Desmobile and the Captain Gale Tie In

Many of you might like to know who, what, how or why The Adventures of Captain Gale are posted (4 years later) on the Desmobile Blog. Well Captain Gale is an old buddy of mine to decided to retire early and buy a sailboat and travel to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Both of us are Sun, Surf, Sand, Boat Drink and Jimmy Buffett fans. He sent back e-mails of his travels week in and out over the 6+ months he was there. I kept every post and told him that when he got back he should add pictures and write a book using his posts - maybe a TV pilot or even better a screenplay. Anyway Captain Gale is back and working in the Telecom industry back East. I'm out West and I re-post his old e-mails cause the writing is funny (especially if you know Captain Gale) and I hope to inspire others to stop running the Rat Race they're in, throw caution to the wind and do something fun before you miss the chance to do it. Not everyone can sail - maybe you want to drive across country, backpack through Europe or even run The Amazing Race...just go for it before your life is over!

Here's the e-mail Captain Gale sent back to me the first time I came up with the idea!!!


From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 8:31 AM
To: Desmond.Smith@T-Mobile.com
Subject: Screenplay

Hello my brutha - I like your idea, geting rich and famous for slacking in the Bahamas for six months! If this works out, perhaps next year's movie will be Baja, California!

Actually Herman Wouk and Jimmy Buffet got together a few years ago to make a musical out of Wouk's book "Don't Stop the Carnival." I guess it did well off-broadway. A good book - about a New Yorker who's fed up with NY so he buys a hotel in the Caribbean. VERY funny!

Well, I'm just hanging out here in the Abacos for a few more days. There's a storm coming Thursday which has the ocean all kicked up for the rest of the week. I hope to head south at the end of the week.

Keep bothering Robert and Dan for me -

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Abaco Sailing Tours

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 3:15 PM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] Abaco Sailing Tours

Hello all! The last two weeks I have continued as tour guide to the Abacos. Last week my friend Robin came down to escape the late-winter blues in downeast Maine, and this past week my friend Josh escaped the frozen city of Burlington, Vermont. Robin had a perfect week of sun and temps in the 80s, whereas Josh brought a little New England with him, 25 to 35 knot winds and cold temperatures for the first three days of his trip, though the weather has now returned to it's norm - perfect.



Josh also came down to celebrate his 30th birthday. The local reefs played along, and at the Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park we were able to watch SIXTEEN Spotted Eagle Rays swim circles in perfect synchroization. Spotted Eagle Rays are by far my favorite of the reef dwellers, and to see a troop of sixteen of these beauties, well, it just doesn't get any better.

Aside from snorkling daily, I hit the usual Abaco attractions with my guests. Pete's Pub, a great beach shanty in a small cove in the southern Abacos, yet the owner (Pete) is also a renowned artist. We had the good fortune to visit the pub/gallery/foundry on a day that they were making bronze castings via a 3000 year-old method. It was incredible to watch them pull a vat of molten bronze out of the blast furnace with a chainfall, then pour the liquid into the molds.

We also visited Hopetown and their lighthouse, one of three remaining hand-cranked, kerosene-fired lighthouses. It's neat to climb the staicase and check out all the machinery (not to mention the 1200 pounds of mercury that the light rests on!), and the view from the top is of course breathtaking.

And of course no tour of the Abacos would be complete without a visit to Nipper's Bar (or Nippa's if you're from the northeast). Nippa's is an incredible place - it's on the highest point on Great Guana Cay, so the view is fantastic. They've got two pools, good burgers with great fries, a perfect white sound beach as far as the eyes can see, and the third largest continuous reef in the Northern Hemisphere. (Kinda reminds you of taking college tours, doesn't it? Everyone had some obscure item that they were incredibly proud of - the oldest ornithology library, the largest eight-sided building in the Western Hemisphere. I believe Bucknell has the largest unsupported spiral staircase east of the Mississippi. 'Ray Bucknell...)

Oh yeah, Nippa's is also a bar, with a lovely little drink called the, uh, Nippa. In a word - yum. Makes you want to ignore that reef. Get nipped at Nippa's.

With Robin and Josh gone I now head back to Nassau to pick up my friend John for a few days, and then I'll continue south, first back down the Exuma chain to Georgetown, then east to do a circuit of a few of the outer islands.

Thanks again to all who continue to write, it's a big lift on a potentially lonely day. But please, please, PLEASE remember not to send me back my original email to me. It costs $3-5 to send each of these rambling updates, and when 10 people send it back to me - well, the budget really takes a hit.

I hear the Canadian-US border is geting knocked around with a bit of spring snow - 10" in Toronto? I'll try to send some warmth home with Josh!

Brian

Forecast for Saturday through Wednesday:
Sun, highs in the mid 80s, lows in the mid 70s, humidity in the 70s-80s, winds southeast 10-15.

Of course this is coming straight from Barometer Bob, so we need to take this with a MOUNTAIN of salt...


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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Suprise Visit

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 11:27 AM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] The Surprise Visit

Hello hello. When last we met our intrepid hero had fearlessly crossed the dreaded Devil's Backbone Reef, with his knees barely knocking...

I spent about a week in the waters near Harbour Island. Harbour Island is a good place to see the Cluster Effect in action. When a boat comes into a harbor, they look for where the other boats are and immediately anchor there, regardless of wind, waves, tide, holding, scenery, etc. When I reached Harbour Island, I unwittingly fell int this trap and spent the night off the town docks. Endless water taxis zoomed by at all hours of the night, and their wakes, combined with the 2 mile fetch the wind had to create waves, created a restless night. The following morning I wised up and sailed two miles to the southern end of the bay. I found a beautiful sand ancorage in 7' of water, with my own private beach an easy swim or dinghy ride away. It was a ideal location, exactly as I had dreamed this vacation would be like. I would dinghy over to Beagle's Beach in the morning with my book and chair, and spend the morning reading. If it got hot, I'd move the chair under a Palm tr!
ee. If it got hotter, I'd go for a swim. At lunch I'd swim back to the boat for lunch and a nap. In the afternoon, more reading, swimming and napping. If I wanted t go to town, I had an easy half hour sail. Paradise. I could have stayed there forever. I might have, in fact, were it not for a certain friend of mine.

I decided one afternoon that I was in need of an ice cream, so I sailed over to town. On a whim I checked my email on the way to the creamery. Not much mail, except for the three emails from my buddy Brian.

Number one, written on Friday, telling me he lands in Nassau on Saturday.

Number two, written on Saturday, letting me know that he'll definitely be in Nassau on Saturday.

Number three, written Sunday morning, letting me know that indeed he did fly in on Saturday to Nassau.

I was reading these emails Sunday afternoon.

I never did get my ice cream. I managed to make it to Nassau by Monday, and Brian and I, together with two of Brian's friends from North Carolina, left Nassau directly for the Abacos, where we spent the rest of the week. I taught the Carolinians about sailing, and they taught me about such delicacies as canned Vienna Sausages and Beanee Weenees. (For those of you who have never tried these canned delights, they taste about as good as they sound, which is to say not very.)

The North Carolina contingency left a week ago Saturday, and on their heels were three days of incredible storms. Marsh Harbour, where I was holed up, got up to 8" of rain between Saturday and Tuesday morning, and when one boater asked another what the wind got up to in one particularly violent squall, the boater replied, "well, my anemometer reported up to 67 knots before it blew away!"

On Tuesday the weather returned to normal, I've spent much of the remaining week with my friend Ben and his family in Hopetown on Elbow Cay, where Ben and his family rented a house for the week. They treated me to some fantastic homecooked meals and let me use their even more fantastic shower! Also while with Ben and the fam, I saw the most incredible sight I have seen in my five months on the boat.

While we were floating along in a motorboat, a five foot manta ray leapt out of the water about 100' from us. I have often seen the splash of a ray landing, or out of the corner of my eye the flash of the sun reflecting off a ray's back while in midair. But with this ray I happened to be watching the water at the exact spot he took off from, and was able to see his entire trajectory, from surface to the crest of his arc about five feet above the water to the crash-landing 10 feet from the take-off point. To see this ray soar to remove parasites from his body was absolutely incredble, though since manta rays can grow to over 22 feet and 3000 pounds I have decided I do not need to see a larger one jump!

Ben and his family left this morning, and this afternoon my friend Robin shows up for the Abaco tour. After Robin comes Josh from Burlington, and then I reclaim my boat for another month or so of solo saling before i begin my trek north. I hope all is well with you all.

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Land of Unfinished Dreams

From: BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:BrianGale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:56 AM
To: celebration_news@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [celebration_news] The Land of Unfinished Dreams

Greetings from the land of sun and heat! It seems that all of the United States' heat has been sent south to me in the Bahamas. It has been cloudless with highs in the 90s and lows in the mid 70s for the past week and a half, ever since I left Tom and Ryan in Nassau. A bit warmer than I like it - I'm more of an 80s/60s person myself. But I have broad shoulders with which to carry this burden, so I shan't complain.

After leaving Nassau I headed to Royal Island, an island 3 miles long whose center is carved into a nice cove that offers 360 degree protection from the winds. I spent several hours exploring the ruins of what was once someone's vacation home.

A man on a neighboring boat called the Bahamas "The land of unfinished dreams," and I can see his point. I have seen dozens of abandoned buildings in my time here: some are simply foundations; some were near completion when abandoned, with the stickers still on the windows; and some, like on Royal Island, long abandoned and being reclaimed by the island. This one is more of a vacation complex than a vacation home, more than a half dozen buildings with tile walkways between them. There was a two story main house and several smaller houses, perhaps for the employees, perhaps guest houses. There were small storage buildings, a covered porch, and a large building serving as a great room, with vaulted ceilings and enourmous fireplace. The occupants had built roads across the island and ringing the harbor. There were 5 foot high, 3 foot wide stone walls, an enormous concrete pier on each side of the island, and the side of one hill had been terraced for what I imagine must h!
ave been incredible gardens. I always wonder what might have happened to cause such a place to be abandoned - the death of the owner, a loss of wealth, perhaps a former hideout for a former drug lord!

From Royal Island I made a day trip to Spanish Wells, an immaculate little town with perfect little houses and their perfect little gardens in the perfect front yards. I visited here three years ago with Nisa and Truman, and aside from the appearance that everyone's name seems to be Pinter here, my strongest memory was visiting the grocery store. A little backgroung info - Truman has an enormous love of icecream. Whenever I talk to Truman on the phone, I like to ask "How many containers of icecream are in the freezer?", to which the reply is someting along the lines of, "Only 6, and one is Nisa's!" Well, on their trip three years ago, we went to the grocery in Spanish Wells, and when we got to the ice cream freezer - well, it was like a kid at the mall just before Christmas. Truman stood agog in front of a 12-pack of those cheap icecream sandwiches with the fake chocolate cookie that are soooo good. Now, Truman and Nisa don't haverefrigeration on their boat, it's 90 deg!
rees outside, and we're a mile or so from the boat. I say, "no way - ther'es no way I'm gonna let you buy that, it would be 4 sandwiches per person!" To which Truman replied, "are you Kidding?? I could eat two before we got to the register!"

Fast forward three years, and I'm looking at a six-pack of ice cream sandwiches (a denomination they did not have in 2000). Heartbroken, I left he store ad island empty-handed. And now Truman, with all these witnesses, I offer my apologies. Next time we have an ice cream party in Aisle 11!

The following day, another boat that I met at royal I. and I rented a guide to get us through the maze of reefs known as The Devil's Backbone. We had waited for a calm day, and it wasn't too hairy, but with a reef 50 feet to port, a limestone and sand beach 75 feet to stadrboard and swells on the beam rolling the boat through 60 degrees and pushing the boat toward shore, it certainly kept me on my toes! An engine problem on this windless day would have been, well, bad.

Once over the Backbone I entered a nice 5 mile long, 1 mile wide bay enclosed by Harbor Island, a fancy tourist town with posh hotels and villas, all unobtrusive and very nice. There are little stores to shop in if that's what you fancy. There's a lovely 3.5 mile "pink sand" beach, though pink might be a generous description. Best of all, however, is the rumor that there's a place to get an icecream cone here!
I'll let you all guess what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Brian

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Switching to Yahoo! Groups

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 5:59 AM
Subject: Yahoo group

Faithful email readers:

With my email machine allowing me 25 subscribers per email and an ever-expanding distribution list, it's become too ponderous (and expensive!) to send out my periodic emails via pocketmail. My friend Truman has set me up with a yahoo group, and will be signing everyone up to be able to continue to get my newsletters. I'm in another yahoogroup, and its been my experirnce that yahoo sends virtualy no junk mail after the intro letter. Truman and I are the only ones able to send mail to the list, so the only mindless emails you get will be from me. There is an option when you receive the initial email to opt out of the distribution.

I hope everyone is coping with the "coldest winter in xx years", depending on your locale. Fear not, according to the Nassau Met Office we are experiencing the coldest winter in 60 years. Why, just yesterday I was forced to cut short my snorkling after only 20 minutes. I swear it wasn't because of the 4' sand shark hat suprised me...

Again, sorry about the Yahoo group thing, but the cruising kitty just doesn't allow for 20 minute email sessions.

Brian
Little Farmers Cay
23 deg, 57' N
76 deg, 18' W
Sunny and 75 degrees, winds North at 10-15

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The Adventures of Captain Gale: A couple of personal e-mails

Des here - Captain Gale and I are good friends and every so often he dropped an e-mail directly to me. Typically it was in relation to a Jimmy Buffett song he heard while on his adventures or Bruce Brown's surf Film, The Endless Summer (many boats with this name - and I love the movie ES I, ES II & ES Revisited by Dana Brown (Bruce's son). Here are a couple that came along at this time of year back when Captain Gale was sailing the Caribbean!


From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 7:22 PM
To: desmond@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Wassup?

Hey. I haven't a choice but to think about you. I spent the night with a boatload of older people, and as usual I ended up looking at their music. Older people must invite me aboard their boats, its practically the law, but they have no compunction to actually talk to me. if they EVER do, they see me at the cd pile and assume (incorrectly) that I'll do the least damage there.

This evening I'm looking through the pile when I find a certain surfing music player that you like, one connected to Endless Summer. I throw on his Christmas album which is awesome, he has 16 guitars overdubbed on some songs. God bless, it is AWESOME...

hope all is well in the non-work world. I wish I could have made it to your big 30 party last year. say hello to Michelle for me.
Brian
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From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:20 AM
To: desmond@xxxxxxxx
Subject:

1st sighting of a boat named Endless Summer...
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: The Tropics

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 9:03 AM
Subject: The Tropics

Hello again! Thanks to all who have written - please remember when replying not to return my message to me, it helps keep the phone bills at a less painful threshold.

I am writing from Georgetown on Great exuma island. Georgetown lies on the Tropic of Cancer and therefore I have officially made it to the Tropics. My friends Truman and Nisa have just left, leaving my boat quiet. I had an action-packed 10 days with Nisa and 2+ weeks with Truman. I picked up Truman in Nassau and we had a great 5 days sailing and snorkling along Eleuthera Island (25 deg N,76.5 deg W, for those with the home game). The most memorable anchorage was Hatchet Bay, whose entrance is blasted out of the cliffs and cannot be seen until you are upon it. The guide book claims that the entrance is 90' wide, but Truman and I put it more towards 60 feet. And when you're boat is 10' wide and you have a following sea pushing you into the rocks, well, the chanel gets even skinnier. Truman (who is twice the sailor I am, was at the helm for this entrance, waited until the point of commitment for this entrance before he says (just to needle me, I'm sure), "Do you think thi!
s is it?" Thanks Truman, great thing to say as we're getting blown upon the rocks...

We returned to Nassau to pick up Nisa, and immediately headed southeast towards the chain of islands known as the Exumas. The first stop was Allen's Cay, which is well known for its agressive locals, the rock iguana. I swam ashore and within a few minutes the locals were beginning to hiss and surround me, at which point I bravely fled to the safety of the water.

The next morning on the way out of the anchorage we finally did the inevitable; I finally ran aground. I was at the helm and Truman was on the bow looking for shallow spots. Truman turned around and said, "It looks ok, what's the depth?" "10 - 6 and a half...(reversing engines)" Bump. We bounced a couple times over what locals now call Truman's rock, and we were on our way. I earned a good hard look from Nisa, who was brushing her teeth at the time. 2055 miles without grounding , a good run, though some might say I'm not trying hard enough.

We had a great week together. Truman and I did an AMAZING wall dive - the coral shelf just drops vertically from 65 feet to probably 200 feet, before it drops further into the depths. We went through an amazing archway and down to about 100' where I saw the most incredible and varied coral I have ever seen. Later in the week we went to Thunderball Cave, a natural grotto which was used in such movies as the James Bond movies "Thunderball" and "Never Say Never Again" as well as the timeless classic "Splash". To enter the cave you have to snorkle underwater through an archway, arriving in a round opening approximately 30 feet across and 15 feet tall. There are holes in the limestone roof with moss dangling and the water is teeming with fish waiting to be fed. We had brought a few scraps of bread, and when offered the swarm of fish was so intense that it had a clostrophobic effect. I had a grand time tossing bits of bread across the grotto to where Truman was swimming and !
watching him squirm. Sailing further south, we managed to land a 35" mahi mahi, great eating for two dinners.

We finally arrived in Georgetown (23 deg N, 76 deg W) on Great Exuma Island, a town of 900 residents and 200 cruising boats, quite large by Bahamian standards. We rented a car and toured the entire island, from the town of Rolleville on the nothern tip to Rolletownn on the southern tip. Who is this Rolle guy, anyway?

With my guests gone, I am provisioning and waiting out a bit of weather before I turn my attention to the far out islands where towns and cruisers are scarce. I return to Nassau to pick up more crew on February 10, but until then I'm free to cruise as quickly or slowly as I wish.

I hope this email finds everyone well. Please send a line when you have a moment.
Brian
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: West End -> Nassau

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 11:06 AM
Subject: West End -> Nassau

Hello all! At last writing, I had just cleared customs in Bahamas and was preparing to make a 3 day journey to Marsh Harbor, relieved that I was finally assured of making it in tme for Christmas and Mom's arrival.

HA! On Christmas Eve I ran into a big low pressure system and had to duck into Green Turtle Cay just before the 35 knot winds started blowing. I spent Christmas Day eating, reading and eating. Fortunately the storm blew itself out quickly and i was able to make Marsh Harbor only a day late. Mom had been marooned in the Miami Airport by the airlines, so mom, sister and I arrived simultaneously. We had four nights of sun, fun and sailing they departed on the 31st, which gave me the opportunity to cut loose and... not go to bed until 10:30. Hey, I woke up for the 2:30 fireworks!!

After a couple days lounging in Marsh Harbor waiting for weather, I'm on the move again. After a short day sail, I made the 60 mile transit from the Abacos island to the Eleuthera Island chain (25.5 degrees North, 69.8 degrees West, for those of you playing at home).

I've spent a fair bit of time on this vacation out of sight of land. Well, out of sight until you look down and realize that you're in 6 feet of water! On my first full day in the Bahamas, I helped a couple get back into the channel after they had run aground - out of sight of land! On this particular passage, however, things are a bit different. The water here goes from 80 feet to over 13,000 feet in just a couple miles. After spending a few weeks here, it is somewhat comforting to be able to look out and judge the depth of the water by its color - dark green is good water, yellow is shallow. When it gets this deep, however, the water becomes an incredible cobalt blue, absolutely beautiful. Beautiful and a bit unnerving. I mean, sure, you can drown in seven feet of water just as easily, but thirteen THOUSAND feet? Seems a bit extreme to me.

With that uneventful passage finished, it was another 40 mile hop to Nassau, where I pick up my buddy Truman. Truman did this same vacation three years ago, so he'll be my guide for the next week as we return to Eleuthera before returning to Nassau to pick up my second tour guide, Truman's co-pilot Nisa. From Nassau we'll head south to the Exumas, where I'll sopend the next month.

I hope all is well with all of you. Thanks to everyone who has written. One request - when you write, please don't reply with a previous message atached. Phones here are on a fairly slow microwave and satellite system, and I've been creating gridlock at the payphones downloading my email.
Take care,

Brian
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Let the Vacation Begin

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 10:55 AM
Subject: Let the Vacation Begin

Yes, I know, a long delay between emails. When last I wrote, our young hero was about to take on Charlestown, SC. I coerced my friend Bri to come down from Charlotte, NC for a bacchanal evening. We took the night by storm, and as always, the day took us right back by storm. I'm beginning to hurt just thinking about it. Let's move on.

Once past Charlestown I hit Georgia and more weather delays. With the weather forecast of 35kt winds with and higer gusts along with scattered instances of 6+" rain, I decided topause for a bit. I headed for a marina.

Now, I don't want to disparage this "marina" in rural (read: deserted) GA, especially when everyone I met was nice and helpful. But let's just say that when the wind would calm I could hear banjoes play, and I expected Burt Lancaster to paddle down the river at any minute.


One of the nice things about all these weather delays is getting to meet my fellow cruisers. People seem to be drawn to a young guy going it alone in a small boat. I think I remind the moms (remember that everyone I'm meeting is 55-65) of their children, and they worry about my culinary talents, and they fear I may be starving, a thought I try to encourage. Some might call that deception - I call it steak and potatoes with all the fixins' instead of hot dogs and lights out by 6:30

At the Deliverance marina I meet 3 nice couples, two of them from RI of all places (Portsmouth and Charlestown). Fun people. Good cooks, too!

My birthday was eventful. I woke up in southern GA next to Cumberland island, a nature preserve. I watched wild horses grazing in a foggy field as I ghosted past. A couple hours later a Coast Guard helicopter started buzzing me. Strange. Finally a 25' Naval gunship approached at mach 1. I stopped my boat and the boys let me know I must halt untl a nuclear submarine exits the river I'm in. What a sight, following this masive ship.



That night I hit Florida, and by the beginning of this past week I was finally in shorts. My father met me in West Palm Beach on the 19th, and we cooled our heels for a couple of days waiting for a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. We spent our time hassling the extremely wealthy of Palm Beach during the day by daring to walk on their streets - him dressed like a hiker model for L.L. Bean, me in my bright red Hawaiian shirt. At night we locked ourselves in the boat. Hey, we were in Riviera Beach - I got solicited by a hooker at 9:30 one morning, and dad was offered drugs the next!

Finally this morning 12-22, the first day of winter, the 12 footers in the Gulf Stream subsided to 5-6 footers. We left at 1:45 and made it to Wes End, Bahamas just after noon. We cleared customs and Dad was in a cab towards the airport by 1:45. I'm currently enjoying a rum and coke whilst the sun disappears. 39 days and 1683 miles later, the vacation has begun.


I hope everyone has a happy holidays. My mom comes to the Bahamas on the 25th and my sister on the 26th, so we'll be celebrating a day or two late. My sister claims that as a minister she has to perform Chrismas services. But mom and I know the real reason - the Dollar stores have the best deals on the 26th.

Take care,
Brian
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: South = Cold?

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 9:24 AM
Subject: South = Cold?

Greetings from the icy depths of the southeast. Another week down the East Coast, with 19 days left to get to the Bahas for Christmas day (mom, I PROMISE I'll be there). On reviewing my journal, it has not been as intersting of a week as those past. After fixing the water pump last Friday, I've had nothing worse than a loose alternator belt, which means only one of two things must be happening:

a) I'm geting the hang of repairing things, or
b) the engine has a complicated and nefarious new plan that it's working on.

Only time will tell.

I mentioned that the firepower has increased as I have continued south. On Sunday the South really upped the ante in the shape of the LeJeune firing range. Essentially it's a five mile stretch of the ICW that they shut down at random intervals to shoot stuff. There's no warning, there's no close place to wait it out if they ARE shooting, you just round a bend and there's either an armed "patrol" vessel waiting to stop you or there isn't. I rounded the bend and foun no such welcome, so I continued south, hoping that the patrol boat didn't get bored or cold and knocked off a little early...



The place was deserted. And just plain eerie. You come around a bend and find where the amphibious vehicles have been practicing crossing rivers, including one vehicle stuck in the bank. Around another bend you find a couple of tanks, a few other abandoned vehicles, various towers. It's like an enormous version of some kid's sandbox, and I half expected some booming mother's voice to remind the kid to pick up after himself.

On Wednesday night I made it to South Carolina. The first thing you come to in SC is an enormous outlet mall with a free dock. I'm sure there's a New Jersey joke in there somewhere... I was thankful for the free dock, but with temps dropping into the 20s at night still, I was not up for shopping.

The rest of the week has been cold and rainy, but thanks to the water temperature (55), I have been spared the freezing rain that some of the rest of the state has been blessed with. Needing groceries and a chance to warm up, I showed up in Charlestown this morning and am treating myself to a day in civilization. It's going to reach the 50s by the weekend, something I've not experienced since Maryland. I keep saying it, the warm weather has GOT to be right around the corner...

I hope all is going well with y'all. Next week will find me in Georgia and possibly Florida. Send warm thoughts, I've GOT to get out of this foul weather gear!

-Brian
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The Adventures of Captain Gale: Lots of Weather

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 9:05 AM
Subject: Lots of Weather

The weather gods have taken quite an interest in my trip as of late. On my departure from Rhode Island last week I made sure to toast the gods of the ocean. Apparently the wind gods are a little peeved...

2 days out of RI got me to Huntington Harbor on Long Island, making good time. But a noreaster carrying 50 knot winds kept me in Huntington for three days. As the winds abated I took off through Hell Gate, down the East River and through the New York Harbor. Sailing through NYC is always a great time - Past La Guardia and Rikers prison (did you know they use old Staten Island Ferries there? no kidding, I have video proof); Under the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges; floating past the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the UN building; under the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges; past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and finally under the Verrazano Bridge, all the while avoiding all the high speed ferries and shipping traffic. Non-stop action.

Once under the Verrazano it calms downand I settle in for the overnight motor-sail down the Jersey coast. At night you can follow the buoys that flash red, green or white at certain intervals. It's always confusing on the Jersey coast, trying to figure out what all these flashing red buoys are that aren't on your chart. It takes a while to realize they're flashing red stop lights! Only in New Jersey...





I pass the blaze of lights (visible 20 miles away) that is Atlantic City. I didn't stop - Tom Jones wasn't playing. Arrived at Cape May (Wildwood) at dawn and finally pulled into a side river halfway up the Delawre Bay. The past couple days have found me through the C&D canal and halfway down the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately there's another storm coming in this afternoon, so I'm ducking into the Potomac River to wait it out. I should be back in action Saturday afternoon, and in the ICW by monday, and then only 1000 miles to Palm Beach. Here's hoping this is the last of the big storms...

Thanks to all who have written. Take care and keep in touch. Oh, and if you're looking for someting to do on a Friday night, come on down to VA, the first round is on me.

Brian
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Exciting News about The Adventures of Captain Gale!

I just got off the phone with said Captain and he liked the idea so much that he will be digging out pictures to support all of the posts!

Look for the next installment on November 22nd!

The Adventures of Captain Gale: Off and Running (again)

From: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu [mailto:briangale@alum.bucknell.edu]
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 3:15 PM
Subject: FW:Off and running (again)

Howdy folks! As most of you know, I've quit my job and bought a sailboat in the hopes of spending the winter in the Bahamas. After a two week trip to Hawaii to practice my snorkling, I set off last week for the 6 week trip down the east coast to Palm Beach, where I'll hang a left and hit the Bahamas. Unfortunately, 45 minutes into the 8 month trip I broke the propellor shaft. Bye bye engine.

After I limped home, there were several theories about the accident, with most people going with the old sailing superstition, "Never leave on a Friday".

Now I'm not really one for superstitions. I walk under ladders, I step on cracks without fear of injury to my mother's spine, I bring bananas aboard boats (another no-no), and if I have to, I'd leave on a Friday. To cover my butt, however, I moved my boat 6 miles on Thursday night before heading home for one more night ashore. And that worked - for about 3 miles.

To make a long story short, several people came through to get me back out on the water last night, only 5 days after the incident. I left this morning, a THURSDAY, from Barrington, and am currently motor-sailing past Fishers Island, NY at 5 knots. Its a beautiful sunny day, with light winds and 45 degrees. Nothing to get used to - tomorrow holds rain and lower 30s for me.

I've got this funky little pocket organizer which will allow me to send out emails from time to time. I apologize, but a majority of these will probably be group emails. Pocketmail doesn't realy have great group distribution abilities, and I'm sure I've left off many people from my group lists (I have to break up the addresses to 20 at a time). If I've missed someone, please have them write me. And conversely, if you're trying to live a spartan email life, let me know and I'll take you off the list. My address is: briangale@alum.bucknell.edu

Oh, and for the record, I'll keep walking under ladders, I'll keep bringing bananas aboard, but I think I'll keep from leaving on sailing journeys on Friday's. Although I do find it fishy that ever single leaf fell at my mother's house in the five days I was delayed...

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Welcome to The Adventures of Captain Gale and the Celebration!

Four years ago my good friend Brian "Captain" Gale set off on a sailing adventure that would take him to the Bahamas for the winter months. He took along with him a new device(at the time) called Pocket Mail that allowed him to post his adventures while mobile.

It is my earliest recollection of someone "Blogging" that I can remember. I remember waiting each week for word of his most recent adventure, islands he has visited an ports of call where he spent many a night in the company of other sailors enjoying adventure on the southern seas.

I will be posting his original posts, unaltered on the same dates - 4 years later - just as he posted them (spelling errors and all) to his friends and family across the states, on my weblog here for you all to enjoy. I think it makes for a good read and it's something I enjoy reading again to this very day-

I hope you enjoy the adventure!