Presence-ing January 2016

Externally:  Time is flying so fast, I feel like I’m in a Star Wars time warp.  My last update was yesterday, in October!   If you subscribe to my YouTube channel you have an idea of what we’ve been doing.  To recap:

We went north to Kitty Hawk (the Wright brothers, remember?), NC.  Video here.  In Kitty Hawk I completed a number of boat projects.  Our friend Dennis joined us there.  We took a break from the boat, drove up to NY to see fall colors.  It was my first experience of that amazing phenomenon.  We had a wonderful passage from Kitty Hawk down to Ocracoke, NC (part of OBX (the Outer Banks).  Then a ‘lively’ passage to one of my now favorite places, Oriental, NC.  We stayed a few weeks there as I completed more boat projects.  In Oriental we prepared for hurricane Javier and thankfully got nothing more than storm surge high enough to cover fixed docks.  So that’s what (mild) storm surge is!  We eventually got underway again and transited to Charlotte, SC.  That passage included a bouncy and exhausting full moon overnighter.  Going further south we stopped at nearly deserted Dafuskie Island, and then on to the classic Southern town of Savannah, GA.  See quick shots of all this adventure here.  And from there on south to Brunswick, GA.
I’d love to have more people aboard.  Doing that is a logistical challenge (when?  where?), and as a captain I am always concerned about everyone’s safety.  As I become more experienced, I’ll be extending more invitations.  Let me know if you’re interested!
s/v Presence-ing, Gemini Catamaran, hull 731
Brian@Presence-ing.com  949.715.1400
www.Presence-ing.com
PS:  I’ve added more clients, colleagues and friends, so you may be getting this letter for the first time.  An unsubscribe link is below.   Others can subscribe by emailing me.

We’ve been at Brunswick for a few weeks for a few reasons.  1) You guessed it: finish more boat projects!   2) I got some wind and got in some kitesurfing!  3) Avoiding FL sales taxes.  (If you’re documented as out of the state for more than 6 months, you’re exempt from sales tax.)  4) Catch up on so many things, like this update to you!  Get teeth cleaned!  Research our route south!  Research the Bahamas!   Study!  I’ve even taken time to document some of the boat projects, things I’ve learned and mistakes made.  Seriously, you gotta check out that link.  A life of leisure?  Not!  It'll give you a another sense of what boat life can be.  
Believe it or not, the project list is getting shorter.  Many projects can wait for next season.  I feel that the boat is more seaworthy and certainly more habitable now.
I’ll be making a quick trip to Southern CA, Northern California, and Oklahoma.   Then we start south again.  Longer term, I expect to haul the boat out and get into a new environment for the summer, maybe south of the equator. 

Internally:  It feels good to learn new things and feel a little budding competence.   It is a feeling of newness and freshness!  The boat is hundreds of pounds lighter.  It is simpler, cleaner, and uses less energy than when we bought it.  I like all of that.  I’m making new friends out here.  I haven’t done session work since moving aboard last April, and I hope there’s a way to resume that somehow in this moveable and floating context.  So I have a feeling of fresh accomplishment, fear (always!), and missing authentic connection.   I’d love to hear from you.

Much love,

Brian & Dr. Leigh Jacobs