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More on Traffic
I forgot to mention the elephants. They’re not as common here as in other parts of the country, but they’re in demand for temple rituals. This one was likely part of our neighborhood temple puja and...
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The Big City!
Ever since my early days of watching Bollywood movies in awe of the sheer volumes of talent and resources that go into these truly incredible works of frivolous entertainment I have held onto the...
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The first draft
Many people that I’ve known through out my (James’) life have expressed a philosphy about the third person, an individual personality that is (okay) “born” from two people that love each other,...
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Attukal Pongal
I was riding my bike not long after 8 in the morning on the 11th, heading into town for Attukal Pongal. When an event is the record holder for the most women gathered in one place – and the number is...
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Madurai Mad
We arrived in Madurai at nearly midnight, after an emergency dental tightening and a long train ride. First thing, right after we left the train station proper, a young man starts following us. He...
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Meenakshi Amman Temple
If you’re thinking what I was thinking, yes! Meen as in meen kappa (fish curry with boiled tapioca/coconut/tumeric), but in this case, Meenakshi as in fish eyed, an old-fashioned compliment for women...
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2 Days at Mahabs
What should we do for James’s birthday? The shopping area can’t hold our attention for long. I know… More stuff to haul 12,000 km… Hmm, the lighter, the better. How about the 7th century rock carvings...
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Home again, home again…
We have definitely arrived! Our crew here in the MRE dressed our boat up like an Easter doll for us! The guys at Coastal and Bacon, and our very own Kate Bishop, took care of the nervous-parent checks...
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A Great Circle
We sailed a great circle over the last week. Not in the traditional sense of navigating along the shortest path, but in the equinoctial Chesapeake sailor’s way. And we looked good doing it. The wind...
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Moving through space
We’ve been here before… Remember the video-meme of the sun and the local planetary system hurling through space and leaving a spiraling, conical wake through spacetime, well… I don’t mean to say that...
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Just a perfect springtime sail
Hitting the ground running meant feeling almost as if the last five months didn’t exist, almost… Of course, the fact that every bite I take doesn’t feel like an ice-pick to the eye socket does proclaim...
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Sailing; the reason why
…Of course, like all good sailing adventure stories, it has to start out with a project! Right after we got back from India, on our first trip back into Bacon Sails, we found what we needed for the one...
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Flash Cooling
Like most folks in these latitudes we were quite literally hunkering down for the dog days when, like a cruel glimmer of hope, the quicksilver took a southern dive! …And again, until the forecast...
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Living in a place
Every time we start living in a place, our local adventures turn into past ghosts almost immediately. Riding the bike in traffic, hiking across the apartment complex and foraging for local food,...
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12th Haul Out
…And here we are again in another place altogether doing a thing we know how to do. The big job this time around is the bottom. Wait…that’s always the big job!!! Hmm, I see something I don’t like on...
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…and just like that,
She’s blasted, She’s barrier coated, She’s faired and painted, …painted, painted and painted! …scrubbed, scraped, pollished and, yep, painted, …painted, …strapped, hoisted, …splashed, …motored and...
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BOOM!
We’re getting close and it’s freaking us out! The Go/No-Go list has been checked and re-checked and all systems report as GO! New Starter, Go! New Duel Primary 8D AGM, off the grid, electrical storage...
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Underway in a big way
Being underway doesn’t get real until you see this! …Absolutely no land in sight. Okay, okay you’re never really out of sight of land in the Chesapeake Bay except for reasons of bad visibility, but...
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The cruising life
One of my (James’) favorite things in the world is lying at anchor, safely waiting out a gritty weather system. The past few days have been a great opportunity to do just that. I often describe the...
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Sailing to the table
Leaving Solomons was awesome! We sailed out of the little town inner-harbor at 4 knots under main alone on a close reach that only broadened as we blasted down the ebbing Patuxent River. The sun was...
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