Determination and Persistence

In the past few months/weeks I’ve rebuilt the windlass, installed a new starter and solenoid, installed a new macerator pump, purchased and bottom painted the dingy, replaced the dingy davit lines, replaced the spinnaker halyard and block, repaired the main, mizzen, and geneoa, applied for my ships radio and restricted operators permit, found and purchased an auto tuner and pactor modem for the HF, replaced the lazy jacks, replaced the mizzen staysail block, run halyard wrap preventers across the mast steps, replaced the main and mizzen sheets and halyards, lubricated both main and mizzen mast tracks, replaced the radar, purchased, but not yet installed the new GPS, installed the new AM/FM stereo and iPod player, started converting LED lighting, begun sending out sponsorship packets to a few vendors, had the bright work done, got my sextant, almost replaced the shower sump (again), purchased and about to install 300 feet of new secondary anchor line, and last, but certainly not least, gotten the test site up for the new website!

The test site is only an infant, but it represents the change from designing the new site to building it with real, substantial code. There are a lot of tweaks to be done and some fairly complex coding to be built in, but it’s a good start. Check it out over the next few weeks and please give me some feedback on it once it gets filled out a bit more.

One other thing I did this past week was get my first sponsorship rejection. The cool thing is I am almost has happy as if I’d gotten the sponsorship. Not that I am done trying with this particular company, but for everyone that says “No”, I am that much closer to finding the one that says, “YES”.

The one thing that I have not been doing is sailing. It’s a problem that has come to a head. I’ve been so lost in working on the boat I’ve lost sight yet again of how important it is to enjoy her some as well. An old friend of mine is swinging through town this weekend for a job in Houston and I’ve committed to taking us out sailing. It’s about time and come hell or high water, it’s time to fill the sails.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” - President Calvin Coolidge