SailBlog

It was a peaceful night, in a light breeze, I neared the SE corner of Block Island, the new Wind Farm construction, right in the middle of the route�... lit up like Christmas, as one sailor said on the radio when I asked for the location of the farm. �"You can�'t miss it�", he said. And he was right. I just hadn�'t realized it was along the south coast�...

It was a night of quiet meditation; I was actually surprised how quiet my mind was. I was content to let it all be still�... it had all been so overwhelming�...trying to keep tabs on the preparation; seeing Bob for the first time, arriving but not arriving; having to wander about and bide time�... It isn�'t like me at all. I am a �'get it done�' kind of girl�... the hurry up and wait syndrome, was planned and necessary, but not easy for me.

The breeze stayed up until just as I was rounding the corner, and then it let go to becalm�... I guess there was still a whisper as I handsteered until we had a bit of distance from the Block Island east coast�... and the wee wind was taking us west�... so I dropped the sails, leaving the radio on�... I fell into short periods of sleep.

As the morning light turned to sunrise and a warmth touching the deck of Inspired Sanity, I thought about the day and decided I would try to get my kites flying. There would be a light breeze�... perfect for getting it all flying�... It would be awesome if Keel can get some footage of my experiments with the kites�... I had planned to spend more time working with them, but it always seemed there was enough happening in each moment for the moment I was in�...

Today, though, I have some time. So after I had some breakfast, well inside the outer bay area north of Point Judith, on the west side, I pulled out the kites�... The kites are designed to fly in tandem, first lofting one and then attaching a second one to the end of the lines of the first�... With the first kite well into the upper level breezes, the second kites takes off easily�... I have two different sizes of kites to vary with wind speed�... also to be a learning tool.

Having worked as a Parasail boat crew for several years, I have a good hand to kites, the lines, how to organize them, keep them untangled and set to �'pop�' a chute�... But the winds were just too light today to get either kite off the deck�...at least so far. It is still early, just 1035�... so I will see if the afternoon sea breeze is a bit more robust�... So far, I have not been daring enough to try the kites in a moderate breeze�...they are intended to augment light winds, but then again, I have to get them high enough to get to the upper level wind�...so there is a learning curve�...

Essentially, I had envisioned the kites being an alternative propulsion if I lost the rig, so in the that case, the situation would involve flying the kites with all different wind conditions. So�... we will see�...I really would love to get the kites up and see how well they can propel Inspired Sanity and how maneuverable we are under kite power�... I will need to continue to experiment, I can see.

Keel and Halsey are due to arrive between 4-5pm to do a photo shoot of my entering the bay, and then it will be official. I will have completed the circumnavigation. At this time, having approached the bay from the west and having left in July 2015 heading to the east, I may not have crossed my outbound track yet, but I will when I cross Beavertail lighthouse to head towards Castle Hill. It is all so exciting. For the moment, I am hove to�...sort of�... I backed the main. Enough to stall us here so I can take a rest, finish getting some things done on the boat, quite a mess from the days offshore from Panama, nearly a month... tonight I will have the blessing of being safe and stopped in side the entrance of the bay�... Inspired Sanity once more, adjusting to that different wallow, whether we take a mooring or drop an anchor�...

IS and I are ready to let this chapter of our journey together have closure�... and let the next phase of our relationship unfold; Oceanswatch work combined with teaching sailing, or potentially, a new owner for IS�... We will see what creative ideas the future has in store�....

Keepin On Sailin On Caring�... Thank you all for every moment of every day that you have given your energy, focused life energy with me, and supported me through this incredible journey. Wow�... Selah!!

Fairest of winds and the love of the oceans Only Gratitude Donna