On with the show...

Okay, enough of that. Time to start talking about yacht racing. The Mid-Winters are almost upon us, next weekend as a matter of fact.

Josh and the Screaming Pelican made it safe and sound down the east coast. He was to race with us on the Melges 32 on Sunday but there was too much wind for them to send us out. We had a beer and he drove me to the airport instead. That's okay, it was freezing in St. Pete last weekend.

Other attendees would appear to be Will Laidlaw, John Huff, Herb Dreher and any others which I do not know about. Hopefully it will be a good enough turnout to keep the invitations coming.

That's it for me. Good luck to all attending. I will make it one of these years.

Rest In Peace Steve Womsley

As many of you know, friend of Fleet 54 and one of my best friends, Steve Womsley, passed away this past week during recovery from a fairly routine hip operation. This has been a tragic shock to the entire city of Newport. A service was held at St. Columas Chapel in Middletown followed by a party at local establishments Zeldas and the IYAC. Steve touched many people around the world and, as I mentioned, was one of my best friends. He will be sorely missed by all.

It has been almost a week since Steve passed away. I am still very sad. I have had a quote from Shawshank Redemption in my head for a couple of days now which I finally looked up and think sums up the situation here while I write,

"Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend."