Hello boys and girls!  Just back from three weeks of memorizing and regurgitating marine arcaneana in order to re-new and upgrade my Coast Guard Master's License -- prolonged blasts, gongs and bells; if I get this wrong will I go to hell?  COLREGS rules, Inland Rules and Rules on Western Rivers (that are not in the West) not to mention rules which apply only upstream of the Huey P. Long Bridge?!  My mind is agog with metacentric heights and righting arms; caternary, set and drift, rove to advantage and riding in step, running fixes and triangle trickes.  Triple luffs and double folds, CFRs, luminous range, cardinal marks and keep the change.  "Red-over-red, the captain is dead" and "red-over-white, fishing at night".  Hovercraft flashing yellow not to be confused with submarine flashing yellow and lets not forget red, green and yellow parachute flares that alert us to practice torpedoes launched... or was that periscope rising?  CQ, CQ, Roger and Avast!  Pushing ahead, towing astern or on the hip; let your tow get out of control and your tug will trip!  Only New Reels Catch Fish and True Virgins Make Dull Companions... Make it all stop!  

It's my own fault I'm having to do this again, having gotten my original USCG license 10 years ago.  I allowed it to expire and missed the grace period as well, so had to start from scratch.  Despite the brain strain and internal rebellion at being required to memorize (some) things that have nothing to do with safely operating a vessel, I did enjoy the refresher and meeting various marine professionals in the class, going for really significant licenses and being required to cough up far more difficult material than I.  The folks at Crawford Nautical School in Seattle are great -- Dorothy took the 100 ton program there in '06 -- and did their best to make the process as benign as possible.  We will return in November to do their Celestial Nav course which is required for the license upgrade I'm seeking.

Rusty and Rascal struggled through the Seattle process with me, while Dot bonded with baby DJ in Sonoma County.  I'm now back on DE in windy Bodega Bay with a two-week break before flyingto Hong Kong to take delivery on a friend's new Diesel Duck, commission and prepare the boat for it's shake-down cruise across the South China Sea to Subic Bay PI... between typhoons -- it's that time of year down there.  

Dean on Jubilee, who I crewed with from Chesapeake to Lake Ontario is making his way through the various Great Lakes; Roger who crewed with us is trying to lose the weight he gained during that passage.  My pants belt is telling me I gained weight too, but I'm too frightened to get on a scale and see just how much.  David and Jamie Fritsch's duck Kwakatu, which sold recently (on the east coast) was seen in SE Alaska presumably with new owners.  Grand-daughter Jordanne has finished her tech school (Aerospace Medical Services) at Fort San Houston, Tx and is headed to Mississippi for an internship.  Grand-daughter Jenna,  after graduation from Analy High School, is dealing with reality sinking in, that she has choices to make to move her life forward in directions that work for her.  

It's been a hectic run since March and won't slow down until end of summer.  I'm looking forward to just working on DE, which will have to wait until September-October.  Life goes on... deaths, divorces and marriages amongst friends and extended family.  Folks generally keep on doing the best they can... and to quote a favorite song of mine "they do it pretty up and walking good".