Pirates don't wear eyeliner

It's been a hot week in St Pete, but a very productive one for me and very beneficial for Waltzing Matilda. This week I have acquired several things I have needed since the beginning of this trip, if things continue to go well I should be able to get Waltzing Matilda fitted for ocean crossing quite well, not that I am ready to cross an ocean but it would be nice to have a vessel that is. I will be taking on a crew member next week as well, a friend I made in New Iberia, LA. is driving out to learn to sail, and to help me build a new rudder.

New gear this week, I have a new mainsail (hooray!), the new main is a storm sail, slightly smaller than my primary main with reef points and a leech line, I have a new Genoa (hip hip hooray!)and am working to make the rigging to be able to run a twistle yard. I traded a donated hand held GPS for a 12.5' fiberglass canoe, now I can get my bike to and from shore without having to rig lift lines to palm trees.

I've made friends with Capt. Nikko, Capitan of the 1929 cutter Quest and Commodore of a local band of pirate pretenders, I call them pretenders because they like to dress up, drink and shoot cannons but don't really pillage or loot anything, about the most dastardly thing I have observed is trash pickup en-masse. I will be sailing next week with the Quest and Magic to a local hurricane hole to get ready to ride out the big blow season.
There is a triathlon going on around the pier today, lots of fancy bikes and tour de pants riders about, just to fit in I made a "race number" for my beach cruiser and tooled along the race route with my little dog in the basket and my "Axles of Evil" banner flying proudly.

It's been nice to be anchored downtown, it enabled me to get some work but I am ready to get someplace quiet.

I don't know if it is homesickness that I am feeling but I miss all the good folks in Fayetteville, I miss the Axles of Evil, I even miss not being able to go anywhere without running into 6 people that know me. This journey is great but I am only 1/3 of the way through it.