Well, here I am back in Kuwait. My time home with family and friends was great but the weather was not so hot – rainy and cold almost the whole time I was there. Today the temperature here in Kuwait touched 48 degrees C (118 degrees F). The temperature will stay over 40 all week and there is no rain in site. Guess I don’t have to worry about being wet or cold for a few months, eh!

Locals tell me that the temperature will frequently go past 50 degrees C (122 degrees F) in July and August. I have lots of sunscreen and the air conditioning at the office and the hotel are working fine–which is absolutely a good thing.

So, if you want lots of sunshine, hot weather and no rain, I know where you can go to get it. Come on over, the weather is great, the people are really friendly and there’s lots of interesting things to see and do!

Now, where did I put that bucket of ice……………?

Wilson Fitt, a friend of mine from Chester, Nova Scotia is crossing the Atlantic single-handed in the boat he built by himself – Christina Grant. He is now en route from Scotland to Chester, Nova Scotia.

I guess all of this wasn’t enough adventure for Wilson so a few years later he headed off to Scotland–single handed! Thelma joined him in Scotland and they sailed the boat in that area for two summers. Now he’s bringing Christina Grant home.

The photo of Christina Grant was taken by a freighter captain two years ago when he met up with Wilson in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean–while Wilson was en route to Scotland from Nova Scotia. I took the other photo of Wilson, his wife Thelma and his 90+ year-old mother Christina that I took last summer when I stopped in Chester, Nova Scotia to visit with them while I was on my cruise last summer.

Wilson is using a “SPOT” GPS tracking device. It is set up to send a pre-programmed email to up to 10 family and friends with one of two messages: “All is well” or “Send Help” along with the latitude and longitude of his boat at the time he sends the message. Wilson can send the messages any time he wants but obviously he will only send the “SOS” message if he is in serious trouble–because as soon as his wife gets that message she will be calling the Coast Guard and emergency response authorities.

We can all live a bit vicariously through Wilson’s adventure. The “Walter Mittey” in me is out there with him now. I may be spending this summer in the desert but I’ll be on board with Wilson in spirit 🙂

Safe sailing everyone–especially my friend Wilson!

Last summer was incredibly exciting for me. Cruising from Lake Huron, through the great lakes, down the St. Lawrence River and through Atlantic Canada was an amazing trip. I was really looking forward to the next leg of my journey this summer–to cruise in the Maritimes for a couple of months and then head down the US coastline to ultimately end up in Chesapeake Bay in late September, early October.

When I originally took the assignment to Kuwait I had planned to spend 3 months there, come home in May, spend a month with my family and then begin my cruise again. However, when I got to Kuwait I quickly found myself with a renewed excitement about my work. I am on a great team of professionals, on a really interesting project, in a fascinating country and part of the world, and working with a great client who sincerely appreciates our efforts to serve them as best as we can. These factors all combined to motivate me to put my cruising plans aside for a season and return to Kuwait for one or two more 90-day work terms. I have to admit that I even surprized myself when I made this decision. I am also very fortunate that my wife Catherine has been totally supportive of me through all of this.

It will be hard to imagine Ananda sitting idle for an entire season but she is in a safe place and will be just fine. I have also arranged for the boatyard to do some extra work on her to preserve the engine and other systems and to make some additional improvements for me. After all, if I am going to be away for a season I might as well spend some of the cruising savings on upgrades, eh!

I completed the first 90 days of my work assignment in Kuwait on May 3rd. The time went by much more quickly than I anticipated. Between working 6 days a week, having a very busy workload and being in a new and interesting country, there was lots to keep me fully occupied.

The trip home–including ground transportation had me on the go for a solid 24 hours. Thankfully I was able to sleep a fair bit on the plane so the jet lag was not too bad. I certainly have not had any trouble getting to sleep since I got home.

I was really excited to see Cath and Emily. It was like Christmas and birthdays combined. We talked and video called a lot on Skype while I was away but it’s just not the same as being together.

It is so great to be back with my family and to catch up on everything that has been happening since I left in early February. There are also lots of things on my “to do” list. I’m picking them off one by one but it seems like I will not get the list wiped clean before I head back to Kuwait on May 25. Oh well, what doesn’t get done on this trip can wait until I’m home again or I’ll get someone else to take care of it for me. Time is going by quickly and it won’t be too long before I have to head off again. It will be hard to leave my family again but at least I will be able to look forward to them coming to visit me in August. We’re making plans for a great reunion in Kuwait and to also do some touring in the UAE before heading home in late August.