Back to sea

It's once again that time. Time to pack it up and head back to sea. This trip will see stops in Dakar, Senegal, Johannesburg and Durbin, South Africa and then Luanda, Angola. I've done a year in the Caribbean, several in the GoM, a year in Eastern Canada, one in Norway, Russia and the UK, a year in New Zealand and Australia. Trips in Southeast Asia, South America, Alaska and even a few visits to Africa. However, this trip starts what may amount to a year and a half on the African coast, with possibly a summer in Alaska to break up the monotony.

I'm nearly packed, have only a few household repairs and chores to do and hopefully, I'll catch a few hours shut-eye, before flying out, weather permitting. We started to get some heavy snow a few hours ago and it needs to let up by 11:45pm, or the plane I fly out in the morning will not be able to land, tonight.

Deer season was a bust. The bucks were simply not up during daylight hours where I hunted this year. Peak rut for this area was noted as opening day, and usually, the bucks are dead tired from all the wild nights and aren't seen during the day for about a week after, which was just about right. I saw movement on the last two days, but never got a clean shot. Win some, loose some and I lost this season. All I can say is that I spent about eight long days, dawn to dusk, out in the woods, slogging through knee-deep snow. It was still peaceful and damn good exercise, though.

So, it's been an extra-long break for me, I accomplished quite a bit and while I didn't get any rest, I think this trip should be a breeze, with a few days in port, a long steam and a slow start-up. Then, I should get back home, just in time for the holidays.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go....