Hello All!
It has been a very crazy fall, heading into winter, in the Pacific NW for this sailor. Most challenging process for me has been dispersing of my accumulation of 45 years of stuff! Amazing what one can collect if you have a shop big enough to store most anything and NEVER have to throw anything away.....EVER! All this work is in preparation for selling my NW home this coming spring 2020.
One collection that blossomed beyond my imagination is my nautical library. Over the years I have collected books on yacht design, building techniques, navigation, sail boat racing, tactics, cruising to distance shores and of course non fiction novels on adventures on the sea, survival and on and on. Didn't take a final tally but a number of years ago a very close friend did an Excel spreadsheet on the grouping and at that time 227 books were listed. I didn't stop dragging books home at that place in time for sure. When I rounded them up to pass on there were 15 boxes of books and a sextant in the stack!! I have read every single book once some twice and a few more. Sucking up the sense of adventure and the knowledge these books have provided which has served me well on my own adventures....and still is!
The wonderful thing that has been surprisingly gratifying has been passing on things I have had a great passion for. There are a number of stories how certain things have gone to the most deserving recipient possible.
Tonight I donated my Sailing Library to the Everett Mill Town Sailing Association who in turn supports the Everett Sea Scouts. I have been a continuing blind patron to the Sea Scouts for almost 9 years now.
After communicating with different members of the club and Pam the Commodore of Mill Town, we decided for me to drop off the gift on the evening of the Sea Scouts meeting. They could help carry the boxes into the club house and get the first opportunities to peruse thru the books for those they might like to read and check them out. The collection will substantially augment the clubs existing library that they check out to members and Scouts. After the Scouts carried the books in I was given the opportunity to speak to the Scouts by Paul the Scout Master. The club is set up similar to the Girl & Boy Scouts with the mission to teach seamanship to co-ed teenagers thru classroom and on the water experience.
What a grateful, attentive group of young people they are! A little over a dozen were on hand for the meeting. All were dressed appropriately and well mannered, how refreshing! The group camaraderie was also very evident and playful.
Something to really feel good about in these crazy times we are in...Amen...
Barry_/)

A late stay this year, fly out for the Bungalow on this coming Monday the 25th of November.