Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on February 28, 2010 at 3:33am —
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Dear Catherine, Meg, Robin, Sue, Sue Zee, and Susan,
While sailing in the drizzly rain today a conversation started about fear and how it holds us back. I said one of my approaches to bringing our team to the winner’s circle…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on February 28, 2010 at 3:23am —
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Hats off (can't afford a prize just yet) to Steve Austin for his great money making scheme. Just as soon as I buy the truck I'm off to Mexico. On my return from Canada I'll drop off a prize horse at your boat dock.
I'm not sure if others can follow a reply to one's blog post. If not let me know and I'll challenge myself to figuring it out. .
Great sense of humor Steve, I love it.....Thankfully Wally mart is open all night so I can go buy that must needed shovel.
Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on February 25, 2010 at 3:00am —
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Yea, it is too bad I don't have any cheese in the house. Well, I do have some hard parmesan but who eats plain parmesan?. Guess I could heat up some spinach and sprinkle some fresh grated parm to enjoy a healthy treat. Unfortunately, I don't have an appetite. Seems like I have some kind of no energy bug that kept me on the couch all day. I couldn't even garner the strength to get dressed for work. Perhaps it is time that my 100% attendance at work ethic meanders down the path of I don't…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on February 23, 2010 at 10:03pm —
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Step one, ready to buy as soon as I find what I want:
What I want is an ocean going multihull in the 35 foot range. As an experienced skipper of a Corsair F28, I have an idea of what to expect. Weighing the pros and cons of a tri versus a cat are on my agenda as is comfort versus speed. Typically, I favor speed over comfort but because my next boat needs to take me around the world via the Panama Canal and more temperate climates, being seaworthy and user friendly for single handing…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on February 3, 2010 at 10:19pm —
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Sailing around the world or even around the lake has inherent dangers. There is the possibility of falling off the boat, being hit in the head with the boom, jamming your feet on the toe jammers that decorate the deck, getting your fingers caught in a cleat. While no one goes to sea wishing for an accident, sailing like all sports must be approached with a bail out plan.
Taking on the challenge of skippering a 28 foot monohull in our local women's series is a job I take seriously.…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on January 31, 2010 at 8:26pm —
4 Comments
Thanks for all your support. I agree with Terri that when you are out their alone, despite all the technology and being given a boat, there is no one but you to handle every single detail. There is a certain mind set that encourages solo voyages whether on a boat, in a car, on a bicycle trip, or even solo trekking the wilds of the Amazon (certainly someone has done that). It seems that every post I have ever made to this website brings forth words of encouragement.
Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on January 25, 2010 at 4:51am —
1 Comment
Golly, another heroine takes my spot. Twenty something years ago I was in such awe when I saw Tania Aebi's pix on the cover of Cruising World. I wouldn't even tell my sailing friends or colleagues about her great adventure. Although I did cut the page off and framed it. Several years later I finally hung it in my office at work. Now, Jessica Watson at age 16 is passing Cape Horn. CAPE HORN, alone, on her million dollar 34 foot monohull. It does anger me that the headlines all say she is sailing…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on January 12, 2010 at 10:00pm —
5 Comments
If one more person tells me to focus, I'm not sure what I will say. Anyone who has ever spent more than ten minutes with me undoubtedly will say, "focus, Marlene Focus." It's as if my name is no longer Marlene Anne Sassaman, but rather it is Focus Marlene Focus. On the one tack it is amusing as my challenge with staying focused crosses all that I do. Whether cleaning out my closet, writing an important report for work, cruising the Intracoastal Waterway, racing in a highly competitive regatta,…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on January 5, 2010 at 7:30pm —
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As I spend my days, two at least, cleaning out my home office, my hands are shaking. I have all this stuff. Stuff I don't know what to do with. Oh, I could spend money, rather borrow money, to buy some shelves to show off my life's collections, or toss, toss, toss, or sell on criag's list, donate to goodwill, or just sit here until as my mom would say until the cows come home.
I know I need to focus, to set a goal for the 2010 year, to plan for my finite future. Maybe it is the…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on December 21, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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Who can bemoan Nat King Cole's immortal singing! His deep spoken voice resonates in the very soul of my mind, reminding me that regardless of the holiday you celebrate, when the rains fall hard on the earth's surface, it is mother nature's way of bringing new life into the world. We need water to survive. Certainly water is one of the elements that perplexes NASA engineers in their attempt to sustain life on other heavenly bodies. Talking about heavenly bodies, isn't it comforting to be wrapped…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on December 18, 2009 at 4:59am —
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So, after all the feelings of intimidation and that I'm not good enough to be in the upper eschelon of sailing, I go out with my sailing team and continue teaching them about getting around a race course. We sail in small 8 foot prams with a teeney-tiny course barely 50 yards from the windward to the leeward mark with a start/finish line halfway in between. The idea is to know instinctively when one is on port or starboard, how to cross the start line within a 3 minute timed sequence, rounding…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on December 6, 2009 at 6:43pm —
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Help, I need to get over my intimidation blues. I am generally not a shy person. Yet, when faced with someone I hold in high esteem, someone I think is a better sailor than I, I lack the confidence to engage them in conversation that flows smoothly. I am sure it is my lack of experience interviewing folks. I need to get better at selling myself to sailors who can help me excel. Yes, I plan to solo circumnavigate the globe.While pursuing that goal I want to become a more accomplished competitor.…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on December 5, 2009 at 9:54am —
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Unlike the holiday shoppers who joined the black Friday frenzy, the inertia that keeps me moving from a 5:30 am swim to a late night walk with the dog, seemed to have been stopped when I boarded Delta flight 1450. From the moment I sat down on the aisle seat, stretched my legs, and began toying with my camera I metamorphed into a sedentary speciman.
Just as I am usually determined to spend an eighth of my day exercising, I became determined to organize the more than 1000 photos taken…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on November 28, 2009 at 11:30pm —
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As the song goes, there's no place like home for the holidays and we all know home is where the heart is. Couple this with rainy weather a gazillion cars in a hurry to get home, crowded airports, plane delays, and a tight budget going home is a little stressful this year. Even still, the confidence I gained from my summer solo sail has even given me the hutzpah to stand tall, be a frugal shopper and take perhaps a much needed break from sailing.
After 62 days of solo cruising I came…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on November 25, 2009 at 9:32am —
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Someone else just posted a message asking for tips about winterizing. Here in Sunny Florida we winterize by changing our weekly night racing to Sunday afternoons, leave work early on Friday to sail down the river where we drop anchor and sleep late on Saturday morning. Around noon or 1 pm, we clean the bottom of the boat as our excuse to go for a refreshing swim with the dolphins in the continually shifting waters at Sebastian Inlet. Then, around 4 pm we pull up the anchor and drift over to a…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on October 31, 2009 at 8:15pm —
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A sea knots friend recently asked where my writings are. A loyal crew on our women's sailing team reminded me to write. My calendar tells me that time is slipping away. All I want to do is sail and write and swim and work out and dance at parties and visit with friends and be with my family and be a good school counselor and produce interesting slide shows and snuggle up with my husband and enjoy my home and make money and buy things that catch my attention and eat frozen yogurt and learn to…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on October 29, 2009 at 11:00pm —
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Sitting in the last row in an auditorium designed to hold 500 people, I could barely make out the features on the face of my professor. His message, though rings as loud today as it did when he first spoke it. The course was a requirement, "Personal Finance." I debated whether to take basket weaving or flute lessons but decided to be smart and learn how to manage my money. Fast forward 33 years and I'm still making credit card mistakes. Although I am proud to say that for the past 13 years I…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on October 4, 2009 at 6:30pm —
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Wow, I can't believe it has been nearly ten days since my last entry. Most of the time is spent working as a school counselor, sailing Fast Lane, thinking about sailing my sunfish, working on SPRAY, sending e-mails, reading e-mails, polishing off my first big interview artiicle, and spending time with Sammi, swimming befoe dawn's early light, walking/jogging in the early evenings, sorting pictures, searching for my cell phone, keeping the house tidy, washing, ironing, driving, eating, cooking,…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on September 17, 2009 at 1:17am —
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After a year of frustratingly trying to organize a slide show with the music of my choice I think i finally found a software program I can deal with. It is called Pinnacle. While I have many, many hours of work ahead to get it completed, at least I am confident this program will work. As with my blog, the theme will be sailing at sixty. Interestingly, it has prompted my talent as a photographer, as the storyboard is inspiring me to take pictures of things like the book which got me dreaming of…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on September 8, 2009 at 2:41am —
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