Waltzing Matilda Gets Bugged

October 15, 2010

Nathan suffered an interruption on his trip toward Key West, Florida. His boat was invaded by tiny no-see-um flies (also “midgies,” “sand flies,” “punkies,” or, if you must, ceratopogonidae [Thanks, Wikipedia!]). Although he put screens up to ward off the pests, they are small enough to pass through the screen. “They drove me nuts. I could not sleep,” he said. Finally, to get relief, he sailed into Marco Island, Florida, a place he describes as very affluent. “I’m in Factory Bay, but I don’t see any factories. It should be called ‘Condo Bay.’ Lots of mansions and marinas.” Not willing to pay high rates for a marina, Nathan docked the dinghy under a bridge (“It’s public right-of-way”) and went ashore.
Again he’s holed up due to weather: the last vestiges of Hurricane Paula mixed with a front moving through have resulted in small craft warnings and 7-foot seas. If he was sailing, he would have a strong wind from the stern, which makes for difficult sailing, “After six hours of it I’m worn out.”
“I know my boat, I know my capabilities, and I know what’s safe and I’m not going.” He hopes to cast off for Key West, about 75 miles away, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in the course of an hour long conversation tonight, Nathan regaled us with stories:
--Western Florida, he says, has a lot of transplanted Louisianans. When he approaches people about working on their boat, he uses a Louisiana accent. (He reeled out a sentence in pure Cajun to demonstrate). Having a typical Cajun name like Landry doesn’t hurt, either.
--On repairing boats: “One guy wanted me to work on his boat – the starter on his generator wouldn’t work. ‘How much you charge by the hour?’ the guy asked me. I told him I charged by the job, not by the hour. The guy looked at me kind of funny then told me to go ahead and look at his generator. ‘I’ll need your help,’ I told him ‘Got to have somebody press the starter button.’ Then I climbed down in the hold, wiggled the starter solenoid, sprayed some W-D 40 on it, and told him to hit the starter. ‘Vrroom,’ the generator immediately came to life. I popped my head up out of the hold and said: ‘That’s why I don’t charge by the hour!.’”
--Nathan has developed an automatic pilot for Waltzing Matilda. He’s got a line attached to one of his sails that he strung in various ways until it eventually makes its way to the tiller that controls the rudder. When the wind moves the sail, it moves the tiller in the appropriate direction, pulling against a bungie cord. When the wind dies down, the bungie cord compensates by pulling the tiller the opposite way, adjusting the direction of the boat.
--He wants us to get him a good, well-made Arkansas flag. I forget how many Arkansas flags he said he’s worn out on this trip. One of the flags he signed and gave to somebody. Recently he told us about a Coast Guard boat that came by. The crew looked at him with stony faces until one of them, apparently an Arkie, saw the Arkansas flag and got excited, he calls to a fellow sailor, "Look, that boat's from and Arkansas!", the other sailor replied, "I know, I can read, I'm not from Arkansas.

--Posted by Correspondent Dad Landry