Making Lemonade – Getting Published!

PriorityMail… ETA from March 21^st send date?  March 28^th.
Didn’t happen.

March 18, 2013 we set sail for the “Spanish Virgins”; the smaller islands off the coast of Puerto Rico.  Our diesel motor, however had other plans (read more about that by clicking Stuck. Diary of a Shi—y Day).

We sent the part we believe is the culprit out for bench testing, potential rebuilding and return for re-installation.  That was March 21^st, sent USPS Priority Mail, tracking number and all.

USPS tracking… but it just shows when it left, the day it left.
It’s MIA. 

Then we waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Not patiently.  Our part is still AWOL, with no record of its whereabouts other than its tracking number, which in theory means it was sent out by the post office.  But it never arrived at its destination. Nor is there any indication where along the way it got stuck.  Let's just say I’ve learned a bit about the Postal Service and Customs bureaucracy with polite, persistent follow-up…. The Post Office doesn’t lose packages often, but when they do, it’s a black hole.

Meanwhile, we are actively pursuing alternatives.  More about that when there’s concrete news of an imminent fix.

Come hell or high water, we are meeting my best friend in the Abacos May 3^rd.  That’s nearly 1,000 miles away; our boat averages 5 miles / hour.  We want to make sure we don’t plan a last minute arrival in case the weather between here and there really is hell and high water for sailing.

The good news?

It’s a good time to get other projects done.

These folks just bought my unsolicited article
for a future edition.  (Past Crusing World
cover shown here).

Wayne is a rock star when it comes to boatwork.  Among his accomplishments in the last two weeks?  Cetol "varnish" in our cockpit -- done (just hatchboards and cockpit table awaiting traditional varnish).  The ability to fill both our tanks and our galley drinking water jug from our watermaker -- done.  Our galley foot pump’s switched to a fawcett capable of reaching dishes further than an inch away from the sink rim -- done.

Thanks to some winged inspiration (click here to learn more about that), our pantries were scoured, foodstuffs carefully inspected and in most cases repacked into canisters or in other cases tossed.  Our fridge was also the recipient of some unplanned Spring cleaning – more about that in a future post.  I also cleared up a chunk of lazarette space by selling our inflatable kayak.  We sent in our 2012 tax payment.

Misadventures make for great storytelling.  We’ve had that… and time for introspection, research and writing.  

The result?

Cruising World snapped up my first unsolicited article manuscript for a future edition.  Who-hoo!

We’ve got lemons; we know how to make lemonade!

Wayne and I are still hell-bent to move on.  But while we wait, I’ll use this down time to get more queries and articles out for prospective paid publication. 

Still, I'm all for less Angry Birds and more sailing; the sooner, the better.