Naples Florida Wrap-Up Post

Naples Florida

I'd have to say that my stay in Naples has been a resounding success. Time is such a slippery thing as I had made the decision about a year ago or more to curtail my trip and head to Naples. So with Naples set upon the horizon of my mind, I left Grenada in my wake in November of 09. Perception of time's speed moves in lock step with the fullness of ones life. I guess I live a full life.

I could hardly believe when I arrived that I had actually make it back so rapidly, given the amount of time it had taken me to get to Grenada. You can read about my trip from Marathon in the Keys to Naples undertaken last December by clicking here.

I try to live strategic like. With intent. A plan. This requires me to cast into the future and make judgments, and then break things down into practical steps. Your basic goal planning. The rub is to apply some kind of discipline. It's easy to get all pumped up after watching a Tony Robbins infomercial at 3am. Surely another matter to sustain the motivation the next morning when you realize you should have been sleeping instead of watching Tony and his big Mellon. But the bottom line for me is I have found that when work-lists are created and goals are documented in writing, some how they get done. Amazing. When I first started this business of goals/work-list, I learned a trick to keep me on track. My boss made me jot down as my first work-list item of the day to simply read the work-list and review the longer range goals. And then, most importantly, scratch off those items on the list. Pow! Straight away I already had tackled two things off my work-list for the day. This small piece of mental gymnastics worked for me. Now it's habit. My larger point is, I believe my success here in Naples can be tracked back to my planning I did well over a year ago. Staying on course in life is not an instant gratification game. But once you realize that the "luck" your experiencing is grounded in previous thought, it's very gratifying. FYI. Most of my planning is now done using Mind Maps.

One goal I had set for myself in Naples did not go so well. And that is boat maintenance. The systems on the boat are fine. But the cosmetics are bringing me down. I never got much traction in that area.

But my goal of employment went great. You can read about how I stumbled into my job at Ridgway's Bar and Grill by clicking here. The military life, of which I was a part for 20 years is a lifestyle. So venturing outside of that world was very interesting. I am very grateful for being hired by Tony Ridgway. He took a chance as I had zero experience in the restaurant biz, and being trained as an Expiditor was a lift in a restaurant as busy as the one I was in. I met all kinds of great people who work in the restaurant industry. Over all, in my humble opinion, it is not an industry I could recommend long-term. Most people working out-front are stressed and dumped on every night no matter what. This is the nature of the business. Some customers never can be pleased.

The kitchen, where I worked was a whole other world. A world full of illegal immigrants. As far as I can tell, this fact is standard in most kitchens in Florida restaurants. Leaving aside the politics of this divisive issue, I have to say the cooks, bus people and such were all wonderful, good spirited people who were very hard workers and quick to smile. I liked them all. Working in an environment where I am about the only one who speaks English, at times was infuriating. Many many mistakes are made due to the language barrier and this comes right out of the owners pocket. Not my problem to solve. I will say that watching a 55 year old Mexican grandfather washing dishes night after night is upsetting. Over all it was a great experience for me. I not only peeked into a side of our society, but really existed within that world for 4 months. I achieved my goal of earning some money to offset the huge cost of trucking Christa to California. Where's my work-list? Check.

It was great to not have to worry about weather Christa's anchor was going to drag and of course being dockside, no worries about low batteries. I had time to get into a groove. I consistently practiced yoga, rode my bike and ran. I went to the dentist, had a chipped tooth fixed by a guy with freakishly white teeth. Had a through physical done by Dr. Pedro Arrocho, who looks like he hails from Sweden. I acquired the Green Hornet, my green Honda Accord and again was ambulatory so to speak. I spent an obscene amount of money at Whole Foods. Damn! Yes, I again afirm my successful time in Naples.

I think maybe the best part of staying in Naples has everything to do with Mike & Amy. Being with them and their/our larger group of friends really means everything in the end. That stiff support structure. The same structure I felt when waking in the morning in Honeymoon Bay and right next door was Wandering Dolphin.  I felt the same when cruising with the Jansen family and SV Adamo. So while I am very excited to be heading to San Francisco to open a new chapter, it is with some sadness that I leave Florida where my parents, grandfather, Janina and more extended family reside. Thus far in nearly 43 years of life, it appears to be a theme. But I guess that is how I roll. That dogs painted face captures the mood.

Capt Chris

Sailing North From Naples to Fort Myers Beach Florida

On a Mooring Fort Myers Beach Florida

 The weather was perfect and my window had arrived. I had been seeking a windless day. Sounds counter intuitive for a sailboat I know. But after having the diesel engine sitting for 5 month without much load I wanted to open her up for a few hours of activity. Pow. 51 horses of Yanmar ran like a champ. Here I am working on the beast in Long Island New York in September of 2007. Photo credit goes to John Gamble. Bastard.

I fired up all the systems along the way including the water maker and all equipment worked well. It was about a 5 hour transit and I was on a mooring by 1pm. You can see Christa is the 8th boat on the right hand side. It felt great to be out on the water again, if only for a brief time. I am now just a stones throw away from Olsen Marine where Christa will be hauled and put on a truck. That will take place either May 28th or June 1st. The truck driver is now delivering a boat from CA TO WIS, then to SC and then to snatch me.

Mike and Amy have been wonderful to me. Not only did they let me use their dock and then see me off this morning. They then arranged a ride for me back to Naples to pick up the Green Hornet. And to stay in the house. Central Air!!!!!!!!!

Mooring Field FT Myers as Seen from the Bridge

I'll likely head back to Christa on Sunday and start stripping everything I can while on the mooring. Tuesday on the high tide I'll be dockside at Olsen Marine. The crane will be ready to pluck the mast on Thursday.

I slapped together a quick video from this mornings departure. Enjoy!



Capt Chris

Stay Strong Blog Readers

Living Aboard Christa In Naples Florida

 Blogging it turns out is alot of work. At least people who are successful at it, work at it just about daily.  I wouldn't toss myself into the "success" category really, but I do acknowledge that I haven't given up. In fact I'm more motivated than ever to keep at it. And, this is why you see re-designs more than you should and why I just can't help but tinker with the site layout.

It is important for me to keep in mind that a layout change does not constitute more content. It's kind of like a beautiful woman with no brains that continues to wear fresh and new clothing. The new clothing still won't cover up the fact she has not brains. My giggering with the blogger designs can leave me with the illusion of blogging. But bloggers must write and this is not easy to do day in and day out. I often wonder what the burn out rate for blogs is.

I enjoy mental challenge and this is why I didn't cancel the blog after I changed my circumnavigation plans. I still struggle to figure out what to write about or photograph or video. I guess the answer rests within a regular guys regular life. I do have to acknowledge the blogging pioneers at Bumfuzzle. They are the coolest.

To the sailing enthusiasts who follow or have followed, I thank you very much and hope you stick with the blog as I move in other directions. But, and this is a big butt! I don't ever see leaving me leaving my sailing roots. It's just in my blood. I will continue to liveaboard Christa and will ply the waters of San Francisco Bay to keep the nautical skills sharp. San Francisco and especially Sausalito has a substantial nautical heritage. I'll be rubbing elbows with all the salts that call Sausalito home. Of course I'll report when appropriate.

For others who are not so jazzed about the sailing aspect I hope you will stick around and send me feedback. I'll always try and keep it interesting and will blaze a path in new directions.

Now onto the whole point of this blog entry. I went back to my old format for a couple of reasons. I think it just is my favorite as it allows larger sized pictures than 3 column type blogs. But here is the most important reason. I received info that some people were experiencing problems with the new re-design in terms of shutting down their browser or triggering virus alerts. I know some have stopped reading the blog because of this. The problem only manifests while using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. No matter, I hope by going back to the old standby, the issues with the browser is solved. It is a tried and true design and has no bugs in it. The other one was new and apparently had some bugs. So that is that!

Capt Chris
PS: I found the really cool nautical picture above in a Picasa Featured Photograph section of Picasa Web Albums. Really cool picture of a salty dude standing watch or however the viewer wants to interpret it.

Trucking Update....The Delay

Moored Naples Florida

Fish On!!!!!

We suffered a little bit of a set back today in my trucking Christa to California project. I received word from the trucker that he is running at least two weeks behind schedule. This jacks up some plans I've laid down and will likely result in me curtailing the amount of time I will spend dilly dallying while driving to California. Bummer.

The trucker was honest and up front about what was going on.  He spent the winter totally idle, surviving on a bank loan.  His fortunes turned rapidly.  Now he has a feeding frenzy on his hands. He had several spots in his schedule where he was "dead heading" (not a la Jerry Garcia) and tried to fill the gaps. The rub is that this allows for little wiggle room in terms of mistakes, break downs or delays. Well he had a couple of boats that were late, boat show delays and had to catch up on trailer maintenance. This info did not come out in drips and drabs, but straight away. I can deal with someone like that. So, we are hoping and praying for a pick up by Memorial Day week or on the outside June the 1st.

This impacts me, but not drastically. No sense in getting all worked up about it. I purposely built tons of time into the schedule. I must be settled in California by August 24th, 2010 as this is when my classes start at Dominican U. However my renters are leaving my house June 15th and this leaves me in a financial lurch. The house needs attention before I can bring other renters in. The delay alters my ability to deal with the house, possibly causing me to eat the mortgage longer than anticipated.

This does leave an unexpected spectrum of time to do as I please. I chose to do boat projects. Mostly sanding and varnishing. I did have grandiose plans of doing all kinds of boat work while in Naples this winter. My job at the restaurant sucked up some of my time and I became lazy with the boat. Another effect of my cruising life and living aboard for so long. I was sick of fixing things on the boat, but I still fixed stuff. Christa's looks suffered. She wants to be purdy again. She was tellin me. 

I always have so many things going, it is good to have this time to work on my projects. I will continue to exercise daily, play with my pal Amy when she is in town, work on my Final Cut Express project, think hard about my future life course, play my guitar, walk the beach, slug coffee and buzz around Naples in the Green Hornet, which has 4 new tires. Here is an aside story I just remembered.

The Coast Guard's Motto, Semper Paratus, which means "Always Ready" still holds.  I was making my way to the car in the this Friday morning past stoked about an hour a half yoga session on the docket. Suddenly I eagle eye a nail in the rear tire. Aye Chiwawa. I head on over to the Tire King, doing the responsible thing by canceling yoga in lieu of my safety. The fellow says no problem to patch at $22 bucks. I head to Starbucks to gigger with my iPad while the car is serviced. Phone rings with the news. Can't be patched and I need 4 new tires. Don't worry, I cross examined The King pretty hard to make sure he wasn't just casting for work. What with all the wealth here in Naples, I'm sure they are not used to people haggling. He presented a strong case and with my cross country trip bubbling up in my mind I gave The King the green light. I left an hour later poorer by $463 boat bucks. So my point is Semper Paratus. You never know when your day is going to turn, best be prepared. Always have a slush fund for unforeseeables, I certainly sleep better knowing I'm not operating on the financial edge.

Ok, here are some pictures of status of Christa's varnish work.

Bowsprit

Starboard Caprail

Tiller

Capt Chris

PS: I may have failed to note that I am no longer working at Ridgway Bar and Grill. The season is over and they no longer need an Expo. Maybe I'll blog about that experience sometime.

PSS: Happy Birthday to Janina!

Stormin in south Florida

Naples Florida

A day or two ago, severe weather hit the gulf coast states. Well the front that brought that weather penetrated farther than forecast. So this morning I awoke to some really nasty weather. Here is some graphics.

You can see the red boxes toward Palm Beach and FT Lauderdale, yup tornado's. All kinds of lightening and heavy winds buffeted Christa. But snug I was in the canal alongside the dock.

I still loath these storms. Christa and I, and of course most cruisers have had their share of run ins with squall lines. In my humble opinion, they pose serious risk and can be awfully frightening. You can read about such a squall by clicking here. Just an example of my past grappling with squalls.

I stuck my head out the hatch during a brief respite and snapped this photo with the Canon G11.

Capt Chris

Movement to FT Myers Florida

Moored Portside Naples Florida

I've settled on sailing to FT Myers the week of April 26th, weather dependent of course, to ready Christa for trucking across out great country. Soon after or maybe immediately I will haul out at Gulf Marine Boat Yard and start stripping Christa down for trucking. Can't hardly believe the time has come. My work is down to 3 days a week and next week will be my last. I've banked some money to help with the trucking expense, which now seems to be over $10,000.00 including the hauling and re-launching. Depends on how much dithering I do while driving west. Here are some google earth graphics.

Naples Landscape

Moored at the Patton Residence, Naples Florida
Moving to California Next Month. Why? Click Here.

I'm able to find beauty just about anywhere. I'm blessed this way. Some long time residents of Naples are sickened a bit over the influx of vast fortunes and the squashing of an old school beach town feel. You can still experience a little bit of that beach town feel between Naples and Fort Myers Beach, along Bonita Beach Road. But I still find some of the homes just stunning. I found when sailing from place to place, the best way to get a feel for and discover nooks in new places is to take a run.  It has been the same with Naples.

I have been running past this small park that sits along this little lake surrounded by homes. I keep hearing about all the gators in Florida. I want to photograph one or many. So today, I drove the Green Hornet to this spot to see about flushing out one of these beasts. No joy. But what terrific day and so beautiful. Low humidity, 80's and blue skies. I broke the camera out anyway and even took a self portrait.

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother Ron.

So happy my work schedule had backed down to a respectable level. Three days off this week! And in a month or so, time to move on. Why and where? Well Click here.


Capt Chris

PS: Word around the camp fire is that some folks using Microsofts Internet Explorer are experiencing weirdness when logging on to the blog. Apparently multiple windows start opening by themselves. No clue what this is about. No issues with any other browsers. I dumped Internet Explorer many moons ago because of its constant problems.  Any problems though, I would like to know about. So don't be shy!

A Little Touchey Feeley....I Get It

Naples Florida
Weather is rain, temp in the 70's

Yoga is not mainstream. For people who have never been exposed to the practice or know little about, generally consider the yoga crowd kind of a fringe group. I can't really argue with that. Some of the die hard yoga people speak a different language and can be quick to deploy the Taro Cards. I can easily tolerate that type of thing and sometimes am amused by it. I don't know everything and if someone wants to operate from that set of principles, so be it. To stereotype most yoga people into a certain political persuasion would be accurate. That is why people call it a stereotype, due to the grains of truth. But not all.

I was swept into the world of yoga about two years ago, but have not been practicing consistently due to my sailing adventure. Since arriving in Naples I have been attending 2 or 3 times per week at great expense, but with great results. I admit, I'm hooked.

I have been working out and exercising religiously since late 2004, mostly in the cardio realm. I hate lifting weights, just not my thing to go to a gym and grunt up a set of dumb bells. But resistance training is really important and that is where yoga comes in. Ask anyone what they think after their first yoga class and most will gasp at the difficulty. It is funny to watch a big muscle bound type dude being out strengthed by some 5 foot nothing girl. All exercise is cumulative in nature, but in yoga it is especially true. It takes much more than strength; It takes a steely concentration and when your likely one of the only men in a studio full of women in yoga pants, you need to call up reserves of concentration and focus.  All joking aside, I am simply astounded at the amount of effort it takes and the buckets of sweat that pours out of me when trying to hold a pose. I always associated vigorous movement with exertion, but have since learned you can exert more when trying to hold still. Weird. 


The only rub with all this is the money angle. You can find cheap yoga in most places, but not in Naples. I have been paying $160 for 10 sessions, just a little less than $20 a class. And at 3 times a week, it quickly becomes unaffordable for many. It is a financial burden for me, but the benefits for me outweigh the expense. I try and convince myself that the best health care policy in the world in diet an exercise. Each day I feel very healthy with tons of energy. Plus I don't mind hanging out with all the women in yoga cloths.


Capt Chris

PS: I snapped the above picture the other day after leaving class. Two yoga instructors at the office working out next weeks schedule.

PSS: I have some news on the trucking of Christa. I'll update on that major project soon.

Draft Article I Penned for Latitude38

Living Aboard Christa in Naples Florida

I am just putting the finishing touches on this article before submission to Latitude38, an excellent west coast sailing rag. This article gives the fullest explanation as to why I've cut short my intended circumnavigation. I would appreciate any feed back. Thanks!

Giving Up or a Sabbatical Draft1-1

Capt Chris

The Blooming Interest in Photography and Video

Moored Naples Florida

 I just love getting swept up into a new activity. I regret not investing earlier in a higher end digital camera before I went sailing in 2007. The Fuji-Fine pics I used was adequate, but compared to the Canon G11 it is lackluster. The Canon is a complex piece of equipment that takes some study. It's common sense, that in order to take pictures you must have your camera with you. It is a bummer that I'm working so much and have less of a chance to take pictures and or write blog entries. But today, Tuesday is my only day off, and while driving to get some dinner, I noticed the sun was setting and thought why don't I take a swing to the beach. Of course I had my Canon G11 and tri-pod in the trunk of the Green Hornet. Turned out to be a really nice evening along the Gulf of Mexico. And now I share some of my pictures with you.

Around Naples Florida on the White Rino

Moored Naples Florida

I am now officially getting trained up for the GranFondo out in California. I have been doing some riding, in spite of the cold tempts and north wind here in Florida. I don't care what anyone says. It's cold! Before someone wants to dispute the definition of cold, please keep in mind that I have been to both the Antarctic, Arctic and the Aleutian Island chain in the winter. It really is a matter of expectation. I put together a little video of my routine and some footage along my path.


Untitled from Christian Allaire on Vimeo.

Please leave comments!

Capt Chris

Scenes from a Morning Beach Stroll

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here
For a more complete history of me and sailing click here. 


One of the great things about my situation in Naples is the short distance to the beautiful beach. Sometimes I run the beach and other times I take a stroll with the ladies. I prefer the stroll. This day, we hooked a left and headed south along the Port Royal section of town as far as the Port Royal Club. You want to see some money spent, just click on the Port Royal Club link. Bam! It's nice. 


For all the northers thinking were soaking up the rays at the beach in south Florida, think again. Just check out our attire. But I can say the threat of flurries was not a concern.

                                                      

 Capt Chris....Happy in Naples

PS: You can double click on the images to expand them to see the full 10 mega-pixel capabilities of the Canon G11.

Wordpress Coming Soon to christianallaire.com

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here
For a more complete history of me and sailing click here. 

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about blogs and blogging over the passed three plus years. The original idea for a blog was planted by Tom & Amy from Sandpiper.   They used Blogger for their journey from California, west-about to St John USVI where they now call home. I had to have one. And so I do. The blog has become an enjoyable labor of love. I always say, I love that folks take the time to read the blog, comment and send me emails. Please keep it up! But the main mission is for my own personal gratification. It's my log book of life. The blog has pushed me in different areas that I never imagined. It has forced me to think a little more deeply, to observer a little closer, because I may have to put what I'm thinking or feeling or observing into words. A daily event or situation forces me to assess, is it blog worthy? At one point I was getting tired of writing so much, so I thought well I'll just take more pictures and let them do the talking. Picture is worth a thousand words type of thing. This pivot hurtled me into an interest in photography, or a re-invigoration more accurately, because in 7th grade I loved the photography club. I dug the old school dark room development process. Of course now I needed to learn about management of a digital library and digital photography which lead me into the world of High Definition video and editing. All this sprung from my simple desire to let the folks back home know where I was and how I was doing on my sailing voyage. This is life.

My evolution continues. I originally started out on Sailblogs and still have my sailblogs site up and running. I found sailblogs limiting (has since gotten better) but became aggravated when I found out that Google Adsense revenue generated from my blog (granted, pennies) was going into the pocket of the owners of sailblogs. I decided to go the way of Sandpiper and start a blog on Blogger. Blogger has many more options and is easier to personalize and I could use my own domain name, christianallaire.com. I thought I was on it like Blue Bonnet, but since have learned that Blogger is still considered rookie ville. 

Enter Wordpress.org This is where the more serious go to to crank it up a few notches. Wordpress.org is a publishing platform that creates websites. It is all very complicated to new folks, me included. The learning curve is steep and I'm still on the first hill. Over the past month I have been working on this project. I have a Wordpress.org website now being hosted on a sever I pay for each month. Files are transferred via FTP and once a theme is downloaded, I can manipulate the layout and color and feel of the website to my own liking. The rub is, you must start to learn how to write CSS Code. I have no idea how long this will take me. But when you click on a professional website like Nikonfestival or Queens College you know you've logged onto a professional product. In terms of making the switch, from the reader point of view, you'll never do anything different. When the new christianallaire.com is ready for prime time, I simply assign christianallaire.com as the domain name for my new blog and you'll automatically see the new site. The new site will of course have all my archives and what not.

I love my Blogger blog and spent a good deal of time learning how to upgrade it. So why switch again? I would like to improve and with Wordpress.org, I can endlessly tweak the website as new technology is created or improved upon. But the biggest reason is that Blogger (owned by google) owns my content as the blog resides on their servers for free. So now I control and own my own content, but have to pay. So I have now gone from worries about squalls to worries about File Transfers Protocols. And of course I worry about bread trays to.

So keep a sharp eye. One issue that I'm not sure I will be able to over come is, when I make the shift I may loose my followers as the RSS Feed may be broken. If you are a follower via RSS Feed, I may ask for you to re-sign up for the feed. That's it from a chilly Naples Florida.

Capt Chris

Rigors of the Job

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here
For a more complete history of me and sailing click here.

As some may know I took a job as an Expeditor at a restaurant here in Naples. It has given me a whole new view into life in America after 20 years in the Coast Guard community. Once I'm done my tour of duty at Ridgeway Bar & Grill, I'll give a more thorough review of my experience. It is a low level job in the grand scheme, but one should never adopt the view that they are "above" a certain occupation. Having a job is a blessing. Having the opportunity to aspire higher is even more of a blessing.

An Expo is the coordinator of the galley. In my case, there are two of us and even then at times two Expo's become overwhelmed. On the busiest of nights the restaurant has 13 chef's working behind the line and 300 to 500 meals are pumped out between 5 and 9pm. Ensuring the meals come out timely and with a crisp quality is the Expo's bread and butter. Speaking of bread and butter. One thing I do many times per night is take a hot tray of bread and discharge it into the bread warmer. I've burned myself twice doing this. You can see above the latest scorch job. When the latest burn happened I didn't even know it, but when I looked at my arm a few minutes later, we had bubbleage! Medic! Medic! No one paid attention, so I went and got some ice and dove back into the  Expo mayhem. 


Capt Chris


PS: Happy Presidents Day! And I'm driving across the country in late May through early June time frame. You can read about that in a blog entry by clicking here.  I wanted to thank everyone who have extended an invitation for me to "camp" out on there couches. It really really is appreciated and I'm excited to meet blog readers! So thank you and see you soon!

The 2009 In Review Movie

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here

Here is my latest video effort. In pictures, a chronology of my year! If you like let me know! I recognize the opening sequence is a little blurry. My Flip HD took a digger and has cracks across the lens. I'll work on a workaround. I've been working on this for 3 weeks and simply didn't want to delay publishing any longer.



Capt Chris

PS: To watch the video in HD, the best quality, hit the play button bottom left, then toggle the button on the  right and bring it up to 750p. For some reason with Youtube's latest update the HD Video does not come up automatically. Don't know why. But I do know that watching the video in HD and in Full Screen makes a big difference.

The Splice. The New Bike

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here

My new job keeps me occupied for 30 to 40 hours a week and thus some of my activities will suffer. Boat projects have been one of them. A few months ago I bought new chainplates from Bud Taplin at World Cruisers as I have had some concern mine are just to old. My intent is to replace them here in Naples. I simply thought I would have dove into that project by now. No joy. So I have now decided to take on smaller projects; ones that I can either finish in an hour or work on for an hour a day. The chainplate project is a fairly large undertaking. Set up and clean up will take longer than my allotment of an hour a day. So, I'm working on carving out some time for the chainplate project, but may delay and do the project during the upcoming trucking of Christa. I have decided to start the replacement of the running rigging which is about 8 to 10 years old. Pictured above is the new main halyard splice. I'll climb the mast today and reave it through the masthead block.

Onto my new Road Bike.

 One of the things I really missed when sailing was hopping on a bike and roaming. There are folding bikes that are really cool, but Christa just is not big enough to stow and then the transport ashore would also be an issue. Now that I'm on land I purchased a Road Bike. I've always owed cheap bikes, probably because I've had several ripped off. One right before my very eye's in California, while browsing in  a BlockBuster Video Store. But above you can see my new ride, "The White Rino," is an entry level Road Bike. Having a decent bike makes a huge difference in riding enjoyment. I've already put a smooth 40 miles on the bike, according to my snazzy Strada computer on the handle bar. Including a brutal 15 miles into a 20 mph headwind. Other than just liking the way the world looks from a bike, my main purpose is exercise. I love to run and while I don't have any problems, the pounding on the body over a period of years will create pain down the road. Between the yoga, running and the bike, I should be able stay healthy. It's my day off. Gotta jam.

Capt Chris

PS: I guess I should plug Bikesdirect.com. This is where I purchased The White Rino for $359 with free shipping. I had a very positive experience with them. I ordered the bike at 2:30pm and was delivered in less than 24 hours via UPS. Very easy to put together.

PSS: If anyone is interested in learning how to splice Double Braided Nylon line click here. Splicing is not that hard, just follow the directions. There are some tricks an experienced Bosn could could show you, but it is worth a try.

Christa Bashes to Windward/Some History

Moored Naples FloriidaThis is an article that I penned for Latitude38 and was published a few months ago. It provides some history for newer readers of the blog. Plus I'm testing out the very cool Scibe technology. Latitude 38


What is Scribd? Click here. The iPaper document reader is very cool.

Received my Florida plate yesterday for the Green Hornet. I've held plates in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Washington State, California, Hawaii and now Florida.

Capt Chris


PS: Still working on a new article for Latitude38. A reflection on why I cut short my trip. And I'm putting on the finishing touches of my 2009 Year in Review Video.

Sitting On the Dock of the Bay.....Or Canal

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?
Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill
Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here

 Watching the tide roll away. No, not really. More like watching the Mexican lawn crews assault yards with leaf blowers and hedge trimmers.  On my first morning here in Naples, I was so excited to plop myself in the dock chair, coffee in hand and enjoy the magnificent surroundings. But the noise was deafening. Not all mornings constitute lawn care hell, but most of the time some one is running a machine.

 But I have discovered in the afternoon the suburban quiet I envisioned. Today, I basked in the 80 degree temperature in the afternoon after a strenuous yoga class, strumming my newly acquired Taylor six string.  No smell of shrimp beginning boil though, but I may be beginning to bald like brother Jimmy.

It was a real pleasure. In fact Naples is a real pleasure. I am very content. I really should have been doing boat projects, which I have been slacking on. I have a new main halyard that needs to be spliced and a jug of diesel that needs to be filtered and poured into the fuel tanks. I am horribly behind on other projects and my correspondence.

 But I could just not resist an hour or so of strumming in the sun. In fact I was so happy post-strumming that I went to Bikesdirect.com and ordered a new Road Bike. Next thing you know I'll be taking pictures of my veiney legs, Lance style. Share the road would ya?


Capt Chris

PS: Please don't forget to check out my pictures in My Picasa photo album and to keep up with the latest word, you can sign up using my RSS feed. I use Google Reader and love that I can aggregate in one spot all the websites I check out on a regular basis. A real time saver. Blam!

Been A Busy Weekend

Moored Naples Florida
Sunny, 70's, Beautiful Weather

Janina and I had a fantastic time, despite the fact I had to work the nights she stayed. We were undeterred. Janina hooked up with my Friends Mike&Amy while I was working and headed out to Harry's on 3rd. Any open air bar and restaurant with a DJ and proceeded to get down for a boogie. I got off work around 10pm and very uncharacteristic of me, I shifted canvas and met up with the party crowd. Then I got down for a boogie with the good people of Naples. I hadn't danced in a long time, something I love to do. Of course going to bed after 1 am, set me back the next day.

But we decided to head on down to Marco Island, only about 15 miles to the south of Naples. It seemed to be a pretty cool place and different in the sense that it has high rises lining the beach, where Naples has $50 million dollar mansions strung out along the shore line. We didn't spend much time exploring because I kind of petered out. We headed back to Naples so I could nap before work. Mission accomplished.

Yesterday, we lite out mid morning for some vittles at a breakfast joint not far from Christa and stumbled upon the Saturday morning street market. They close off 3rd, and the organic growing crowd comes in with their wares and set up tents and booths. Should be a perfect place for me to get fresh grub for less than the Supermarket.

We followed up a successful morning with a bike ride in the afternoon through the Port Royal section of Naples. Huge mansions line this exclusive neighborhood. It's a great place to take a bike ride with great visuals, easy access to the beach and big ole bike lanes. It was a great visit! So with that I need to roll to work!

Capt Chris

Crisp but Beautiful

Moored Naples Florida

The chilly grip of Mother Nature abated slightly over the passed 24 hours, but another front will cause temps to dip this weekend. Just this morning I stuck my head out the hatch just after sunrise to greet the day. It was so beautiful I snapped this picture to prove it.

 Occasionally I change the picture atop the blog. This latest picture was my last sunset observed sailing north. I landed in Naples the very next morning. It was a bit cold, but the colors were different than what you normally see further south. I like the picture, hope you do to.

Please don't forget to check out my picture in Picasa and to keep up with the latest word you can sign up with the RSS feed. I use Google Reader.

Thanks for stopping by!

Capt Chris