Author Archives: PompanoDan

As a lot of people know, I’m not nearly as prolific when Rhett is onboard so please excuse the timing on this post. I started it when Rhett and I were on the island of Lanzarote (blue star in the upper right below). I made landfall there on November 6, sailing from Madeira and RhettContinue reading “The Fire Island”

…of course I could have just as easily titled this post “Navigate the Orca-Strait” because we’re doing both at the moment. On one hand there’s the hour-to-hour, degree-to-degree and minute-to-minute navigation, but without high-level and mid-level sailing plans—the “orchestration” you might say—the navigation is pointless. As the Cat said, “If you don’t know where youContinue reading “Navigate and Orca-Strait”

Tomorrow we sail! I pulled out my ship’s log and see that we arrived in Marina Almerimar on Saturday, September 14th. At the time, I was expecting a visit of 10 days that could reasonably stretch into 2 weeks. If you had told me then that we would be here 4 weeks, I would haveContinue reading “Just Passin’ Through”

It’s an instant of clarity when I happen to experience the core of a metaphor, the sinews of a simile—when a figure of speech animates itself and dances on the stage. I find it happens more frequently in my sailing life than in my other life. This week, as Hazel’s spa time continues, I hadContinue reading “Watching Paint Dry”

In terms of women in my life, Rhett and Hazel have their similarities, and differences. Both enjoy—dare I say demand?—spa time. Furthermore, I’m learning that as a person often oblivious to these needs (a.k.a., a guy), that there’s a relationship between physical size and the spa time needed. For Rhett, it’s the bliss of aContinue reading “Hard Life”

…sure, the alliteration is cute and catchy, but change the context slightly and this blog post title could be read as a medical condition. However, time is short and it’s fitting (as you’ll soon see), so I’m going with it. I toss, I turn, I give up and give in to wakefulness. Rolling over inContinue reading “Seasonal Skull Scratching in Sardinia”

Good morning. I’m sailing today from Palermo, Sicily bound for some port on Sardinia’s South Coast. It’s about 220 miles of sailing and should take me about 3 days given the weather. It looks mild…probably too mild. While my overall direction of sailing is west-northwest, I’m not sure if I’ll initially stay south to tryContinue reading “Soft is Hard”

A few professional writers I know speak with awe about old-school newspaper reporters, back in the days of clacking typewriters, smokey press rooms full of reporters, and print rooms that smelled of newsprint 24×7. What impresses them most is their ability to generate a story while under time pressure. If your story isn’t done byContinue reading “Last Day Sailing”