Sailin' Away - Maybe

We live across from American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook and I see a lot of sail boats come and go.

In the spring there's an international regatta run out of  St Thomas Yacht Club.  Thus the name "St Thomas International Regatta".  Captains, mates, sailors and pirates descend on this tiny island in March for the regatta. The race is a big deal and the boats are absolutely wonderful. 

I've often thought about buying a boat but I'm reminded of the two best days in a boat owners life: the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it.

Boats can be absolute money pits. You have to pour money in to keep the gear up to snuff.  You don't want a line to fray, a sail to rip or a winch handle to fail when you really need it.  Of course everything you need costs more than $500.  You can rent a boat for a thousand dollars a day and it's probably a cheaper option.  

It's hard not to think about buying a boat when you live here though. Especially because, were something go wrong, escape might be necessary. Disaster planning is always in the front of your mind when you live on a small island. 

St Thomas really is a tiny island. If you look at a map of the western hemisphere you probably won't even see it. For reference it is a couple of islands east of Puerto Rico.  

So here's my current plan: 

Option 1:  I know someone who's off island at the moment.  His boat is empty while he's not here. That's top of my list right now. 

Option 2:  Appropriate / misappropriate one of the empty boats moored in Vessup Bay, hoist the sails and slink away into the sunset.  

Option 3:  Rum, lime, coconut and wait. (stocked up already)

It's a toss up which one plan is best right now but you always need a plan. Society is so freaking fragile and things can go south in a heartbeat. You don't want to be stuck scrounging bananas, coconuts and genips with the feral dogs, iguanas, and chickens.

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I've been told that you need to keep your drawings lose and gestural to get more action into them. If the drawing is too stiff it takes a lot of the life out of it. 

Since it's Saturday, and things should be a bit more relaxed on a Saturday, I thought I would try to hang loose. Today, I feel real loose.  Not quite like a long necked goose but close enough.  

It's time to chill.