Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve in La Gomera

December 24th is Christmas Eve here in La Gomera too, though this will be one of the more unusual in recent memory. Of course, the restaurants (and bars!) are closed so I'm celebrating this one in my apartment with a Christmas cocktail in hand. Luckily, I've never been one to be without Christmas carols, and this year is no exception. As I write this, Celine Dion is nailing the high note in "O' Holy Night"...she's got pipes! Wow.

Next up is the Otis Redding version of "White Christmas," which I happen to listen to all year around. I highly recommend it.

Other than that, things are pretty much business as usual. The weather forecast remains terrible for at least the next seven days (through December 31st), which really boggles my mind. I've been here for almost two weeks, and in that time there have been only 36 hours when I could have left, which happened to be immediately after my port clearances were suspended by the Spanish authorities. Though of course you can never predict the weather, the North East trades in this part of the world are remarkably reliable in nearly every year but this one. In fact, the winds that I need are there as predicted and sitting 300 miles or so South of the Canaries. The problem right now is that a string of low pressure systems, most of which passed over the Northeast U.S. a week or so ago, have been stirring up the weather all the way across the Atlantic. I've talked to a few people that live aboard their boats in the marina, and the consenus is that this weather is almost unheard of, and most have never seen the strong West winds that are predicted here over the weekend.

My only consolation is that if I did get out on the 18th as planned I would have been in for a really tough first two weeks and would have been on sea anchor for all but a day or two. Maybe that's enough of a Christmas present?

Merry Christmas to all, and many thanks for the support and continued entertainment!

Paul

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stamford misses you. Sorry about all the delays you're running into. I may not get a chance to write tomorrow, so I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and God Bless. I can just picture you now with that Christmas music blasting at Seaside while we decorate the tree.

Dominate the Atlantic!!

Unknown said...

Horace and I are here in New York, Paul, checking your blog every day. What a shame about the weather, but it's not following its usual pattern anywhere this year.

Anyway, we're thinking of you and of Joy, wherever she is, and send lots of love,

Eugenie

Unknown said...

Merry christmas Paul!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Paul. We have just returned from Christmas Eve service at church and you were on everyone's mind. We are all thinking of you and praying for you. I am sure this will be a memorable Christmas and I hope the new year sees you heading out on your sea journey.
Robert is a HUGE Yankee fan and is wondering what you think about the new players they have paid LOTS of money for. He says it adds up to about $490 million, enough to pay all the players of the TB Rays for 10 years! Maybe you can buy the World Series.
Have to say that I still think of you as that curly redded headed kid that I babysat for 17 years ago! (if you can believe that!!)
Well we are off to bed so we can rise early to open gifts (Robert's idea, not mine). We will continue to check on and hope you find something to keep busy until you set sail. Love, Robert and Marlene

Anonymous said...

Hey Paul,
The yankees have got mark texiera for 8 years 180 million dollars. I hope you have a great christmas!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Paul! Stay in shape while you wait out the wind :-)

Charles

Unknown said...

Merry Christmas buddy.

Anonymous said...

Hey Paul,
I hope that you are having a great christmas. Merry Christmas

That Guy said...

merry christmas asshole

Shayes said...

Merry Christmas Paul!!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas! Hope you blacked today! And I hope you got those damn Christmas carols out of your system! xoxo, ps hope you approve of the name selection!