A blog that will be worth following

I read an article in the Star Tribune today about Zac Sunderland, a sixteen year old kid who is setting off June 14 in an attempt to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world. He has set up his own website, which includes a blog, where you can follow along on his adventures. I tried setting up a syndicated feed, but something's wrong with his Atom feed link, so I left him a comment. Hopefully, he'll get it fixed soon, and when he does, I'll set the feed up and let you know.

From his website:

Accomplished Sailor and Navigator
Could he be the youngest solo circumnavigator?

From the first day Zac Sunderland said hello to planet earth, it seems he was destined to live the sailor's life. Brought home from the hospital to his first home, a 55' Tradewind in Marina del Rey, California, he was assigned his first bunk and listened to his mom tell the world of his birth over a single side-band radio...he never looked back.

Born to a family of yachtsmen and shipwrights, Zac quickly grew sea legs, and at an early age was deciphering Lat/Longs, not streets and avenues. His three wheeler youth was substituted with hoisting mains, jibs and mizzens. As he grew more confident under his dad's tutelage, Zac joined the family on sailing adventures to Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Mexico; there, developing not only his sailing skills but also adding to his experience with other cultures. When his shipwright father purchased a 51' Aleutian, Zac worked with him to outfit it for the cruising life, and after 6 months the family left for a 3 year cruise of the Channel Islands, Baja California and mainland Mexico. This period in Zac's life was the epiphany that all young men could envy. It instilled in him a love of the sailing life, a deep respect for the ocean, and the commitment and drive to pursue his dream; to someday circumnavigate the globe, single-handed.

Since then, 16 year old Zac Sunderland, a homeschooled A student, has been preparing himself physically and mentally for that dream. He has been racing, crewing and delivering yachts of all sizes and value. He crews for delivery captains up and down the west coast, often given sole responsibility for navigating, sail trim and resolving mechanical problems. In between studies and crewing, Zac will work on marina yachts, either on his own or under the wing of his shipwright father, up in the crow's nest installing or repairing rigging, down below on a thru hull fitting, or maybe overhauling a diesel engine. Zac has recently purchased an Islander 36 with his savings and is in the process of aquiring sponsors to aid in the outfitting of the boat for world cruising. His experience and knowledge are broad and deep.

HE IS READY TO LIVE HIS DREAM.

Quiet weekend

I went into work for half a day on Friday, and then came back and spent the afternoon with Delia. She is slowly getting better, although she's not back to normal, and probably won't be for awhile. She still was a little feverish on Friday, intermittently, but the sore throat and fever was entirely gone by Saturday.

She has lost weight and her color is bad, and she is quite weak. This is a kid who was about ready to test for black belt who now has to stop to rest when climbing a flight of stairs. Lot of naps this weekend. But she woke up today and said in a tone of surprise, "I'm hungry." That was the first time she actually wanted food since last Monday. I rejoiced when she took a second taco at dinner tonight. She'll be going back to school tomorrow. I've no doubt that she'll be tired, and it's going to take awhile, but she's finally thoroughly on the mend. I told her to listen to her body and don't expect to be back in fighting trim immediately. I hope she'll resume karate sometime this week--slowly--but don't expect she'll be able to make it through an entire class at first.

I took pictures at the belt tests at our dojo Saturday morning, and the girls and I went to a matinee of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Guthrie this afternoon, but otherwise we've pretty much stayed quietly at home. It'll be nice to resume something closer to our regular schedule tomorrow. For one thing, it'll be the first time I've been back to my own karate class for over two weeks.