I’ll entertain the thought that a better word than “commotion” describes my point here.  Maybe teamwork, collaboration, collective effort, community . . .”   When Nathan Stewart brought a light barge in on the hip the other blustery day,  Aegean Sea tagged along, part of a day’s work.

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No pinning was involved here; really, it was more

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about the smaller Aegean Sea reaching

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the pivot

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point and countering the wind.

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The strategy seems straight forward and simple but with huge equipment and high stakes.

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Today is the 39th Earth Day in the US, and this is all I’ll do in recognition.  I marched in one of the first “earth day” parades on April 22, 1970, but for anyone living in the US today, our relationship with the environment is immensely more complicated than I imagined it –can it be 39!!!– years ago.

Also, 730 afternoons and sunsets!!! ago schooner Anne left New York.  Bravo Reid . . . although for me . . . the watery places devoid of face to face human contact would  leave me intolerably, unbearable lonely.  He does have a shore crew, a real but also virtual community assisting him to his 1000 days at sea goal.

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And finally, here’s my tribute to another person of superhuman ability to sustain the loneliness of solo sailing, Robin Knox Johnson.  Happy 40th anniversary of his feat, which happened with much less terrestrial support than is possible today in 2009.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.