Last Day in Indiana

An original poem written and recited by Richard E. Mourdock, Indiana State Treasurer, at the Board of Directors meeting of the Indiana Board for Depositories bidding farewell to Merrick:

From whence cometh the wind that fills my sail,

What chases the calm wind into a gale,

When questions are pondered,

While on the ocean I wandered,

It beats worrying about which bank would fail.


Thank you Richard, those worries do indeed fall to others now!

Obligatory bikini issue

What good is a sailing blog without a picture of bikini beauties on deck. Although the picture lacks the proper tropical background - your author believes the ladies will distract your view from said sub-standard backdrop. The decerning follower will recognize Admiral De Anne in the navy blue and her sunning partner is Shauna Cooper.



Of course the husbands of the lovely ladies (Captain Merrick and landlubber Randy) are safely behind the camera, so as not to distract from the scene with their ruggedly rotund physiques.

Hopefully in a matter of just a few weeks the background will improve!

See Spot Run

I have activated our newest toy called "SPOT" (Satellite Personal Tracker). For all you techie types here is the web site : http://www.findmespot.com/ .

For those who would like to follow our every move on the water just click on the link at the top right side of this page and you will see a screen like this:



Just click on the picture to enlarge it.




Of course this test was done deep in the heart of Indiana -- had this been a real post Google Maps would have shown saltwater around (hopefully) the entire mark. Just give us a couple weeks.

If the mark doesn't move for a couple weeks we are having a great time in an idyllic location, or that's where the boat sunk.

Corpus Christi

Our pre-retirement vacation was with Theron in Corpus Christi.

This picture of De Anne & Theron was as close to the port as
possible without breaking Federal laws.
An Officer was quite detailed in his description of where I could point the camera and monitored my every camera movement.

Wednesday night, like so many other marinas, there is sailboat racing in Corpus Christi. De Anne was able to help out one racer by alerting him of a fender still deployed. He took it with good humor and confessed another woman on the other side of the pier had teased him about it.

The picture shown is at the moment of collision between two boats just after the start of the race.

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast of fresh tamales on the beach at Padre Island. The first barefoot Thanksgiving I can remember.