On Desire

Just a teaser…

Story to follow…

After a 2:00 am start C-130 calls us att dawn to help with rescue::

Overturned boat::

Man is rescued minutes before we get there after standing on the boat all night:

We return to our course:

We catch our first fish:

This is Your Captain Speaking:

We have to turn right due to water crises:

We see some garbage:

We catch a nice blue fin Ahi:

We fish some more:

All safe and sound in San Diego:

Thank you for flying on Holokai Airlines.

(Please don’t worry about your luggage)

After all of Kai’s stories about crossing the Pacific in Desire and almost being run over by robot controlled cruise ships, I finally got a taste. Having caught a lovely wind after leaving North Manitou Island, I was making deligtful progress east-ish towards Northport. The sun was shining and all was right with the world… except for that low throbbing. Must be a freighter around somewhere. Far to the north I could see a motorboat or maybe a sailboat cruising, but then something clicked. Low throbbing of big engines, only one boat in sight – what is that boat?

My neighbor to the north, where's that low throbbing coming from?

I wondered how I might get a magnified view and then I remembered the Vixia’s digital zoom. I had stumbled upon it while playfully spying on my neighbors at Crescent City, thinking they might get naked and go swimming. I grabbed the Vixia, activated the digital zoom and pointed it at my new neighbor. There, glowing in the afternoon sun was the giant bow of a freighter. I couldn’t see the port or starboard side of the ship, just this massive gleaming bow that appeared to be several stories high.

Thinking to myself, “If all I can see it the front of the ship and I can’t see either side at all, that means… it’s heading right at me.”

Now this ship is still pretty far away… but it’s got these throbbing monster motors, and I am maintaining a course close to the wind, not moving very fast. I dropped off my course and put on some speed in an attempt to get past this behemoth.  She came on pretty quick, growing in size at a surprising rate. Eventually, I began to see a sliver of her port side which meant I was out of her path. These big boats are supposed to generate an impressive wake so I kept my speed up. When she finally passed, she wasn’t quite so huge – about 300 feet – but big enough.

Pictures from my camera are a little misleading – the first shot illustrates how close she was when she passed and the second shows our wake crossing her course.

This is how close she actually was. Check out the big water she is making in front and behind.

Notice our 'tire tracks' crossing her course... yikes!

Now, this wasn’t exactly a near miss, right? IMHO, anything closer would have been a near disaster. I had no indication that human beings were running the show – as she passed I honked my horn at her and waved – without response. Maybe they were just unfriendly or were too busy to acknowledge me. Worst case scenario – the crew was playing cards down in the galley and had the whole thing on autopilot, I might have been too small to set off a proximity alarm. What’s are the odds of two boats coming even this close in the middle of the big lake? I think Kai would have called it near miss… fun!

Kai is in the house! We’ve been doing a lot of undocumented talking phonewise.

Kai isn’t totally comfortable with posting full names of collaborating individuals, he want’s to protect their privacy. He’s also reluctant to release the On Desire blog to the world. He likes the idea of keeping it low key so that we can be more free with our experimentation.

In contrast, I’ve got no problem using the full names of my people and even throwing in history and context. The point of launching a blog is to communicate – to engage and tell a story. My journey is not primarily about boats, but about sharing my exploration of sustainability with as wide an audience as possible.

It appears we have fundamental philosophical rifts. That’s great – what’s a narrative without conflict? We’ve already had a slight rift on jetting and are sorting out a focus mismatch. I’ve cleared my summer (June – September) to do On Desire.  Kai’s wedged the project in between sailing gigs and will be shifting his energy to a client’s boat by August 22. We’ve got about three weeks left of schedule overlap. To pull this off, we need to sync our focus for the next three weeks.

Wait a second Dan,  Desire is stuck in the yard and you are not even in Hawaii! The premise of the project is toast, what can you guys do at this point? Ah, friends… we can make magic – beyond geography, budget and schedule. We initiated this project because we’ve both got some serious cosmic mojo going on. What the earth needs is folks figuring out how to activate their mojo, and that’s what’s for dinner right here and now at On Desire. Good stuff.

Watch us work this.

I was just commenting on Telemetry 090630 and I realized my comment was worthy of it’s own post. Kai and I are a few steps past this now, but you can’t practice fundamentals too much.

> It seems, for ideological reasons as he won’t fly in a jet due to it’s carbon footprint.
> I can respect his convictions though I don’t fully adopt them as my own.

It’s all Jeff Gibb’s fault! Well, Al Gore too, but for opposite reasons. I ramble about this all over the site, start with these dubious calculations…

http://www.ondesire.com/2009/06/13/on-jets/

At the risk of ranting, here’s my riposte. I can’t count on governments or corporations to do what’s right by me and by the earth. The only way to change anything is to get conscious and take personal responsibility for my actions – identify my most harmful behaviors and stop doing them.

The ends don’t justify the means. On Desire is not a worthy project if we have to act in destructive ways to accomplish it. Unless you are Kai Schwarz, getting to Hawaii sustainably ain’t easy. He can do it because he’s got the skills and knowledge to get on boats or sail his own. I could probably get on boats by leveraging my production skills and starting earlier on the research.

Granted, there are cruise ships that make the passage a few months out of the year, but because there is theoretically less carbon footprint riding a cruise ship, the cash cost is higher! Most folks who want to go to Hawaii HAVE to ride jets. Hawaii’s tourist industry is a frikkin’ carbon factory.

Sustainability isn’t an abstract concept. What does a small footprint look like? For one thing, it’s small!

Moon over Crystal introduces Tuesday. An oft snapped scene ever entrancing.

Another week in full tilt at the water temple. The Hobie renovation support team arrives in about 3 hours. For the moment, sweet silence and the moon.

Been doing a little strategic shoving of local allies, helping to deploy web presences mostly while tapping into the thriving tribal exchange. Mike Murphy traded me Hobie 16 transport for some snaps of his Nature of Stone spokesmodel, Amanda. Artist house provided space and quinoa upama for partner dance lessons, though I am not sure whether I trading with Mykl Werth or Gretchen Eichberger Kudlack.  That’s the people’s economy here in Northern Michigan. Love it. Ties in nicely with holes and On Desire collaborators.

Amanda, spokesmodel for Nature of Stone

We’ve assembled a pretty nifty project with some auspicious holes. Holes are the places collaborators and their products / services go. It started out feeling like magical flim flam, but with a little practice it has shaded into a jamming pragmatica. Ok, a little miraculous and gratitude certainly, gotta have it. What the heck am I rambling on about? Read on.

I’ve designed the production kit around Canon’s Vixia HFS10 / 100. This is a tiny camera that records onto SDHC cards as opposed to tape. Future Kid, “Tape, what’s that?” Old Man, “Well back in the day, cameras used to record sound and images onto spools of tape, ok? I know it sounds wierd, but that’s how it was. Soda jerks. Gasoline powered cars. Monetary based societies.”

Anyway, so the HFS100 is under $1000 -  before you buy all the lenses and XLR adapters that fussy filmmakers feel compelled to have. It’s ideal to have more than one camera, in case one goes over board or to get fancy with multiple angles. Even a modest budget could support 2 or even 3 Vixias. Even though the price is right, buying more Vixias doesn’t necessarily enhance the project. If possible, it’s better to borrow those Vixias. By borrowing, other folks get invested in the project’s objectives and the filmmaker. The project has to be in alignment with collaborators outcomes.

Initially, I had objections to making holes. Here’s one…

Question – If I ask for help to fill my holes, folks might get the impression my project is low budget and not worthy of support.

Answer – First of all, well funded projects do not insure a quality outcome. Variety is chock full of crap movies funded by mega budgets. Second, using money for everything is like banging on screws with a hammer, it’s clumsy and imprecise. Third, no budget is infinite. There’s always a point where the money runs out. A savvy Director understands that a project’s success is not determined by the amount of funds available but rather it’s outcomes, people, and structure. Fourth, money is a very limited (some might say impoverished) method of exchange. It’s more natural for my buddy Mike Murphy to ask me to make photo art with a pretty woman, stones and magic hour. The next thing I knew I’m buying a 1979 Hobie cat with a trailer, but I don’t have a vehicle with a hitch. Mike does and we drag that sucker to my place. Mike and I have known each other long enough to enjoy a robust exchange that includes humor, friendship, favors, and fun. Money is in there once in awhile but affinity is the basis of our relationship. It’s my experience that even in business, robust relationships are never limited by the bottom line.

Morrie Warshawski talks about magnetizing the field. Our mission and the objectives of our project point us towards appropriate collaborators. On Desire collaborators are selected because they jive, there is affinity.

I approached Apple, Inc. first because I’ve used their gear like crazy since 1991. I seem to sense an inherent message in thier products – you are smart. It’s true I am, but how many products realize that about me? Computers are nasty things full of toxins and big footprints and Apple seems to working to minimize this.

Affinity works both ways, something about On Desire magnetized Apple. Did I mention that our loaner Macbook Pro shipped today? Kai will be tickled, the big galoot.

It’s heavy ‘ready to rain’ color today, with a hint of purple / pink peeking through. Back to wearing the wetsuit when swimming deep.  A shy summer so far, teasing warmth at the end of June and now mostly wet with brisk winds. Tree friendly weather. Well, the trees can have whatever they need as far as I am concerned.

Kai is in Honolulu with a cold. He sounds a little discouraged – Desire’s not quite ready. Sheesh!

It takes a courageous soul to sail thousands of miles solo, I’ll grant him that. Freak storms, sleep deprivation, errant cruise ships attempting to convert your boat into slivers of fiberglass… that could be a rush. But try making a movie sometime, me hardy. Now there’s the true measure of a man, arr!

Disappearing in the open water is a clean exit, you’re just gone. Lost at sea. It’s mysterious, romantic even.

In contrast, making a fatal blunder on your movie usually means crowds of crew muttering against you, actors storming off the set, lawyers threatening apocalypse, massive credit card debt, post production hell, a feeling of existential worthlessness, public shame and humiliation…

I’ve got to get out there and whip that whimpering sailor into ship shape. Safety schmafety, let’s make a movie!

PS – Kai has yet to get the Macbook so it’s tough for him to respond to these taunts. For now, call me el Supremo!

July 5 is the deadline for my Hawaiian ride. We’re down to the wire. 11th hour. Time to ship or get off the ops. Now or never. Magic!

In last weeks episode…

Riding the Transpac would have been an exciting and upbeat opening for On Desire. The concept was to present what could be rather than what is – a metaphor for what’s worth striving for. Sailing is a lovely and romantic image for a renewable future. Approaching the Transpac community as a resource for implementing a sustainable society makes sense, though it may be a bit niave. According to Kai, wealthy racers think nothing of making a big footprint with mylar sails and other energy intensive materials if it’ll help them win. These folks are often successful entrenpreneurs thriving on challenge. I wanted to get in with Transpac to explore whether these super successful people could be recruited to take on the most important challenge of our time, survival.

A worthy inquiry for another time. Meanwhile, the present moment. Getting back to what is rather than what could be. Sustainability stands in contrast to what is, it’s a change. My intuition is that change is triggered by awareness of both what is and what could be. To be sustainable, we notice what isn’t. Even if this is not a valid approach, there’s a certain morbid fascination with the apocalyptic circumstances of the present. Am I making a horror movie?

I digress. It should be clear now that finding a ride is the start of the project, it’s not pre-production or incidental. How I get to Hawaii is everything. It’s magic, it’s sustainability – the whole shootin’ match. Flashy sailboats winging across the Pacific is not how the story of sustainability begins. What about starting with anathema – consumption?

The container industry enables the global economy as it’s currently configured. Containers are uniform steel boxes used to transport goods via truck, rail and ship.

Container ships churn out more carbon than cars and possibly more than jets. In one year, the biggest 15 container ships produce more carbon than all the cars on the planet combined. Pollution from container ships burning bunker fuel causes snow melt, desertification and death. All this to stock the shelves of the local big box. Perhaps our story has a sublime start – queue the discordant synth!

Matson and Horizon service Hawaii with container ships. Both companies are proud of their environmental record. How do they compare to the industry in general? Are they implementing stack scrubbers to minimize the impact of bunker fuel? Have they implemented fuel efficient design in their ships’ construction? Would they welcome documentation of their operations? Could we start the story of sustainability in collaboration with these companies?

Once again Dan is manning blog command. Say that 10 times fast.

Location – Artist house, Beulah Michigan
Weather – overcast
Health – excellent
Morale – high
Electricity – plentiful
Food – adequate
Water – abundant
Equipment – functional

There’s a car leaving tomorrow that would get me halfway to California, or at least Chicago and Amtrak. What is wanted is a boat from California to Hawaii. Whether my boat coalesces gently or pops up with shower of sparks makes no never mind to me. Let’s just do this thing, oh mysterious universe. Thanks in advance.

I’ve got a deadline now, Juy 5th. If the passage from California to Hawaii hasn’t manifested by then, we’ll be implementing plan B. Just two other people are privy to the details of plan B – Kai and my nephew Patrick. The very existence of plan B is known only by the readers of this blog. You are special!

Plan B is a synchronistic implementation of Kai’s principle of ‘dream within your means’. Stated simply, to ‘dream within your means’ is to act with what’s on hand and not wait around for circumstances to change. Plan B is an inspired redesign of On Desire that’s as cool (if not cooler) than Plan A. For now though, I’m all about Plan A and the just in time delivery of a ride to Hawaii.

After 5 days of screen gazing I have achieved blog launch. About 75 souls in the first wave. Assuming there’s no major hitches in the next day or two, we’ll do the next 500 or so on the big list. In the meantime I finally have some time to do dishes and pack. Maybe I’ll move my beautiful body, which has been mostly supine, reclined or prone. Flesh, awaken!

We should be hearing from Kai any day now, his flight to Hilo is scheduled for June 3 – tomorrow. Phase 2 ‘to Desire’  documents Kai and Dan moving toward rendezvous.

Beulah, Michigan

In December of last year I heard from Kai, captain of the 26′ Sloop Desire. He was planning to set her up for future adventures starting with a shakedown cruise in the Hawaiian Islands, and did I want to join him? He and I had discussed documenting his solo voyages, mounting cameras that he could trigger remotely. Here was something else entirely, an invitation to join his church. To taste the other he had discovered, to try my hand at being a shipmate. A high honor of course and the start of an answer to a shared question – what do we do for earth?

Kai is an inspiration to my aspirations of being a visionary and a troublemaker. He guided his brother Dirk and I on an expedition to climb the Manhattan bridge in the 80s. When visiting Dirk in DC, I was gored by Kai’s sublime sharpened pencil sculpture not a few times. Kai’s Metamorphosis design explored the mechanics of getting off planet sans military industrial complex. His later voyages on Desire seemed to me less of an acceptance to life in the gravity well and more like a proof of concept for citizen space travel.

Kai’s invitation reflects my own awakening – fun is amplified when shared with a team. Along with solo sailing Kai has crewed and consulted for other mariners and now he wonders about a crew of his own – what would that look like? I am perhaps the first recruit.

There’s more about our collaboration at http://ondesire.com, but in context of holy boners (sacred mistakes) I think this ranks right up there. Suddenly Desire blips onto the radar – a fantastic gift and opportunity. It certainly fits into Dan’s master plan, but how?

In the context of DOG, I was determined not to spend another summer staring at screens – a clear failure of prioritization. I can’t say I was burning out in January, but the amount of work needed to bring DOG up to an acceptable level of quality seemed endless. A true team was wanted. It’s not impossible to post a VFX short by yourself, but why go solo when there are so many allies?

Here’s how Faisal tricked me into collaborating… I showed him a couple cuts of DOG and he ripped me a new butthole, so to speak. His critique undermined my will to live. Now he can be a critical guy especially when it comes to his own work, but he’s not a total curmudgeon. Looking beyond all of DOG’s problems, Faisal said I had created a cockeyed world that was intriguing, a surreal universe that persisted. So it wasn’t all a steaming pile of shite! After a week or two of letting me writhe on the end of his spear, he offered to workshop the project. Paraphrase – “Give me all the raw footage and I’ll tease out that David Lynch thing you’ve almost got going.” Well, momma didn’t raise no fool. When a stellar editor like Faisal offers to save your movie, you pass him a brimming 2 TB hard drive, ahora mismo.

So the post team currently is Faisal, me and Jonathan. It’s gotta grow a little bigger, at the minimum we’ll have to bring on more After Effects geeks. How many times have I projected a finish date for DOG? Perhaps after all this blogging I have a realistic idea of what finishing actually means, what it’s going to require. Faisal will work his magic over the summer and then we’ll build a robust team in the fall.

Here a silver gray and green morning with rain lightly tapping on spring leaves, copper roof and stone.  Location – Artist house, Beulah, Michigan, USA, Earth. It’s exceptional and a little hard to believe. I drove 18 hours in a Penske box truck loaded with Brooklyn life, crashed, unpacked and returned the rig and then spent a day with the Bear Lake family. Now quiet and comfortable in a rocking chair, looking out at the lake – a perfect moment. In a week or so I’ll be on the road, lugging a light production kit across continents and oceans. Come along, we are to adventure together.

I’ve got a hefty to do list yet to process, make no mistake.  Yet I feel the pace changing with the start of Desire. I am at the way station between what I was and what I am about to be, shifting into travel time. Cultivating presence. Everything is adequate, enough.

Babalu, the Deduytsches and Kai have reached Atuana, Hiva Oa. Land ho! He should be online in about 3 weeks.

Register on this blog and contribute, we’d love that!

Kai is incommunicado until mid June 2009 as he sails from San Diego to Tahiti with…. For now, only Dan’s plans are in process.

Dan here – planning is akin to visualization. Project a richly detailed simulation of an idea, then take a look around and make an inventory.  Questions are another approach – how will I catch Kai’s audio when he’s got his hands full on deck and the wind is blowing? How do the cameras stay dry in spray? I’ve tried to identify the primary categories – gear, research, training, vision – that define most projects and then flesh out subcategories as they arise.

Faisal and I invented visualization movies the other day, short vignettes that document a future reality. The analogy is drawing or painting a picture of the hearts desire. The time, attention and loving devotion that go into a creative work produces not only the work but the outcome it depicts. magic!

(changed from a page to a post on May 28, 2009)

Kai called yesterday to report that he changed his ticket to fly into Hilo on June 13, 2009. I had just emailed him the day before guessing at his new schedule – I was two days off. They’ve had a few setbacks in San Diego but I expect they’ll launch within the next few days. Kai may do a guest post on sailbabalu, but we won’t be hearing from here for about 90 days. Until then, you’ve got me all to yourselves.

We’re going to have lots of fun together! Let’s begin by building to do lists. I don’t really like how this blogging software handles tables, so maybe we’ve got to resort to posting pdfs. Anyway, as things get done we can check them off.

I am all about back country if the opportunity presents, sleeping cheap on the islands. I need at least a sleeping bag for bedding on our fine Desire. Add the basics – an internal frame pack that can hold a lot or a little depending – super light sleeping bag, hammock tent (needs conversion for ground use) pad, ceramic water filter, whisper light stove, bottles, etc.

to do

assemble kit
pictures here for kai’s inspection and recommendations (weight/space)
minimize
check included equipment for function
spare parts

April 1st, count down. I am green to go, but it’s all visualization and hutzpah presently. I’ve got to sell a good deal of gear to enable this, so on my ride back from Michigan last night I made some decisions. I am going to liquidate my current production kit and reconfigure to something more mobile. To be announced. In the meantime, I’ve got to get about 28k of gear up on craigslist (including my car) and sublet my apartment for May and June.  Tho the Desire probably will wrap at the end of May, I’ve got to have time to find a ride back to the mainland and then shlep back to Michigan to recover cats.

I’ve got three kits I want to assemble for the trip. There’s limited space on Desire, so the kits have to be tight.

1) scuba diving / free diving
2) camping /treking
3) documentation / production

I’ve split these into separate posts to make the process of cataloging and comments easier.

I’ll post separately about training. As a matter of fact, I’ve got to go for a run before my coop shift at 6:00pm. Maybe I’ll go jump on that now.

Big World Small Footprint Continuum ~The Desire Project~ RAW
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 10:04 AM (not foolish at all)
From: “kai”
To: “j gallone”

Hello John,

Here’s the scoop on what Dan and I are building. We’re calling it (working title/concept) ~The Desire Project~ ‘Big World small footprint’. It parallels your and my ideas regarding the ‘Whole Sail Catalog’, life, sailing, sealing wax and all that matters. It’s, of course, a work in progress and Dan and I cordially invite you to participate in any way that moves you.

http://www.artisthouse.com/desire/

Dan can give you access rights to the blog if you’d like. Contact him@:

Right now the idea is for Dan to meet me in Hawaii when I get there. The blog is our working script to the filming that we aim to compose. If you would like to help Dan with the filming in Hawaii we can work that into the script, so to speak. I’m thinking 1st unit 2nd unit, flip flop, paddy wack, give your dog a bone.

Wadaya think?

Love and Peace. ~Kai

Dan,

We now have the capability of updating our web blog on ‘Babalu’ by satellite phone at sea. This includes our position on Google Earth every time we update the blog. It’s still in it’s raw state but will get ‘mobeta with time/content.

www.sailblogs.com/member/sailbabalu

Dan,

Here’s an interesting site (sometimes buggy) about two guys who built a raft out of junk and sailed it from California to Hawaii.

Cheers! ~Kai

http://junkraft.com/blog/

From:     KAI
Subject:     Re: update
Date:     March 17, 2009 8:55:56 AM EDT
To:     DAN

Sounds Great Dan. Things are pretty crazy for me here in Seattle right now as I get ready for my trip. I’m headed to San Diego on 2 Apr. and we plan to head South about a week later.

Cheers! and fair seas, ~Kai

From:     DAN
Subject:     update
Date:     March 14, 2009 9:09:00 AM EDT
To:     KAI

Hey!

I am keenly interested in doing Desire in May. There are several projects that have to be closed down before, it’s slightly intense. I’ve got to sell gear in order to finance the trip, sublet etc. This is just a little something to let you know I am still down with it and working to find a way.

D

From:     DAN
Subject:     Re: alternates
Date:     February 27, 2009 12:56:48 PM EST
To:     KAI

Thanks, I’ll look into it all. I’ve started to build a plan. I found these so far.

http://www.cruisersforum.com Attitudes and Latitudes Forum

http://Cruiserlog.com

http://www.findacrew.net

Crew Seekers UK
7 Knots

more soon,

D

From:     KAI
Subject:     Re: alternates
Date:     February 27, 2009 7:15:42 AM EST
To:     DAN

Hello Dan,

It was great talking with you yesterday! As for getting to Hawaii I’ll try to find some more crew list sights for sailing there but here’s one that got me all the way to Tahiti:

http://sfsailing.com/cgi-bin/crewlist/crew_list.cfm?crewlist=ocean

Also, both Matson and Horizon shipping lines run container ships to Hawaii and you can see if they will accept passengers. I rode a Horizon ship from Long Beach to Honolulu a little over a year ago but I was doing electrical work on the ship for my company here in Seattle.

Cheers! ~Kai

From:     DAN
Subject:     Desire
Date:     January 1, 2009 2:11:05 PM EST
To:     KAI

Kai,

“Almonds” is an idea that i’d like to expand on. let me know if you think there’s a connection to the church of kai. don’t pass this around, it’s not for public release just yet.

http:// deleted
user = deleted
pass = deleted

and here’s the tortured tale of my current project

http://deleted

user = deleted
pass = deleted

Regarding Desire, a slew of ideas have been queuing up for attention, some ambitious and outright bizarre. I’ve got loads of questions to ask you, here’s the short list. we can go through all this on the phone, but for now just let the gears spin.

Where does the shit go?

What’s the menu like? What’s your standard shopping list on Desire? I am still vegetarian, tho I don’t care whether are. How will that work for sharing food?

I am getting pretty good at sprouting, but in it’s current incarnation it’s sort of fresh water intensive, though i’ve adapted it to camping – see “Almonds”.

Is carrying fresh water an issue? Do you have a distiller?

Do you fish along the way?

How much storage space will be available for production gear?How are the cargo areas set up, are they all accessible out of the weather from within the cabin?

What is the availability of AC power? How much extra is available daily for charging of batts, running laptop and cameras etc.

What’s sort of connection to the world is available with your radio rig? Do you have a gateway worked out to the web? I don’t care so much about email, but being able to update a website might be handy.

In earlier conversations, you mentioned studding the ship with fixed cameras. What locations get you excited? Power and signal are considerations. Either they have to have cables to them, or they operate on batts and removable media which would have to be individually serviced.

Assuming scuba gear, is there anyway to rig a platform so that a camera operator could shoot underwater while underway?

What’s the trip about? Of course just getting out there sounds amazing. Here are some of the themes that occur to me, perhaps obvious or naive. Please comment critique.

1) just get out there, what the fuck!

2) connecting with the ocean, with the great big living breathing mother earth.

3) traveling and exploring sustainably. taking responsibility for our puny human lives while minimizing impact on the mothership. exemplars of pragmatic utopia. an equation of resources vs realization.

4) science – meteorology, oceanography, biology…

5) art – two white dudes on Desire (kinky)

other issues…

I am up for cruising around the HI islands or jaunting all the way to Fiji (and beyond). Of course, these are radically different trips as far as preparation, provisions and plan. obviously, the starter plan would be to get her up to snuff, sail her a bit and see how we mesh as crew, etc. likely interesting stuff would come up as far as objective(s) from which an auspicious trip would flow. i imagine we might start out as documenting a trip, tho it might eventually shift into traveling to document.

how do I get back? do i ever come back?

what skills would be handy for me to show up with? survival, sailing, electronics, radio, scuba

are there any funding or unique connection opportunities if our documentation takes a specific emphasis?

jobs out there for me, opportunities for earning income

how many condoms should we bring?

anyway, if you have any thoughts, fire away. otherwise I’ll call you in the next week or so.

xo

D

From:     DAN
Subject:     der boat
Date:     December 29, 2008 8:37:04 AM EST
To:    KAI

yo mofo,

happy merry and best wishes for the upcoming year of the ox.

do you have a blog about your sailing adventure? I sorta remember something like that…

how are ya?

dk