2003

Ocean Planet/USA 05 Update from Bruce Schwab:
Monday, November 17, 2003

Ah, professional yachting. Perhaps you picture a warm sunny day, strolling down the dock to the boat while dressed in your newest sailing attire…..

Here’s what it looks like for me:

There’s nothing like a few hours of grinding wood and carbon fiber to warm yourself up when all the puddles outside are frozen. Much of this winter, this will be my outfit as I rip into a number of weight-saving projects on the boat. I’m doing the nastiest jobs myself, so that if a visitor or volunteer wanders by the shop I can give them something less miserable to do. Come on down! Seriously, I could really use the help if you’re up for it. No pay available at the moment, but you’ll earn some exciting sailing on the wefwurbwished Wylie Wocket next spwing.

Like most big dreams, it takes a lot of work to make the impossible a reality. Hey, if it was easy then everyone would go race solo nonstop around the world, right? Uh…don’t answer that.

For all you Northeasterners, next Saturday I take break from the delight of dustpile dancing to do a talk/slideshow:

Saturday, November 22 at 7pm, at the Newport Yacht Club. The club is located at 110 Long Wharf (just west of America’s Cup Ave) in Newport. The phone there is 401-846-9410 . My talk there is brought to you by the Newport Shipyard (the great facility that hosted the start and finish of the Around Alone) and the Newport Yacht Club. Don’t worry, I clean up well and won’t be wearing the paper suit.Tickets are $10 at the door which will go to help me buy more sandpaper.

And don’t forget: The Holidaze are coming! There’s no better gift (well, not many anyway) than some cozy Ocean Planet team microfleece (as pictured here, champagne not included):

Or a the gift of a surprisingly good (for a sailor/guitarist) music CD:

If you order soon, you can wrap up your holiday shopping and do something fun….like perhaps come by the boat and do some sanding…;-)

Bruce Schwab, Skipper
USA 05/Ocean Planet