{"id":200,"date":"2019-07-20T21:07:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T02:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/?p=200"},"modified":"2019-07-20T21:08:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T02:08:03","slug":"how-do-you-eat-an-elephant-one-bite-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2019\/07\/20\/how-do-you-eat-an-elephant-one-bite-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Eat an Elephant? … One Bite at a Time."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Six months. Time for an update. I thought I might be biting off quite a bit when I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to sail across the Atlantic. For starters. What do you know? This just might be possible. A massive undertaking, but definitely doable. Reminds me of when I was first getting into triathlons in 2004. At age 53 I figured my opportunity to do an Ironman had long since passed me by. Plus, an IM was an extraordinary undertaking. You could count on one hand the number of people in Greater Detroit that had done one. Right… While at our Saturday morning breakfast with the FAST triathlon club someone asked everyone who had done an Ironman to raise their hands. Probably twenty people at the table of 35 people raised their hands. I was stunned! And their advice was…. what are you waiting for? Get to it! Surround yourself with the right group of positive people and it becomes not if…, but when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same thing with bluewater sailing. Thousands of people do it. Find the right group of people and you find yourself thinking like them. And all of a sudden what seemed like an insurmountable and daunting goal is instead an exciting venture. And completely possible. Talk to the offshore sailors of the world and they just say \u201cwhat are you waiting for?!?\u201d Get going! And these folks aren\u2019t all young vagabonds in their 30\u2019s. People are sailing solo around the world in their 60\u2019s and 70\u2019s. (Not there yet. Still wrapping my head around the Atlantic Ocean \ud83d\ude33.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now… I\u2019d still like to ride a bike across the country. And I still may be able to at some point. My recovery from scleroderma is continuing, but it is slowing somewhat. And I\u2019m 68….! Clock is ticking and I\u2019m working on the cycling, but I\u2019m not going to wait around another year hoping my lungs recover enough when I can get out and do something else right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, there\u2019s lots to do! Like maybe buying a sailboat. One of those things you cannot overlook if you plan on sailing across an ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amel Ketch-Rigged Boat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And updating my first aid\/cpr certifications. And learning navigation, both coastal and celestial. How about boat maintenance? Not a lot of mechanics, sailmakers, or electricians in the middle of an ocean. And speaking of the middle of an ocean, how about self-defense? Can\u2019t just call 911 or the local police when you\u2019re in the middle of east nowhere. Offshore sailing places a premium on self-reliance. That\u2019s definitely part of the appeal for the Bluewater crowd. At the last sailing expo, there were as many women as men in the Master Class for Diesel Engine Maintenance. If things go wrong and you are 1,000 miles from land (and you can be), then everything you need for repairs needs to be within 50 feet of where you are sitting, assuming you are still on your boat. If not… figure it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what else would be useful? Oh yeah, maybe a little experience would help. It just so happens that my younger brother has a 35 foot Island Packet (very seaworthy sailboat) that does not get a lot of use sitting on northern Lake Michigan. Maintaining and sailing that for a summer ought to be a good start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Island Packet 35<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I tell other folks that his Island Packet is my \u201cpractice boat\u201d, which always get a laugh. Kind of like learning auto mechanics on a Porsche. So far its been more boat maintenance than boat sailing, but I signed up for both. And the folks at the West Marine store know me well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next on the list is boat shopping! Definitely the fun stuff and fall is prime time if you\u2019re a buyer. Should be interesting….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six months. Time for an update. I thought I might be biting off quite a bit when I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to sail across the Atlantic. For starters. What do you know? This … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Do You Eat an Elephant? ... One Bite at a Time. - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2019\/07\/20\/how-do-you-eat-an-elephant-one-bite-at-a-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Do You Eat an Elephant? ... 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