundreds of miles in an open catamaran, I’m in a unique position to comment, to offer some perspective on travel choices. Here’s a first draft of my narration.

Two years ago I was invited to sail around the islands of Hawaii and make a movie about sustainability. Getting to Hawaii usually means flying on a jet plane – and that’s a huge carbon footprint. Talking about the low impact lifestyle while having a big impact myself – that didn’t make sense. So I decided instead to stay home and make my movie right here, in Michigan. In fact, I decided to give up jet flight in general. This summer I visited my brother for a trip down the San Juan river in Utah, and it was Amtrak and cars the whole way.

Flying on jets is just about the biggest environmental impact we can have as Americans. Trying to do good deeds by flying to far away places is usually a contradiction. Do the ends justify the means?

I love to travel – adventure is my middle name. There’s so much to learn from other people and cultures. Maybe we can even help the folks we visit.

We don’t need to fly in jets to have adventures or be of service. Wondrous discoveries await within 200, 20 or 2 miles of our front door. There are plenty of people who need love and support in our own home towns.

If we want to help people in China or Africa, we can send checks to reputable organizations already there. If we want to make new friends on the other side of the earth, we can reach out through social networks, telephones and… wait for it… posted letters.

If we traveled around the world without taking a single jet, we would have a richer and more immediate experience, make more friends, have many more adventures and probably be a lot smarter after.

We are all responsible for each other, for our common survival. The choices we make determine what will happen to us and to our extended global family. Jet travel is not a responsible choice, it messes up the global life support system we all depend on.

live fully, go slow, power down

Day 5 was the second and for real launch. June 1st was the official day of getting Hello World into the Big Lake and starting to sail but the truth was we weren’t ready. A few days of puttering around in Bear Lake and Beulah and then 6.5 hours organizing and prepping on Arcadia beach got us there. This short 3:33 segment gives a taste of Day 5 and Day 6.

10-06-05 Ready to go for real, Arcadia to north of Portage Lake, Michigan (computer, phone)

With ALM, I have three basic flows for telling the story – raw video, motion graphics and posts (text). Though I wasn’t as faithful with imaging everything, I was fairly thorough in my writing. I captured details that I certainly would have been forgotten now. The posts are ready made narrative. It’s another voice, a different Dan, another processing perspective.

What stories do I want to tell, what is the story? Are details like my struggle with Wordbooker worth telling? This geeky stuff might be trivia, but if ALM is about learning how to do a project, how to be low impact and effective, if it’s about an open source approach then these details could be the components of a future epiphany.

The details I choose to include reveal my opinion of what matters. What’s most important and what’s next most important? Including the disaster details means I can turn around and talk about what did work…

“The best gear (approach, attitude) is often not mentioned because it’s never part of the problem, it’s never a cause or contributor to trials and tribulations. Rather, good gear is an invisible assumed element of every solution. Here’s my roster of invisible stuff.”

Now we’re into collaborator territory. This could also make me a field testing force to be reckoned with. The question is – is grabbing collaborators part of my main theme(s)?

I can also bring the blog right into the movie as screen capture while narrating.

Tangents aside, there’s an immediate goal here – to make a first pass on the video, to post it. To revitalize the project and find out what it is, who’s on board. Can there be an online following between trips? How does that work?

Another tangent. Recently I saw Dave Hart and we had a great time just hanging out. When I think about philosophy of projects I am reminded of an argument we had about cam chocks for climbing protection, back on the South Manitou boat when he and I weren’t getting along so great. I gave Roger Bonnet’s argument that cam chocks were overly complicated, expensive poser gear. I can’t remember why Dave liked cams – maybe because they were a sort of one size fits all solution that ultimately reduced the amount of metal (and weight) on a rack. It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t know about climbing, the basic argument was simplicity vs complication. Both of us felt probably felt like we were arguing for simplicity.

Simplicity will emerge as one of my principles of preparing for and approaching a challenge, but my idea of simplicity has to be clarified, rigorously polished until it’s perfectly obvious.

What this all helps me to understand is that I’m ready to take another whack at the index cards and sort the main themes of the project. It’s a great day, except for this burning pain in my adrenals. But that’s another story.

An easy afternoon on the beach making adjustments to Hello World, mostly the straps and plates that secured the waterproof rifle cases. There’s also insights about yawning.

Behind the scene details were posted on June 6.

10-06-04 Adjustments in Arcadia, Michigan (computer, phone)

Sailing from Elberta to Arcadia on Day 2 was much easier than getting from Point Betsie to Elberta on Day 1. In this episode, I discuss the plan to beach Hello World and run some errands while still within range of the home base, recap Day 1, ramble about where the water comes and marvel at the miracle of solar power.

10-06-02 Elberta to Arcadia, Michigan (computer, phone)

I took advantage of the 2010 expedition’s abrupt end by soaking up the rapture oozing outta Hello World’s home base, the Artist house on Crystal Lake. Truth be told, the spring had sprung so sweetly last May that it was tough to tear myself away and start the trip. Though Hello World’s broken paw was a bummer, the prospect of staying home for the rest of the summer was decidedly excellent.

The end of the expedition wasn’t all sex on the beach, tho. Being back early made me vulnerable to wedding invitations. I loathe weddings generally and ALM was supposed to be my get out of jail free card. Now my nephew and brother-in-law’s weddings were looming, in New Hampshire and California respectively. Shit.

Having a limited supply of nephews, I decided to shag my ass out east. A visit to New Hampshire would put me within striking distance of the four 20 foot galvanized pipes I left on the roof of my alternate crib in Brooklyn, NY.

Heading to wedding in New Hampshire with an iridescent obsidian knappage by Steve in Ogden Dunes, IN.

Weddings - gak!

Family face time, my genius niece with her two main men, Gordon and my famous brother, Jim

Galvanized pipe and AIS Klamps are like Legos for big kids. Originally I had intended to use the pipes to build a fire escape for my 3rd floor apartment and facilitate direct access to the ground floor gardens. Static from the snooty french neighbor on the second floor complicated the design requirements and the 20 footers were no longer practical. The plan was to bring them back to the Artist house and build a passive solar greenhouse informed by Mike Reynold’s Earthship aesthetic.

The transport protocol involved stacking 2″ thick foam blocks on the roof of the Honda Odyssey to supplement it’s wimpy 100 lb capacity roof rack. 5 ratching cargo straps locked the load down with a couple of tee shirts around the leading straps to dampen high speed vibration. Having 1 1/2″ pipes poking 6 ft over the windshield made my POV rather like commanding a tank or missile launcher.

While packing the pipes I realized that I wasn’t excited about returning to the Brooklyn apartment in the fall. After 6 years of living between Brooklyn and Beulah, perhaps it was time to return to Michigan full time.  I let that thought settle in during the 15 hour drive back.

En route, I got a call from Gene, a fellow devotee of Swami Bua, my yoga teacher. Swamiji had died in India from complications of stroke. He was about 120 years old. Here are articles from Hinduism Today (obit) and The New Yorker (2006).

An ~80 year old Swamiji in the 1970s. I was 13 when I first met him in 1976.

A few days back in Beulah and I knew I was finished with NYC.  The Odyssey and I headed for NYC once again – on a mission to extract the last of my gear and wrap up obligations. Mission accomplished on August 1.

I plan to visit the Big Mango every other month for my Taoist check-up and After Effects New York. It feels totally right to be back in Michigan full time – consolidating my resources, building a production alliance, focusing on the local and letting Lake magic flow through me. It’s hard to describe how that works here, you’ve just got to experience it.

After 19 hours of round trip travel, Hello World has returned home. The plan was to put her on a trailer, but a snafu in the delivery of a hitch kit for the Honda Odyssey meant an unacceptable delay. After measuring the van’s interior yesterday morning, I determined that I could grab her with just the van.

A nice couple helped me bring down the mast. Beatrice and … The staff at the Illinois beach state park (including Darleen and Dick) accomodated my take out plan by giving the van access to the beach path.

Hello World was unpacked, disassembled, loaded into the Odyssey and out of the park by dusk. The return trip ran the gauntlet of heavy rains and lightning. One casualty – the window of the Odyssey’s rear hatch was smashed. I didn’t secure the door completely and the mast clipped it from above.

We hit the driveway at 7:00 am. After 5 hours of sleep I’m up and functional. The first days back at the house were nice, but having Hello World and all the gear elsewhere was distracting. Now the trip is truly done. It’s good to have the pickup handled.

Day 38

Here in The Palomino in Milwaukee sipping on a Blackout Stout. The ALM 2010 expedition is over, for now. In a couple of hours I’ll board the Lake Express ferry bound for Muskegon, Mi and catch a ride back to Bear Lake with Patrick and maybe Jonathan and Luke too. So here’s the scoop.

Coming out of Chicago, I noticed a strange distortion in the port hull. As reported on the day 35 post, we sailed 30 miles to Illinois Beach State Park, landing in the restricted south unit Preserve at about 9:00 pm.

In the light of the morning on day 36 I looked more closely at the port hull and took some pictures. It looked bad, but I was ready to push off and do another 40 miles to Milwaukee when I noticed my iPhone was smashed! Still functional with a shattered screen – but for how long?

Now I had two significant variables and that’s when chaos theory really kicks in. I made the call to stay put until my spare iPhone could be shipped from the house. I could use the extra day or two to access the hull.

I found power and tent space in the park campground and moved Hello World north a couple of miles, out of the forbidden zone.

Later I discovered that my campsite had a deserted beach perfect for parking Hello World and a bike path that gave me easy access to town. Day 37 found me catching up on the blog and exploring locations for fixing Hello World’s hurt paw. I hadn’t yet checked the replies on the Hobie forums, but I felt confident that something had broken loose inside the hull. Ernie of Ernie’s Automotive Service offered space and power behind his shop. Ernie’s was only 1.5 miles from the deserted beach via bikepath. I could strap the port hull to the z bike and walk it there! We were entering the doable zone.

I wanted to ponder a bit before committing to an extensive repair in the field. Whether or not I decided to keep going or shut the project down, Hello World needed to be moved a few more miles north to the deserted beach near my camp. At about 2:00 pm of day 37 I left camp to do just that.

Around dusk the previous evening an ominous storm had swept through the park. At the time I had been eating pizza and posting to the Hobie forums at the resort’s bar. Leaving camp to move Hello World on day 37 the skies were sunny and clear. I made a mistake – I didn’t throw the rain fly over the tent. I figured moving Hello World a mile or two would take an hour tops. What could happen in an hour?

To make a long story short, a huge storm swept in right after I launched. I was on the last tack into my landing when the wind changed and the rain came sweeping in.

Having anticipated a short jaunt, I hadn’t put my wetsuit on or raised the jib. A quick note on the water at the park – it’s killing cold. Due to some idiosyncracies of lake physics, water temperature Is as cold there as Point Betsie in April – 40 degrees F? A bare skinned human would not last 30 minutes in it. I yanked my wetsuit on as the shore vanished in fog and squall.

Having no jib meant that manueverabilty and responsiveness was minimal. I hadn’t expected to have to do anything fancy during the 30 minutes or so out there. Now I struggled with shifting winds and sluggish helm, a half an hour stretched into an hour and beyond. Rain was bucketing down, thumder cracked the sky wide and the main sail had nothing reliable to bite on. Then the tiller, (that’s what steers the boat), broke.

I know I’m not normal. Death was close and all I could think about was this blog post. What a story, so me! I laughed out loud when the tiller failed. Wow, how could this get any worse?

Easy pal, it can get way worse.

I tried a couple of quick fixes on the tiller but a zip tie did the trick. I had helm back when the wind figured out where it wanted to blow. The shore reappeared and we made several attempts to head in, but the storm wasn’t ready to release it’s toy. After all this trouble, I’d be damned if we were going to land short of our goal.

We kissed beach 100 feet short and I walked Hello World the rest of the way. A creepy thick fog rolled in and slithered over the sand. Whatever! I hauled Hello World up and unstrapped the z bike. AOK here, but what’s the situation back at camp?

I found the Macbook Pro sitting in a puddle in the low end of the tent. Opening the case and pulling out the laptop, I experienced a profound detachment as water poured out the IO ports. One laptop, toast.

Ok, that’s it. Trip over. How many things have to go crazy wrong before we get the message? I emptied the tent and did my best to remediate the flood, then packed up and rode to the nearby coffee shop for some comfort. I checked the forum replies and found this from Matt Miller of Hobie Cat USA, no less.

“This indicates a failed pylon shoe. You need to access the area inside the hull (inspection port). Force the pylon back upwards somehow, then glass / bond the shoe back to the hull or the pylon to the shoe.”

The implication here is that if the shoe is not glued down, the pylon could eventually rip through the hull. That would be a catastrophic failure. If this could happen to one pylon, what about the other three? What if I fixed the port front and the starboard front went lame 100 miles later? Obviously the best course of action is to do them all at once. More than I want to manage at Ernie’s while living out of a tent. Then there’s that new laptop I need.

So I’m on my way home. I’ll be back for the boat in a couple of days with van and trailer. 288 miles and another 20 hours of raw movie to post and then edit. What then?

Day 36

Something bad has happened to the port hull, or maybe it’s starting to happen. The deck is sunken in all around the front pylon. I noticed it first just out of Chicago and confirmed it on the beach this morning. This does not bode well. The pylon must be coming loose inside the hull but there’s no obvious cracks or bulges anywhere.

I had planned to do 40 miles to Milwaukee today and almost pushed off in spite of this problem. Great wind, just did 30 miles with this problem last night, we’ve got the whole day… Let’s go! I’d already left early morning messages with contacts in Milwaukee for meetings tomorrow. I debated the wisdom of pushing off while packing and then I noticed that my iPhone was smashed. Still functional but the glass front was shattered, the clear scratch protector the only thing holding it together.

Now two critical elements were compromised. I asked myself, if I had a friend with me whose life I was responsible for, would I launch now?

I pulled Hello World back up on the beach and resigned myself to finding digs in Zion until another iPhone could be had. I could also research the hull issue and come up with a plan. Worse case scenario, this might mean the end of the trip.

North along the beach I walked the z bike with a backpack full of technology until I hit the “do not enter” signs for the Preserve, facing backwards. Beyond them a trail led to a two track, then a parking lot and paved road out of the park. My idea was to find a motel with wireless, but the park had campsites with power hookups for $25/night, so I stayed.

I spent the day reporting my faux pas to the camp office and moving the boat out of the Preserve. I discovered later that there’s a deserted beach close to my campsite, that’s where I’ll bring her today.

I had pizza and posted to the hobie forums at the parks resort hotel. Jeff the bartender told me about the nuclear power plant next door that has been turned off but still has it’s rods. Oh did I mention there’s a nuclear power plant 200 yards north from my campsite? What the hell is it with beach parks and nuclear power plants?

Somehow the front aluminum pylon is sinking or twisting inside the hull. It might have happened while moored in Chicago’s Monroe Harbor, perhaps from an impact by another boat. Or it could be a sign of some internal problem that is only now showing up, like the pylon coming loose from the bottom of the hull? I did a deck job on both hulls a year ago and sailed 300 miles with no hitches. There are no fractures or cracks anywhere around the deck where the pylon emerges. There’s a ring around the pylon where the deck is now slightly concave. Any experienced Hobie sailors ever seen anything like this before?

Starboard hull outside	Starboard hull inside

Port hull outside	Port hull inside

Day 35

I woke up pretty rested, it’s amazing what humans can get used to. Last night was 4th of July and after fireworks the harbor was jumping with boaters conducting alcohol inspired manuevers and tenders bringing revelers to and fro. Meanwhile back on land, bikers exhibiting symptoms of late stage testosterone poisoning were challenging each other to loudness contests. Add to this cacaphony and general mayhem the up, down and sidewise vectors my little boat was executing in the chop, and sleep would seem unlikely. F-it, I had a beer and a good time making movies during the fireworks. Ready to crash!

One tender captain joshed me as he motored by, “No campfires in the harbor!” Another captain with a load of passengers saw the camera’s light and thought I was signalling for a pickup and when she approached they caught me in mid rant.

Mary the tender captain picked me up the next morning and said that back in the harbor master’s office they were calling me the mountain climber of Lake Michigan. Not bad.

The plan was to lighten the load by shipping back the drives I had cloned and the books I had taken or been gifted. I kept only “Catamaran Sailing”, “Wilderness Medicine” and “Knots and Slings for Climbers”.

As the 5th was observed as a federal holiday, the only shipping location available was at the McCormick Convention Center, a place I’d been many times before for conferences like the World Con (science fiction), Siggraph (computer graphics), Sigchi (computer human interaction) and NSGA (computer graphics).

I rode the Z bike south against a very intense wind to the convention center and after some wandering found the very nice ladies who carefully boxed up my crap.

There was some event in progress involving youngish people and uniforms. Seeing them sitting on the floor waiting for the next session replete with badges and schedules made me whistful for the misspent days of my youth.

Back on the streets, the wind was blowing me back uptown steady and strong. Time to get out of town. I had maxed out on the city, i felt tense and lonely. Does this presage my decision about returning to NYC?

In leaving Chicago, I would be missing out on interviews with presidents and directors of institutions like the Shed Aquarium and the Field Museum. I should have made arrangements weeks earlier, I certainly wasn’t bumping into them at barbeques.

You probably don’t get to be the leader of an high profile aquarium or museum unless you’re somewhat vested in the status quo, so i’d have to ask uncomfortable questions. This project is not about what’s going wrong, it’s about what’s going right. Maybe these high muckety mucks were not so relevant to the project. Anyway, I’d have to stay at least several more days to meet them, the timing was off.

I couldn’t find any decent food to resupply so I just went back to the harbor master’s office to settle up and take one more Baolong bike tour of the harbor. I had been told to leave fenders on the starboard side of Hello World to fend off the tenders, but the fender line had gotten snagged on a sharp edged shroud shackle and cut. Three Baolongs lost. I had searched the harbor and found one, which was a minor miracle because the place is HUGE. This last tour was fruitless, I trust the other two found caring homes.

Back to the North Oscar 29 can at 1:00 and ready to sail at 4:00. While prepping a single hull solo sailer coming off the Big Lake told me it was powerful out there. My main concern was just getting out of the harbor. The wind was blowing south and I had to go south and east to exit. There were boats clustered in cans east and west of me. Way too windy to paddle clear of the other boats, I’d have to let go of the can while under wind power. Of course I’d never done anything like this before.

When the time came I rerigged the can for quick release with a caribiner, then pulled on it to position Hello World on a tack that would sneak us by the other boats. She took the wind, I popped the biner and we slid out, collision free. Once past the breakwaters we turned and took the full power of the wind on a north course – 245 by the charts.

4:00 and 30 miles to sail before dark, with this wind it could be doable. The torus popped off it’s bungee and dragged behind making an awful racket. I hauled it back and clipped it to a backpack. I got into the wire and we hauled ass.

I called jung Woong Kim to chat about his family’s summer plans, and while on the phone I recovered a colorful beachball. After I hung up I recovered another beachball and then a child’s swimming ring, but missed a green kick ball. I’m going to upgrade found objects on the water to 30 points so the score for Chicago was (2 fenders x -50) + (3 floating toys x 30) = -10 points.

Up on the wire I was able to look down on the port hull and see that the deck around the front pylon seemed warped. It was late in the day and the deck was wet and shiny so I couldn’t tell if I was just seeing things. I’d have to check it at the next stop.

By 5:30 we had blown north 10 miles and were looking good. Around 8:00 we pulled in at a public beach for directions, Lake Bluff. Yes, there’s the navy base 2 miles north and past those smoke stacks is the Nature Preserve. Thanks very much! 5 miles to go.

We beached just north of a big power plant with a bit of light still in the sky, 9;00 pm. This beach had no tracks, tire or foot. The Nature Preserve is human accessible by permit only – I found this out later. It was a pleasant night and deep sleep, there on a desolate beach watched over by a brooding hunk of humming infrastructure. I am constantly reminded me of my status as Rat in the Wainscotting.

Day 34

I had ambitions last night, but today just flitted away. I tinkered with the camera on the boat and made a spectacle of myself chillin’ in the tent. I got looks from tender passengers and a “love your setup” from folks on a passing big boat. Generally I think Chicago is a wash, I’m ready to sweep out of here. It’s not that there isn’t plenty of interesting things happening, but I’ve hit it wrong. The holiday extends until Monday and so there’s nobody to meet with until Tuesday and without prior arrangements it’s not a crap shoot whether anyone will be available then. It sounds so much better to just loose the lines and get out of town. There’s plenty more lake to go. Tonight there will be pretty fire in the sky and of course I’ll get some shots. They canceled last night’s show so I’m thinking, it’ll be double tonight. Maybe I’ll actually try and edit in the tent tonight, but chances are I’ll just drink my beer and pass out. This stop counts as a rest I guess.

Our view tonight..

Day 33

Perfection? The kingdom of god is spread upon the earth and man does not see it. Someone to tumble with in this grass would be sweet but as far as solo moments go, pretty near perfect. In tree shadow on sloping grass, facing the water and Hello World tugging on her can. So many other boats, most of them with masts! Behind me the great city yawns and rumbles with AM bustle.

Hello World is so low profile as to be nearly invisible, like a bigger boat that sank. Besides the buzzing and piping of birds, I hear hundreds of masts clanking against thier shackles, the accidental bells of an unplanned devotion. Each sail boat is a place of practice, a temple to the available free energy of wind. Hello World came right into Monroe Harbor under this energy, probably she’s the only boat who did. The rest manuevered to their cans with petrol motors. Out on the Big Lake, they sail.

All projects are test projects. I wonder about ALM, certainly a movie will emerge from this, but am I just setting the stage for a future scheme?
Much of ALM works, but I’m having problems with posting and sharing video. That’s kind of a crucial component. “Look at me I’m traveling” and “here’s what happened today” are not enough of an outcome to justify all the effort and expense. I’m living pretty minimally granted, but I want to offer more than just reporting the trivia of my admittedly unusual life.

Doing this project, I feel like an envoy of destiny, one foot stepping into an incredible possibility, an inevitable present that boggles. Are we really going there? Are we really getting in accord with the momma? I guess by dreaming it, by dedicating a summer to it, I am bringing it forth.

Yes the social aspect matters, it’s gotta make sense. Video and blogging are somehow integral, even if they are ineffective, if hardly anyone is paying attention. The ritual of outreach is what this is about, imaging the ideas flowing out and finding minds, delighting and inspiring. If I act in good faith, eventually the reality will catch up to my dreams.

Hello World is just left of center

A column of Segways passed my shade, surreal

Day 32

Not enough sleep after dozing in the conference room while cloning drives, but me and the z-bike were on the Metra heading south by 9:00 am. When I peddled up the beach was clean, sunny and deserted. I was happy to see Hello World gently rocking at anchor protected from the south wind. I asked Jen at the life guard station about the water conditions in case there was an ecoli or medical waste situation. She was relaxed said she hadn’t heard of any problems. I asked her if the boat out there had been any trouble and told her it was mine and she said the staff had been keeping an eye on it. So cool. I thanked her and took some pictures of Hello World from the south pier, then set up the camera and made a movie of bringing her in. It wasn’t until 11:45 that we were launched and heading towards the breakwater. Tacking got us across the shipping lane, passing the lights and out into the open water. Several sails passed through ahead of us but the only one heading towards Chicago we left behind within an hour. Hello World’s a frisky boat. Our heading was 135-140, bringing us right past an odd little structure that said “restricted” and went beep. It had some dishes on it, looked like microwave to me.

I googled images of the Shed Aquarium so I could have some visuals to guide me in. I also checked and rechecked my charts to be sure I wasn’t totally confused. The skyscrapers of the city loomed large, we headed right at them. It was a perfect wind to get there, pushing the whole 8 miles north then providing plenty of power to get us west into the harbor mouth and through the chop. Looking for the O row (O for Oscar) and dropping sail after spotting it. Turns out I overshot and went to the Q row, but with a little vigorous if panicky paddling I was in the right row and hanging onto 29. I must have taken 45 minutes to tie my little anchor lines to the can in a sufficiently bulletproof configuration. I guess I was nervous. In the movie “When Worlds Collide”, the climactic scene is when the hastily constructed spaceship carrying the last survivors of earth attempts a landing on the new planet, out of fuel and coming in fast. The ship skids and bounces in the snow and when it finally stops, there’s a brief silence and then triumphant music – success! That music was playing in my head while I tied to the can. My very first broadcast on my Icom marine radio was to whistle up the harbor tender. I took the bike and a small bag with me. 6:30 pm.

Shaved and showered at the hostel and back to Flacos for enchildas and another burrito. A little more computing and then bed by 10:45 pm. Phew!

Hiding in the shade of the sail to keep from frying, he looks a little worried...

Chicago proper north

and south

Where in the world is Hello World?

Very low and stealthy. Two boats over from the red hull, foreground.

This is for the Facebook people who’ve been missing out on recent posts due to the unpredictable behavior of the sharing application. I’ve gone back to a less fancy but very reliable solution.

Day 27

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

Day 31

It’s big city life, Chicago. Amazing how familiar it feels after days and days of waves.

Mostly I’m catching up and doing housekeeping. After breakfast I wandered over to Monroe Harbor and made arrangements to bring in Hello World. I was feeling a little apprehensive about sailing into such a busy place, but learning is what were here for. They’ll call me and let me know my “can”. Cans are floating buoys that boats can tie to, arranged in a grid so it’s something like a parking lot for boats. I did my first floating dock in Grand Haven and Chicago will be my first can.

Credit card snafu resolved thanks to competent record keeping. When you put it out there, it shows up. That’s how I found a health food store in the loop with Bronners, I needed real soap big time and most of my hygiene supplies are a 20 minute train ride and a swim away. Picked up more raw cacao nibs too.

Took CTA out to O’Hare to meet an old friend who now works for the government doing black ops, so I can’t tell you his name. It was cool seeing him even if he is an agent of oppression empire builder rat fink. Flipping this scenario so I’ll feel better about it, I’m going to say that I met my lost love at the airport and she lit up several times during our time together, forgetting her cares and worries for an hour or so over fancy food she wouldn’t eat. We kissed like a dream way too late.

Riding back I was mildly euphoric and not unsettled as if I had spent an hour with a childhood buddy turned monster baby killer. A sort of anti-matter me, I’d rub him out if he wasn’t the yin to my yang, the F.

Returning from the airport, I walked up to the Apple Store along the Miracle mile to buy another hard drive and find a replacement AquaPac. The drive they had but not the other, tho they told me on the phone they had it. Face to face, all the experts and geniuses were totally ignorant of this essential Iphone infrastructure.

Back at the hostel and an errand or two before trying the Indian Cafe around the corner. Not impressed. It seems like there’s an ethnic stealth franchise movement here in Chicago, a theme park approach to restaurants. At Flaco’s Tacos, the food is decent and there’s only Mexican folks working there but I am not sure they own it. Then there’s Joe Curry, which is an Indian spin with similar set up and the only people working there are sort of south asian looking. Meanwhile back at Cafecito a Cuban place that does sandwiches and coffee, the folks working there appear to be some flavor of latin, maybe Cubano. Now it’s not impossible that these places are owned by their respective nationalities, but they all seem to be set up in similar styles. If it’s tastes and looks ethnic, is that enough? Is this worth looking into?

I spent the rest of the evening cloning drives in the 4th floor conference room until about 2:00 am. My lips are chapped and burned, but frequent applications of Carmex are beginning to turn the tide.

My can is North Oscar 29, easy access from the main channel into the harbor. Thank goodness. Looking forward to picking up Hello World, a little worried about her all alone in Calumet Park.

Day 30 2:45 pm.

Day 30

Down at the beach with Jeni and Nancy to open my wind window. Steve came jogging by and they introduced us. He’s working at the steel mill and said that before US Steel bought it and nixed everyone’s pensions, it almost became a worker cooperative. Later he returned with his wife Randy with some sweet arrowheads that he had made! He gave me the pick and I immediately snatched the rainbow obsidian, what a beaut.

I offered him one of my artifacts of the global life support system but Jeni took it instead – the polished concrete from in front of Fritz’s in Douglas.

Steve also gave me an organic PB and J, so that about wraps up his application as producer. Imagine what we could accomplish with Michael AND Steve.

Send off from the secret freak tribe at Ogden Dunes, Steve is taking the picture

Dan the other filmmaker showed up too and Nancy’s sister – we had a crowd! I was off the beach by 10:30 into a very light wind, Calumet looked very far. As usual, the gods kicked in and we were hauling ass by 2:30 roaring past the breakwaters of the point and into the harbor. I had a sketchy idea where I was going, but studying images on the net paid off. The mooring is kinda wavy, but the beach was an easy offload. We’ll probably move north soon.

Loaded up with technology and even less of a plan, (eat something) I biked off into the wilds of south Chicago. I was feeling like a bit of an idiot, where was I going? My iphone was out of power, so no helpful searching. The mural of Jake and Elwood was encouraging, I just needed to stop worrying and flow. Eventually a train station appeared and I waited on the “To Chicago” side. The conductor was very helpful and suggested I get off downtown for a Taste of Chicago. I didn’t really care about the festival, but I’d been downtown before. Why not?

Detraining at Monroe, I rode seemingly at random until I found my burrito place – small, good food, cute waitresses and one table with power to charge the iPhone – hurrah! I searched for hotels, then an inspiration… hostels! Remember hostels? The Hostel International Chicago was just a few blocks away for $30 a night. A bike room, laundry, crappy wireless and oblivious young clods – what more could I ask for? At least waves won’t be bashing my spine at 3:00 am. If I can find a solid home for HW, I’ll haunt Chicago for a few days and catch up on the project, duplicate hard drives and ship them home. Maybe within a week we can be back on schedule… Whoa!

What can I say about a night at Chicago’s Hostels International? Generally it’s fun – bunk beds and common bathrooms, padlocking gear. You’re not supposed to drink in bed, but I am constantly needing to hydrate from days in the sun so I took my water bottle up to the top bunk with me – and my laptop, camera, phone… After I nodded off I heard the my bottle slip between the bunk and wall and fell into my neighbor’s bed below. I had dreams of his bed flooding, of my camera getting wet.

Then some duffus came in, turned on his reading light and left for another two hours. I can sleep through a lot but WTF? Coming entirely awake at 3:00 am, I toyed with a scheme for hauling my water bottle back up by dropping a slip knot over it. I could clearly see it between his bed and the wall thanks to the light of the inconsiderate oaf. Problem solving is so much of my moment to moment experience now that it’s like breathing. Fishing with a slip knot in some random dude’s bed seemed fraught with peril, so I bagged the project and resigned myself to fate. Mr reading light finally returned, read for 5 minutes and turned off the light. Just then my downstairs neighbor headed for the bathroom. I pulled on some pants, jumped down and grabbed my bottle. I took it and my phone down the hall to the empty conference room for some charging and catchup time.

Too late to go back to bed – 5:00 am! 7 hours to get to O’Hare airport to meet an old pal. Around 7:00 I checked out the hearty all GMO breakfast the hostel had provided for the kids of less gullible nations and chatted with Anna from Argentina. She was a latina ringer for Sarah Eichberger-Wheeler.

Day 29

Off the New Buffalo Public Beach at 11:00 am after a quick run for groceries and one last visit to the restrooms. The wind was out of the northeast at maybe 9 knots, good for southwest course. At 12:30 I passed Michigan City, Indiana with it’s 3 mile island style cooling tower. Goodbye Michigan, Hello Indiana.

Looking back at Michigan City

Steel mill east of Ogden Dunes and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The wind was a bit puffy and capricious, but it was generally one long curving tack until 2:30 pm, well near the steel mill at Burns Harbor or Port. That’s when we made a decisive turn towards shore and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I performed a rather clumsy landing and yanked the boat up enough to drain the starboard hull.

The first federal employee on the scene (a lifeguard) was less than welcoming – “Get off the beach,” basically. “I doubt the Gary police will let you park on the City’s beach, and Ogden Dunes has a lot of rules, you probably won’t have any luck there either.” This guy probably didn’t have anything waiting for him at home but a Swanson TV dinner and Seinfeld reruns. Life without magic, what a concept. Turning Hello World into the wind so she’d stay put, I started casting the home spell.

First I called the Gary police and asked the dispatcher to have the beach patrol call me back. Then I headed for Ogden Dunes and the masts poking out the dune grass. I started asking folks I met along the way, “I’m looking for a beach to keep my Hobie for the night.” Nancy told me about Jim, a big sailor and pointed out his house. Before i got there I saw a kid sitting on Hello World’s sister. “Hey, this your boat? Are your parents around, I’m looking for a place to park my Hobie for the night, my name’s Dan.”

His name was Zach and his friend Kyle appeared suddenly from under a kayak. Kinda reminded me of a turtle popping his head out of a shell. I told them my deal and then made my way to the next cluster of Hobie 16s and up to the house behind them.

I met Vicki at her front door and she said I was welcome to park my boat there but I might get a ticket. I thanked her and said I might to her up on the offer.

I hustled back to Hello World and called the Gary Police again just to have some options. The dispatcher wasn’t much help so I thought about calling Gary’s mayor. As his website didn’t have a phone number, I decided to go with my Ogden Dunes plan. Just as I was pushing off an actual ranger showed up. He told me the Feds had jurisdiction for the beach all the into Ogden Dunes but that he wouldn’t bust my boat unless there was a complaint. Thanking him and thouroughly confused, I dragged my baby into the waves.

As I pulled up in front of my safe house, I was greeted by Tom, Zach’s dad. Zach had told his dad and mom Jeni about this guy sailing around Lake Michigan. They invited me to stay with them for the night. How about that?

Zach, Kyle and another pal Cody and had just taken the family’s Hobie out for thier first big wind solo. They were hell bent for Chicago and looked like they might be having a little trouble turning around. Tom and I unloaded Hello World and prepared for a rescue run. By the time we were both wetsuited, harnessed and life preserved, they were heading back. Us old guys were able to stand down.

Tom and Jeni

After the three amigos flew up on the beach like total dudes, Tom took Kyle and Zach back out again while Cody watched me scarf Jeni’s cous cous and beans. Her daughter’s a vegetarian too so she gets it.

They took me home to meet the 4 dogs and grab an ecstatic hot shower. Then the old folks sipped tea and watched the lads doing phenomenal dive tricks in the backyard pool. Before enjoying the sleep of the just, i showed Tom and Jeni the ALM trailer online.

Zach and his pals reminded me of the iconic gang in Bradbury’s R is for Rocket. Made me miss my nephews!

Day 28

I woke up bright and fine after a terrific rest. Having surveyed the forest last night, I knew a nitrogen drop off was doable. The rich loamy sand of the forest floor had a dense root mat. I found a deep pocket of forest far from any trail, scrapped off the duff, opened the mat and dug a hole about 6″ deep. I emptied the poopamatic into the hole, replaced the soil, mat and lastly the duff.

Returning to the boat I crawled back into the tent until the sun climbed over the dune and made it feel like the inside of a light bulb. Before packing, repairs.

A cargo bracket had slipped out and had to be reseated. In the process of tightening I broke a buckle and had to replace it from spares. I sat down with the tiller extender in the shade and slowly worked it open. Wading into the waves with it, I coaxed it open and closed until all the sand was flushed out. Now it’s good as new.

I started getting ready and got as far as rigging the mainsail when the uphaul came untied and flew up the mast and out of reach. My options were either to shimmy up a 25 ft slick aluminum mast, drop the mast or tip the boat on it’s side. Option 3 was my choice and I eventually was able to get the needed leverage by hanging both dry bags and the anchor bags from the wire. She came over like a dream and back to upright without a hitch. By the time I was off the beach and into the big curlers it was 1:30 pm.

I has slept just a couple miles from the Cook nuclear plant, and I passed it sailing sw in a west wind. The wind tapered from a stiff blow to a whimper by 4:30, leaving me stranded in front of New Buffalo. A couple in a largish monohull helpfully told me where I was. They eventually gave up on the wind and motored in. I eventually followed powered by paddle and the occasional puff. On the way in I recovered a mighty blue plastic container which Mike and his family claimed for a recycling bin.

Sunset at New Buffalo

Friendly lighthouse at New Buffalo Public Beach

I supped at the Brewster, a stellar Italian restaurant. Before commiting to the Brewster, I confirmed my plan with the locals at the open til midnight boatshop. That’s where I bought my very own Thirsty Mate like the one Tim Cook had loaned me in Grand Haven. I still haven’t tried the sealant Mark and Marilyn gave me.

I’d like to say the evening was pleasant but I’d be lying. It was very blowy back at the boat but I pitched the tent on the tramp anyway and tried to sleep. I was up at 2:00 am and then again at 3:00 am with incredible night sweats, I think I might be getting sick. The waves were getting louder and the wind was giving the tent a fascinating geometry. I stuck my hand out and into the sand, it was wet! Waves were getting closer.

I offloaded the boat in the moonlight and dragged her to higher ground. I wrapped myself in a tarp behind the gear pile and crashed. I eventually added a sleeping bag to this arrangement to keep from freezing and enjoyed 2-3 hours of blissful unconsciousness. Now for a quick grocery run then vamos.

Day 27

I didn’t sleep so well. I thought i’d disguise myself as gear again and just slip between the trampoline and the tarp, but the mosquito bloom and the dead air nixed that. I eventually threw caution to the wind and popped the tent for a few hours of unmolested repose. Camping in Jack Nicholas Park?! You’re under arrest.

Sitting on a log in Jean Klock Park and it’s starting to rain. I’m half in half out of my wetsuit. Tried to launch at 10:30 am but the wind turned into fitful eddies as a big storm approached. The robots were raving about lots of lightning, 60 mph winds, hail… Ho hum. I might slip the top of my suit on now, wind is picking up – uh oh…

As I was prepping for my first launch a pigeon landed on Hello World. I had seen this very same pigeon rescued from the Big Lake the day before by a sweet woman. She had released thr bird in a pile of driftwood near the boat. Now the bird was back, maybe wanting to come with? She hopped to my gear pile and started hunting around. The Panda licorish I tossed over didn’t generate much interest. I chased her a little to see if she could fly, and lo she could. She seemed almost tame tho. I grabbed a handful of oats and tossed them next to her woodpile. I saw her pecking politely at them as i walked away. I think her name is Jean Klock.

On my first launch attempt Carol showed up and waved me back to the beach. “It’s going to storm.” said she. “I gotta go!” replied me. She sat on the beach and watched my slow motion exit sans wind. The robots were saying things like “small boats are advised to seek safe harbor until the storm passes”. After 30 minutes of these warnings and no motion, I started to feel like a sitting duck. Carol’s gone by the time I get back to the beach. A sprinkle, some gusting, a flash or two and the killer storm is finished. My steady sw switches on while i’m rerigging and some nice folks offer suggestions for mooring in Chi, Monroe Harbor.

Off the beach and into the strong wind, 15-20 knots. Jammed tiller prevents getting on the wire. With coaxing it’s slightly unstuck – enough to dance on wave crests, to be a giant striding over liquid mountains. Singing on the wire!

Just south of west and south east, great long tacks of 5 miles out and the 4 miles in. Bike comes loose, scramble and a quick fix in the wild waves. I approach the coast knowing that i’ve not made much southern progress. I have no idea where I am. A grand entry riding the wire right up on a private beach, Pete gets out of his chair to greet me. Pointing to the vintage 16 parked on his beach, I announce, “I am here to deliver a special message – sail that Hobie!” I ask him what town we’re in. “Grand mere, ok, so the state park is right there? Don’t forget that Hobie. Ciao.”

I depart Pete’s domain and ponder several more hours of tacking. It’s already 5:30 pm. Grand Mere here I come!

Beached and ready for night night on Grand Mere

Inside the mosquito free zone

This is a what a sunset looks like near a nuke power plant

Meet Mary on landing and she talks about kids having legal autonomy. A couple wanders by with an enthusiastic water dog and I get to toss the ball for him. He’s trained to circle for dead ducks. I do a quick survey of the forest topside – mosquitos and mushrooms, beauty! Out and back again, time to quit. Pat, Mary and Theresa are my last visitors. Konk 10 pm.

Day 25 and 26

Jean Klock park. Spent yesterday and this morning with Carol deconstructing the very sleezy maneuvers required to tear down exquisite wild dunes and privatize a community commons. Will a poorly designed golf course and an upscale brownfield development really become the new economic engine of Benton Harbor?

The Jean Klock Park Wikipedia article includes an excerpt from John Klock’s dedication in 1917. He and his wife Carrie gave the park to Benton Harbor as a memorial to their deceased daughter, Jean. Emphasis is mine.

“In taking an inventory of life, we all take stock of the circumstances surrounding the happiest moments. The giving of this park to the city of Benton Harbor has been to Mrs. Klock and myself, the happiest moment of our lives. The deed of this park in the courthouse of St. Joseph will live forever. Perhaps some of you do not own a foot of ground, remember then, that this is your park, it belongs to you. Perhaps some of you have no piano or phonograph, the roll of the water murmuring in calm, roaring in storm, is your music, your piano and music box.”

In closing Klock affirmed: “The beach is yours, the drive is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours. It is not so much a gift from my wife and myself, it’s a gift from a little child. See to it, that the park is the children’s.”

Fast forward 90+ years. About 2/3 of the park has been leased to a commercial golf course and land development scheme, Harbor Shores. Prior to this horror show, a chunk of the park was sold to private parties for beachfront homes. Talk about invader species. The legal battles have been long and hard fought. The last gasp of the suicide culture deploying the same failed strategies with predicatable results. In the short term, loss of wilds and the subversion of local democracy.

So where is the future here? How does this illustrate the emergence of sustainable civilizations?

I think the answer is Carol Drake. She’s a tenacious being with a fierce love of the wilds. Decades into the struggle, she still sheds a tear recalling the Jean Klock Park of her youth. She might feel weary and despondent but she won’t rest until the invaders are repelled and the land healed. She’s doesn’t have wealth or advanced degrees, she just loves that park. That’s what gives her the gumption to keep shoving sabots into the flywheels of the death machine. She hasn’t stopped it yet but she’s certainly slowed it down, made it smoke and grind. Like the Klock’s she copes with her broken heart by giving the gift of the earth. Her continued existence is evidence of a miraculous sustaining energy. It’s my theory that the global life support system has been flowing through her. She is the vanguard, we are all getting plugged in.

Her dunes are coming back.

After phone calls and goodbyes, I walked over from Fritz’s to the Schumann’s beach, turned Hello World around and ate breakfast. The wind was blowing about 15-20 mph and there was great waves for body surfing. Two kids who I assumed belonged to the Schumanns were frolicking in the water and eventually George Schumann’s son Brian came down. Barb wandered by and Ted Ring was playing around with his Hobie in the surf, obviously waiting for me to get my act together.

Marty and Roxy stopped by to find out what my deal was, and Roxy asked a great question, “Hello World, does that have something to do with Perl?” My heart went pitter pat – a geek girl!
“Well it’s common to all software languages, because typically the first computer program folks write displays the words ‘hello world’ on the screen.”
We enjoyed a silent moment of insider affinity.

Ted came in and watched me wrap up the pre-flight. He even caught me in an oversight. We yanked HW into the water with the help of Brian and then Ted jumped on his boat and escorted me out. By the time I hit the lake it was 2:00 pm, kinda late.

Passed South Haven at 4:00 and the nuke plant around 6:00. Now it’s nearly 7:00 and the wind is gone. I’m about 2 miles from shore and 10 miles from Benton Harbor. Guess I’ll try for land while the suns up.

Day 24

There’s steady WNW wind this morning, good for heading south. I’ve got a stop I might make along the way to Benton Harbor today. I’m looking to round out the Lake’s bottom before the month ends. What’s in Chicago? I don’t have any hookups there yet, I’m just going to wing it – maybe make a spontaneous landing north or south and introduce myself to some beachfront homeowner or find the municipal marina. Likewise, I don’t have a clear plan for Gary which I’ll be passing before Chi, but I do have a dark fantasy about a clandestine overnight somewhere in the industrial badlands. This could be the most beautiful and/or harrowing leg of the trip.

First Benton Harbor then a night somewhere in the Indiana Dunes, favored by sweet breezes. Alternate outcomes are infinite, I am open.

Yesterday I edited some of the Vince Gallant segment, pulled Hello World further up the beach and then took the Swans up on their gracious offer to share food at Tracy’s. The rye bread? Fuggedaboudit!

Thanks to Dawn and George Schummer and Fred Eagle Royce for providing power and showers, Catherine Bragdon for our interview in the park, the crew of the chain ferry who I didn’t get a chance to film cause it was closed when I went back, the Swan’s, RJ Peterson, The Oval Beach staff including Tom and especially Vicky Morales, Barb the beach glass and rust collector, Kelsey, Bruce, Tom for the sobering reminder that white supremacy skulks in these pretty little towns (some of my best friends are black people, but…), Amos Kennedy the humble negro printer, Tracy and Marcia.

Day 23

Woke to big thunder and flashes. Wind is less than ideal. Planning to hang here at Fred’s for another day and edit. Jet in the AM for Benton Harbor and St Joe.

Day 22

Waking at Schumann’s 7:00 am, gotta move on over to Fred Eagle Royce’s and then get to town for an interview with RJ Peterson, marina magnate, community booster, friend to the late Dennison and self proclaimed conservationist.

RJ asserts the development proposed by McClendon will be a boon and the best bet for low impact development on the dunes, but also opined that whatever happens on the former Dennison property will not make a wit of difference to the Saugatuck / Douglas economy. For RJ, the harbor is what matters. A municipal marina would help bring support for dredging and maintenance. What if bigger boats could get in as in days of old? What if the Kewadin could get out? RJ is gruff, outspoken and perhaps even a bit stubborn, but I suspect he is more open minded than most locals give him credit for. When I asked him if he was on the McClendon payroll, he barked “I wish!” That’s a sort of integrity, IMHO.

Ignoring or dismissing this dynamic curmudgeon would be a huge blunder. Like the shifting dunes and great pounding shoreline, RJ embodies the heritage and majesty of the region. He is practically a force of nature.

Later Alison and David Swan met with me. They described an aesthetic and economic vision for the community that I found far more compelling and realistic than any old school development so far proposed, low impact or high.

RJ and the Swans have two complementary hunks of one great plan. I wonder if they know…

Julie gave me a hard time about getting a map going and today I finally did all the digital magic. There’s also an updated itinerary at You are here.

Local!

Day 20

In Kalamazoo zoo zoo this morning with plans to see the Pekarovic’s goat ranch before jetting back to Saugatuck with Susan. 7:30 am departure turned into 9:30 am because I stayed up editing the Great Lakes Aquatics segment instead of packing. Got an interesting opening I think.

After hugging my new eastern european brothers goodbye, we made it to Wick’s Park gazebo 15 minutes early. Picked up contact info for the Schumann’ enroute, they had offered to shelter Hello World for the duration of our Saug stay.

Interviewed Catherine Bragdon until 1:00 pm and then Susan and I shared a greasy lunch at the Elbo Room.

Back to Oval Park and Saugatuck Dunes Natural Area. Hello World was off her Baolongs but otherwise perfect. Susan crashed on the trampoline as I brought the gear over from the parking lot in 3 trips. Susan split and the boat and me made the move to the Schumanns beach, about 1 mile south. They are generous folks with a lovely home (including wireless) and have offered to put me up too!

Into town for hot beverages at Uncommon Grounds. A quick conversation with Gretchen about the doings back in the hood. Returning to my suite at the Schumann’s for some editing and more lightning posts. Coincidence – our latest benefactors live on Lakeshore Drive which turns into Campbell Rd, as in Mike an Shala Campbell.

A new strategy is needed for the blog. Tho I enjoy writing, trying to craft posts just takes too much time! I’m falling further and further behind. The plan is to try a twitter influenced approach, distillation and supplement with pix when available. Let me know how this works.

Around Lake Michigan, Search for Sustainable Civilizations

Watch the movie excerpt – 13:30 minutes. This is intended to give the basic premise of the project. What artifacts of future sustainable civilizations can be found in Ritch Branstrom’s interview?

The full size and fixed size versions require a fast internet connection. For slower connections, try small.

Feedback about the ALM excerpt is encouraged and appreciated via comments. Please let us know which link you followed above.

Day 15 – 16

Paused in the Pine Motel parking lot on the way back from Wallys, riding the Zilliax Miyata back to Oval beach in the rain. It was a warm rain and I wanted to add a little more to this blog entry. I stopped there for some solid wireless, dripping and pecking at the screen. I should have just checked in. I got back to Oval Beach and following through on my promise to not camp. I pushed Hello World into the surf and anchored for the night… or so I thought. Once out there snug in the tent, the wind came up and started to buffet the boat. Waves smashed the bottom of the trampoline and rolled down my spine. Backwards and forwards, up and down with Hello World creaking and complaining all the while. I eventually bit the bullet and traded my warmish sleeping bag for a wet wetsuit in preparation for an emergency beaching. The worst thing is to do have to hard manual labor after nearly falling asleep. She was secure by the time first light arrived and I got started getting her ready for a few days alone, hauling gear to the parking lot.

Day 16-19

Susan’s smiling face around 10:00 am then 45 minutes back to Kalamazoo (Kzoo, Kazoo) and Garland Gardens (Vince and Susan’s house). Trot the gear up to my garret and start charging. Quick tour of the home farm, 100+ tomato plants. Vince’s mom and Aunt Rose arrive, then Vince himself from packing his classroom, (they’re refinishing the floors at school over the summer). Pizza for dinner, then off to record Vince performing with the Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra conducted by Miles Kusik and featuring Carlo Aonzo. There’s an after glow at our house where I finally break out the Larrivee and play and sing with members of KMGO. Vince fuels the evening with homebrew beer.

Since constant vigilance and top performance is not currently required, my body demands rest. I yawn and groan constantly.

Wake up on Thursday and organize the blog and posts. I am way behind and intent on catching up. Processing Vixia video with Final Cut Pro takes time, so the computer and hard drives are constantly munching. In the afternoon take the camera to a practice of Great Lake Aquatics (Akitas) the swimming club and racing team that Vince coaches. His coaching is what I’ve come to document. Use the Aquapac underwater bag for the Vixia successfully, tho it continues to be awkward. Kids are a little creeped out by guy in pool with camera. I am caught of guard when Vince introduces me after practice and do a lame job of explaining the project. Home for dinner with Susan and noodling on guitars. Blackout.

Great Lakes Aquatics Summer Solstice swim meet starts on Friday and I’m there to make movies of the Akitas racing against other clubs from around the Michigan and Canada. Catch a ride there and back with Dan from the team, a habitually happy guy. Big storm sweeps through with winds up to 70 mph on Lake Michigan. I fret for Hello World and put a call into Vicki at Oval Park and text to Dave and Allison at Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance. While waiting for the pot of oopama I am making for the fam and visiting swimmers, get creamed at the card game Set by teens. Spend an hour or so interviewing Vince. Video processing is ongoing, begin to run short on hard drive space. Will have to buy additional drives eventually.

Visit the meet again on Saturday for events with Swim for Success kids. Party again at the house with the meet officials and some of the other coaches. Interesting conversation about how pool swimmers have anxiety about open water. Problematic to move pool swimmers to a wild venue (we got lakes) for promotion and expansion of swimming sports around Michigan. Vince and Susan force me to agree to visit the Ondrej, Mattej and Jan Pekarovic at their goat ranch on the way back to Saugatuck Sunday. I disappear to edit Vince’s video and blow off packing.

Watch for a flurry of blog and video posts in the next 24 hours. I’ll be in Kalamazoo with Susan and Vince until Sunday morning then heading back to Saugatuck Dunes Natural Area where Hello World is parked.

Day 15

So much blogging and not enough lime, I mean time. I’m in Wallys in downtown Saugatuck with minimal cell coverage. This place is brimming with hotties dressed for luau, a couple were doing a beer bong as I came in. My ALM 2010 standard issue Hawaiian print shirt is like wearing camo in this place.

I’ve secured a perch with power to feed the iPhone and bribed my server into letting me drink club soda. It’s slightly disconcerting to be blogging out flanked by raging sexy drunks.

A bit of a late start today, off the Rosy Mound beach at 11:30 am after busting a batten pocket, tangling the uphaul cables and getting clobbered by the boom while turning to meet a kayaker. I thought it might be Joan’s husband as she had also mentioned Kayaks. I think the magic Dr Suess hat protected me, my face is tender but so far no bruises.

Before the parade of snafus, Joan Wolfe showed up to enthuse about HER 16 foot Hobie Cat Survivor while the golden hound she was walking dug several joint wrenching trenches in front of Hello World’s launch vector. I told Joan to get Survivor flying and join me in Chicago, then amused myself with a little joint wrenching.

An hour and a half later we beached at Holland’s south pier to meet Blake and Dennis from the Holland Sentinel. The illustrious Mike Campbell of Grand Haven had arranged this press contact. I had invited him to help produce and he’s running with it! Here’s the article.

Dave Swan from the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance had posted on facebook.com/ondesire offering assistance just hours before. This was a connection from artist Marcia Perry who had made the hookup via Facebook sometime in April I think.

Following Dave’s guidance, we swooped to the beach in Saugatuck just north of a sign that read something like “Private Property Here to Pier”, (south). To raise my elevation for better cellphone reception, I followed a path in the dune grass inland and called Dave. No sooner had we started talking than a guy pulled up in an ATV and started hollering at me (it was sort of windy) that I was on private property.

“I’m just trying to get cell reception.” I hollered back. He looked exasperated. I told Dave to hold on and walked over to the guy.

“Your sign says private property south of the sign, I’m north of it. Where does your property end exactly?” I moved a few feet north. “Here?” I jumped a few more. “How about here, is this ok?”

“50 ft more.”

“Well, why didn’t you put your sign 50 feet further down? You’ve gotta admit your signage needs work if you’re this concerned about trespassing.”

“I guess we can’t have enough no trespassing signs so poeple will respect private property.”

“Just make it clear, I’m not trying to cause trouble.” Suddenly realizing that I might like to interview this guy, I introduced myself and told him about the project. He didn’t want to tell me his name!

“We don’t want to be in any movies, we don’t want to talk to anyone. We just want our private property. We don’t let local people come here either.”

Refusing to tell me his name tore it. “Dude, you’ve got to learn to chill out, this is Michigan,” and spun away, back to the boat.

Welcome to Saugatuck.

Climb the bluff carefully for a thrilling view of the big lake and better cell reception.

Nearby construction along the bluff edge reminds me of my reason for sailing around Lake Michigan. Activating global consciousness to steward and EXPAND the wilds.

Wandering about I discover a whacky development project with faux stone and dune grass (?) Head spinning, I borrow stairs back to the beach.

Maybe I’m being judgmental and forgetting essential principle of project – unexpected artifacts. What do the real estate agent and developer have to offer? Interviews?

Take the bike to town, bad reception and depressing juxtaposition of industry and wetlands at nearby park. Forget iphone maps, just ride into town. Synchronistic stumble on the Secretary of State’s office, I forgot to renew my drivers license before launching. Phone rings… date with developer next morning.

Google ‘ludington organic’ and find the Plaza Cafe, interview Tom and then check out Redolencia.

Chad recommends a half press and a couch with power. Blogging and recharge, Chad impromptu set and interview. Meet Lars and head on home, stashing bike in the meadow at top of bluff.

I can’t help but feel as I kick back with my 1/2 french press and cardamom bun ($4.50!) that we truly are on the cusp of realizing sustainable civilizations. Who’d of thought that in downtown Ludington, Michigan there would be coffee shop ambiance to rival – nay – surpass the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn? Redolencia has straight up coffee so fine I can hardly concentrate to write what with the buzz I got on.  Local musician Chad Rushing has already given me multiple mini tours and he’s not even the owner. This place is clearly an incubator for local culture combined with the super friendly Michigan vibe. There are young people here, lots of them.

I just finished my first interview of 2010 with Tom of the Plaza Cafe. It’s spooky how close his story is to Chris and Tanya of Homegrown in Traverse City – it took him 10 years to shift over from conventional restaurant worker to organic evangelist but now – stand back! The Plaza has just started it’s 4th year and it’s Tom’s first business venture. His kids are slinging wraps with him too. One son is going to chef school and his 14 year old daughter can practically run the whole place solo. I had the cream of asparagus soup (organic milk AND cream) and it’s the only soup they serve that’s not gluton free.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s jump back a day for some tedious trip details.

Being cozy in a tent when it’s raining is nearly the most romantic situation imaginable, second only to being cozy in a tent when it’s snowing, whether it’s on high altitude pass in Rockies or an illicit encampment in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. More often than not I’m alone when these situations are transpiring, more’s the pity. My next search will be for women who camp!

In spite of ideal atmospheric conditions, it wasn’t all that pleasant waking to wet after a fitful sleep and slightly disturbing dreams.

When pitching the tent it seemed like a good idea to first place a waterproof tarp over the wet horsetail and poplar shoots. The rain pitter pattered prettily against the tent all night, then oozed down to the tarp and pooled in the low spots – like under my foam bed roll. I mused on the art of site selection as I broke camp and packed the soggy gear back to the beach.

Just within the tree shadow, a stand of these stalky blooms signify fairie forest. Identification?

At 12:30 pm we pushed off into curling surf and a bit of whipping drizzle. As NOAA robots were whispering about thunder beings in the churning gray above, Hello World and I offered the ritual of jumper cable deployment.

I was disheartened at the prospect of sailing in chilly wind (mid 50s) with no warming sun. I wondered why I hadn’t just stayed home with a book and a hot bath or slumped in a rocking chair with my feet aimed at the cheery glow of a woodstove. Soon enough we were jumping south-ish in the brisk NE blow and I was competent guy, with no time for wussy old man thoughts.

The 210 course turned out to be more like 240. I was intrigued to find the new Silva compass had a frozen bezel. This had happened to another Silva in 2009, a couple of days before it blew up. Turns out the adhesive velcro I had used to mount it to the tiller was the culprit. I didn’t realize the compass bottom articulated. The old compass exploded because the velcro had formed a seal where there shouldn’t have been one.

We dashed past the break waters of Manistee and on to Big Sable Point in one long, strong tack and then turned south. Dedication paid off, a bit of blue opened to the north. Just before Big Sable, the cloud cover began rotating around us, with the southern clouds heading inland and the northern clouds moving out over the lake. Trippy. I took it as an acknowledgement of our sacred quest.

Ahead of Hello World, clouds move inland ...

... in the wake of Hello World, clouds move out over the Big Lake

Approaching Big Sable Point and Ludington State Park	Sun at last	Big Sable Point lighthouse

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Ludington State Park was a potential landing spot, but reconnaissance proved the beaches too crowded for inconspicuous camping. We kissed beach at the remote southern tip of the park but the “no camping” signs were a deterrent.

Riding the north-ish wind we glided past the festive beachfront of Ludington, across the breakwater and on towards rugged bluffs that suggested difficult beach access for the few houses perched above. The wind had been powering up and we surfed it another couple miles right into a secret pirate cove, complete with sparkling springs and a crumbling fortress. 5:00 pm arrival, 30.5 miles in 4.5 hours on the water.

The crumbling citadel near our pirate cove

Day 5 of ALM 2010. It’s raining just north of Onekema tonight. Back from the beach about a stone’s throw, nestled in low dunes is a cozy wozy tent, glowing merrily with candlelight. Inside I’m munching my third bowl of the fresh and raw vegan version of a happy meal – thick oats, goji berries, raisins, flax seeds, almonds and salt marinated in Bear Lake well water. Oowee!

On June 2 an amiable north wind pushed us from Elberta down to Arcadia. Getting Hello World up on the beach was slightly less of a struggle than Elberta had been and I managed it alone. The plan was to rendezvous with the Bear Lake support team for essential modifications, including trips to Traverse City and Crystal Lake. I slept at the team dorm that night and then got a ride back to my house the next day.

I had left the bike and some other gear behind because of the heavy wind at Point Betsie. Minimizing variables helped get us launched. A couple of days feeling the groove was enough to be ready for the full load.

Ideally all this would have been worked out prior to launch, but there are so many details to manage on this project that I’m spread pretty thin. When funds and labor are tight, everything takes more time. Fortunately I’ve got a gang of Kelly’s to whistle up in a pinch – Steve,. Jonathan, Patrick and Luke.

I frittered away much of day 4 helping Stephen Addy debug Wordbooker, his Facebook plugin for WordPress. This may not seem all that relevant to getting underway, but ALM has a decent following on facebook.com/ondesire. Posts from ondesire.com are fed with RSS and get ‘liked’ or commented on. The problem is that Facebook comments never make it back to the blog and so all this awesome interaction isn’t available to the Facebook free. Wordbooker was supposed to save the day. It has all these glowing reviews and I really wish I could write one too, but after screen captures, advanced diagnostics, SQL exports and even a special update just for me… no dice.

Giving up on Wordbooker, I drove the Odyssey over to Shop and Save. Along with some cheese and apples, i grabbed jumper cables to build a lightning deflecting Faraday cage. With a van full of booty, i jaunted down to Arcadia and Hello World to pick up the cargo plates. Thier sharp comers cpuld easily open flesh and like the bailing pins of old, the stainless steel plates might have intriguing potential for an enterprising martial artist. However, sharp corners and sailboats don’t mix generally, so I ground them off in the driveway of the dorm. I crashed in the edit room there after mandatory episodes of Invader Zim.

Signs Signs... Is it really trespassing if you have permission?

Though I got to Arcadia beach at around 8:30 am, we didn’t push off until 3:00 pm, what with all the tinkering and tweaking. We lolled Iin a fitful wind for an hour plus, then caught decent puffs east and north for about 6 miles of overall southern progress. Finding a wildish landing was almost blown when I saw how disturbed the beach sand was with prints, but they turned out to be deer prints. About a hundred yards down the beach a tiny cottage not yet opened for the summer nestled with an 18 foot Hobie in storage. Good omen.

Just missed the deer party North of Portage Lake

100 yards south, the neighbor cottage waits for summer

...and a Hobie 18

Two outhouses?! My kind of folks!

Got Hello World parked in 50 minutes, set up camp and took a wetsuit swim in the Big Lake. Then into the tent for that whole cozy wozy thing.

Baby flies joined me for the sail to Onekema – so cute!

I don’t want to leave the tent. 7:20 am, sore and wishing to sleep more. The waves take a little breath now – big surges with a rest in between. That’s a change from yesterday – constant roll and crash.

Finally pushed off at 5:00 pm from Point Betsie after a tedious couple of hours of preparation. The first moments in the water were a comedy teetering on tragedy as the boat lept into the big wind and ran me over. I slid under the trampoline and just caught the tiller bar as it rushed over me. Imagine a backpack laden catamaran arriving in Wisconsin all by herself… That’s the reality I might have blogged about this morning.

Instead we fought 2 hours to go 2 miles south – in a south wind. Negotiating a inexorable procession of kinesthetic questions, shining choices between staying upright and catastrophe.

Imagine ground that lifted and sank against your feet, endlessly twisting and folding into itself. If every step required tight concentration and presence, would you, could you walk?

On my first day, 2 hours was all I could handle, so the end of the day was a convenience. I slid into e beach and wrestled with Hello World in the sucking surf, eventually stabilizing her with the help of Kari who appeared all smiles and shivers.

She watched my days end ritual and gave me a bagel from Lychaim Deli, to life! Relief in realizing I wasn’t out there anymore. It was a tough start.

Kevin and Brenda built a beach fire and made me stay up until 1:00 am talking! Cool folks and local too, great to meet them and a wonderful way to bring in Wednesday.

Movie: 10-06-01 ALM 2010 Launch (computer, phone)

The illustrious James Barnes gave Hello World a lift over to Point Betsie and that’s where she camped last night. I wanted to copy a few files from the big archive before heading over. It will likely be a short day on the water as we iron out any remaining bugs before getting too far from our home port. Elberta beach is a likely first stop (4 miles) though we may try for Arcadia (15 miles) if all goes well.

Morning of Friday May 28, three weeks after the original launch date. If I can get on the water in the next few days, I’ll likely be sailing into late August early September. I’ve still got a 3 month window, September is an entire extra month. I may have to skip the wedding in California and cancel my summer guests though. It’s all just blow and bluster – there’s no telling what will happen.

This morning I’ll raise the mast and get her on the water, then disassemble and into / onto the van for the portage over to the big lake. Finish packing and go.

I admit to feeling a little daunted by all this. There’s nothing accidental in building up the momentum – it’s a decisive effort, a force of will. The journey could remake me, that’s really why I’m going. Dipping into my media feed to catch the news of the day, I feel the call to activate. I am ready to live my gifts, to be what the earth needs. My time has arrived.

Yet there’s the inertia of the familiar. Leaving behind what I am for a deeper experience, even a more enlivened and capable Dan Kelly – it’s scary. Also, It kinda sucks to vacate my happy little beach squat for the whole summer.

Ha! Well, there’s not going to be a terrible accident that provides an honorable retreat. Destiny is my decision.

Ready for shakedown

Oops! Rudder trouble...

I started the staging area in March and completed it yesterday with the help of nefs and their pa. Steve zapped the stumps from the two big poplar trees. Jonathan, Patrick and I moved the logs to the lake to create sand catching jettys and wove the branches into a Andrew Goldsworthy inspired fence. I had to explain the purpose of the fence twice… “when you bring a girl here, she’ll be more likely to take off all her clothes if she thinks the neighbors can’t see.” That’s a plan we can all get behind.

We saved as many little trees as possible, especially the dainty white pines saplings. I can transplant them later, for now they fit right under the boat.

I didn’t have a mast bearing so we didn’t get the mast up. I’m checking and packing gear today and will make a pilgrimage to Traverse City to pick up odds and ends. With luck I’ll have Hello World out for a test sail this afternoon.

White pine saplings shelter under the trampoline

The wild beach with freshly deployed poplar jettys. No sand yet...

Sarah Castle recently tweeted an New Scientist article by Deborah Mackenzie, Living in Denial, Why Sensible People Reject the Truth. This may have been a continuation of our exchange over my Stephen Hawkin inspired ET conquistador proposal, so I’ve been thinking about it, teasing out my ideas. It’s a sketch, perhaps once I am on the water I’ll elaborate on these themes.

***

There are many ways to ask a question. People test hypotheses, initiate conversations, open themselves to experience, devise tools for discovery, make myths, wonder without words and relax into knowing.

Science yields reliable predictions about the future. Compassion reveals the feelings of others. Mindfulness is an inquiry into the possibilities of the present. Living history is an exploration of the past from suppressed or forgotten perspectives, as demonstrated by Howard Zinn and John Hendrik Clarke.

Our experience of reality is determined by how we ask. We manipulate and fabricate reality with questions. ‘What do we want?’ can often be entangled with ‘What do we want to know?’ Know in the sense of both having pragmatic information and in the sense of wordless rapport, whether sexual, spiritual, aesthetic…

Science is one way of knowing. It’s emphasis on prediction has enabled our amazing technological civilization. We begin to realize though that the questions science poses cannot insure our survival or even guide us to joy.

Edward Bernays applied the theories of Sigmund Freud to develop the most destructive force yet unleashed against the earth – the consumer. Industrial productivity enabled by scientific inquiry has broken the climate. We literally cannot live with science alone. That’s Koyaanisquatsi – crazy life, life out of balance.

Science has rubbed out the authoritarian gods – and filled their shoes. Just one more rigid system that must not be transgressed, *cannot* be transgressed – it’s the law. The law of gravity, conservation of energy, etc. It’s impossible to step outside these laws… until our understanding shifts and we find those laws were just special cases, applicable only so long as x and y were true. Are we really so arrogant to think that our understanding is nearly complete?

Rather than demean or ignore other methods of inquiry, scientists should look for allies. Anyone who is intensely curious, anyone who is rigorous with inquiry – whatever the method –  is potentially an ally. Openness to the idea of questions could be the basis for unity. Questions should not be evaluated by whether they can fit the dominant mode of inquiry but whether they are interesting, useful and even fun.

Conspiracy theorists attempt to break free of the gravity well of conventional thinking. They express a pragmatic and savvy skepticism of authority. They are entertaining. Not all conspiracy theories are bosh either, conspiracies really happen.

If we accept that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 911 and that he didn’t have significant weapons of mass destruction, why did we go to war with Iraq? Was it just a big mistake or can we use the C word here? I remember a lot of misleading imagery and dysfunctional reportage in the media back then. I remember fabrications by authorities and leaders. Who’s ready to step up and name that animal?

We can’t survive if we limit inquiry or act only on the authority of experts. Rather than deny the irrational we ought to find out what it has to offer. If both the rational and non-rational are our allies, we won’t be at war with ourselves.

***

Update

New Scientist is doing a whole series on Living in Denial. Three days ago Michael Fitzpatrick contributed with Questioning Science isn’t Blasphemy. Dr Fitzpatrick may not agree with what I’ve asserted here, but I appreciate his bringing some balance. I had read Why Sensible People Reject the Truth weeks ago and was inspired to try and contrast my position, to articulate what seemed important. I have to thank Deborah Mackenzie, her assertion that folks who don’t agree with orthodoxy are mentally ill, she really had me going. I hadn’t reread her article until tonight and whoa! The generalization that “all denialists see themselves as underdogs fighting a corrupt elite” could as easily be applied to activists and reformers.

Here’s a conspiracy theory for you -  There’s rumors that the Tea Party movement is corporate funded. If Ran Paul is the best those folks can muster, then maybe the whole point is to discredit dissident movements in general by equating them to the Tea Party.  You wanna take back your government? Aw, go join the Tea Party!

There’s a terrible tragedy at this end of this post, so if you’re the weepy type close your browser and check back tomorrow.

How to glue pennies to the bottom of a Hobie Cat, the completion of Hello World’s armor deployment.

Including the 8 layers of powdered aluminum running along the entire keel, I wanted plate metal to protect the hulls where they would start to run aground. Matching hull curvature with a single sheet of metal seemed daunting. I imagined a corner or an edge of a single sheet being peeled back in an impact – nearly impossible to fix in the wilds.  In contrast, if the metal sheath consisted of many small plates or tiles then an impact might tear away one or two tiles and leave the surrounding tiles intact. The tile approach was inspired by the space shuttle’s thermal protection system. I had sheets of scrap copper laying around, but I didn’t really like the idea of cutting them into little squares. Pennies are just about the right size, and they are readily available everywhere I’ll be.

The copper in US pennies comes from the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is the thumb of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. US pennies minted on or after 1982 have a zinc core coated in a thin condom of copper. Before 1982, pennies were about 95% copper. A roll of pre 1982 pennies is worth $.50 cents as coin, but the value of the copper is $1.00. In doing this project I found that about 10-30% of pennies in circulation are  pre 1982. That means that if you had $1000 worth of pennies, you’d actually have about $1100-$1300 dollars. Of course you’d have to melt and sell the older ones, which would probably get the Secret Service on your ass. It might not be a bad idea to sort and stash your pre 1982 pennies in a safe place until such time as the federal government collapses and you can melt them without fear of arrest.

A preliminary cleaning – bathing the pennies in dilute muriatic acid	Rinse
Dry	Remove all oxidation to attach
In formation with attach side down – these need to be flipped	Tape fixes the pennies in formation. Slicing along the edge of the rows so they’ll articulate and follow the curvature of the hulls
ready for pennies	West Systems 404, resin and fast hardner

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The rentry system is complete. The tiles on the starboard hull had drifted off the edge slightly,  but otherwise looking good!  Hello World’s hulls were almost ready – all that remained to do on Sunday was hatch installation and caulking the pylons.

I use plywood props to support the hulls to keep them upright during hatch work. A couple of nails where the plywood meets the picnic table keep them from slipping. I had the plywood in place to support the port hull and was about to tack the last sheet down when the hull rolled away and almost fell off the table onto the concrete. Though I was able to catch it, I didn’t save the day.  It had rolled right over the claw hammer and broken the fiberglass in two spots. Fahgk!

Quel damage!	The broken fiberglass removed.
The pressure from the claw almost busted the inner skin, note the slight shattering in the center	At least the hatches are in

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I could have fixed the holes right then and there if I had more of the magic West Systems 404 powder but West Marine had already closed. So I am off to Traverse City this morning and will walk in just as they open the doors.

Getting ready for my swim this morning, here’s what’s waiting.

Maybe I’m still dreaming…

Yesterday afternoon I tested both the Aquapac underwater camera solution and my Gul skin out wetsuit with a swim to the blue line.

A classic tao situation. All the cheese and yogurt I’ve been eating is starting to show – too much repair work and not enough expression of magnificent physicality. I couldn’t run yesterday morning ’cause my calf was inexplicably crampy again. I was also thinking about my Gul skin out wetsuit because Scott of Sailsport Marine scared me. Just before he sold me rivets for the jib tracks, he said “Dude, you’re crazy,” and “That water is cold.” He’s right, it is and will be for a month or two more. The prudent move would be to test my wetsuit and what better way than with a rigorous 15 minute round trip to the blue line? (computer, phone). An adventure just before sunset.

Success! It was cold certainly but I could probably last an hour in the water, plenty of time to right a flipped Hello World. Pulling off the wetsuit afterward I realized that my original justification of the need for cheese wasn’t self deceptive gluttony after all. A little extra fat might be a smart start. So the cramping calf, the cheese, the wetsuit repairs, the dire warnings of my local Hobie dealer… I just went with it all and lo – enlightenment, bliss.

I did it again just now without the camera and with Five Fingers instead of booties. Water temperature is 49F.

The cold could fire off ear infections so alcohol is a must. My hands were scary cold when I started but were buzzing with warmth at the blue line. Hallucination or superior metabolism? I’ll definitely get some gloves to complete my neoprene ensemble. I’ve also got to replace the Gul logo on my chest – maybe I can get the URL on there somehow.

Started to run Indian Trails this morning when the strange cramp in my starboard calf returned with a vengeance. I’m getting fat, now what? I walked out of the woods and onto the dunes to try a little tai chi in the sand, but couldn’t even manage half a short form. Looking to the Big Lake, wanna get out there.

That’s how much fun I’m having right now. Hello World’s first finish coat was applied this morning. Speaking of Malcolm X (today’s his birthday, he’d be 85) here’s an insidious bit of racial marketing I came across.

The VOCs from the Interlux Brightside White paint are intense!  As replacement filters for my old respirator are hard to find I decided to buy a new respirator. My local Ace Hardware stocked several models from AO Safety. They all used the same filters and ranged in price from high $20 to mid $40. The highest priced had a picture of a serious looking middle aged white male with iron gray hair. The lowest price looked like this…

Is that subtle or what? Here’s the embarrassing part – I instinctively reached for the expensive one first because I assumed it would provide better protection, until I noticed that the filters were identical. Was I choosing based on price (inference of quality), or racial affinity?

I ended up buying the brown people respirator. You know what? It pretty much sucks. After painting for couple of hours this morning I had a headache. WTF? Tell me there aren’t aliens running the planet. You can sell us the crappy respirators, but you can’t kill us.

Here’s Hugh Hamilton’s show Talk Back on WBAI FM New York for May 19, 2010, (local archive is here). There’s fundraising during the first 10 minutes or so, but after that are excerpts from some of El Hajj Malik el Shabazz’s most amazing speeches.

Here’s the back page from the vintage Hobie Cat brochure that came with Hello World. Hobie had an intriguing angle on catamarans in 1979 – camping. Perhaps being a subsidiary of the Coleman Company had something to do with it. I don’t know whether this was a significant factor in sales back then, but this photo sure made an impression on me. Sailing Around Lake Michigan was not in my head when I bought her – so let’s hear it for the power of antique lifestyle marketing!

As the groovy copy explains, Hobie 16s can navigate very shallow water and can even be sailed right onto the beach – sandy preferably. They can go where few other boats can with minimal impact on the environment. That’s why Hello World is ideal for wilderness camping – in theory.

A spiel reminiscent of Adam Curtis's Century of the Self documentary series.

In practice, rocky shallows and sandy shores scrape away the hull bottoms. An lightly loaded Hobie bounces off rocks, deflecting the force of impact and minimizing damage. Add tents, sleeping bags and other cargo (like tripods and scuba tanks) and inertia increases, making direct impact and serious damage more likely. Landing a loaded Hobie on a rocky beach requires a slow approach. When the water is shallow enough to wade, it’s best to get off and walk her in, off load the bags, place Bao longs (solid fenders) under her hulls and then roll her up.

Even with such careful handling Hello World’s bottoms were pretty chewed up after last September’s trial run. To survive 3 months requires armor.

The highly worn areas along the bottom have already been protected with 9 layers of epoxy mixed with 10% powdered aluminum, an additive sold by West Systems for abrasion resistance.

Powdered aluminum is also a component of thermite – a steel cutting explosive used in building demolitions. Traces of thermite like residues have been detected in the dust from the Twin Towers. It took me two days to armor up the keel with the powdered aluminum, and each batch I mixed was a sort of meditation on dark history. My two beautiful fish, the feet of Hello World shod in sleek gray gloss. Perfect paradox.

Applying armor

Originally, Patrick and I had discussed installing thin steel plate along the keels. To conform to her complex curves, the plates could either be curved to match her contours or be placed as tiles, like on the space shuttle. In a worst case scenario, tiles could be torn away without taking a great chunk of hull with them.

Lining both keels with steel would have added a lot of weight – so aluminum powder was the choice. The most vulnerable section is between the bow and the mid section, the point of first impact below the water line. I repaired damage there when I bought Hello World and smashed it again myself last September.

Armor detail on port hull. Roller texture will be abraded soon enough.	Port hull from inside. The most vulnerable area is defined by the width of the filing cabinets

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I’m currently investigating plating the most vulnerable bow/mid section with pre 1982 pennies, which are 95% copper.

…and by the way, Happy Birthday to Me!

When Hello World came down from the rafters I was dismayed to find she was still wet. Before lofting her last October I had drained the standing water from the hulls. Though I suspected her fiberglass / foam sandwich was still saturated, I assumed that 6 months hanging in a warm house would dry her out.

I had forgotten about the 10 lbs of sand that had washed into the port hull during the Point Betsie surprise. The water did migrate out of the sandwich but rather than evaporating it mixed with the sand and pooled. There was about a half gallon in there!

The starboard hull had been breached, probably during the emergency landing to secure Zilliax’s bike. I had drilled the damage clear so it could drain – which it did – drip, drip, drip all winter. Yet the sandwich was still saturated when I opened the hatch hole.

Removing the wet sand and facilitating evaporation required hatches to be installed in both hulls. Love suffused my methodology. Deployment of the other essential modification – keel armor – was accompanied by a melange of emotions and associations, including the events of 9/11…

Why does powdered aluminum remind me of September 11, 2001?

I know the journey has started when I don’t know when it’s going to start.

The moment when the handcrafted Hello World slides into surf cannot be predicted. I’ve been back in the water since the year flipped. I’ve shared my process nearly every day for the last month. Even with the dust of her body clinging to my clothes, her curves all atangle and in disarray, we search. The important part is how we start – not when. This project celebrates assembly after all,  the awakening of the way.

August 09 same thing. Time was a fiction,  deadlines a conceit. Jackie Ankerson made it plain yesterday. Do I want the sun to fly across the sky, am I in a hurry to get to my grave?

Here’s how I’m changing. No time on wind river, (computer / phone) she’s ready when she’s ready. I too may only be half baked / boiled – though last night’s tub could have been the hottest ever.

Now that we’ve settled that…

While returning from yet another pilgrimage to my local West Systems and Interlux dealer, I realized that I only had to have interesting conversations. I only have to interview people who fascinate me. Does any part of this adventure need to suck? Not on purpose!

The way to make this project (and life in general) amazing is to dare to be who I am. If this movie is going to be watchable then I have to push through to me. Naked on camera – glorious, confused, grinning, dashingly scruffy, fierce, introspective, full of shit, fabulous!

You’re either down with the Dan or not. All those Facebook scribblers – pshaw! Why, I’ve been gushing my secrets without a by-your-leave since before Mark Zuckerberg was cozying up to the shadow government or stealing his clients’ ideas. Who remembers tractor feed paper?

Look, I know nobody’s reading all this, ok? I’ve got better things to do than read my ramblings too. All this bluster is a sort of encryption. God is always in disguise, otherwise there can be no cosmic game. You get it now? If not – no worries! It’s likely the Rev. Victoria Weinstein didn’t even make it this far – and she’s a divinity professional.

Despite precautions, when I crawl into bed I feel the prickle of tiny glass fibers on my naked skin.  I mingle with Hello World, we become one flesh.

Hello World is more than my production platform, transport and home. The ‘boat as planet’ analogy is especially relevant – if my boat’s messed up, I might die.

Do I mythologize when I say it’s a cinch for me to feel her presence?  Like me, she is made of star stuff. A lot of energy and intention went into her design and manufacture. In her 31 years of existence she’s been a facilitator of much joy and excitement for the Vigland family. She’s been cared for with pride and guiltily neglected. Now she’s collaborating with a mad genius and his wild tribe on a world saving Search for Sustainable Civilizations.

When during this sequence of events did sentience arise? Is she alive and deserving of love only because I’ll be counting on her?

It’s fun to wonder about. What I can report first hand is our rapport, especially when sailing. She moves with and speaks to me, she is aware and involved.

Mere cybernetic transference? Advanced visualization technique? Dan smiles….

What does all this have to do with today’s progress report? The fiberglass work is stretching because this boat is a being.  I have to do my best by her. Attend, please.

When hatching hulls, the standard procedure is to cut a hole and screw the hatch on. That’s not for me. The Viking hatch I bought from Murrays doesn’t mate well with the surface of the hull and removing structure compromises Hello World’s strength and integrity.

My solution is to create a ring of new structure around the hatch hole and build up the hull surface for a nearly perfect fit. This manuever made an afternoon’s project into 4 days!

Love keeps Serenity in the air says Malcolm Reynolds. I’m so down with that. Knowing I gave Hello World my best attention will keep me grinning when we’re miles from shore and a crazy wind is howling. I’ll remember that I loved her enough to take the time, and she’ll fly true.

A cup of ginger tea before donning the yellow hazmat suit and starting the day’s fiberglass fun. The Brunton inverter is whirring away somewhat creakily as it charges this iPhone. Most of the gear has already been checked for solid operation, the Brunton solar power components are among the last on the list.

How am I changing? I’m preparing for nomadic life, for wandering within. It took Loreen Niewenhuis over a year to walk around the Big Lake, so the distances involved are imaginable, human. The scheduled duration of our sail Around Lake Michigan is about 3 months.

I get to go faster than Loreen because I’ve got technological infrastructure and a larger carbon footprint. Though powered by paddle and sail alone, Hello World is an industrial child. She owes her existence to oil drilling and petrochemistry, (polyester resins, dacron sails, nylon rope) not to mention mining and smelting, (aluminum frame and mast, steel fittings). Add in the filmmaking electronics we are carrying (rare earths, heavy metals) and suddenly this project isn’t quite so bright green.

The price for 3 months of environmental documentary in a romantic mileau is a diminishment of our collective destiny. I kill all of us a little by making this trip. I’m not an impact idiot either, I work to minimize the consequences of my daily actions – fairly small footprint as far as 1st world lifestyles go. Even so, the way our civilization is set up, I can’t help but hurt.

Jor-El packed his infant son into a spaceship and sent him from the doomed planet Krypton. Moses was placed in a reed basket and launched on the Nile. The stories keep coming back. We make another variation today – an artifact of industry launched to transcend industry by reminding us of what we already know. Into the shadows to search for light. I am the man who asks the child’s questions.

Sorting and packin

x

Dreams of flying last night. A decisive ignorance of gravity and intense experience of remembering.  When I’d stretch into a laughing loft or a lazy backflip I’d feel a body rush / energy shiver flash from my chest. I kept thinking – I’ve done this countless times before. I’m dreaming… but this is real.

Flying is fun but what felt the most amazing was remembering. This dream came from the same place as the perfect attention / rapture vision I had with Jon and Laura. It’s the reality behind the waking state, what I’m really doing here. Transparency. I keep seeing thru – for which I am grateful.

I’m in the tub now as Tuesday fades. I’ve got the iPhone in it’s waterproof bag so as to catch up on my reports. Fiberglass repair halted yesterday when I cut the hatch hole for the port hull and found the foam sandwich soaked. Basically a winter of hanging in a warm house didn’t dry Hello World completely. Not only does extra water add weight, but the existing fiberglass structure needs to be totally dry before new glass will bond to it.

Port hull has yet to opened, starboard hull hatch ready for sanding and shaping

x

It’s May and all – but a snow shower is not impossible. That might be why Shop and Save is still stocking pure calcium chloride.

Calcium chloride can suck enough water out of frozen air to dissolve and form ice melting brine. I sealed 5 open ziplock bags full of calcium chloride inside the hull. In theory, the interior humidity will drop and the dry air will suck water out of the foam and fiberglass walls. I’ve checked and the walls are much drier while the plastic bags are slick with condensation. Did I mention my high school chemistry and physics grades sucked?

Port hull filled with calcium chloride

x

While the inexorable laws of science cranked away, I picked up my cargo plates from Chuck Hunt of Northern Welding Specialties. Although some of the plates need a little rubber mallet encouragement, they fit fine and seem to be an ideal solution.

These stainless steel plates slip under the lip of the hull…	… enabling straps to cross the top of the hull and keep cargo secure.

x

I also bit the bullet and ordered West Systems 420 aluminum powder to armor the hull bottoms. It should arrive tomorrow afternoon from Bay City, Michigan via UPS ground. With a little luck the repairs will be wrapped by Thursday and ready for touch-up paint.

After this much needed bath I’ll be updating the inventory and taking pictures. There have been a host of minor snafus, to wit… The big tripod won’t fit in the Pelican 1720 cases unless it’s disassembled. The new dive light takes AAA batteries and not AA, which breaks my battery standard. I’ve got to return the extra iPhone bag because there’s no camera window. These are all DK errors, but I’ve aced so many other challenges I can’t complain. WordPress for the iPhone is DOA, let’s trust a reload will fix that.

The 1720 cases that will be strapped to the top of the hulls. The big tripod is to the right of the silver scuba tank.

x

The longer I stay the shorter my summer, so I really do have to get out of Dodge ASAP. Folks ask me – are u close to leaving? I’d like to think so, but there are more interesting questions… eg – As launch approaches, how are you changing Mr Dan Kelly? Ah! Ask me, go on… I dare ya!

The hulls upright and ready for hatch work	View towards Crystal Lake
Close up on starboard hull hatch opening before sanding	ready for paint and installation of the hatch
Cracking at the pylons cleared and filled with 404	Stump crack healed and ready for fairing

Places not managed by humans thrive. What does that tell us? The idea of management is inherently flawed. When we see ourselves as apart and other we become the blight.

Learn from the way, the wilds. Become rather than command.

The mad wasichus wanted the yellow metal, trading mythic cyclical abundance for it’s flash and glitter. A thought contagion sterilizing the future.

If conquistador ETs are just a little far fetched, then let’s try virulent memes. Imagine ideas that can infect and replicate. Imagine an idea that can shut off our drive to survive, like bio weapons shutting down our immune systems. We know ideas flow through culture like breeze through trees. What if ideas evolved too? What if an idea was alive… and toxic? Eek!

What would a cognitive immune system look like? To have tasted the yellow metal madness and recovered. Building immunity to an intriguing idea, even rejecting a complex meme synergy – an entire culture.

Folks misbehaving might be the cognitive immune system at work, attempting to throw off the infection. A hallucinatory fever, madness against madness. Burning off the bad ideas.

Is there such a thing as mental medicine? Can we develop a serum, an infusion, a protocol?

Analogies are fun.

“Our long years of negotiations with foreign countries… have yielded no results this far. With the oil revenues we could meet our entire budget and combat poverty, disease, and backwardness among our people. Another important consideration is that by the elimination of the power of the British company, we would also eliminate corruption and intrigue, by means of which the internal affairs of our country have been influenced. Once this tutelage has ceased, Iran will have achieved its economic and political independence.”

Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddegh explaining why he wanted to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. A CIA and MI6 coup removed him from power and the Anglo Iranian Oil Company became British Petroleum or BP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh

http://www.democracynow.org/ (05-06-10 end of show)

Are we ready? Not quite yet. Fiberglass repairs will take another few days. An ordering snafu has delayed the arrival of some gear. Chuck is fabricating cargo plates that need to be tested. This weekend’s weather forecast is not beach friendly.

It’s official! Launch has been pushed back to May 15. This Saturday’s party is canceled.

Progress is otherwise stellar. Dan Kelchak did a beautiful job on the Larrivee and It’s first coat of armor is on. The body tone still seems to be quite bright. The 1720 Pelican cases are ideal for both guitar and the new 30 cubic ft scuba tank. Winslow’s self silencing torus has arrived and it’s voice is reminiscent of indonesian gamelan and himalayan monasteries.

Here are some fiberglass components fresh from their molds. The collar is intended to reinforce the hull access ports. Note the black stitching showing through where the strips of glass cloth were sewn together – Patrick’s idea. The 5 foot strip was saturated with resin and then wrapped around a circular form to form about 1/4″ thickness. The S shaped bit is a casting of the hull lip and was passed on to Chuck to be used as a guide for the stainless steel cargo plates.

The Larrivee with armor plate. The overlapping edges have to be carefully sanded flush with the guitar’s body.

Winslow’s fabulous torus. Loud! Movie…

Hello World in the rain. Not quite dry dock.

Driving in to Traverse City for another round of errands. Fiberglass repairs are in process. Could wrap primary hull repairs this evening, with fairing and paint by Wednesday (2 days). That’s when I’ll decide whether to launch as planned or push it back.

Here’s today’s to do…

West Marine – 206 hardener (just in case)
Chuck or other fabricator – build cargo plates
Dan Kelchak – Larrivee pickup
Scuba north – 30 cu tank fits Pelican 1720?
Ace Hardware on Front St – sander heads and disks
Oryana – lunch
Aluminum powder?

Woke up with a big happy after an 11 hour crash. About 8:30 pm last night I started nodding and had to lay down. Could have been the wine and lasagna… or just the turnings of mystery.

I clarified my extra-terrestrial conquistador theory to Kari yesterday when she brought over lunch. White euros weren’t themselves aliens by and large, they were just the first to come under alien influence. The white euros established colonies as unwitting agents of ETs, vanquishing native cultures through chicanery and bio-weapons.

This discussion flows from Stephen Hawking’s recent suggestion that maybe we shouldn’t be advertising our presence to the cosmos as we might attract cosmic conquistadors… and end up like the Aztecs or the Incas.

IMHO, it’s not an issue. The Aztecs and Incas didn’t broadcast on shortwave and invite the smelly Spanish to come lay a can of whup ass on ‘em, they got “discovered”. Likewise, we don’t have to worry about attracting space pirates to Earth, they’re already here. That’s why the dominant culture is locked on apocalypse and folks are conditioned to kill themselves. We’ve been infiltrated and double crossed… and most of us have no clue. The best attack is the one the enemy never notices.

Yep, I’m out of the closet. Conspiracy nut – don’t tell me you’re surprised?!

What does this have to do with sailing and sustainability? Most humans really are human but are tranced out, especially regarding their self interest. Using the conquistador analogy, there are certainly way more humans on earth than space invaders. We humans can wake up to what really matters – like a robust global life support system. Global life support is our number one native priority. Anyone who advocates otherwise has an ET’s arm up their shirt, yanking their yack strings.

Sustainability starts with reminding each other who we really are.

Chief Seattle said that the white man’s way was the end of living and the beginning of survival. Now it’s unclear if most folks even know how to survive. Remembering how seems like a great place to start.

By the way, we’ll probably never see a full on space invader until we’re damn close to taking our planet back. So just assume everyone you meet is an authentic earth native. Beyond the raving and occlusion, we can find a way to be a family again.

Since I’m making a movie, I can get away with documenting everything. Writing daily, describing insights and epiphanies ad nauseum. This blog is a strategy for generating interest in the project – coming soon to a theater near you… Clearly I am a social media savvy filmmaker!

Let’s flip it. What if I just had an urge to share, to pass my memes around? What if i just wanted attention, to be listened to? The whole movie thing, even the adventure of sailing Around Lake Michigan solo in 16 foot catamaran… what if it all is just a plea to “look at me!”?

My ex-wife would’ve agreed. She thought that my outgoing and gregarious habits were a sign of deep insecurity. Thus the prefix ex. She might have been right, maybe I was/am deeply insecure… but I think joyful contact and rapport with others is a healing force. Cowering in a closet gets me nowhere.

The path of recovery from addiction starts with recognizing and admitting the addiction. Disabled athletes blow us away because of what they achieve *through* limitation.

We face a world crisis that seems to big to cope with. National governments are puppets to profit and unable to act. It’s frigging scary. What can we do with the fear?

If I am sailing just to get attention, fine. If my limitations can be leveraged to make a miracle, what’s the problem? Driven by my insecurity, perhaps I’ll discover a wonder. If this entire project becomes an enormous public pratfall, a disaster – so what? I’ll take what’s at hand and give it a whirl, painting with the full palette – confidence and insecurity. The creative principle is consciousness. When we pay attention everything becomes useful.

I want to demonstrate the art of glorious mistakes and fortunate accidents. Arthur Dent learned to fly by falling and accidentally missing the ground. We learn when we forget how to fail.

Familiarity breeds contempt, which is another way of saying – fuggedaboudit! Failing is painful at first. The trick is to fail big time, over and over until the novelty wears off. Then try even crazier stuff, schemes so totally out there that eventually genius kicks in and voilà! If not success then at least another blog post.

Yesterday Hello World had a soft landing and went into drydock. Movie!

10-04-28 Hello World soft landing and drydock variable / full screen
10-04-28 Hello World soft landing and drydock fixed size

James Cameron’s life is shifting because of his super blockbuster, Avatar. Democracy Now interviewed Cameron yesterday. Here’s where to find it.

WBAI NYC archive for Tuesday April 27, 2010 8:00am (audio)

Democracy Now archive Tuesday April 27, 2010 (audio or video)

ondesire.com archive mp3 (audio)

Notice how calm I appear? Tomorrow gear should start arriving via ground shipping including the voice of Hello World, Winslow’s Torus. I’m a Taurus too!

Hello World has yet to go into the shop for fiberglass patching, but I think I’ve got everything I need to do the job. We’ll start today.

Total pre launch expenses for services, parts and materials should be under $2500. Deft deployment of the indy filmmaker’s friend – low APR credit cards – makes it possible.

We’re also enjoying amazing gifts and discounts. Patagonia has offered their corporate purchase program to the project, Dan Kelchak is giving a break on the repair of the Larrivee, Winslow is contributing a bell for Hello World, Julie continues to hook us up with pro bono social media guidance and the tribal citizens are activating their networks, both real life and virtual. I expect the generosity and collaboration will continue – it’s awesome and thrilling.

We are not doomed, my friends. Acting together we can turn this around.

Will Around Lake Michigan make it to Cannes or Sundance? It doesn’t matter. The success of a project isn’t measured by critical acclaim or money made – that’s so 20th century. It’s measured in how much hearts open and awareness expands. ALM is already blowing me away because of the resources, humor and love flowing to it.

I put myself out there as the ambassador of an idea – we can discover a sustainable civilization. It’s whacky sure, but doable. The idea basically asserts that humans are not doomed, nor are we inherently toxic. We can be a benign and eventually benevolent presence on the planet. Let’s roll up our sleeves and figure it out, let’s redefine what matters, redesign our desire.

Holy ship that’s huge! What else have you got going on today? Crazy job, messy divorce, health issues? Ok, we’ll give u a couple weeks to square away your troubles and wrap up what’s not working, then you’ve got to come out and play!

Whether or not you dig my clown pirate schtick, we can each ask ourselves what we REALLY want. If we accept suckiness as our destiny, that’s what we’ll get by default. I’ve got nephews, nieces and cool friends who are breeding. I cannot accept suck as their future. I myself want to have a good reason to dance, sing and make an utter fool of myself. “Aw, leave him alone, he saved the planet!”

Be a human for heaven’s sake. Our destiny isn’t supposed to suck!

As Jim Allegro used to say, ideas are alive. This project begins to breathe. We are all coming back to life.

A day driving around and hooking up with experts.

I dropped in to see Chuck of Northern Welding Specialties first, but he wasn’t there. He told me via cell that he was teaching at the college and perhaps we could meet after 3:00. I didn’t get back to his shop until 5:30 and missed him. We talked again and agreed that I can email him some drawings of the cargo brackets I’d like him to fabricate.

Next I swung by the indy Apple store City Mac to pick up a spare power supply for the Macbook Pro. I got to see Zeb and Greg. I also got to touch an IPad. They’ve sold a couple dozen already and Apple is not able to keep them stocked, but that’s typical for new product introductions.

1. √ Macbook Pro power supply [Apple] $80

Rolling down 31 toward town, I pulled into West Marine, a big box vendor and our local supplier of West Systems products for fiberglass repair. Bob sold me 2 x 200 feet of thin anchor line for Hello Word’s double anchors. He had given great guidance last August but I could only afford 2 x 50 feet of line then. The longer lines will allow Hello World to safely anchor in water up to 30 feet, greatly expanding our overnight options. Andy asked me about the trip as I hadn’t seen him since early September 2009. By coincidence he had moored his boat next to Hello World when she was anchored in Grand Traverse Bay. He had also recently come across a scrap of paper in his wallet with the ondesire.com url scribbled on it. A friend saw it too and assumed it was some kind of porn site.

“Hey Andy, what’s that all about, eh?” Nudge, nudge, wink wink!

“On no, it’s this guys sailing blog, honest!”

We also wondered about the guy who had been rigging a 40′ cat for kite sailing and a big ocean trip. He had eventually launched, but neither Andy nor I had heard what happened to him.

1. √ 2 x 200 anchor rope $200

Oryana food coop was the next stop. The managers there let me buy a stack of thin plastic containers provided for bulk nut butters. These and yogurt containers are ideal for mixing fiberglass. I also bumped into Christie and invited her to the launch on May 8.

1. √ x2 paper towels [Seventh Generation] (fiberglass)
2. √ plastic bulk containers [Solo] (fiberglass) $5
3. √ bandaids [All Terrain]
4. √ non deet insect repellent, [Badger]. Green Ban is nor longer stocked.
5. √ x2 ribbon floss [Toms]
6. √ apples, bananas, ginger, carrots, liquid soap [Bronners], bread [Pleasanton Bakeries], cheese [Organic Valley

Down 8th Street from Oryana is Brick Wheels. They had worked on Zilliax's Miyata bicycle last September, but their mechanics were booked up until after My 8th. They recommended City Bikes, so that's where the handlebar replacement, tuning and brake work is happening. Should be ready by 5/6.

I ate some hot rice and beans from Oryana's deli on the ride over to Scuba North. Captain Jack was there, he and Charles Craw had originally certified me as a NAUI diver in the late 80's. Jack recently sold Scuba North but is continuing to work there, in his words, "Now I am making money instead of loosing it!"

My big 80 cubic foot tank is just too bulky and heavy to bring on Hello World. At Scuba North I checked two sizes of pony tanks, 19 cubic feet and 30 cubic feet.  I originally wanted to go with two 19's and Jack explored hooking them together with discontinued fittings. Twining tanks is more common in Europe these days, so there are no USA distributors for new parts. Two small tanks would be easier to fit than one big one, but to use them together during a dive I would either have to buy a 2nd regulator or twin them, European fashion. With the gear Jack had on hand both tanks would have to be empty to break them apart - not a good solution.

Jack also explained that the water accumulation would reduce the capacity of the 19 faster than the 30 and that it would be a good idea to dry the small tanks before every fill. Here's the specs...

19 cubic feet

height = 21"

diameter = 4.5"

wieght = 9 lbs

price = $125

estimated dive time at 30 feet = 19 minutes

30 cubic feet

height = 22.5"

diameter = 5.25"

wieght = 14 lbs

price = $145

estimated dive time at 30 feet = 25 minutes

With a diameter of 5.25", the 30 would just barely fit in the Pelican 1720 rifle cases - .25" to spare. This is probably the way to go, a good balance between the 19 (short dive time) and the 80 (too bulky to carry). I'm going to ponder this a few more days.

1. √ extra backpack strap for small tank [Seaquest] $20
2. √ shoulder pads for backpack [Dive Rite] $16
3. √ repair kit for skin out wetsuit [Aquaseal] $20

I bought a strap to fit a smaller tank to my backpack, padding for the shoulder traps, and aquaseal kits to to fix repair the dings in the Gul skin out wetsuit.

A sweep past along east bay gave me a chance to drop off the thumb drive Jeff had loaned me and to visit Interlochen Guitar and Dan Kelchak, the project’s luthier. My Larrivee parlor guitar was stepped on at a party right after I got it -  almost broke my heart! Dan patched it up, almost good as new. Since then the Larrivee’s been west to the beaches of Hawaii, east to the canyons of NYC and even camped on North Manitou Island. To survive sailing Around Lake Michgan, the Larrivee needs love. Dan and I came up with a plan for rehabilitation. He’s going to reinforce the internal structure, securing delicate wood struts and panels that have broken loose or split. After that, I’ll sand her back and secure the vulnerable injury with fiberglass. Her sound might not be as bright, but she be solid for years to come. His part of the project will run about $200.

1. √ repair Larrivee guitar $200

I dropped off the drowned iPhone at the UPS store for return to Apple. Out of warranty replacement is $200, I should see it this week.

1. √ out of warranty replacement iphone returned to Apple $200

Finally I drove down to Bear Lake to borrow the grinder and fordham tool for the fiberglass repair. Me and the men spent the evening finishing the Firefly TV series on Netflix.

Take my life
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from me

Heading into Traverse City to shop and run errands. Here’s my list…

Oryana

1. bug repellent (no deet) [Green Ban] (1)
2. food

Backcountry

1. paddle head or new paddle
2. sawdust bag (waterproof)

The UPS store 14th or garfield the ups store

1. return iPhone 3GS [Apple]
2. repair ID

Scuba North

1. go see Scuba North ponies 19, 30, 40 cu ft
2. out wetsuit[Gul] in car
   1. repair
3. harness
   1. compatible with dual ponys + PVC dummy?
   2. padding for pec/bicep

Brick Wheels

1. bicycle [Miyata, Steve Zilliax] in car
2. needs tune
3. replace handlebars
4. valve adapter

Dan Kelchak

1. Parlor Guitar [Larrivee] repair, stabilize back [Kelchak]

City Mac

1. laptop power supply [Apple Computer Macbook power supply] (1)

West Marine

1. West Systems faring and structure supplies
2. mixing cups (yogurt containers – recycled)
3. paper towels
4. x2 200 ft of line (30 ft depth x ~5-7)
5. sample line in car

Sailsport Marine

1. extra rivets for the jib traveler tracks (tight, no play)
2. rudder (spare)

Jeff’s house

1. drop off thumb drive

Richfield Trailer Supply 470 Us Highway 31 231-943-4700

1. flat hook straps

Shop and Save (Benzonia)

1. tape measure
2. white gas
3. 20′ rope, 30′ drawstring, 200′ twine
4. zip locks
5. x5 NiMH 9v battery (2)
6. x20 NiMH AA batteries (4)
7. jumper cables
8. grinder

Bear Lake

1. fordham tool
2. bits

Much ordering, inspections and organization. I’m driving up to Traverse City tomorrow or Tuesday for a shopping day.

Fiberglass work has not started, I expect to prep the garage for Hello World today and maybe even get her in there. Structural damage is spread over 5 spots totaling 1 square foot in area. The hull bottoms need to be faired and all repairs painted.

Compared to last fall’s rebuild, this work should take about 5 days from prep to paint. As long as there are no surprises once repairs start, launch will be on schedule. I’ll be posting progress.

I’m introducing a new variable to the equation – saddlebags. The idea is to deploy uncrushable waterproof storage so the Larivee parlor guitar can come along. One scenario involves strapping Pelican 1720 rifle cases between the hulls and tramp. I could also keep them on “on deck” and eliminate one of the big dry bags.

The cases weigh 20 lbs each. Hello World can carry 500 lbs but I want to stay well under the max and only carry 400 lbs. I weigh about 180 lbs + 40 lbs of cases = 220 lbs total. That leaves 180 lbs for gear or the equivalent of three decent sized backpacks – 1 for wilderness camping, 1 for production / power and 1 for scuba. Don’t forget the bike. Doable.

On the Master Checklist, orange text is for items that need to be inspected, tested or acquired. Green text is for items ordered. Checked items are on hand and ready to go. Monitor our progress towards launch on the Master Checklist… like watching spring shoots poke up out the dirt!

http://www.ondesire.com/2010/04/18/master-checklist-alm-2010/

It’s 5:15 am, a bit early for me to be up. On my way back to bed after taking a leak I knocked over a mason jar of water. Groping in the dark for some clothes, towels – anything to mop it up… remembering belatedly to snatch my phone and computer from harm’s way. Loathe to turn on the lights and spoil my natural melatonin rush. Disaster narrowly averted, except I didn’t much feel like falling asleep after. Time then for the morning post.

Dream before I kicked over the water… A friend and I were kissing, (let’s call her Eve). I said I was waiting for her to take a break so we could be together. She said she never took breaks. I know there’s something there for me.

47 is old, at least to my 17 year old self image. Back when I first discovered intimacy and connection – I guess I just got stuck there. I still feel the world with the heart of a cocky teenager, only more confidently. A sensual and intimate kid, deeply romantic, a sex god – I knew that I wasn’t destined for hearth and home. My passion wasn’t going to wear down and find a familiar groove. The way of the lone wolf was waiting.

I don’t have a steady lover – that’s the point. There’s possibilities, prospects but my attention strays. I can’t cozy down with anything less than the ultimate… so keep moving. Settling for less seems like capitulation, the end of dreams. Rather, let me howl in the desolate heath and run wild, forgotten.

What does my love status have to do with a boat ride, the earth, anything? There must be some reason (other than back story) to touch this. Standing on a whale, fishing for minnows. That’s the dream life by analogy. The big awakening is right here, yet we scramble for tiny insights. What does that dream mean?

It means get up sucker and get ready. Only 13 days until you’re married to wind.

A brief postscript.  While I was sleeping, my excellent brother became the 2nd most viewed male on a popular (and competitive) online dating site, and he’s 10 years older than me… Way to go, bro!

Beautiful. Inventory and ordering continues today, with a bit of general organization around the house.

Yesterday I became 6.5 lbs heavier when I started wearing a scuba weight belt. Carrying extra weight is an easy way to challenge the body and build strength, even when just walking around the house. I ran 3 miles with it too and felt fine. A year or two back I owned a weight vest designed for training firefighters but sold it after a few months. It was too much of a hassle to wear it with less than 15 lbs. The belt I hardly notice.

I’ve been writing for an hour just about every day for the past few weeks. That’s the drill with any serious practice – do it daily. My writing might improve if i keep this up, imagine that! Once on the water it could be challenging to keep the longer posts coming. I may only be able to check in on days of easy wind.

Gear ahoy!

Getting close now. Order of operations seems to be holding together, it’s spooky that I’m mostly on schedule. Everything can go right between now and launch… it’s possible.

I am noticing more, recognizing the unfolding of a larger story. A lot of ideas to fit into a coherent movie… I guess I started this, mostly just made myself available and let the pieces fall into place. Is this what I want?

How it began… On location in 2006 shooting my first movie with a budget. For the next two years I spent most of my days free climbing the first movie learning curve. Daughter of God – http://dogthemovie.com. I kept the fridge full with freelance production work for NYC dancers.

In 2008 I spent yet another perfectly good summer sweating in a tiny apartment staring at screens. The DOG project has merit and is worth finishing, will be finished. Is anything worth giving up a whole summer of diving Crystal’s blue, of running barefoot in the forest, of waking up to waves lapping?

Here’s the deal… Daughter of God is set in a post apocalyptic world, it’s a post apocalyptic surreal romantic comedy, sinister in the sense that some humans still dream of asphalt plains resplendant with the snaking migrations of countless multi-colored cars. It’s over tho, human population has been devastated, industrial infrastructure deleted and nature is reclaiming the cities. Certainly there’s toxic aftermath, sure the survivors are traumatized, but they dress snappy!

Meanwhile, back in RL I’m listening to Democracy Now every morning on WBAI radio. Assembling a fictional apocalypse seems pretty pointless when an actual apocalypse is nigh – I can never match the Pentagon’s special fx budget, let alone Gaia herself.

I wondered… Is DOG the best use of my time right now? Wouldn’t I rather be swimming? How about that super hero correspondence course I just aced?

That’s the setup. In the autumn of 2008 Kai invited me to make a documentary about sailing in Hawaii and – of course – sustainability… Well? What would Jesus do?

That was earth momma’s little joke. Come summer 2009, Kai abandoned Desire and Pele for a motor sailor… and I noticed there was a 30 year old Hobie Cat in my driveway.

Is this what I want? To act as an agent of Earth disguised as a pirate filmmaker? Hours drifting wind free followed by contact improv with Shiva? Three months of wilderness occasionally interupted with regionally brewed stouts and porters? The making of a saint?

I say, Yes.

Are we feeling it? Today was the last day of asking for a while. I’ve contacted Apple, Brunton, Verizon, Patagonia and Light and Motion asking for help with ALM, gear mostly. Patagonia already said no. In the process I learned that Yvon Chouinard never uses a computer, ever – not even email. I assume that means no Google either, no Wikipedia, no Youtube, no Netflix and definitely no Facebook. Can you imagine? No FACEBOOK?!

Kari and I talked about something else last night. She’s not a big science fiction buff, but I asked her if she had seen the first Terminator – cause that’s illustrates where I am at.

Remember when the scary Terminator shows up in the club to kill Sarah Conner, and she realizes it’s coming for her? She’s skittering around the bar and folks are dropping like flies from gun blasts – it’s madness, chaos, apocalypse. Just as she about to be snuffed there’s a moment of reprieve as Kyle counter attacks, temporarily disabling the Terminator. Kyle reaches his hand to Sarah and says the immortal line – “Come with me if you want to live.”

That’s ALM by analogy. “Come with me if you want to live.” We’re in trouble for sure, the Terminator is about to get up and waste our sorry asses. We can lie down and watch the world fry, wallow in our own ignorance and trauma or we can bust a move. We need some workable strategies, now.

Well, I’ll have to yank a few more corporate chains on Friday but it’s 10:oo pm and time to turn in. Sweet dreams all.

Kari was over last night for dinner and we talked about guns, earthships and vision quests. She used a big cutting board as a model of Hello World, sliding it back and forth on the counter top as if it were tossed in a slow motion tempest. She talked about her training for scuba and snorkle and how you always take a buddy on the water.

“Doing what you are about to do, alone on the water, says you are willing to die for what you are willing to live for. It’s a prayer out there.”

I mentioned that I wasn’t sure whether it was Geronimo or Crazy Horse, (it was Roman Nose) who laid down on a tiny raft and got stormed on for 4 days. After that bullets couldn’t touch him.

I never thought about this aspect of the trip. Sitting with the awareness this morning I felt reluctant to even relate our conversation – but this is an open source inspired project.

Those who are ready to read this post will. Those who are following and paying attention may share my epiphany. Wow. That about covers it.

Joe Campbell advocated following your bliss. Bliss or passion. Zeal. Zealot.

Back around again to desire. What do we want? Are we ready to have what we want, where that takes us? Each of us has a built in compass that we’ve been taught to fear. Humans are only clever animals after all, they’ll rape and murder given half a chance. Our nature is savage, red in tooth and claw. Monsters from the id, Morbius.

If we buy that, then desire is the last thing we’d ever dare to explore. Desire comes from our nature, desire = nature. See where this is going? By denying our desire we deny our nature and that’s how trivial and self destructive life ways are imposed upon us.

Ah, what a grand opera this truly is, I begin to see it now. Over and over authentic experience has been replaced with the mediocre, the slaughtered labeled savages and erased from history. That’s why we’ve got to keep digging up so called sustainability and relearn it, reimplement it, re-remember it. Taught to fear what we are.

What am I?

take me, sneak up and surround me
smother me in the unknown, unseen
unfathomed
the darkness of depth, underwater
danger and cold
almost death only to awaken
live again, breath in sunlight
but I lie a little
you are not a cold night nor dangerous
merely mysterious
warm and friendly in fact
at least as April nights in Michigan go

You might notice an unusual use of pronouns in this project. “We” usually replaces “I” when discussing the trip. That’s because Hello World has it’s own identity and presence, it’s not just Dan Kelly sailing Around Lake Michigan, it’s Dan Kelly and Hello World. When sailing we become a cybernetic / symbiotic fusion of two sentient beings, so technically “I” would be appropriate, but we’re not always sailing. Sometimes she and I are lounging on the beach or rolling at anchor in the swells.

How can Hello World be a “she”? I mentioned our symbiotic rapport when under sail. If the wind is wild, the edges between boat and Dan blur. My senses stretch – I feel the taughtness of the sail, hear the singing of the wires – every creak and twist of the hulls are happening in my own body. Comparing it to sex is a cliche – it’s sex with deep trust on the edge of oblivion. It’s sex to stay alive.

Once initiated into this mystery, one can’t help but see the radiant goddess in curves of fiberglass, swishing nylon and aluminum arches. She too is an artifact of the industrial age – love has no limits. Americans can learn to cherish sailboats and earthships as much as they loved their hydrocarbon powered cars, maybe more. Take heart.

Another unique use of “we” and “us” is in reference to the tribe. Everyone who’s thinking about the trip, telling friends about it or helping to make it possible is traveling along with Hello World and Dan Kelly. Even without blog posts or tweets, I can feel your attention and presence. We are all doing this together.

What’s today about? The schedule is already slipping but that’s to be expected. We’ll have to make daily adjustments as launch approaches. Concentrating on core issues, getting ready to go.

The master checklist is about 90% complete and posted. It will be revised right up to launch day as I sort, verify and (if needed) repair items. Borrowed, contributed and purchased gear will be arriving next week.

The itinerary was posted yesterday, but it’s really just a sketch. Short of having Edgar Cayce or Nostradamus on the team, there’s no way to know our schedule in advance. The itinerary has two functions – to provide a rough idea of where Hello World and I need to be and when so that the trip can wrap well before the snow flies (August) AND to inspire the tribe to think about artifacts and where they may be – specific people and places. We’re getting action on that already.

Cultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places. It focuses on describing and analyzing the ways language, religion, economy, government and other cultural phenomena vary or remain constant, from one place to another and on explaining how humans function spatially.

Just ran 4 miles, 2 backward in 21:00 minutes or 10:50 minutes/miles and 2 forward in 16:11 minutes or 8:05/minutes/mile for a total of 37:11 minutes. The backwards miles are amazing, just keep tossing the feet behind and trust.

Around Lake Michigan route 2010, version 1.0. Subject to change by whim, weather, clues, portents and synchronicity.

Actual

Point Betsie to Elberta Beach, Elberta, Michigan arrive 10-06-01
Arcadia Lake, Arcadia, Michigan arrive 10-06-02 depart 10-06-05
North of Portage Lake, Michigan arrive 10-06-05 depart 10-06-06
Ludington, Michigan arrive 10-06-06 depart 10-06-08
South of Big Sable Point arrive 10-06-06 depart 10-06-08
Grand Haven, Michigan arrive 10-06-12 depart 10-06-14
Holland Saugatauk Dunes Natural Area, Saugatauk, Michigan arrive 10-06-15, depart 10-06-23
Kalamazoo, Michigan arrive 10-06-16 depart 10-06-20 (side trip)

Actual daily average = 134 miles /23 days = 5.8 miles/day
Required daily average to complete trip by August 31  = (1600 miles total – 130 miles so far) / 67 days remaining as of 10-06-23 = 21 miles/day

Projected

Benton Harbor, Michigan 2 days
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore 1 day
Gary, Indiana + Industrial and Airport 2 days
Chicago, Illinois + Fermilab + Field Museum 5 days
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Milwaukee + Arkham House
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Escanaba + Little Bay Du Noc, Michigan
Big Bay du Noc + Garden Penninsula
Manistique, Michigan
Seul Choix, Michigan
Beaver Island
Naubinway, Michigan
Epoulette Bay, Michigan
West Moran Bay, Michigan
Mackinac Bridge, Michigan
Wilderness State Park, Michigan
Cross Village, Michigan
Little Traverse Bay, Michigan
Charlevoix, Michigan
Torch Lake, Michigan
East Grand Traverse Bay
West Grand Traverse Bay
Suttons Bay
Northport
Leland
North Manitou
South Manitou
Empire
Point Betsie

Toby suggested…
Betty the Stuffed Sleigh Dog:
Address: 6054 124th Ave., Fennville, MI [Show Map]
Directions: I-196 exit 34. Hwy 89 (124th Ave.) east about three miles to Crane’s Pie Pantry. On the right.
Phone: 269-561-2297

Sunny and chill by the lake this morning. Working through the recently posted order of operations, taking inventory and building lists. I expect to be asking this afternoon and into tomorrow – contacting a few key companies and inviting them to collaborate with gear and services. I’ll also have a list of companies whose products are already part of project. They can be approached later for help with post-production.

The lists also provide a trail of breadcrumbs for those who might like to replicate the Search in their own locale. Low impact exploration doesn’t have to involve sailing or even extensive travel – future artifacts are everywhere. The lists are modules – camping, hiking, sailing, cooking, production – that are applied to fit the situation.

Building, revising and simplifying these lists is a wonderful process. Limiting my life to just what I can carry on a boat is liberating. Being ready for whatever might arise, I can feel truly home – wherever I go. At ease. Present.

My methods will determine my results. By asking what minimum requirements are, I’m tuning into what really matters. I think that’s the basis of this whole project. Desire is what really matters most. I want to live, I want to be warm, I want to eat. The lists answer these fundamental questions.

Handling the fundamentals I suddenly realize that I’m free – everything else is clutter, distraction and entanglement. Amusing perhaps, convenient, attractive… but being able to let all of that go – that’s the beginning of the discovery. If I can find future sustainable civilizations, it will be because I am able to thow off the fetters of the present civilization, to drift free from it’s assumptions and imperatives. Empty and open to a simplier way, starting with survival.

revised 10-05-23

Light

1. √ flashlight [Sure Shot]
2. √ dive flashlight [Intova]
3. √ x4 lighter
4. √ x3 chemical light sticks
5. √ candle lantern
6. √ x5 candles
   

Hygiene Health and First Aid

1. √ scissor
2. √ tweezor
3. √ utility knife
4. √ finger nail clipper
5. √ bandaids
   
6. √ cotton swabs
7. √ hair ties x6
8. √ electric razor
9. √ floss [Toms]
   
10. √ 3x toothbrush heads [Fuchs]
11. √ toothbrush [Fuchs}
    

Shaman Rx

1. aspirin
2. √ cold sore (september)
   
3. √ sunscreen [Dr Hauschka]
4. √ x2  bug repellent (no deet) [Green Ban] (1)
   
5. √ Niacinamide Gel [LifeLink]
6. R-alpha lipoic acid [LifeLink]
7. immune boost [Banyan botanicals immune support]
8. √ Beta glucans [LifeLink]
9. CoQ10 [LifeLink]
10. melatonin [LifeLink]
11. √ Dinindolyl methane (DIM) [LifeLink]
12. √ Quercetin
13. Lugal solution
14. Steve’s skin saver
    
15. B-12 [LifeLink]
16. Zheng gu Shui (bone water)
17. Wan hua oil (joints)
18. Ching Wan Hung (burn medicine)
19. oregano oil
20. sage
    

Reference library

1. √ weather [Weather 1957]
2. √ writing [Elements of Style, Strunk and White]
3. √ first aid [Wilderness Medicine Beyond First Aid, Forgey]
4. √ ropes [Ropes, Knots and Slings for Climbers, Wheelock]
5. √ scuba [NAUI Openwater I Training]
6. √ sailing [Catamaran Sailing from Start to Finish, Phil Berman]
   
7. lyrics
8. spanish[Pimsleur]
9. tai chi forms video [Ru]
   1. √ sword
      

revised 10-05-31

1. √ x2 socks wool [Icebreaker]
2. √ x2 underwear poly/merino
3. √ x2 underwear cotton (1)
   
4. √ merino top [Icebreaker Bodyfit 260 XL]
5. √ x2 merino bottom [Icebreaker Bodyfit 260 L] (1)
6. √ black cargo pants
7. √ pile pullover
8. √ wind/rain shell [Patagonia]
9. ASK *** wind/rain pants [Patagonia]
10. √ pile baklava
11. √ wool gloves cut-off
12. √ shorts [Patagonia]
13. √ bandana
14. √ dress shirt
15. √ sailing and surf shoes [Vibram Five Fingers]
16. √ hiking boots [Blundstones]
17. √ sun hat
18. √ pack towel

1. √ submersible VHF – [iCom M72]
2. ASK *** iPhone 3GS [Apple]
3. √ dry bag [Aquapac]
4. √ iPhone back-up [Apple]
5. √ dry bag [Aquapac]
6. √ Mifi [Verizon]
   1. √ Mifi interface USB
   2. √ Mifi power
   3. ASK *** summer connection

revised 10-05-19

This is based on the 09-08-31 Master Checklist, posted only 5 days before the September launch. We’re posting this 18 days before launch – that’s progress.

revised 10-05-31

Launching 23 days late and this will be the final review. Yikes, so much for progress.

1. Survival
   1. warmth
      1. shelter
         1. √ tent, poles, stakes [The North Face]
            1. check
               
         2. √ sleeping bag [The North Face, Cats Meow 2001]
         3. √ sleeping bag [Montbel, Ultra Light Alpine Burrow bag #3 2008]
         4. √ foam roll /  yoga matte [Gaiam]
         5. √ x2 tarp 4′ x 8′
         6. 20′ rope, 30′ drawstring, 200′ twine
      2. sailing wetsuit / drysuit
         1. √ skin out wetsuit[Gul]
            1. repair
         2. √ booties
            1. replace w/warmer
               
         3. √ hood
         4. ASK *** drysuit
      3. clothes – link
   2. water
      1. √ water bottles x4 [Nalgene]
      2. √ ceramic filter pump [MSR]
         1. check
      3. √ dual use – see Hello World/righting/big bucket
         
   3. cooking
      1. √ locking pot with lid
      2. √ big family pot
      3. √ 4 x bowls
      4. √ 4 x spoons
      5. √ dish soap [Ecover]
      6. √ scrungy
      7. √ wooden spoon
      8. √ paring knife
      9. √ white gas stove [MSR Whisperlite]
         1. check
      10. √ x2 fuel bottle large [MSR]
          1. fill
   4. √ food
      1. √ grains (make link)
   5. √ sanitation
      1. √ portable composting toilet
         1. √ prep
      2. √ sawdust bag (waterproof)
         
   6. sundries – link
2. Hello World [Hobie Cat]
   1. checked and repaired
      1. hull structure
         1. √ starboard bottom hole from rock impact, possibly near dune buggy blowouts UP
         2. √ starboard hull ratching hook dents under lip ~5
         3. √ port dent from stump pre 2009 launch
         4. √ ratcheting hook dents under lip ~5
         5. √ install hatches
         6. √ fair hatch surround
         7. √ reinforce inner hull under hatch
         8. √ fair and armor keels
         9. √ plate first impact
         10. safety patch
             
      2. inspect
         1. √ frame
         2. √ lines, shrouds
         3. √ mast
         4. √ rudders
         5. √ sails [Whirlwind]
         6. √ remove Hobie logo
         7. √ shock cord for trapeze (10-05-13)
         8. √ main traveler (10-05-13)
            1. thread lock main traveler
         9. √ big bucket righting system
            1. √ test
         10. √ ditty bag
         11. toolkit
         12. spare parts
         13. √ paddle head or new paddle (10-05-13)
         14. √ harness with back support and spreader hook [Murrays] (10-05-13)
         15. √ hull graphics
         16. √ x4 baolong fenders (10-05-13)
   2. Tools
      1. tools – link
   3. Legal
      1. √ Passport
      2. √ Hello World registration
      3. √ x4 vds – water proof flares [Orion]
      4. √ air horn with bike pump [Ecohorn]
      1. √ torus bell [Winslow]
      1. √ x2 life preservers for trapeze [Stohlquist]
      2. √ x1 white light
      3. √ x1 red/green light
      4. √ x2 light mount and safety line
      5. √ x2 anchor, 6 feet chain with buoy
      6. √ x2 200 ft of anchor line (30 ft depth x ~5-7)
      7. √ x2 45 ft of line (5-7 ft depth separate or 12-18 ft combined)
   4. Navigation
      1. √ gps and charts iPhone application [iNavX]
      2. √ x2 compass [Engineer] [something that won't explode or fog up]
         
   5. Production and Power
      1. production and post kit – link [Canon] [Apple]
   6. Communication
      1. √ submersible VHF – [iCom M72]
      2. ASK *** iPhone 3GS [Apple]
         1. √ dry bag [Aquapac]
            
      3. √ iPhone back-up [Apple]
         1. √ dry bag [Aquapac]
      4. √ Mifi [Verizon]
         1. √ Mifi interface USB
         2. ASK *** summer connection
   7. Bags and straps
      1. √  backpack – [The North Face Snow Leopard 1991]
      2. √ backpack – [The North Face Technical 1995]
         1. needs repair
      3. √ dry bag backpack x2 [Seal line 115 2009]
      4. √ fanny pack dry bag x2 [Seal Line Sealpack 2009]
      5. √ messenger bag with shoulder and waist strap [Tenba]
      6. √ compression stuff sack [Granite Gear]
      7. √ x6 large stuff sacks [Granite Gear] [Sea to Summit]
      8. √ x7 small stuff sacks [Outdoor Research] [Granite Gear]
      9. √ x2 Pelican 1720NF Long Case without Foam Black 20lbs w/foam ~$400
      10. √ x8 climbing carabiners [Black Diamond
          
      11. √ x4 climbing carabiners locking [Omega Pacific]
      12. √ x12 H16 cargo plates [Dan Kelly and Chuck Hunt]
          
   8. Scuba and Snorkle
      1. ASK *** waterproof enclosure for Vixia [Light and Sound Bluefin] [Gates]
      2. √ waterproof enclosure for Vixia (shallows and light duty waterproof) [Aquapac]
      3. √ pony scuba tank 30 cu ft [Luxfer]
         
      4. √ pressure gauge [Cessi]
      5. √ harness
         1. √ adjusted straps removed shoulder release
         2. √ compatible with dual ponys?
         3. √ padding for pec/bicep
      6. √ regulator [Seaquest]
         1. √ purchased 87 rebuilt 7/09
      7. √ mask [Mares]
      8. √ snorkel [US Divers]
      9. √ x2 fins [Mares]
      10. √ x2 weight belt
      11. √ x4 dive weights
      12. √ flag
      13. flag mount
      14. √ NAUI card
      15. √ bag for mask and snorkle
      16. √ check mask for leaks
          
      17. √ mesh bag for all gear
   9. Landing
      1. √ bicycle [Miyata, Steve Zilliax]
         1. needs service
         2. replace handlebars
      2. √ aircraft cable (cargo)
      3. √ ratcheting straps (square ends not hooks)
      4. √ heavy duty chain and lock [American]
      5. valve adapter
   10. Art
       1. √ jbells
       2. *** ASK soft chaulk [Prang]
       1. √ Parlor Guitar [Larrivee] 36.25 x 13.25 x 4.5
          1. needs repair [Kelchak]
          2. armor [Dan Kelly]
             
   11. Logistics
       1. √ trailer

Time for a list of lists, a preliminary inventory. With 19 days left, we’ve got to design the optimal sequence of actions. To avoid the carbon cost of airplane flight, new gear needs to be shipped ground which means ordering within the week. Gear requests should be started first so we’ve got to decide what we want and who we are going to ask by Monday.

One of the prerequisites for asking is an effective introduction to the project. This is where the mini-movie fits in and it’s several days behind schedule. We are just going to have to make requests based on written materials with references to the long running video excerpts. There are five components to our collaboration proposal – a good idea (√), a coherent and workable plan (√), established distribution channels eg Ondesire.com, Facebook and Twitter (√), a documented mob (growing) and an articulate introduction (pending). Having a non profit umbrella would also be helpful so that contributions would be tax deductible. Since I missed my NP liaison last month, I doubt I could set this up before June 1, so I may just have to skip that. Perhaps it’s worth a phone call.

Monica Evans asked about making cash donations to the project. The trip itself is not all that expensive because it’s designed to be replicable/low budget/low impact, but post-production after the trip could cost $30k for labor and services. Asking for money doesn’t have to happen before launch, but it wouldn’t hurt to identify prospects now. I could then schedule several days during the trip to make these requests.

The origins, an overview. I’ve written deeply about the inspiration and origins of the project. Along with completing and posting the mini-movie, linking to the most articulate of these posts is vital. Methinks it might be a good idea to link first (today) and the sort out the mini-movie immediately after.

We’ve can instantly develop a starting inventory by linking to last September’s checklists, and then replace them with updates. They will also be helpful in identifying gear collaborators.

Posting our itinerary will not only trigger suggestions from the tribe about where to go and who to see, but other potential collaborators.

Finally, Hello World needs glass and rigging repair. There’s about a week worth of labor plus curing time after each patch, so this has got to begin no later than day 14 on the countdown.

So – here’s the  order of operations draft…

19 days

• inventory/checklist rebuild 4/18

• introduction with links to inspiration and origins 4/18

• inventory revised with potential collaborators identified 4/18

• mini-movie 4/18+

18 – 16 days

• asks initiated 4/19 – 4/21 + mini-movie

• itinerary posted

17 -15 days

• ordering 4/22 – 4/23 + mini-movie

14 days

• Hello World repair 4/24+

12 – 10 days

• ordering and ask follow up 4/26-4/28

9 – 8 days

• provisions 4/29-4/30

• hulls complete and float test

7 days

• preliminary pack 5/1

• trailer and transport arranged

6 – 5 days

• final orders and provisions 5/2-5/3

4 – 2 days

• complete Hello World repairs and adjustments 5/4-5/6

1 days

• final pack 5/7

0 days

• trailer to E beach, launch party, overnight 5/8

ALM 1

• launch 5/9

Here are the general questions which helped me to develop this post.

Who can help, what companies are already involved?

What companies could be involved?

What’s the itinerary so far?

What does Hello World need to be water ready?

What provisions and consumables are needed?

The On Desire tribe reached it’s objective yesterday of 100+ fans for the Facebook page and the Around Lake Michigan movie project.

“This milestone demonstrates that we’ve got a solid core of kick ass collaborators,” said Dan Kelly, ALM’s guide. “Everyone knows that the fool in front of the camera is just the red ribbon on the birthday present, a bit of whipped cream on top of the sundae. We’ve got one hell of a Sundae going down here – the works! Bananas, several flavors of ice cream, nuts… all organic and fair trade of course. Most important though, remember the big dirt ball underneath – Earth. You can’t have a sundae or much of anything without a life friendly planet, well cared for and robust.”

No one was quite sure what Kelly meant by all this, but his delivery was very enthusiastic and animated.

Angela Saxon was one of several newly recruited fans who had no idea what they was signing on for,

“now i’ve gotta figure out what On Desire is all about…”

Due to the hypnotic nature of the Facebook interface, Luke Kelly and Winslow Morgan were able to induce a powerful Svengali effect, as evidenced by Mikayla Bajtka’s and Tim Howard’s posts,

“oh yah i think thats the one my friend luke told me to join lol.”

“OK winslow I fan-ed up”

Though effective, outright bullying triggered residual resentment, as evidenced by this response from the project’s potential spiritual advisor Victoria Weinstein,

“Yo mo-fo, I did it. Okay?”

“Whatever it takes,” responded Kelly. He said some other stuff too but folks were certainly more interested in the naked swim advertised to celebrate the 100 fan milestone. Dan and the project fabrication specialist, Patrick Kelly estimated the water temperature to be in the 40-45 degree F range. Why cherries? It’s Michigan. Roll the video.

10-04-16 Swim to celebrate 101 Facebook fans variable / full screen
10-04-16 Swim to celebrate 101 Facebook fans fixed size

This is an all points bulletin. Facebook fans are needed at…

http://facebook.com/ondesire

The Facebook interface is halt and lame – I can’t argue with that. It’s a sinister black ops app, designed to identify stylish shamans and target them for liquidation – Quite so.  Casino theory has been implemented in it’s design to suck time and life force from it’s victims / members – Yes, obviously.

Fret not, we’re infiltrating the infrastructure and turning the whole scheme topsy turvy. This page is blessed, so FAN like crazy! Here it is again…

http://facebook.com/ondesire

Here’s a rough sketch of an introduction to artifacts, one of the components that’ll help explain and set-up the Search for Sustainable Civilizations. I’m running late on the mini-movie / extended trailer, let’s see what happens this weekend.

Without further eloquence…

Richard Burris, Artifacts (full screen)

or

Richard Burris, Artifacts (smaller but more compatible)

I just ran 4.5 miles in 36 minutes, so I’m down to 8 minute miles. Steadily building my wind – feels good. I have a tentative date with Brook this weekend to do the entire Swami Bua workout. I’ve being practicing pretty consistently since I returned from Brooklyn and I can feel my flexibility flowing back.

I am just about ready to release the Dick Burris / Peru sequence which I hope gives a folksy intro to the concept of artifacts.

Winslow the blacksmith has been talking about a bell for Hello World on Facebook, but I kinda hate FB’s interface so I thought it would be easier to post some illustrations here and then make some comments.

It’s important that a bell be somewhere where it can’t brain your favorite sailor in big winds. Also, it’s important that I’m able to ring it when needed and silence it completely when not. If it could be set so that wave action makes it ring, this would be handy at night and in fog. With these criteria in mind, there are two places to mount a bell, A under the bridal shroud lines (an inverted v of aircraft cable that runs from the bow of each hull and connecting just below the sail and B at the end of the main sail boom. The boom swings around a lot but the very end doesn’t ever cross the trampoline – where the sailor is stationed.

An advantage of having it at B is that it’s more accessible to the sailor. Location A might be more stylish.

Any shape of bell can be mounted at A or B. Winslow has presented a bike bell sort of design that looks interesting. He choose this primarily to minimize a tapered edge like one might find at the bottom of a bell shaped bell. Traditional bell tapers would act like a meat cleaver given a little momentum.

Since locations A and B are not near the sailor, a traditional bell would be ok. It’s really up to Winslow. Since he is offering his energy and unique vision to the project, I want to give him space to express himself. Along with the criteria mentioned above, it should be no bigger than 6-12 inches in height and not much heavier than 10 lbs.

Beauty is a feeling and this morning I have it. It’s the combination of rapport, getting fit and making progress.

In the past two days I’ve reconnected with Brook Hash, Susan Gilbert and tonight Kari Tomashik will be stopping in for a bite. My excellent nephews and I ran hard yesterday. I need a few more days on the mini movie / extended trailer but I may have figured out how to introduce the idea of future artifacts.

Still and gray tho it be today, the momentum of spring is near. Life is stewing and brewing, electric green is sizzling up though the concrete and lighting up the tips of twigs. This is a wave I can ride – renewal, awakening.

The solar panels will deploy, the wind pumps sway and twist. It’s the sun harvest and the global life support system, extant. Welcome back miracle and much thanks. Show me the science and I’ll show you the presence, live and direct.

Let me be as useful as an early leaf today, stretched taught and crispy in the brisk new day.

Calm and serene – that was the mantra of the Marietta college freshman crew team. Yeah, we were buff brothers and precisely sychronized, but coach Ralph Lindamood (1922-2001) was a savvy old coot, he knew relaxation was the third leg of the high performance tripod. He had us trained up in a sort of self hypnosis meditation tecnique. We won like crazy, our tiny Ohio College trounced team after team. It’s the tradition in crew for the loosing boats to give thier shirts to the winning boat. I didn’t need to buy a t-shirt for 10 years.

I tell this story because we can be strong and smart, but for a truly stellar outcome it helps to chill out. Get centered. I know a martial arts teacher who is exceptionally lethal and when he dances in combat he smiles. Not the manic grin of a psycho killer, but the easy smile of someone having fun – without a care in the world.

I’ve brawled as a kid, truly angry punching and grappling. What’s more stressful than fighting? What I’ve learned is that intense fear/rage is counter productive in combat. Stress makes me a casualty. It’s the same in life.

With 25 days left before launch, I could be getting worried. Three weeks may not be enough time to get everything together. Being unprepared could mean either failure to make the movie or even failure to survive. The later I leave the later my return and the colder the weather gets. I may not be looking at a balmy September like 2009.

You know what? Worrying about it won’t help. The most productive place to be in this crisis is calm, empty even. I woke up this morning feeling exceptionally relaxed and easy. It’s getting down to the wire and I’m right there, with an odd sort of smile on my kisser.

Lovely chill morning. Yesterday I surprised a fox as I came out of the house. Sienna and umber, pretty big too. He wasn’t in a huge hurry, eventually trotting off past the nitrogen accumulator (outhouse). Last Friday I passed a momma fox and her kits lounging on some cottage stairs. It’s still too early for most of the lake houses to be occupied, so the foxes have carte blanche. Never seen so many that I can recall.

Today I continue with the mini movie. I need to amp up the global life support system sequence. I think it happens after Larry does MIR the first time. Then we’ll show iconic examples of life support, balance maintained in the face of entropy. Examples from NASA, scuba and science fiction. When we play Larry the second time, we’ll be into the connection between Hello World and MIR with the rebuild and packing. The next question will be – why? Why go on this trip?

I edited a short sequence with Dick on Beaver Island, tho the sound quality isn’t stellar. He’s a mason with 68 years of experience, 40 of those working with stone. He talked about his trip to Peru and the stones there – artifacts of a technology (and perhaps even a worldview) that we moderns don’t understand.

The Peruvian stones/culture sequence leads to the trip’s premise.

“We assume that modern industrial capitalistic civilization is the pinnacle of human achievement, but if ancient people could do things that we can’t what else are we missing? If our civilization isn’t the most advanced, what does advancement look like? Certainly future civilizations must be sustainable – in accord with the planetary life support system – because we can’t stay suicidal indefinitely. We expect our kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews to have a future. Certainly to survive and even to thrive. Sustainable civilizations must emerge within the next 10-15 years. Since entire civilizations don’t just pop up overnight, they must *already* be in the process of emerging. We should be able to poke around and find evidence of future sustainable civilizations everywhere, right now. Just like the stones in Peru are artifacts of an advanced ancient civilization, so too there must be artifacts of advanced future civilizations. Can we find these artifacts and figure out what they imply, what they are pointing towards?”

“What does an artifact of a future sustainable civilization look like? How do we go about searching for them? I think it starts with asking the right questions… Listen to this talk I had with Ritch Branstrom and see if you hear any clues about the future.”

Ritch interview (already edited).

Review Ritch’s “artifacts”, bullet points.

Conclusion / credits

This is calling card weekend, three days to create a short movie that explains the project. I’ve already got a 40 minute rough cut of the September trip (presented at the Evening of Exploration in November). My plan is to scavenge the best parts of the rough cut and adapt it to a shorter format, 10-12 minutes.

I also need to develop an explanation for future artifacts of sustainable civilizations and perhaps do character development for the ALM guide, (moi).

Here’s a sketch of the “analogy”. Larry Kinney explains the  concept of the life support system with the story of the MIR space station. A linkage is presented between MIR and the Earth and then parallels are drawn between MIR and Hello World. This gets us into the rebuild of Hello World, the packing and launch sequence. It’s all very tenuous though, the connections (analogy) between planet, boat, island and space station could be more obvious. Then there’s Julie’s idea of the human body, another example of a life support system.

Another idea is present mechanisms that are familiar, iconic…

and then making the leap to a planetary machine, with interdependent systems like the familiar water cycle.

The global life support system is important to establish, because it’s invisible. Yes there’s a lot of talk about global warming, coastal flooding, killer storms, etc. but these are abstractions. Most folks take friendly conditions for granted, we don’t realize that there is a life support system in operation. We don’t acknowledge that our collective situation is akin to an astronaut in a spacesuit or a scuba diver breathing from a tank. Kai’s image was a ship in a bottle, the bottle being the atmosphere.

Once the global life support system is revealed, then human actions either conflict or align with it’s operation. Another word for actions in alignment or accord is sustainability.

Pix from the party under the catamaran on Friday March 26.

Jim, Dan, Patrick and Robert out by the cauldron.

Kate, Dan, Vince and Susan under Hello World.

Is there ever enough time to properly prepare? 28 days until launch and the to do list is daunting. To make my departure date i’ve got to handle the absolute essentials first. It’s very confusing to have to scrap great chunks of the project so that the core can be achieved.

My mistakes? I’m not the most effective manager. Initially I recruited the wrong poeple for the work I needed and found myself having to train and cajole rather than direct. Managing meant less progress on my own work – the mission critical stuff.

In theory, help sounds wonderful. In practice it can be distracting. Ideally we want to clone a fragment of ourselves to do a job our way and then forget about it. Poeple don’t think or act alike, so help means finding someone who is an approximation of ourselves in key areas – experience, motivation, interests. My failure to find close matches for the most important jobs was compounded by geography – it’s tough to motivate, manage and train remotely.

Melonie finally bailed in early March.  I excused Jonathan from his blogging burden soon after. Running solo was kind of a relief.

Susan Fisk has since taken over command of the Twitter front with minimal supervision and Jonathan’s been focused on his post production chops. The team transforms, adapts and persists.

I am still looking at a plateful. The only answer is to crank – increase metabolism and gobble. Perhaps not the right analogy for a low impact project? Damn the analogies, full speed ahead!

The iPhone didn’t catch the flakes flying, even though there was quite a flurry.  The top two pictures are a before / after… eventually it started to stick.  This is blog worthy because there’s only 29 days left until launch. Could we have snow in May? It’s not impossible – brrr!