A schoonering moment! Have a giggle!

AH yes a moment in living in tropical paradise on a lovely schooner.

Now heres some fun !A video of Cassi In Auckland

AAaaarrrgggh just can't wait

To tell the truth I am just suffering from an overwhelming impatience to get this book done so I can use it as an excuse to stand up in front of a bunch of people and rave about saving the world. Every time I come to land someone asks me what is the book about and it sets of the rave. On I go about dreams, fear, the cultural and environmental changes I’ve seen, hopelessness, hope, the connection with something bigger, the call for passion. They listen and interject, they agree and support. They know it is time for a change.

They get excited and rave themselves.

Just another table of vacationers but my faith is constantly re-enforced.

My jabbering makes them think and they all say “Go man. Do it”

So I am

Slowly catch a monkey

The hundredth monkey

The snowball of a big dream is rolling…..

Another bunch of red ink removed and another paragraph revised

Watch this space,

hug H

It is a challenge to maintain the level of insanity required for pursuing the ambitions and dreams I have set for myself. Luckily I have always had a lot of positive feedback that I am fully crazy and thus I am hanging in there!

I did not do it. Damn. I knew my self imposed deadline to finish the edit and raise the funds was quite ambitious. It certainly does not mean there has not been progress. In one of the most important arenas of my venture, the building of a team, I have found people to help with a website, someone in the industry of booking public speakers, and another writer for content review.

There is still red ink lingering in the manuscript and I have turned it all upside down to create a better flow. I want it to be great,,,,, but do not worry; I am not so anal as to never think it right. I have another week of groceries to allow complete focus which I hope to be enough as I am still terribly impatient to get this project off the ground. Forward, forward, little steps, it IS happening Yeah for US!

Yesterday, having realized I did not make the deadline, I succumbed and did something I know well instead. Hoping find triumph in some effort, I climbed into Cassi’s engine room and mired myself in grease and bloody knuckles to try to get the starter for the motor going again. It will take another day. Damn. Ah well, keeps my insanity level up!

I also took the outboard for the dingy apart because it had to be retired due to the sounds of something terribly wrong deep inside. I doubt it is worth the complete rebuild but I shall find out at the parts store today. Yes that means I am now paddling the dingy which has a rather huge effect on life efficiency! Ah well, keeps my insanity level up!

So insanity intact, I am excited to report that all is still on track and progress is being made! I have even been video recording myself, practicing to perform for audiences keen to hear a crazy mans ideas for changing the world! I will probably have to wear more clothes for the real show......

Hugs to you all,

Harold

NOW NOW NOW!!!

NOW NOW NOW!!!

The trade winds are back. The doldrums are over. Every stitch of canvass is up, way points are set. A wave of powerful energy is pushing me along the course I have set. 

I finished the book and it returned from the editor. Becalmed I floated in a still sea of assessment. The red ink stared at me and accounts needed attention. I stepped back and allowed the quiet and simple labors.

NOW! NOW! NOW!

My patience is finished. I have sold more shares by verbally sharing the passion of my dream. For the next few weeks focus is again possible. Every ounce of me is again hurling towards my goals!

The time is NOW for me, for all of us. I am committed to shouting from the mountain top. I have a new deadline for myself, Sept 9^th 2012, the final edit will be completed.

I have decided to self publish. The manuscript will be sent to the E-publisher on the 10^th and they will also produce the hard copies.

I will raise the funds necessary for this by then.

The remaining shares will be snapped up and allow Cassiopeia to have another injection and insure her survival. To the Solomons or to Thailand, she will be secure while I hit the road. I will do shows that will recreate that magic energy many of you have tasted while aboard our beloved Cassiopeia, and will include the added bonus of selling our book!

My path is clear team. I intend to make the people of the world hold their hands over their heads and scream YEAH FOR US!

There, I’ve said it.

BOLD ! You might say!  So was asking you for two hundred bucks.

Thanks again

Captain Harold

Back on track and crazy as ever…..

A NEW LOOK!!!!

Check the new front page of the blog! A new marketing campaign to reach the funding goal and settle into getting it all done. I am still considering a bolt for the west to find cheaper labor and cheaper living and cheaper parts. If any of you are looking for a true adventure in the near future then get in touch. We got new ropes and sail repairs and a spare life raft and some pumps......I have been working on cat stories and what is is like to learn about being an American, by traveling and confronting everyones attitude about you! There have been five pledgers come visit all with great input and plenty of duty free   He He yeah for me!
Be in touch!
I truly believe things are looking bright for the world as my recent travels proved again to me that a new consciousness is happening right now. Amazing things are happening and it is destined to get wilder and better!
Cheers H

Hiatus,

Hiatus,

The Captain has not disappeared after all!

The Cassiopeia patiently waited with no disaster!

The Book is experiencing explosive energy!

A hiatus from the island and Cassi, proving the value of making time for family and friends, has reinforced my philosophies of why the islanders seem so happy. They have time for such things!

Project

A few more pledges trickled in. I did not draw off of the account for eight weeks except to pay the hardware bill which is nearly paid off. Moms cooking went a long way!!! Hiatus. A follow up with email contacts from the trip will find more support and this week is the revamp of the presentation for sure.

Accounts are attached.

Cassiopeia

She floated fine while I was gone this time! Two friends just lived aboard for a week and we actually bent on a couple of sails and proved she is a viable home again. A new way of thinking has been introduced involving sailing her to Thailand for the big re-fit! Uuummmm Could be the way to go???

Book

Now is its shining moment. All energies have been focused in its direction. An overflowing fountain of depictions and beliefs are running onto the pages. A routine has begun.

If you have the time here is a little more for fun

Harry Potter IMAX size in 3D. Powerful to say the least. My sister and I went with the two big girls and my Dad took the two little girls to Winnie the Pooh. After the Potter credits and we were still plastered to the back of our seats with the overwhelming action images and gut wrenching sounds of incredible battles still reverberating in our stunned minds, Layla forced us all to burst out laughing with the simple line, “Well, I wonder how Winnie the Pooh is doing?”

AH the dynamics of Texas………

This is what I am talking about! There is hope!

If you are working fifty hour weeks and can’t seem to find the kind of time mentioned above for family and friends, then at least invite your neighbours over for dinner! The Turks did while I was at my mom’s house. Muslim Turks in Houston Texas?

This is actually real. A group of Muslim Turkish people have invested in the concept of creating a multi cultural and religious center in Southwest Houston. In the corner of my parent’s neighbourhood they have built a large building straight out of the Ottoman empire and surrounded it with a neighbourhood park including a sand volleyball court, an outdoor gym, basketball court, multiple barbeque areas and a sports field. It is open for use by anyone. Their stated goal is to bring the community together.

They have reserved three acres of land next door on which they  intend to build three churches, one Muslim, one Christian and one Jewish. The stated intent is to create understanding between the religions.

Bravo.

Four of them live in the house across the street from my parents and they walked the  street inviting the neighbours’ over for a dinner at their house. Most of out family attended and it truly was a shining example of what can happen if someone tries. There were black people and a Latin family and a gang from the Czech republic and the Turks, and a German woman, and us Texans. All of them had been living on our street for years and recognized each other but had never all dined together. The Spanish speakers brought a guitar and they all were singing along.

A true blast of hope for a man like me, who sees those normally trapped in the concrete jungle, visit the simple island life where the natives do get together for dinner and song, and wonder why they are so happy. To find there is a movement in the very midst of a hectic and insular first world city that is attempting to bring those ways into daily life was inspiring. All is not lost!

Bravo to the Turks!

New and crazy thoughts about a PLAN

Infinity is a one hundred and twenty foot ketch and I met her and her captain owner in Fiji eight years ago. She was just anchored near Cassiopeia and we had a great catch up and he emptied some of his bilge collection onto Cassiopeia which included line for jib sheets and some batteries with potential and a couple of manual pumps and some hinges for the doors and an anchor and we repaired the awning on his sewing machine and more! It was a boon for Cassi. But more important he planted the seed for a smart plan. Vanuatu is the wrong place for the work to be done on Cassi according to him. He reckons I should just sail her to Thailand where boatyards are cheap, labor is good, materials are available and living is lots, lots less expensive. He did a one year refit on his boat there and knows a team that would be perfect for Cassiopeia. They could actually work unsupervised and I could rent a place he had where I could do the writing and just check in on the shipwrights daily. Wow has that got me thinking. It would be a push to get Cassiopeia ready to go in time for an early November departure but in the big picture it indeed makes a lot of sense.

For Now I am going to install said batteries and focus on the new marketing strategy over the next week. I am hunting for liveaboard crew to help with the projects so if anybody knows anybody who wants to hang in paradise leisurely fixing up a cool boat then send them my way.

I had some input about the long reports, and snippets, saying to not bother so much and get on with it but I can’t help it really! It is true that I don’t want to let out all of the books secrets, nor waste my time on unread orations, but I do want everyone to know a bit about how it is going so somewhere in the middle I guess…